195: Stepmom Advice: 10 Things I Would Do Over as a Stepmother

Blending a family isn’t a Hallmark montage. It’s a minefield of hurt feelings, mixed loyalties, and second-guessing...everything. Debbie Alsdorf shares hard-won “do-overs” from 36 years as a stepmom—what she got wrong, what she’d never repeat, and what actually helped a fractured family slowly beco…

194: What “God Hates Divorce” Gets Right—and Very Wrong

"God hates divorce": you’ve heard it, maybe felt crushed by it. Cheryl Shumake joins Ron Deal and Gayla Grace to pull apart what Malachi 2 really says—and what it doesn’t. If you’ve felt judged, stuck, or sidelined by church talk, this conversation meets you there and pushes toward truth, clarity, …

193: Restoring Trust After Sexual Betrayal

You thought you were rebuilding after sexual betrayal—whether from this marriage or the previous—but something still feels off: Distance. Triggers. Questions you can’t shake. Authors Matthew and Joanna Raabsmith get brutally honest about how betrayal trauma, perhaps from sexual addiction, porn, aff…

192: Jim Burns: When Adult Children Stray

You raised them right—so why does it feel like you’re losing them? Jim Burns steps into the ache parents don’t say out loud: regret, distance, and the fear you blew it. Drawing from When Your Adult Child Strays, he gets real about what to do when pushing harder only pushes them away—and what actual…

191: Father’s Day Feels Weird: Blended Family Grief and Hope

Father’s Day feels weird, or even stings, when the chair at the table is empty—or when your stepkids pull back because they’re still hurting. Ron Deal talks with the widowed and remarried Brian and Debbie Doyle--about grief, holidays, and blending families with adult children. If you’ve ever worrie…

190: The Mother's Day You Never Wanted: Hope for Hurting Moms and Stepmoms

Mother’s Day can sting when your story didn’t turn out like you planned. Maybe that looks like wayward kids. Courtrooms. Even prison sentences. And silence where relationship used to be. Ron Deal talks with author Carol Kent about loving a son serving life in prison—and finding faith when the worst…

189: Widowhood to Remarriage: Blending Families with Ongoing Grief - Daniel and Brittany Brooker

Loss shattered you; remarriage after widowhood humbles you amid trauma, blending families, and recurring developmental grief. If comparison, unmet expectations, or past pain threaten your marriage and home, listen in. Daniel and Brittany Brooker (Refuge Widowers) share Scripture-soaked wisdom, prac…

188: Growing up Blended: Micah Scharchburg

If you were growing up in a blended family, you knew the drill—new houses, new rules, new “normal” every few years. And now you’re the parent, wondering what stuck and what still stings. Ron Deal talks with Barna's Micah Scharchburg about growing up in family chaos—and why your story doesn’t have t…

187: Worship through Grief: Matt and Kari Perkins

Meet Matt and Kari Perkins, widowed parents who blended a family of seven after deep loss. They know you don’t “get over” loss—you grow with it. Find honest hope for grieving parents and blended families as you form a future without erasing the past. Show Notes and Resources Learn more about Matt …

186: Is Fear Running Your Stepfamily? (Here’s How to Spot It)--Gayla Grace

You’re not crazy. Blended family life is complicated—and sometimes it feels like you’re fighting battles that started long before this marriage. Old fears. Ex-spouses. Money tension. Kid loyalty binds. Ron Deal and Gayla Grace name the “ghosts” haunting stepfamilies—and why you lean out when you me…