201: How to Rewire Your Brain--When Life Feels Hopeless

Wondering how to rewire your brain after loss, grief, or years of discouragement? Neurosurgeon Dr. Lee Warren joins Ron Deal to explore how hope, biblical truth, and the way you think can reshape your mind—even when blended family life feels overwhelming. On FamilyLife Blended, discover why hopeles…

200: Childhood-trauma Healing: When One Stepparent Changed Everything

Childhood-trauma healing doesn't erase the past—but it can change your future. Worship leader Kim Walker-Smith shares how growing up through divorce, multiple stepfathers, abuse, and loss shaped her life, and how one faithful stepdad became a picture of hope. On FamilyLife Blended, Ron Deal explore…

199: Helping Kids With Big Emotions: Why They're Not Just "Acting Out"

Helping kids with big emotions starts with understanding what's really driving them. Counselor Michelle Nietert joins Ron Deal to unpack why kids in blended families often struggle with grief, overwhelm, and divided loyalties—and how parents can respond without making things worse. On FamilyLife Bl…

198: Remarriage After the Death of a Spouse: Why It's Harder Than You Think

Remarriage after the death of a spouse brings hope—but it can also uncover grief you didn't expect. Ministry leaders Rod and Rachel Faulkner Brown share the realities of building a blended family after widowhood, helping children navigate loss, and learning that love doesn't erase pain overnight. O…

197: What Kids Grieving Divorce Wish Parents Knew

Many kids grieving divorce never have words for what they're carrying. Blake Hudspeth grew up through four different stepfamilies and knows how family change can shape a child's view of love, trust, and belonging. On FamilyLife Blended, Ron Deal talks with Blake about the grief parents often overlo…

196: Growing Up Blended: Montell and Kristin Jordan

Blended family life can feel like walking into someone else’s story: guarded kids, mixed loyalties, no clear playbook. Montell Jordan—the artist best known for his hit, "This Is How We Do It"—and his wife Kristen join Ron Deal to unpack growing up in the chaos—and what kids wish adults understood b…

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…