Introduction

Ron Introduces Justin and Kelly Walker

Challenges and Triumphs in Blended Families

Navigating Grief in Blended Families

Unique Challenges of Widowhood vs. Divorce

Building New Traditions and Moving Forward

https://fl-podcasts.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/FLBP/pdf/FLBp2026-02-09.pdf

https://fl-podcasts.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/FLBP/docs/FLBp20260209_S08_E183.docx

Grief lingers, yet love insists on living. Podcasters Justin and Kelly Walker navigate a blended family of 9 amid grief triggers and daily chaos. Hallway tributes, fire-pit conversations, and tender routines show how honoring the past fosters resilience, teaches empathy, and shapes a family that holds loss and new beginnings in a single heartbeat.

Show Notes and Resources
Host Blended & Blessed for FREE
Get a copy of The Mindful Marriage: Create Your Best Relationship Through Understanding and Managing Yourself 
The Happy Chaos Podcast
Send in a donation
Search Ron's upcoming events

Grief lingers, yet love insists on living. Podcasters Justin and Kelly Walker navigate a blended family of 9 amid grief triggers and daily chaos. Hallway tributes, fire-pit conversations, and tender routines show how honoring the past fosters resilience, teaches empathy, and shapes a family that holds loss and new beginnings in a single heartbeat.
Show Notes and Resources
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.blendedandblessed.com/">Host Blended &amp; Blessed for FREE</a></li>
<li>Get a copy of <a href="https://shop.familylife.com/product/the-mindful-marriage-create-your-best-relationship-through-understanding-and-managing-yourself/">The Mindful Marriage: Create Your Best Relationship Through Understanding and Managing Yourself&nbsp;</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@HappyChaospodcast">The Happy Chaos Podcast</a></li>
<li><a href="https://donate.familylife.com/blended/?cru_source=D000BLENDG&amp;cru_medium=DesktopHeaderNav&amp;cru_campaign=Blended">Send in a donation</a></li>
<li><a href="https://smartstepfamilies.com/events/find-an-event">Search Ron's upcoming events</a></li>
</ul>

FamilyLife Blended® provides timeless wisdom and practical help and hope for blended families and those who love them. Join Ron L. Deal, LMFT, LPC as he and his guests discuss a wide variety of marriage, family, and relationship topics related to blended families.

Timeless wisdom and practical help and hope for blended families with Ron Deal, LMFT, LPC.

FamilyLife Blended® Podcast

Through "memory lane," fire-pit talks, and birthday cakes at graves, podcasters Justin & Kelly Walker show how grief triggers, alongside laughter and love, collide in a blended family of nine.

183: Grief Triggers and Tender Triumphs: Happy Chaos in a Blended Family

https://fl-podcasts.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/FLBP/pdf/FLBp2026-01-26.pdf

https://fl-podcasts.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/FLBP/docs/FLBp20260126_S08_E182.docx

After a scandalous start to their blended marriage, Ines Franklin and her husband Jim discovered God's grace turns broken stories into masterpieces. With raw honesty--and pulling from the richness of the beatitudes in the Bible--Ines explains core ingredients to flourishing in blended family life, with heaps of practical takeaways. What began in shame ends in her "smoothie family" of 5 kids, 10 grandkids, and redemption that shouts hope.

Show Notes and Resources
Order a hardback copy of The Mindful Marriage here or preorder the paperback where you get books
Blended & Blessed for FREE!
Look at Ron's upcoming events 
Learn about Ines on her website
Get a copy of Ines' book, Blended and Blessed
Make a donation to FamilyLife Blended 

After a scandalous start to their blended marriage, Ines Franklin and her husband Jim discovered God's grace turns broken stories into masterpieces. With raw honesty--and pulling from the richness of the beatitudes in the Bible--Ines explains core ingredients to flourishing in blended family life, with heaps of practical takeaways. What began in shame ends in her "smoothie family" of 5 kids, 10 grandkids, and redemption that shouts hope.
Show Notes and Resources
<ul>
<li>Order a hardback copy of The Mindful Marriage <a href="https://shop.familylife.com/product/the-mindful-marriage-create-your-best-relationship-through-understanding-and-managing-yourself/">here</a> or preorder the paperback where you get books</li>
<li><a href="https://www.blendedandblessed.com/">Blended &amp; Blessed for FREE!</a></li>
<li><a href="https://smartstepfamilies.com/events/find-an-event">Look at Ron's upcoming events</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li><a href="https://www.inesfranklin.com/about-ines">Learn about Ines on her website</a></li>
<li>Get a copy of Ines' book, <a href="https://trochia.org/blended-blessed-book/">Blended and Blessed</a></li>
<li><a href="https://donate.familylife.com/blended/?cru_source=D000BLENDG&amp;cru_medium=DesktopHeaderNav&amp;cru_campaign=Blended">Make a donation to FamilyLife Blended&nbsp;</a></li>
</ul>

After a scandalous start to their blended marriage, Ines Franklin and her husband Jim discovered God's grace turns broken stories into masterpieces. With raw honesty--and pulling from the richness of the beatitudes in the Bible--Ines explains core ingredients to flourishing in blended family life, with heaps of practical takeaways. What began in shame ends with 5 kids, 10 grandkids, and redemption that shouts hope.

182: Blended and Blessed book, Building Healing through the Beatitudes

Ron Introduces Wynand Jacobs

Understanding Brokenness

Community and Redemption

Final Thoughts

https://fl-podcasts.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/FLBP/pdf/FLBp2026-01-12.pdf

https://fl-podcasts.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/FLBP/docs/FLBp20260112_S08_E181.docx

Overwhelmed by blended-family brokenness? Ron Deal and Wynand Jacobs dive into the messy, unpolished reality of blended families in New Zealand. Using Kintsugi as a gospel metaphor, they explore God's power to reform shame into beauty, grief into testimony, and mistakes into stories that shine. It's a masterclass in the divine alchemy of blended family life.

Show Notes and Resources
Learn about FamilyLife New Zealand 
Find an event on our blended map 
Send a donation to further the blended ministry 

Overwhelmed by blended-family brokenness? Ron Deal and Wynand Jacobs dive into the messy, unpolished reality of blended families in New Zealand. Using Kintsugi as a gospel metaphor, they explore God's power to reform shame into beauty, grief into testimony, and mistakes into stories that shine. It's a masterclass in the divine alchemy of blended family life.
Show Notes and Resources
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.familylife.nz/">Learn about FamilyLife New Zealand</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li><a href="https://www.familylife.com/familylifeblended/find-an-event/#blendedmap">Find an event on our blended map</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li><a href="https://donate.familylife.com/blended/?cru_source=D000BLENDG&amp;cru_medium=DesktopHeaderNav&amp;cru_campaign=Blended">Send a donation to further the blended ministry</a>&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Overwhelmed by blended-family brokenness? Ron Deal and Wynand Jacobs dive into messy, unpolished realities, using kintsugi as a metaphor. They explore God's power to reform shame into beauty, grief into testimony, and mistakes into stories that shine. 

181: Beauty in the Broken: A Kintsugi Approach to Blended Family Life

Ron Introduces Mike and Kim Anderson

Understanding and Overcoming Emotional Pain

Managing Anxiety and Staying Engaged

 Navigating Pain Cycles in Relationships

Handling Emotional Challenges 

https://fl-podcasts.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/FLBP/pdf/FLBp2025-12-29.pdf

https://fl-podcasts.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/FLBP/docs/FLBp20251229_S08_180.docx

Holidays got your blended family feeling like a tossed salad of joy, stress, and edgy emotions? Podcast hosts and blended marriage coaches Mike & Kim Anderson bring real talk, raw truth, and restoration therapy magic. Learn how to swap pain cycles for peace, chaos for connection—and maybe, just maybe, survive a blended family Christmas with your sanity and your stepkids.

Show Notes and Resources
Order a hardcover copy of The Mindful Marrriage. You can pre-order a paperback version any place books are sold. 
Learn about Mike and Kim 
Send in a year-end gift to FamilyLife Blended 

Holidays got your blended family feeling like a tossed salad of joy, stress, and edgy emotions? Podcast hosts and blended marriage coaches Mike &amp; Kim Anderson bring real talk, raw truth, and restoration therapy magic. Learn how to swap pain cycles for peace, chaos for connection&mdash;and maybe, just maybe, survive a blended family Christmas with your sanity and your stepkids.
Show Notes and Resources
<ul>
<li><a href="https://shop.familylife.com/product/the-mindful-marriage-create-your-best-relationship-through-understanding-and-managing-yourself/">Order a hardcover copy of The Mindful Marrriage</a>. You can pre-order a paperback version any place books are sold.&nbsp;</li>
<li><a href="https://www.blendedfamilybreakthrough.com/">Learn about Mike and Kim</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li><a href="https://donate.familylife.com/blended/?cru_source=D000BLENDG&amp;cru_medium=DesktopHeaderNav&amp;cru_campaign=Blended">Send in a year-end gift to FamilyLife Blended</a>&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Blended family Christmas got you juggling joy, stress & edgy emotions? Podcast hosts and blended marriage coaches Mike & Kim Anderson drop truth & tools for your stepfamily's holiday, helping you trade pain and chaos for peace and connection.

183: Grief Triggers and Tender Triumphs: Happy Chaos in a Blended Family

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