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…

185: This Was Never the Plan: Walking with God through the Heartache of Divorce

Vaneetha Risner knows the raw grief of unwanted divorce and betrayal. She gets church shame, lost identity, lingering triggers. Yet God has turned lament into deeper trust. This was never the plan, but it has forged faith. And it offers hope for yours. Show Notes and Resources Register for the liv…

184: Parenting & Grandparenting kids about tech, phones, and screens

When did “family time” become everyone scrolling in separate corners? In this eye-opening episode, Ron Deal and author Arlene Pellicane unpack how to manage screentime—helping parents and grandparents raise screen-wise kids who still look up, laugh, and live offline. Discover why boredom builds bri…

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

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 ho…

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

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, …

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

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'…