Dear Friends,
Marriage - the joining of two people with distinct backgrounds, personalities, and perspectives is a beautiful thing, but it’s guaranteed to come with challenges as well.
And if marriage can be tough, you can imagine that remarriage is even tougher! You might be adding children from one or both spouses’ previous relationships. You’re also adding the pain that accompanied the end of those previous relationships, whether it was divorce, the death of a spouse, or other factors. You’re adding a whole new set of extended family members. And the list goes on. The challenges are real, and they go way beyond anything you saw on The Brady Bunch.
If your blended family is feeling frustrated, misunderstood, or alone, there is good news for you. Focus on the Family has produced a FREE series of seven short video clips called Thriving Stepfamilies — Overcoming Common Challenges in Blended Families. These brief segments are brimming with practical tips and advice to help you and your loved ones find peace, harmony, and trust in your blended home! And each video includes discussion questions and additional resources to help you on your journey.
Episode 1: Making a Good Blend: Challenges and OpportunitiesEpisode 2: Triangled: Your Marriage, the Kids, and Your Blended Family.Episode 3: Former Spouses, Co-Parenting, and Between-Home ChallengesEpisode 4: The 6 P's of StepparentingEpisode 5: Freedom for Those Between HomesEpisode 6: Financing Family TogethernessEpisode 7: Turning Points—Research Insights for a Good Blend

I encourage you to contact  Pastor Christian or Pastor John  for additional marriage or family support.
May God bless you and your family!  

Shawnda

Dear Friends,
Here's a message from Dr. Greg Smalley and his wife Erin on keys to success in a blended family. Enjoy!
How has your marriage been in the last year? My wife, Erin, and I have spent a lot of time together this last year. You and your spouse probably have, too. Some of it has been great! The pace of life was slower. We learned new things about each other and about ourselves.
The COVID pandemic has helped many couples appreciate their spouse more. I certainly gained greater appreciation for a mental load that Erin had been dealing with for decades. I didn’t realize she was thinking about meal planning and preparation as much as she was, how it was always in the back of her mind ... until I took over cooking duties.
We also experienced some loss and learned to grieve together. Like so many other couples, we have had to adapt to very stressful conditions, not only in the world but in our marriages.
One special type of marriage takes even more effort and intentionality – remarriages. Blending two families after a death of one spouse or a divorce demands extra commitment and grit. Often, couples headed for a blended family believe the dynamics are the same as in a biological family, and everything might seem fine — until after the wedding.
If you’re in a blended family, Focus on the Family has resources to help you build a strong marriage while building relationships with stepchildren and your biological kids. Take a look at the resources below. We’re here for you!
Dr. Greg Smalley,
Vice President, Marriage
Improving Your Marriage as a Blended Family Couple | Broadcast
Author and speaker Ron Deal offers couples in blended families advice on how they can assess the strengths of their marriage and improve on areas of weakness in light of the particular challenges they face in parenting stepchildren. Listen online.
Creating a Shared Vision for Blended Family Finances | Article
At some point, every couple should talk about their values related to money and how they will create a shared vision for combining incomes and debt while planning for the future care of their children. Blended family finances can be even more challenging, but that shared vision for your family’s financial future is still possible by building relational trust and carefully considering financial agreements. Read here.
The Smart Stepfamily Marriage: Keys to Success in the Blended Family |This Week’s Special Offer
Whether you're dating, engaged, a young stepfamily, or an empty-nest couple, The Smart Stepfamily Marriage gives you the tools you need at any stage to create a remarriage that will last. Each chapter of this book explores one of the key qualities of happy remarriages as identified by research. Like a GPS for your relationship, this book has built-in discussion questions that can help you and your partner discover where you are, where you'd like to be, and how to get there. Get this best-selling book for a gift of any amount.
The Focus on the Family Broadcast | This Week’s Episodes
The broadcast covers other unique family situations too, for parents and those considering living together before marriage. See which broadcasts interest you:
Loving Your Spouse in the Midst of Parenthood
Fighting for Joy as a Special Needs Parent
Praying Scripture Over Your Child’s Life
Does Living Together Help or Hurt?
Blended family or not, if you’re struggling in your marriage, there’s still hope! 
Schedule a free consult to see if a Hope Restored marriage intensive is a good option for you.
More free resources for Stepfamilies | Announcement
Remarriage is tough. We can help. Learn how the five love languages can help blended families, or sign up for the Thriving Stepfamilies free video series (or check them all out here!).
Find the Focus on Marriage Getaway event that’s right for you Strengthen your marriage by attending one of our Focus on the Family weekend marriage retreats. Check getaway themes and schedules here.
As always, I encourage you to contact  Pastor Christian or Pastor John  for additional marriage or family support.
May God bless you and your family!  
Shawnda

Dear Friends, 

Wondering how to boost your marital wellbeing? There are many factors that contribute to the state of a marriage relationship. In fact, it’s a combination of your wellbeing both as individuals, and as a couple.

If you’re ready to work together to make your marriage better than ever, then we’ve gathered some things you can do right now to start seeing positive changes. Let’s jump in with Dr. Les and Leslie Parrott!

1. CHECK IN WITH YOUR SELF-PERCEPTION.
How you and your spouse see yourselves contributes to your overall wellbeing, both as individuals and as a couple. Our happiness in marriage is influenced by how we see ourselves, and how well we accept one another for who we are. It’s important that you regularly check in with how you see yourself, and whether you’re being true to who you really are.

Exercise: Take some time to each journal about who you are, and who you want to be. Then, compare notes. How can each of you help one another reach a healthier self-perception moving forward?

2. MAKE MORE TIME FOR ONE ANOTHER.
Shared activities and shared time can nurture your relationship and add tremendously to its wellbeing. If you haven’t taken a look at the amount of time you’re spending together in a while, it’s time to revisit that. Simply being together more, giving each other your undivided attention, can work wonders for your marriage.

Exercise: Get out your calendars and set aside a little time to look at your availability. Are there times during the week that you’re missing out on? Find small pockets of time to really focus on one another. Additionally, schedule some date nights in advance. Work intentionally to make time together, and your effort will pay dividends.

3. PRACTICE INTENTIONAL EMPATHY.
Do you intentionally try to “walk in your spouse’s shoes”? Empathy allows you to see situations from your spouse’s perspective, though it isn’t always easy. Practicing empathy means you are taking special care to look at circumstances not only from your perspective, but from theirs, as well.

Exercise: Take turns talking to each other about issues that are weighing on your heart. Then, echo back what you understand that your spouse is trying to convey to you. Be receptive to one another’s feedback. This exercise will help you get a better understanding of your spouse’s perspective.

4. EVALUATE THE LEVEL OF TRUST IN YOUR MARRIAGE.
Do you feel as though you can fully trust your spouse? Can your spouse trust you? Checking in with your trust level is an important step in determining the wellbeing of your relationship.

Exercise: On your own, consider any ways that you might boost your spouse’s ability to trust you. Do you need to make simple adjustments, like sharing your computer passwords? Check in more often during the work day? Clarify a past breach of trust that might be affecting your relationship now?

5. ENCOURAGE A HEALTHY SENSE OF INDIVIDUALITY.
While you’re a couple, it’s important to tend to your sense of autonomy, too. Each spouse in a marriage needs to feel fully seen and supported as an individual. Likewise, it’s important for us to have our own healthy sense of individuation–the sense that helps us feel comfortable being who we are and pursuing our goals freely.

Exercise: Share one important life goal you’ve each been wanting to go for, but felt afraid to pursue. Take some time to talk through why that goal might make you feel fearful or hesitant, and work together to affirm one another in the process. Then, see if you can land on some solutions for helping one another pursue those dreams.

WANT A DEEPER DIVE INTO YOUR MARRIAGE WELLBEING?
Check out our upcoming book, Strengthen Your Marriage, which features the SYMBIS+ Assessment for married couples. If you’re ready to embark on a journey to a stronger, healthier, and happier marriage, this book is an excellent resource to help you achieve it. The book releases on April 13, but you can pre-order your copy here.

Click here to check out many marriage video clips from Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott. 

I encourage you to contact  Pastor Christian or Pastor John  for additional marriage or family support.
May God bless you and your family!