We all know that God hates divorce. I’m sure we’ve heard the phrase, and even perhaps had it used against us sometime in our process of divorce. And while it is very true that God hates divorce, it’s time to ask why and what does that mean for people who get divorced? Why does God hate divorce? In the book…
This is a continuation of our takeaways from the 2020 Blended & Blessed marriage conference. Click HERE for part 1 and HERE for part 2 Laura Petherbridge – Leading with Love Step parenting can teach you to love like Jesus, it requires you to love even if you’ll get no love in return. This requires you to choose that path. …
This is a continuation of our takeaways from the 2020 Blended & Blessed marriage conference. Click HERE for part 1 Ron Deal Blended Families have varying definitions of what love is and looks like. The love of a step-parent is different from the love of a biological parent. The love of a step-sibling is fundamentally different from that of a…
During the stay-at-home order last year, we had the opportunity to live-stream the Blended and Blessed marriage conference in April of 2020. This post is part 1 of some of the notes and takeaways we had from the conference. About the event The event was put on by Family Life ministries, and there were 4 amazing speakers. Ron Deal is…
If you’re in a blended family, it means you’ve had past relationships that ended. More than likely, those endings left you with some level of pain. In order to move forward into a new relationship, it is essential to deal with and heal from that pain and the associated emotions that come with it like resentment or anger. You may…
My mother in law commented on something I did one day, “it warms a mother’s heart to see her son loved well.” As the words sunk in, I imagined my sons’ futures, and how true that would be. One of the reasons my first marriage ended was my concern that my boys would grow up believing love as they saw…
When you blended your two separate family units into one, you hopefully spent some time before getting married to talk about things like rules, boundaries, and expectations. However, whether or not you did, you are likely going to face situations that you had not discussed in advance. In a family with children, life is unpredictable, and as a result, you…
In life, we are constantly learning and adapting to the circumstances around us. Through this, we start to develop patterns in our behavior. Those patterns become habits. Habits for the purposes of this post are our common tendencies, our behavior patterns. Habits come in simple forms, like how we squeeze our toothpaste or where we place our keys when we…
Respect, Commitment & Endurance Respect: Demonstrating respect for others is a key aspect of any relationship. In our relationship with our spouse, valuing them includes showing them respect. This looks like listening to them, asking for, and considering their opinions. It is acknowledging their differences as a human, and not thinking those differences make them deficient in some way. Respect…
Patience & Grace How would you describe the ideal marriage? Many years ago, prior to my first marriage, I journaled about what I wanted my life to look like in 10 years, including my ideal marriage. Then I entered my first marriage, and it looked nothing like I expected. For a while, I grappled with it. How much of my…