Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Christian Podcast Central

Home
Evangelical - Sponsored
Blending Your StepFamily: Five Tips for Success in Your Remarriage with Children

Blending Your StepFamily: Five Tips for Success in Your Remarriage with Children

Last updated on: February 24, 2016 at 4:19 am by Christian Podcast Central

Blending Your StepFamily: Five Tips for Success in Your Remarriage with Children 2016-02-24T04:19:14-08:00 Christian Podcast Central

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Blending Your StepFamily: Five Tips for Success in Your Remarriage with Children Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This week, we’ll discuss five tips that lead to a successful blended family. All of these take time and conscious effort, but have huge payoffs in creating a harmonious, loving family in the end.

1) Maintain an atmosphere of family inclusiveness. Make it clear that we are one family and we are ALL important. This must begin with BOTH parents. The two of you, together, set the tone for the whole family. Even if the kids resist and are stand-offish, keep at it. Your perseverance will pay off, and they almost always come around eventually. Be as committed to them as you are to your own kids. In the same way that God adopted us into His family, He is asking us to welcome our stepchildren into our own family and hearts – with patience, gentleness, long-suffering, and love.

2) Run from resentment! Resentment will kill your relationships, so work diligently to remove it from your household. Think of “resentment” as meaning: to resend to your mind, over and over again the offense: what they did, what they said, what they didn’t do…

Resentment robs you of peace, as you replay those thoughts over and over again in your mind. This becomes so easy to do when you are not bonded to your family members. Your stepchildren may do the same thing your child does, but where you can gloss over your kid’s mistakes, it really gets under your skin when your stepchild does the same thing. Or, you may resent the fact that your stepchild is living with you, but doesn’t seem to appreciate all that you do for them. If you find yourself starting to harbor resentment toward your stepchild, CHOOSE TO STOP IT! Proverbs 14:1 says:

The wise woman builds her house

But with her own hands, a foolish woman tears hers down.

So, a wise parent does not allow resentment to reside in their home. It will only tear the family apart and tear the home down.

3) Forgiveness is key. This includes forgiving your ex-spouse and perhaps even yourself – anyone involved in your divorce. You need to move on so that this marriage will not suffer due to the past. If you got a divorce because your spouse was unfaithful, you may have trust issues that you are bringing into your new marriage. Get healed and forgive so that your past relationship won’t control your new relationship. You can have that bright future. Don’t let your past rob you by not forgiving.

4) Birth parents should do most of the disciplining until the children and step parent have developed a solid, trusting and loving relationship. The stepparent must come alongside the birthparent in regards to discipline and support them in their decisions, but if the stepparent becomes the one who handles all or most of the discipline too quickly, resentment, anger and division will result. Too much disciplining without a sufficient relationship with the child will result in rebellion toward the stepparent. It will also cause problems between the spouses as well. If you and your spouse can’t get on the same page in regards to discipline, get counseling right away, because the problem will only magnify the more time that goes by.

5) Step parents should come into the family with the same authority as a teacher or a coach – definitely respected, but not trying to take over the role of “parent” too quickly. If you come into the new family with the approach of, “OK, I’m your new mom”, that’s simply too much for your stepchildren to accept and process, so their defenses will go up.

For more tips on blending your step family, check out www.NouveauLifeCoaching.com

And, for more engaging and encouraging podcasts and videos, visit the E-Squared Media Network at www.e2medianetwork.com

Uncategorized

blending your stepfamily

christian culture podcast

christian family relationship podcast

christian relationship advice

christian relationship podcast

how to communicate with your spouse

parenting advice

relationship advice

relationships

remarriage with children

resentment

Previous Post

October 24, 2014

Experience God 77: Luke 1:28-38 (NLT) – Gabriel Appears to Mary

Next Post

October 24, 2014 Reflections of Grace 52: Living from the Heart – Letting Go & Surrender

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Brad Stine Has Issues Christian Podcast Central Classic Podcast Experience God Life Grounded Ouxano Parent Like You Mean It The Protest Show with Thor Ramsey The Summit Lecture Series Uncategorized What You’ve Been Searching For

Select a Month July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 June 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz