88: Make Everyday Count in Your Blended Family

Brian Mayer talks about making everyday count in your remarriage and your blended family because we don’t know how long we have on this earth.  It is easy to take things for granted and have the daily grind of life take over.  But we often should take a breath and remember what is important and that is the adults and children in our lives.  We hope you enjoy today’s message.  For more information and additional resources please visit our website at http://www.theremarriedlife.com Today's Goodies Today is a very somber day because my stepbrother passed away unexpectedly yesterday.  Emotions are all over the place as you can imagine, and because he is my stepbrother it made me think about blended families in general and how we need to not take what is happening for granted.  In a blended family there is surely lots of good times and what feels like lots of bad times for sure.  When it all gets overwhelming and we don’t know how to parent the different children and how to handle the different relationships be it biological or step, sometimes we just want to run.  But again and some of you may have experienced the loss of a child, as I know people that have.  I can’t even imagine that pain.  But imagine the pain multiplied if the relationship with that child is not where you want it.  As we know it takes two to make a relationship work, so you might be doing all you can to connect with your stepchild and it just isn’t working.  I get it, as I have been there.  In my previous marriage, my stepson did not necessarily enjoy what I enjoyed.  He also had some what we now know as ADHD, but back then I just assumed it was laziness.  While he is still alive and well that is from my first marriage that ended in divorce and so there was certainly some regret about my impatience with him.  While we all assume we should be given 70, 80, 90 years or more on this earth that fact is that this is not guaranteed.  Even the Bible references the shortness of our time on Earth compared with the eternity in Heaven if we choose to accept that here.  Here are some passages about that to think about:  Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. James 4:14 “O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Psalm 39:4 For “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.  1 Peter 1:24-25 So what should you do today with your family?  Here are a few ideas many of which come from a great speech by Jim Valvano former basketball coach of the North Carolina State team that won the National Championship in 1983.  He died of cancer about a decade later.  Laugh Together Think Together Cry Together Pray Together (I added this one) The key though with all of these is to do this together.  Do some on your own but involve everyone in your family because you simply just do not know how long you have my friends. Make sure you take care of each other.    Resources: None Mentioned.   Thanks For Listening! With so many things that take time in our lives, I more grateful than you know that you took time to listen to this podcast episode.  If you liked this episode and believe that it would be beneficial to a friend, family member, or colleague, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. The Remarried Life Facebook Group is a community of people just like you who get and give support.  Please join today!  ​ As always remember that marriage is not something you have, it is something you do.  Talk to you next week unless you are binge listening in the future in which case I will talk to you in about a minute!  Take care.