Focus on the Family Magazine - April/May 2020
It can be a struggle to raise a family while balancing your work life, social life and relationships. Focus on the Family magazine is here to help! Each complimentary issue delivers fresh, practical Biblical guidance on family and life topics. Every issue comes packed with relevant advice to build up your kids, strengthen your marriage, navigate entertainment and culture, and handle common challenges you may face in your marriage and parenting journeys. Plus you'll find seasonal advice ranging from back-to-school activities to date night tips for you and your spouse.
It can be a struggle to raise a family while balancing your work life, social life and relationships. Focus on the Family magazine is here to help! Each complimentary issue delivers fresh, practical Biblical guidance on family and life topics.
Every issue comes packed with relevant advice to build up your kids, strengthen your marriage, navigate entertainment and culture, and handle common challenges you may face in your marriage and parenting journeys. Plus you'll find seasonal advice ranging from back-to-school activities to date night tips for you and your spouse.
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KIDS & TEENS / BLENDED FAMILY<br />
blending less<strong>on</strong>s<br />
Help extended family welcome and include your stepkids<br />
BY DIANE STARK / ILLUSTRATION BY AYANG CEMPAKA<br />
“I DON’T WANT TO GO TO<br />
GRANDMA’S HOUSE,” my<br />
stepdaughter, Lea, said. “No <strong>on</strong>e<br />
talks to me <strong>the</strong>re. I d<strong>on</strong>’t think your<br />
family likes me.”<br />
“Of course <strong>the</strong>y do, h<strong>on</strong>ey,” I told<br />
her. “Your dad and I haven’t been<br />
married that l<strong>on</strong>g, so <strong>the</strong>y’re still<br />
getting to know you.”<br />
Lea shrugged. “How can <strong>the</strong>y be<br />
getting to know me when <strong>the</strong>y d<strong>on</strong>’t<br />
ever talk to me?”<br />
That’s when I knew I needed to<br />
intervene between my family and<br />
my stepchildren.<br />
In many blended families, <strong>the</strong><br />
aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents<br />
already have a relati<strong>on</strong>ship with<br />
<strong>the</strong> biological children and may pay<br />
more attenti<strong>on</strong> to <strong>the</strong>m and inadvertently<br />
exclude stepkids. In blending<br />
our family, my husband, Eric, and<br />
I experienced this from both sides.<br />
While <strong>the</strong> adults in Eric’s family<br />
immediately accepted my children,<br />
my extended family didn’t always<br />
welcome his children as openly as<br />
we had hoped. However, <strong>the</strong> children<br />
in Eric’s large, close-knit family<br />
took l<strong>on</strong>ger to adjust. His nieces<br />
and nephews were so used to playing<br />
toge<strong>the</strong>r with his bio kids at family<br />
ga<strong>the</strong>rings that <strong>the</strong>y didn’t always<br />
make room for my biological<br />
children.<br />
Eric and I needed to help our<br />
extended families b<strong>on</strong>d with <strong>the</strong><br />
children we’d brought into <strong>the</strong> family.<br />
Here’s what we did:
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