Step It Up With Your Stepfamily

When we aren't feeling well, most of us will go to the doctor's office. We'll report our symptoms in order to get medicine to help us recover quickly. During the cold and flu season, many folks are down with a variety of symptoms and there are specific medicines for any and all of them. Knowing the right ones to take that will work can be a tough call! If you are in a second marriage - for you or your spouse -- it's very likely that when you married you created a stepfamily. And you may be realizing that the health of your stepfamily isn't so good. You may be experiencing some of these symptoms: conflict with one of your stepchildren, tension between you and your wife or husband over discipline issues with your children, or painful adjustments that your kids and his kids are having living together. If these are your symptoms, please don't get so overwhelmed that you decide to just give up. Second marriages have a higher divorce rate than first marriages and one of the reasons is because of the problems that joining two already-formed families together creates. But there is hope and if you commit to working on strengthening your marriage, you can find solutions that will work.

Being parents and stepparents to two sets of children can be challenging   And being the loving parent to your own kids and the caring step-parent of your spouse's children can create some very difficult  problems. Difficult is not the same as impossible! Jesus says in the gospel of John: " In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” And then in Mark 10, Jesus tells us that all things are possible with God. God can and will turn the trouble in your life - upside down! God's plan for your family is for you to grow stronger together as you grow closer to Him. And there is  no doubt that step-families have lots of opportunities for growing. In my work as a Christian counselor, I have been blessed to watch God's powerful work heal hundreds of hurting families.  I encourage you to seek out the help of a counselor who knows God. And knows that God can and will provide you with all that you need to overcome your most difficult problems. A counselor may help your family learn some specific relationship skills that can increase the loving behaviors in your family. Know with confidence that your family can benefit from the guidance of a Christian counselor to help build your family's strength and stability. That is what Christian counselors are trained to do. Don't wait one more day before getting help for your family. It is the loving thing to do. Step up and do what you need to do with your stepfamily,

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