Ray and I have been married for over 20 years – at least a few of those happily! Truly, he is my best friend, and our connection these days is probably the best it’s ever been.  We have (finally!) learned to make good relational choices like preferring one-another, listening with our hearts open, offering grace and forgiveness.  We have learned to choose to believe in each other’s best intentions. But this was not always our story. It has taken intentional work and commitment, along with our shared deep faith in God, to bring our relationship to the place we enjoy today.  Sharing the lessons we learned along the way has become my passion and calling, and it is my honor and joy to come alongside others in their unique journeys. 
When Ray and I married, our family included my then 21 year old son, and my two young children, who were 10 and 7 at the time.  Ray had an adult daughter as well, and a 15 year old who was pregnant with our oldest grandson at the time of our wedding.  And so we “blended” ourselves and our children into one big, happy family!  Yeah….not so much.   You see, so called “blended families” don’t always blend so easily.  The thing about “blended” families is that they are often contain children of divorce, or other major loss, who may be deeply wounded by the process, and two or more adults who have their own baggage and may have been children of divorce themselves (as it was in my case) and who may not have ever seen a good, healthy marriage modeled out for them.  So even though we had the best of intentions (and rose-colored glasses!), it didn’t take long for our home to quickly spiral out of control.  Our kids learned to play the “you’re not my parent” card, and all of our individual wounds played out as bids for control, lack of respect shown all around, and ultimately a lot of yelling, blaming, discipline problems with all the kids, and, in general – chaos reigned at the Fischer home.  Does any of this sound familiar? If this is your story as well, I can relate…. I have been where you are.