The Life Transitions Support Group helps individuals and families as they walk the journey of divorce or the issues of blended families. Sacred Spaces are held on the 2nd & 4th Mondays of every month at 7 pm at Hemenway Church. Led by Certified Christian Life Coach Andre’a Grace Phillips.

When: Monday, June 25th at 7PM

Her mission statement- “Through vulnerability and an anchored presence, I create space for others to courageously risk revealing their broken places, and discover the redemptive power of unmerited Grace…so that they may heal and unravel into their Best selves.”

From Andrea: The blended family issues I have endured have been so challenging. The blended family has become part of the new normal in the landscape of both our culture and humanity. It is a multi-layered experience that challenges most of our original expectations of what family life will look like when we grow up. If it is to be successful beyond just survival, it requires fierce vulnerability, honesty and ongoing communication. I started the group because I needed one myself and there are so few helpful resources available.

Most people in blended family situations suffer greatly in silence because they are so busy wanting their new normal to be better than whatever broken relationship they had prior that led them to a new relationship. There's typically no buy-in initially from whatever children are involved understandably. That resistance usually takes years to overcome and is a great contributor to the failure of 2nd/3rd marriages.

There are clear ways to make it a better experience for all but it also requires collaboration which is hard to come by when often a lack thereof is what led to the demise of the previous relationship if that makes sense?

We are often tasked with being civil going forward, for the sake of the children, with someone we loathe enough to have severed our lifelong bond...so it's very complicated. The level of ongoing selflessness, forgiveness and empathy required by all to be successful is staggering. I am 5 years in and I am just starting to see the light.

When I married my husband he had 4 children at home and it was going to be 10 years until everyone graduated from HS. The oldest 2 have left the nest now and there are 5 years left until the younger 2 graduate. Over time disdain has grown into tolerance, tolerance into acceptance, and acceptance into enjoyment when we are all together....we still have a ways to go but we are fighting more For each other now than against so at least we are moving forward.

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