{"id":305047,"date":"2019-05-28T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-28T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/the-good-news-about-marriage-2\/"},"modified":"2019-05-28T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-05-28T15:00:00","slug":"the-good-news-about-marriage-2","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/the-good-news-about-marriage-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Good News About Marriage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>guest: Ron Deal, Shaunti Feldhahn | Fifty percent of marriages end in divorce, right? Wrong. In this encouraging exploration of the real state of marriage, researcher and author Shaunti Feldhahn teams up with Ron Deal for a deep look at the facts behind the statistics.<\/p>\n<p>Show Notes and Resources<\/p>\n<p> \tListen to Shaunti Feldhahn on the FamilyLife Blended\u00ae Podcast with Ron Deal.\u00a0https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-blended-podcast\/the-good-news-about-marriage\/<br \/>\n \tShaunti also appears on season 1 of the Married With Benefits podcast with Brian Goins.\u00a0https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/married-with-benefits\/<br \/>\n \tTo learn more and register for the Summit on Stepfamily Ministry visit. https:\/\/www.summitonstepfamilies.com\/<br \/>\n \tVisit FamilyLife Blended\u00ae online for articles, videos, resources, for blended families. https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/blended<br \/>\n \tLearn more about becoming a Legacy Partner, a monthly supporter of FamilyLife.\u00a0https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/legacy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this encouraging exploration of the real state of marriage, researcher and author Shaunti Feldhahn teams up with Ron Deal for a deep look at the facts behind the statistics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":294104,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"https:\/\/web.familylifetoday.com\/fl2019-05-28.mp3","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:29:30","filesize":"27.03M","filesize_raw":"28338013","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2848,2901,2831],"tags":[6636],"podcast_series":[],"cwp_profile":[3300,3204],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-305047","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cultural-issues","category-husbands","category-wives","tag-the-good-news-about-marriage","cwp_profile-ron-deal","cwp_profile-shaunti-feldhahn","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg?w=508","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/305047\/the-good-news-about-marriage-2","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/305047\/the-good-news-about-marriage-2","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"fbGNAgAAdT\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/the-good-news-about-marriage-2\/\">The Good News About Marriage<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/the-good-news-about-marriage-2\/embed\/#?secret=fbGNAgAAdT\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;The Good News About Marriage&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"fbGNAgAAdT\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n"},"spectra_custom_meta":{"_wp_page_template":["default"],"transcript_url":["https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2019-05-28.pdf"],"audio_file":["https:\/\/web.familylifetoday.com\/fl2019-05-28.mp3"],"transcript_content":["<strong>Bob: <\/strong>At some point in your life, you\u2019ve undoubtedly heard somebody talk about the divorce rate being 50 percent\u2014that 50 percent of marriages end in divorce. Researcher and author, Shaunti Feldhahn, says that number just isn\u2019t true.\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> There was this one article that was <em>heavily<\/em> quoted\u2014that quotes Dr. Jennifer Baker as saying that there is a 50 percent first-marriage divorce rate, 60 percent second-marriage, 72 percent third-marriage. A lot of people have used that, so we contacted Dr. Baker. She wrote us back an email, in all capital letters; [Laughter] and it was one line: \u201cTHAT\u2019S NOT ME; I NEVER SAID THAT; I\u2019VE BEEN TRYING TO GET THEM TO TAKE MY NAME OFF THAT WEBSITE FOR YEARS.\u201d It was an urban legend.\n\n<strong>Bob: <\/strong>This is <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> for Tuesday, May 28<sup>th<\/sup>. Our hosts are Dave and Ann Wilson; I'm Bob Lepine. So what\u2019s the real story on what\u2019s happening with marriage in our world and in our nation? We\u2019re going to hear some <em>good<\/em> news about marriage today from author and researcher, Shaunti Feldhahn. Stay with us.\n\nAnd welcome to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>. Thanks for joining us. So we\u2019re going to hear a conversation between two friends of yours today\u2014Ron Deal and Shaunti Feldhahn. You\u2019ve hung out with both of those guys; right?\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> Yes; we have a little bit\u2014mostly\/more with Ron.\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> I <em>love<\/em> Shaunti.\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> Everything she writes we read because it\u2019s based on research.\n\n<strong>Ann: <\/strong>Yes.\n\n<strong>Dave: <\/strong>She\u2019s presenting stuff that you can\u2019t refute\u2014it\u2019s like: \u201cThere it is\u2014it\u2019s in black and white.\u201d\n\n<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Well, she wrote a book, a while back, where she was talking about how we get the research <em>wrong<\/em> when it comes to marriage. She sat down with Ron Deal for Episode 3 of his new podcast, which is called <em>FamilyLife Blended<\/em><sup>\u00ae<\/sup>. They had a conversation about \u201cWhat is the reality?\u201d\u2014because we\u2019ve all heard, for years, that the divorce rate is\n\n50 percent\u201450 percent of people who get married get divorced. That\u2019s not the case; but it\u2019s been kind of misinterpreted, as we\u2019ll hear them explain.\n\nOf course, in the area of FamilyLife Blended<sup>\u00ae<\/sup>, this helps us know how many people are in blended marriages and blended families; because the reality is\u2014more and more people are in blended marriages or blended families, even though the divorce rate is actually going down. We\u2019re going to hear more about that as we listen to this excerpt from Ron\u2019s conversation with Shaunti Feldhahn on the <em>FamilyLife Blended<\/em> podcast.\n\n[Podcast]\n\n<strong>Ron: <\/strong>The narrative about the 50 percent divorce rate stat is discouraging people\/it\u2019s limiting them\u2014it sends them down the road of, \u201cWell, what\u2019s the point?\u201d and so they lose their energy and their desire to do hard. Even beyond that, you quote in your book, <em>The Good News About Marriage<\/em>, Dr. Scott Stanley, who\u2019s one of our buddies and favorite researchers out there in the marriage world. He says this, \u201cSome of the myths today about the risks of marriage lead to very bad behaviors that decrease the odds of a marriage succeeding.\u201d\n\nIt\u2019s not just\u2014\u201cI get discouraged about the idea or the institution of marriage, so I avoid it all together,\u201d or \u201cIf I\u2018m married, I just kind of give up.\u201d If I\u2019m married, Scott says that negative attitude about it <em>leads<\/em> me to then make choices and <em>do<\/em> things that make my marriage worse. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy!\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> Exactly. It\u2019s interesting\u2014one of the things, when I started seeing\u2014not just that the regular first marriage stats were better than we thought\u2014but that <em>remarriage<\/em> stats were better than what people thought. You know, there\u2019s differences of opinion on what those are but that they\u2019re better than what we think.\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> Right; right.\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> It\u2019s interesting\u2014I was sharing this with one of my best friends. She had been a single mom for ten or twelve years\u2014difficult\/difficult situation and was just about to get remarried. When she saw what I was finding in the statistics, she kind of\u2014it was interesting\u2014she, eventually, sent me an email. I, actually, asked her to read a first draft of the chapter on remarriage.\n\nShe said: \u201cFirst of all, it\u2019s blowing my mind. But secondly, I realized I was about to approach this new marriage all wrong.\u201d She said, \u201cIn my mind, I love this guy\u2014he\u2019s a strong Christian man; he\u2019s amazing; he\u2019s going to make a great step-dad to my kids. But\u201d\u2014this is what she said\u2014 \u201c\u2019knowing\u2019\u201d\u2014in quotes\u2014\u201cthere was a 60 percent chance of me getting divorced again from him, it would be foolish for me to not take steps to protect myself. I have to protect my children.\u201d\n\nShe said, \u201cI was going to have a bank account on the side and sort of have this sort of self-protective thing in my heart and in my finances; because knowing that it probably wouldn\u2019t work, I would be foolish not to.\u201d She said, \u201cKnowing that, statistically, I would be unusual if the second marriage didn\u2019t work\u2014knowing that that would be unusual\u2014I can be all in\u2014I can <em>expect<\/em> it to work. I don\u2019t have to protect myself, because\u201d\u2014she said\u2014\u201cprotecting yourself like that builds a wall\u2014\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> It does.\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> \u2014\u201cand causes the problems you\u2019re trying to protect yourself from.\u201d\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> The irony there is more research\u2014the one study I did participate in with Dr. David Olson\u2014we wrote a book called <em>The Smart Stepfamily Marriage<\/em>\u2014one of the things that we found is that guardedness and the fear of another breakup\u2014which is exactly what your friend had, going in, because she thought 60 percent of all stepfamily couples are going to divorce\u2014that that guardedness and fear leads to negativity, that cascades throughout the relationship, that actually <em>does<\/em> contribute to a less-satisfying marriage and higher risks of divorce. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy\n\nBut when you go all in, you begin to do the things that love would call you to do. That is a game-changer when you say, \u201cI\u2019m all in,\u201d\u2014you stop self-protecting. Here\u2019s a way I like to say it, \u201cWhen I\u2019m protecting <em>me<\/em> from <em>you<\/em>, there cannot be an <em>us<\/em>.\u201d I <em>limit<\/em> our ability to find intimacy\u2014to fully engage one another\/to give everything that we need to give.\n\nThere are moments where marriage is hard. There\u2019s great joy in a marriage relationship, but it always requires more of me than I want to give\u2014[Laughter]\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> Yes.\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> \u2014that\u2019s the discipleship aspect of marriage.\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> Right.\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> When I get to that moment\u2014if I\u2019m all in\u2014I find a way to do the sacrifice: to look deeply at myself or to love the way Jesus is calling me to love. But if I\u2019m guarded, then I find the easy way out\u2014I do the self-protective thing. That is a game-changer on the direction of your relationship.\n\nNow, at one point, when you were in the middle of this project, you called me; and we talked. I don\u2019t know if you remember this or not.\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> Yes! I totally, 100 percent, remember this.\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> Well, first of all, I need to say, \u201cThank you for that phone call\u201d; because I just happened to be doing the revised and expanded update edition of <em>The Smart Stepfamily<\/em>, and I changed my numbers. If people read <em>The Smart Stepfamily<\/em> today, it\u2019s\u00a0 got some Shaunti fingerprints on it; [Laughter] and I appreciate that so much.\n\nWhen we talked, I said to you: \u201cNow, Shaunti, you are walking into some deep waters with all of this. There\u2019s going to be a bunch of academics that come at you <em>hard<\/em> if you come back and say the divorce rate is not 50 percent. You better talk to everybody who\u2019s doing the research\/has done the research\u2014and not just comment on them\u2014but you ought to, actually, speak to them and run this by them, and get their feedback, and hear more of the background that went into their research.\u201d\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> You gave me a list\u2014\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> I did.\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> \u2014because I had been talking to <em>other<\/em> people. You were like: \u201cHere are the people that are in the stepfamily world. You need to talk to these people.\u201d\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> That\u2019s right. To your credit, you talked to those folks; you talked to other folks and you went in and dug deep. I think that\u2019s huge.\n\nThe listener, who\u2019s sitting here, going, \u201cMan, this just can\u2019t be true; I\u2019ve heard this my entire life,\u201d\u2014just know that you went and you, actually, talked to those researchers and academics.\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> Yes.\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> Were there any interesting stories that came out of your conversations? [Laughter]\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> Well, the funniest one\u2014because this is one of the most-quoted citations for the 60 percent and 72 percent divorce rates\u2014<em>Psychology Today<\/em>.\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> \u2014which I should tell the listener is a popular magazine, written by psychologists; but yet, it\u2019s meant for the public.\n\n<strong>Shaunti: <\/strong>Correct. It is supposed to be heavily based on research; it\u2019s supposed to be something that the public can trust. I\u2019m sure a lot of their articles can be trusted; right? It just happened to be that there was this one article, that was <em>heavily<\/em> quoted in this world of the divorce rate, that quotes Dr. Jennifer Baker, who is a very well-known researcher at the Forest Institute in Missouri. It quotes Jennifer Baker as saying that there is a 50 percent first-marriage divorce rate, 60 percent second-marriage, 72 percent third-marriage.\n\nWe contacted Dr. Baker and said, \u201cCan we get ahold of your study so that we can look at it?\u201d\u2014because that was what we had been doing on all of them\u2014was looking at the <em>actual<\/em> study, not the news reports. She wrote us back an email in all capital letters. [Laughter]\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> \u2014all caps?\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> \u2014all caps the whole email; and it was one line: \u201cTHAT\u2019S NOT ME; I NEVER SAID THAT; I\u2019VE BEEN TRYING TO GET THEM TO TAKE MY NAME OFF THAT WEBSITE FOR YEARS.\u201d\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> Wow!\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> It was an urban legend.\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> That was all pre-social media. [Laughter] Let me just say to our listeners: \u201cToday, it\u2019s even worse\u2014the stuff you will hear. I think there is more bad news about marriage and the institution of marriage than ever before. There\u2019s good news about the bad news about marriage\u2014it\u2019s not true.\u201d\n\nYes; there are marriages that end in divorce\u2014it is a lower number than most people\u2014so what are the numbers? I think 31 percent is a <em>current<\/em> divorce rate\/an actual divorce rate\u2014something like that.\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> \u2014ish. It just sort of depends\u2014you can make a case for 25 [percent]; you can make a case for 35 [percent]\u2014but there are some numbers that sort of circle around that 30 percent. It is <em>falling<\/em> because the highest-risk marriages today are the Baby Boomer generation. That generation is passing away, and the younger generation marriages that are coming on board have dramatically lower divorce rates.\n\nThe Baby Boomers\u2014by the time they had been married 10 years, they already had a relatively high divorce rate; because of that 1970s thing. The Millennials\u2014by the time they\u2019d been married\/those who have been married 10 years\u2014have a much, much lower divorce rate. The population that\u2019s coming in\u2014that is <em>replacing<\/em> the high-divorce rates with the low-divorce rates\u2014that societal, overall, number is falling.\n\n<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> Let\u2019s talk about Christians for a minute.\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> Yes.\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> A little while ago, I asked you, when you talked to the researchers, were there any surprising stories. There\u2019s a number out there\u2014people have heard\/I\u2019ve heard it in church, I don\u2019t know how many times\u2014that the divorce rate among Christians is exactly the same\u2014came from a study by George Barna and the Barna Group. Did you talk to them?\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> Yes; oh, yes. [Laughter]\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> What\u2019s the story?\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> It turns out that that\u2019s a big misunderstanding. It\u2019s actually based on a belief that Barna found something he didn\u2019t actually find. We hear pastors\u2014and I used to say this; okay?\u2014I\u2019m not knocking pastors; I used to say this as well: \u201cThe rate of divorce is the same in the church,\u201d\u2014and it\u2019s <em>not<\/em>.\n\nBarna didn\u2019t find that it was the same in the church, because he wasn\u2019t <em>studying<\/em> people in the church. He was studying belief systems\u2014so people, who you call them on the phone, and they say they think a Christian way, or a Jewish way, or an atheist way\u2014those people have the same divorce rates. But he specifically <em>excluded<\/em> whether they went to church from the analysis.\n\nI partnered with Barna, and I bought that same data set. We re-ran all the numbers; but with that one factor added in of: \u201cWas the person in church last week?\u201d We found, if the person was in church last week, the divorce rate dropped by 27 percent\u2014that was a study that wasn\u2019t even trying to get at that. When you look at the studies that have been trying to get at \u201cWhat is the divorce rate amongst people who attend church regularly?\u201d\u2014where church is a part of their life or their faith is a part of their life\u2014the divorce rate plummets\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> Has there been any other research?\u2014maybe even something recently?\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> Yes; about a year\u2014I want to say about a year-and-a-half ago, there was a Harvard study that found the divorce rate drops 47 percent.\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> \u2014when they are engaged in some activity?\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> \u2014just going to church.\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> What\u2019s the meta-message here is: \u201cLiving the Christian life is different than just claiming a belief.\u201d Basing your life and having activity in your life that is representative of your faith\u2014things that we could measure\u2014like prayer\/things like attending church as an outward sign of something that\u2019s going on inside you\u2014helps us distinguish between people who would just call themselves Christians and people who actually try to live a Christian life. When we do that, the divorce rate comes down considerably from those who don\u2019t hold that faith and don\u2019t live based on that faith. Is that right?\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> Yes; it is true. Just so you know, Ron\u2014I think you already knew this\u2014but amongst demographers, when you talk about the divorce rate, you\u2019re going to hear everything under the sun. There\u2019s a lot of controversy\u2014nobody agrees; you know, whatever. On <em>this<\/em>, there\u2019s no controversy. Every demographer <em>knows<\/em> that this is true; it\u2019s just that every Christian <em>doesn\u2019t<\/em>\u2014they\u2019ve all been, unnecessarily, discouraged.\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> Here\u2019s my commentary on this. I mean, tell me what you think. It seems to me, first of all, that the divorce rate among people of faith <em>should<\/em> be lower.\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> Yes; one would hope! [Laughter]\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> One would hope. If Jesus offers us anything that makes a difference in our life, and we actually obey and follow, it should make a difference; and sure enough, it does. I love that even secular research has supported that.\n\nWhat we do have to talk a little bit about is the difference between belief and activity; right? There are people, who go to church and are kind of spectator Christians; they\u2019re not interested in actually <em>living<\/em> the Christian life. They\u2019re just wanting to be around it and punch their clock and go to church. But when conviction moves us towards obedience, it <em>does<\/em> make a difference in our relationships.\n\nAre there things that you would recommend to couples that they <em>do<\/em>\u2014that, again, are outwardly signs of the conviction in their heart?\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> Yes; <em>all<\/em> of those things are going to matter. There\u2019s no one magic bullet; because if you look at every conceivable research study, they are all over the map\u2014like: \u201cWhat matters the most\u2026\u201d\n\nThe key is, essentially, \u201cAre you trying to listen to God and put Him at the center of your marriage?\u201d I mean\u2014because that will mean, for some couples, praying together. \u201cAre there other things?\u201d\u2014yes; individually\u2014I would say\u2014if you\u2019re <em>trying<\/em> to keep your own relationship with the Lord, front and center, and trying to put it in your marriage relationship in some way, then you are going to try to put the other person first. You\u2019re going to do things that are different than somebody, who doesn\u2019t have the power of the Holy Spirit working in you, and working on your conscience, and helping you and giving you strength when you don\u2019t have it in your own self.\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> By the way, I do think it\u2019s important that we get the direction of this right. One of my colleagues, here, at FamilyLife<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> shared with me recently\u2014he just put this very poignantly\u2014he said: \u201cYou know, God didn\u2019t give us faith for marriage. He gave us marriage for faith.\u201d\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> That\u2019s good.\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> Marriage is helping us become more Christ-like. There\u2019s nothing wrong with saying, \u201cBoy, I want to be like Jesus,\u201d and \u201cWhat\u2019s my personal walk with Jesus and how\u2019s that impacting my marriage?\u201d but marriage is not the ultimate there. The ultimate is to become more Christ like\/to follow in the footsteps of our Savior.\n\nEven the hard things in marriage are shaping us, are molding us\/refining us into the image of Christ. It invites us\u2014it\u2019s a two-way street. You know, the hard things in my marriage\u2014I have to go: \u201cWhat am I going to do? This is driving me crazy!\u201d I have this little conversation with the Lord: \u201cOkay; what have You told me to do? [Laughter] Alright; I need to look first at myself. I need to wrestle with who I am and how I\u2019ve been in this situation,\u201d and \u201cHow do I bring some truth and love to what I\u2019m really feeling?\u201d and \u201cHow do I present my struggle with what\u2019s going on with my marriage to my wife in a way that\u2019s palatable, and gentle, and patient rather than full of anger, and rage, and retaliation?\u201d\n\nThat whole internal dialogue with God is teaching me to be like Christ and, at the same time, helping me be a husband.\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> Well, it is going to come out as the fruits of the Spirit; right?\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> Yes; yes.\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> For me, I know myself\u2014you\u2019ve known me for quite a few years\u2014I am a pretty strong, opinionated personality.\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> Really? [Laughter] I would\u2019ve never guessed.\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> You would\u2019ve never guessed\u2014neither would Jeff! [Laughter] My personality is such that, in my own self\u2014if Jeff says something that hurts my feelings\u2014oh boy, he\u2019s going to <em>know<\/em> about it\u2014like I am going to come back with a biting comment; I\u2019m going to say something that is going to hurt his feelings <em>back<\/em>.\n\nBut one of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control. That, for me, is an example of that marriage tension\u2014whatever\u2019s going on with me and Jeff\u2014being used by God\/by the power of the Holy Spirit to help me to just <em>shut up<\/em> and not say something that, five minutes later, I\u2019m going to go, \u201cDarn, that hurt his feelings; and it just put us on a downward spiral, and there was no point.\u201d That\u2019s a fruit of the Spirit\u2014that God is trying to build in me for every area\u2014and He\u2019s using my marriage to do it.\n\n[Studio]\n\n<strong>Bob: <\/strong>Well, again, we\u2019ve just heard a portion of Ron Deal\u2019s conversation with Shaunti Feldhahn. If you want to hear the entire conversation, you should subscribe to Ron\u2019s podcast, which is called <em>FamilyLife Blended<\/em>. You can go to FamilyLifeToday.com. This is actually Episode 3, and we just heard a portion of it. She wrote a book called <em>The Good News About Marriage<\/em>, and there is a lot of good news. We hear the bad news, but the research\/the statistics show there are some good trends when it comes to marriage in our culture today.\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> And that feels hopeful; because it seems like, over the years, the news has been very <em>bleak<\/em> about marriage. I think people are afraid to step into it.\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> Yes; I think, when you hear bad news, it\u2019s sort of self-fulfilling. You sort of give up easier. When you hear good news, you\u2019re like :\u201cI\u2019m going to fight for this. Other couples are fighting for it. The divorce rate isn\u2019t as high as we thought. Let\u2019s win this thing and let\u2019s be one of those that make it.\u201d\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> I think one of the most hopeful things I\u2019ve seen with Millennials is they\u2019re trying to get help before they get married. They\u2019re trying to <em>invest<\/em> in their relationship and learn the \u201chow to\u2019s\u201d so they don\u2019t make the same mistakes, maybe, that their parents have made.\n\n<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Yes; we\u2019re seeing that with the number of Millennial couples, who are coming to <em>Weekend to Remember<\/em><sup>\u00ae<\/sup> marriage getaways, and there are encouraging signs. In fact, I\u2019d encourage our listeners to hear the entire conversation between Ron and Shaunti. It\u2019s really revealing; and as I said, it\u2019s encouraging. You\u2019ll find out as you listen to the entire interview why Shaunti disagrees with the projections that some demographers are making about where the divorce rate is headed. She talks about why she thinks Millennials are having a lower divorce rate than their parents or grandparents did.\n\nAgain, go to FamilyLifeToday.com to listen to the entire conversation. This is a part of Ron Deal\u2019s <em>FamilyLife Blended<\/em> podcast, which is part of the FamilyLife Podcast Network. If you\u2019re looking for some great new podcasts to subscribe to\u2014to download to your phone and have available anytime you want to listen to them\u2014<em>FamilyLife Blended<\/em> with Ron Deal, <em>Unfavorable Odds<\/em> with Kim Anthony, the new <em>Married with Benefits<\/em> podcast with Brian Goins <em>and<\/em> Shaunti Feldhahn\u2014all of those are available. You can subscribe and find out more when you go to FamilyLifeToday.com.\n\nBy the way, there\u2019s information there about Shaunti\u2019s book, <em>The Good News About Marriage,<\/em> which is a book we\u2019ve got in our <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> Resource Center. You can order that book from us online as well. Once again, the website is FamilyLifeToday.com. If we can help you with anything, or if you\u2019d like to order the book by phone, call 1-800-358-6329\u2014that\u2019s 1-800-\u201cF\u201d as in family, \u201cL\u201d as in life, and then the word, \u201cTODAY.\u201d\n\nOne more quick note: Coming up in October, Ron Deal is going to be hosting the <em>2019 Summit on Stepfamily Ministry<\/em> in Chesapeake, Virginia\u2014in the Norfolk area\u2014dealing with the issue of stepfamilies in crisis. There\u2019s more information about that upcoming <em>Summit on Stepfamily <\/em>[<em>Ministry<\/em>]. You\u2019ll find it on our website at FamilyLifeToday.com.\n\nNow, we are in the final week of the month. This is a significant time for us, because many of you know about the matching gift that has been made available to FamilyLife. We\u2019re hoping to take full advantage of that matching gift this week. If we\u2019re going to do that, we need to hear from listeners to make either a onetime donation or to become a monthly Legacy Partner.\n\nDavid Robbins, who\u2019s the President of FamilyLife, is here with me. This is an important week for us.\n\n<strong>David:<\/strong> Yes, it is; because when people partner with us, it enables us to keep living out the mission of what FamilyLife has always been called to do and what we want to keep doing in the future.\n\nI got an email this week\u2014I think I passed it on to you, Bob\u2014it was a good one. This guy said:\n\nHey David, I\u2019ve been working with a couple in my small group, whose marriage is hanging on by a thread. The husband is in unrepentant sin, but I have great relationship capital with him. I confronted him once, myself, back in February about his unrepentance.\n\nLast week, I took another guy in my group and we met with him. Going into it, I was unsure of what to say until I listened to the <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> episode on lies men believe about sexuality. It was a game-changer. I played the podcast version with all three of us. We listened to it together; my friend broke down. The episode gave me <em>perfect<\/em> language to use with this guy. The confrontation couldn\u2019t have gone better.\n\nMy friend invited us in, and he has a meeting with his pastor this week. I\u2019m not sure what will happen yet, but I know it is no coincidence I listen to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>. Thanks for giving me tools to minister to my friend.\n\nSo when you partner with us\u2014not only are we bringing help and hope into your own life,\u00a0 we pray and hope\u2014but also, it provides tools and resources for all of us to be ambassadors of Christ and to take His hope and who Jesus is to the world around us.\n\n<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Well, and as we said, May is a strategic month for your help; because we\u2019ve had some friends of the ministry, who have made available this matching-gift fund\u2014$645,000. We need to take full advantage of that this week, so we\u2019re asking listeners: \u201cEither make a one-time donation or become one of our monthly Legacy Partners and agree to make monthly donations over the next 12 months.\u201d In either case, your donations are going to be matched, dollar for dollar. If you become a Legacy Partner, all of your donations for the next 12 months will be matched, dollar for dollar, until the fund is gone.\n\n<em>And<\/em> if you become a Legacy Partner, we\u2019ll send <em>you<\/em> a gift card so that you, or a couple you know, can attend an upcoming <em>Weekend to Remember<\/em><sup>\u00ae<\/sup> marriage getaway as our guests. We\u2019ll cover the registration fee as a way of saying \u201cThank you for joining with us as one of our Legacy Partners.\u201d If you have any questions about that, or if you\u2019d like to become a Legacy Partner by phone, call 1-800-FL-TODAY. You can also sign up or make a donation, online, at FamilyLifeToday.com.\n\nNow, tomorrow, we\u2019re going to talk about what differentiates marriages that are going well from marriages that are struggling. Chip Ingram is going to join us to talk about marriages that work. We\u2019ll spend some time in Ephesians, Chapter 5, with him. I hope you can join us for that.\n\nI want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, along with our entire broadcast production team. On behalf of our hosts, Dave and Ann Wilson, I\u2019m Bob Lepine. We will see you back next time for another edition of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\n\n<em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas; a Cru<sup>\u00ae <\/sup>Ministry. Help for today. Hope for tomorrow.\n\n<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\nWe are so happy to provide these transcripts to you. However, there is a cost to produce them for our website. If you\u2019ve benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/donate\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?\n\nCopyright <sup>\u00a9<\/sup> 2019 FamilyLife. All rights reserved.\n\n<a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/\">www.FamilyLife.com<\/a>\n\n1"],"_seopress_titles_title":[""],"_seopress_titles_desc":[""],"_seopress_robots_index":[""],"duration":["00:29:30"],"show_notes":[""],"_thumbnail_id":["294104"],"filesize":["27.03M"],"filesize_raw":["28338013"],"_uag_css_file_name":["uag-css-305047.css"],"_uag_js_file_name":["uag-js-305047.js"],"_uag_page_assets":["a:9:{s:3:\"css\";s:82560:\".wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-e11dbe9f .uagb-container__shape-top svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-e11dbe9f .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-top .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-e11dbe9f .uagb-container__shape-bottom svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-e11dbe9f .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-bottom .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-e11dbe9f .uagb-container__video-wrap video{opacity: 1;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-e11dbe9f{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-e11dbe9f > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1320px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;flex-direction: column;align-items: center;justify-content: center;flex-wrap: nowrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-e11dbe9f{box-shadow: 0px 0px   #00000070 ;padding-top: 3em;padding-bottom: 3em;padding-left: 1.5em;padding-right: 1.5em;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;overflow: visible;order: initial;border-color: inherit;background-color: #f8f8f8;;}@media only screen and (max-width: 976px) {.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-e11dbe9f{width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-e11dbe9f > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1024px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-e11dbe9f{padding-top: 3px;padding-bottom: 3px;padding-left: 1.5px;padding-right: 1.5px;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;background-color: #f8f8f8;;}}@media only screen and (max-width: 767px) {.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-e11dbe9f{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-e11dbe9f > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 767px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;flex-wrap: wrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-e11dbe9f{padding-top: 3px;padding-bottom: 3px;padding-left: 1.5px;padding-right: 1.5px;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;background-color: #f8f8f8;;}}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-85559158 .uagb-container__shape-top svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-85559158 .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-top .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-85559158 .uagb-container__shape-bottom svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-85559158 .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-bottom .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-85559158 .uagb-container__video-wrap video{opacity: 1;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-85559158{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-85559158 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 960px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;flex-direction: column;align-items: center;justify-content: center;flex-wrap: nowrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-85559158{box-shadow: 0px 0px   #00000070 ;padding-top: 0px;padding-bottom: 0px;padding-left: 10px;padding-right: 10px;margin-top: 60px !important;margin-bottom: 60px !important;margin-left: 0px;margin-right: 0px;overflow: visible;order: initial;border-color: inherit;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ea16301a .uagb-container__shape-top svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ea16301a .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-top .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ea16301a .uagb-container__shape-bottom svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ea16301a .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-bottom .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ea16301a .uagb-container__video-wrap video{opacity: 1;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-ea16301a{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-ea16301a > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1320px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ea16301a.uagb-layout-grid > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{row-gap: 40px;column-gap: 40px;grid-template-columns: minmax( 1px, 1fr)  minmax( 1px, 1fr) ;grid-template-rows: minmax( 1px, 1fr) ;align-items: start;justify-items: stretch;align-content: stretch;justify-content: stretch;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ea16301a{box-shadow: 0px 0px   #00000070 ;padding-top: 0px;padding-bottom: 0px;padding-left: 0px;padding-right: 0px;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;overflow: visible;order: initial;border-color: inherit;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ea16301a.wp-block-uagb-container > *:not( .wp-block-uagb-column ):not( .wp-block-uagb-section ):not( .uagb-container__shape ):not( .uagb-container__video-wrap ):not( .uagb-slider-container ):not( .spectra-container-link-overlay ):not(.spectra-image-gallery__control-lightbox):not(.wp-block-uagb-lottie):not(.uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap){width: auto !important;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ea16301a.wp-block-uagb-container > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap > *:not( .wp-block-uagb-column ):not( .wp-block-uagb-section ):not( .uagb-container__shape ):not( .uagb-container__video-wrap ):not( .uagb-slider-container ):not(.spectra-image-gallery__control-lightbox){width: auto !important;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-26ccc5c9 .uagb-container__shape-top svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-26ccc5c9 .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-top .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-26ccc5c9 .uagb-container__shape-bottom svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-26ccc5c9 .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-bottom .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-26ccc5c9 .uagb-container__video-wrap video{opacity: 1;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-26ccc5c9{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-26ccc5c9 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1320px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;flex-direction: column;align-items: center;justify-content: flex-start;flex-wrap: nowrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-26ccc5c9{min-height: 710px;box-shadow: 3px 7px 7px -1px rgba(0,0,0,0.15) ;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;overflow: visible;order: initial;border-color: inherit;background-color: #ffffff;;flex-direction: column;align-items: center;justify-content: flex-start;flex-wrap: nowrap;align-self: start;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-84f50fa3 .uagb-container__shape-top svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-84f50fa3 .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-top .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-84f50fa3 .uagb-container__shape-bottom svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-84f50fa3 .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-bottom .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-84f50fa3 .uagb-container__video-wrap video{opacity: 1;background: url(https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/07\/Grow-with-your-family_545x307.jpg) 50% 50%;;background-size: cover;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-84f50fa3{max-width: 100vw;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-84f50fa3 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1320px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;flex-direction: column;align-items: center;justify-content: center;flex-wrap: nowrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-84f50fa3{min-height: 250px;box-shadow: 0px 0px   #00000070 ;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;overflow: visible;order: initial;border-color: inherit;background-repeat: no-repeat;background-position: 50% 50%;background-size: cover;background-attachment: scroll;background-image: url(https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2025\/03\/Grow-with-your-family_545x307.webp);background-clip: padding-box;flex-direction: column;align-items: center;justify-content: center;flex-wrap: nowrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-271bf38d .uagb-container__shape-top svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-271bf38d .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-top .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-271bf38d .uagb-container__shape-bottom svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-271bf38d .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-bottom .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-271bf38d .uagb-container__video-wrap video{opacity: 1;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-271bf38d{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-271bf38d > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1320px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;flex-direction: column;align-items: center;justify-content: center;flex-wrap: nowrap;row-gap: 40px;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-271bf38d{box-shadow: 0px 0px   #00000070 ;padding-top: 20px;padding-bottom: 40px;padding-left: 40px;padding-right: 40px;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;overflow: visible;order: initial;border-color: inherit;flex-direction: column;align-items: center;justify-content: center;flex-wrap: nowrap;row-gap: 40px;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ab8d0982 .uagb-container__shape-top svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ab8d0982 .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-top .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ab8d0982 .uagb-container__shape-bottom svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ab8d0982 .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-bottom .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ab8d0982 .uagb-container__video-wrap video{opacity: 1;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-ab8d0982{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-ab8d0982 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1320px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ab8d0982.uagb-layout-grid{row-gap: 8px;column-gap: 8px;grid-template-columns: auto  minmax( 1px, 1fr) ;grid-template-rows: minmax( 1px, 1fr) ;align-items: stretch;justify-items: stretch;align-content: stretch;justify-content: stretch;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ab8d0982{box-shadow: 0px 0px   #00000070 ;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;overflow: visible;order: initial;border-color: inherit;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ab8d0982.wp-block-uagb-container > *:not( .wp-block-uagb-column ):not( .wp-block-uagb-section ):not( .uagb-container__shape ):not( .uagb-container__video-wrap ):not( .uagb-slider-container ):not( .spectra-container-link-overlay ):not(.spectra-image-gallery__control-lightbox):not(.wp-block-uagb-lottie):not(.uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap){width: auto !important;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ab8d0982.wp-block-uagb-container > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap > *:not( .wp-block-uagb-column ):not( .wp-block-uagb-section ):not( .uagb-container__shape ):not( .uagb-container__video-wrap ):not( .uagb-slider-container ):not(.spectra-image-gallery__control-lightbox){width: auto !important;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-d4c1a7e3.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading .uagb-heading-text{color: #25282a;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-d4c1a7e3.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading .uagb-desc-text{margin-bottom: 15px;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-d4c1a7e3.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading .uagb-highlight{font-style: normal;font-weight: Default;background: #007cba;color: #fff;-webkit-text-fill-color: #fff;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-d4c1a7e3.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading .uagb-highlight::-moz-selection{color: #fff;background: #007cba;-webkit-text-fill-color: #fff;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-d4c1a7e3.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading .uagb-highlight::selection{color: #fff;background: #007cba;-webkit-text-fill-color: #fff;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-d4c1a7e3 .uagb-heading-text{font-weight: 300;font-size: 16px;}.uagb-block-f9d54988.wp-block-uagb-separator{text-align: left;}.uagb-block-f9d54988.wp-block-uagb-separator--text .wp-block-uagb-separator-element .uagb-html-tag{font-style: normal;line-height: 1em;}.uagb-block-f9d54988 .uagb-separator-spacing-wrapper{padding-top: 4px;padding-bottom: 4px;}.uagb-block-f9d54988.wp-block-uagb-separator:not(.wp-block-uagb-separator--text):not(.wp-block-uagb-separator--icon) .wp-block-uagb-separator__inner{-webkit-mask-size: 5px 100%;border-top-width: 3px;width: 100%;border-top-color: #eabe5e;border-top-style: solid;margin-top: 5px;margin-bottom: 5px;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-3208cc36.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading .uagb-heading-text{color: #006a5a;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-3208cc36.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading .uagb-desc-text{margin-bottom: 15px;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-3208cc36.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading .uagb-highlight{font-style: normal;font-weight: Default;background: #007cba;color: #fff;-webkit-text-fill-color: #fff;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-3208cc36.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading .uagb-highlight::-moz-selection{color: #fff;background: #007cba;-webkit-text-fill-color: #fff;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-3208cc36.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading .uagb-highlight::selection{color: #fff;background: #007cba;-webkit-text-fill-color: #fff;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-3208cc36 .uagb-heading-text{font-weight: 400;font-size: 26px;line-height: 1.2em;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-cbb8c5bd .uagb-icon-list__source-image{width: 18px;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-cbb8c5bd .wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap svg{width: 18px;height: 18px;font-size: 18px;color: #1573a2;fill: #1573a2;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-cbb8c5bd .wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap{padding: 0px;border-radius: 0px;border-width: 0px;align-self: center;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-cbb8c5bd .wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child .uagb-icon-list__label{font-size: 20px;text-decoration: !important;line-height: em;color: #1573a2;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-cbb8c5bd .uagb-icon-list__wrap{display: flex;flex-direction: column;justify-content: center;-webkit-box-pack: center;-ms-flex-pack: center;-webkit-box-align: flex-start;-ms-flex-align: flex-start;align-items: flex-start;padding-top: 0px;padding-right: 0px;padding-bottom: 0px;padding-left: 0px;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-cbb8c5bd .uagb-icon-list__label{text-align: left;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-cbb8c5bd .wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child{text-decoration: !important;font-size: 20px;line-height: em;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-cbb8c5bd.wp-block-uagb-icon-list .wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child{margin-left: 0;margin-right: 0;margin-bottom: 24px;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-cbb8c5bd .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap{margin-left: 15px;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-cbb8c5bd .wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child {flex-direction: row-reverse;}.uagb-block-fdd052c2.wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap{background:  !important;border-color:  !important;}.uagb-block-fdd052c2.wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child:hover .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap{background:  !important;border-color:  !important;}.uagb-block-679dc0da.wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap{background:  !important;border-color:  !important;}.uagb-block-679dc0da.wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child:hover .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap{background:  !important;border-color:  !important;}.uagb-block-fbb8dca6.wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap{background:  !important;border-color:  !important;}.uagb-block-fbb8dca6.wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child:hover .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap{background:  !important;border-color:  !important;}.uagb-block-b5e9a44d.wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap{background:  !important;border-color:  !important;}.uagb-block-b5e9a44d.wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child:hover .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap{background:  !important;border-color:  !important;}.uagb-block-10525170.wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap{background:  !important;border-color:  !important;}.uagb-block-10525170.wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child:hover .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap{background:  !important;border-color:  !important;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-48a597f8 .uagb-container__shape-top svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-48a597f8 .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-top .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-48a597f8 .uagb-container__shape-bottom svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-48a597f8 .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-bottom .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-48a597f8 .uagb-container__video-wrap video{opacity: 1;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-48a597f8{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-48a597f8 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1320px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;flex-direction: column;align-items: center;justify-content: flex-start;flex-wrap: nowrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-48a597f8{min-height: 710px;box-shadow: 3px 7px 7px -1px rgba(0,0,0,0.15) ;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;overflow: visible;order: initial;border-color: inherit;background-color: #ffffff;;flex-direction: column;align-items: center;justify-content: flex-start;flex-wrap: nowrap;align-self: start;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-22a41c70 .uagb-container__shape-top svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-22a41c70 .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-top .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-22a41c70 .uagb-container__shape-bottom svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-22a41c70 .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-bottom .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-22a41c70 .uagb-container__video-wrap video{opacity: 1;background: url(https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/07\/Grow-with-your-family_545x307.jpg) 50% 50%;;background-size: cover;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-22a41c70{max-width: 100vw;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-22a41c70 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1320px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;flex-direction: column;align-items: center;justify-content: center;flex-wrap: nowrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-22a41c70{min-height: 250px;box-shadow: 0px 0px   #00000070 ;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;overflow: visible;order: initial;border-color: inherit;background-repeat: no-repeat;background-position: 50% 50%;background-size: cover;background-attachment: scroll;background-image: url(https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2025\/03\/HelpFamiliesGrow2.webp);background-clip: padding-box;flex-direction: column;align-items: center;justify-content: center;flex-wrap: nowrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-562935bf .uagb-container__shape-top svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-562935bf .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-top .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-562935bf .uagb-container__shape-bottom svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-562935bf .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-bottom .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-562935bf .uagb-container__video-wrap video{opacity: 1;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-562935bf{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-562935bf > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1320px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;flex-direction: column;align-items: center;justify-content: center;flex-wrap: nowrap;row-gap: 40px;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-562935bf{box-shadow: 0px 0px   #00000070 ;padding-top: 20px;padding-bottom: 40px;padding-left: 40px;padding-right: 40px;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;overflow: visible;order: initial;border-color: inherit;flex-direction: column;align-items: center;justify-content: center;flex-wrap: nowrap;row-gap: 40px;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-5a1442f2 .uagb-container__shape-top svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-5a1442f2 .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-top .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-5a1442f2 .uagb-container__shape-bottom svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-5a1442f2 .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-bottom .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-5a1442f2 .uagb-container__video-wrap video{opacity: 1;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-5a1442f2{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-5a1442f2 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1320px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-5a1442f2.uagb-layout-grid{row-gap: 8px;column-gap: 8px;grid-template-columns: auto  minmax( 1px, 1fr) ;grid-template-rows: minmax( 1px, 1fr) ;align-items: stretch;justify-items: stretch;align-content: stretch;justify-content: stretch;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-5a1442f2{box-shadow: 0px 0px   #00000070 ;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;overflow: visible;order: initial;border-color: inherit;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-5a1442f2.wp-block-uagb-container > *:not( .wp-block-uagb-column ):not( .wp-block-uagb-section ):not( .uagb-container__shape ):not( .uagb-container__video-wrap ):not( .uagb-slider-container ):not( .spectra-container-link-overlay ):not(.spectra-image-gallery__control-lightbox):not(.wp-block-uagb-lottie):not(.uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap){width: auto !important;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-5a1442f2.wp-block-uagb-container > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap > *:not( .wp-block-uagb-column ):not( .wp-block-uagb-section ):not( .uagb-container__shape ):not( .uagb-container__video-wrap ):not( .uagb-slider-container ):not(.spectra-image-gallery__control-lightbox){width: auto !important;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-d9c0200f.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading .uagb-heading-text{color: #25282a;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-d9c0200f.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading .uagb-desc-text{margin-bottom: 15px;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-d9c0200f.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading .uagb-highlight{font-style: normal;font-weight: Default;background: #007cba;color: #fff;-webkit-text-fill-color: #fff;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-d9c0200f.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading .uagb-highlight::-moz-selection{color: #fff;background: #007cba;-webkit-text-fill-color: #fff;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-d9c0200f.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading .uagb-highlight::selection{color: #fff;background: #007cba;-webkit-text-fill-color: #fff;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-d9c0200f .uagb-heading-text{font-weight: 300;font-size: 16px;}.uagb-block-aa17f10e.wp-block-uagb-separator{text-align: left;}.uagb-block-aa17f10e.wp-block-uagb-separator--text .wp-block-uagb-separator-element .uagb-html-tag{font-style: normal;line-height: 1em;}.uagb-block-aa17f10e .uagb-separator-spacing-wrapper{padding-top: 4px;padding-bottom: 4px;}.uagb-block-aa17f10e.wp-block-uagb-separator:not(.wp-block-uagb-separator--text):not(.wp-block-uagb-separator--icon) .wp-block-uagb-separator__inner{-webkit-mask-size: 5px 100%;border-top-width: 3px;width: 100%;border-top-color: #eabe5e;border-top-style: solid;margin-top: 5px;margin-bottom: 5px;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-31f155e3.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading .uagb-heading-text{color: #006a5a;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-31f155e3.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading .uagb-desc-text{margin-bottom: 15px;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-31f155e3.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading .uagb-highlight{font-style: normal;font-weight: Default;background: #007cba;color: #fff;-webkit-text-fill-color: #fff;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-31f155e3.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading .uagb-highlight::-moz-selection{color: #fff;background: #007cba;-webkit-text-fill-color: #fff;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-31f155e3.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading .uagb-highlight::selection{color: #fff;background: #007cba;-webkit-text-fill-color: #fff;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-31f155e3 .uagb-heading-text{font-weight: 400;font-size: 26px;line-height: 1.2em;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-ced20c64 .uagb-icon-list__source-image{width: 18px;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-ced20c64 .wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap svg{width: 18px;height: 18px;font-size: 18px;color: #1573a2;fill: #1573a2;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-ced20c64 .wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap{padding: 0px;border-radius: 0px;border-width: 0px;align-self: center;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-ced20c64 .wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child .uagb-icon-list__label{font-size: 20px;text-decoration: !important;line-height: em;color: #1573a2;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-ced20c64 .uagb-icon-list__wrap{display: flex;flex-direction: column;justify-content: center;-webkit-box-pack: center;-ms-flex-pack: center;-webkit-box-align: flex-start;-ms-flex-align: flex-start;align-items: flex-start;padding-top: 0px;padding-right: 0px;padding-bottom: 0px;padding-left: 0px;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-ced20c64 .uagb-icon-list__label{text-align: left;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-ced20c64 .wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child{text-decoration: !important;font-size: 20px;line-height: em;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-ced20c64.wp-block-uagb-icon-list .wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child{margin-left: 0;margin-right: 0;margin-bottom: 24px;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-ced20c64 .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap{margin-left: 15px;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-ced20c64 .wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child {flex-direction: row-reverse;}.uagb-block-83befcbf.wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap{background:  !important;border-color:  !important;}.uagb-block-83befcbf.wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child:hover .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap{background:  !important;border-color:  !important;}.uagb-block-75d2f158.wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap{background:  !important;border-color:  !important;}.uagb-block-75d2f158.wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child:hover .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap{background:  !important;border-color:  !important;}.uagb-block-0d14af90.wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap{background:  !important;border-color:  !important;}.uagb-block-0d14af90.wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child:hover .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap{background:  !important;border-color:  !important;}.uagb-block-4dd6f9d3.wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap{background:  !important;border-color:  !important;}.uagb-block-4dd6f9d3.wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child:hover .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap{background:  !important;border-color:  !important;}.uagb-block-28c58e21.wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap{background:  !important;border-color:  !important;}.uagb-block-28c58e21.wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child:hover .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap{background:  !important;border-color:  !important;}@media only screen and (max-width: 976px) {.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-85559158{width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-85559158 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1024px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-85559158{padding-top: 0px;padding-bottom: 0px;padding-left: 10px;padding-right: 10px;margin-top: 60px !important;margin-bottom: 60px !important;margin-left: 0px;margin-right: 0px;order: initial;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-ea16301a{width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-ea16301a > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1024px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ea16301a.uagb-layout-grid > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{grid-template-columns: minmax( 1px, 1fr)  minmax( 1px, 1fr) ;grid-template-rows: minmax( 1px, 1fr) ;align-items: stretch;justify-items: stretch;align-content: stretch;justify-content: stretch;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ea16301a{padding-top: 0px;padding-bottom: 0px;padding-left: 0px;padding-right: 0px;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-26ccc5c9{width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-26ccc5c9 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1024px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-26ccc5c9{margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;background-color: #ffffff;;grid-column: span 1;grid-row: span 1;align-self: stretch;justify-self: stretch;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-84f50fa3{width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-84f50fa3 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1024px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-84f50fa3{margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;background-position: 54% 48%;background-size: cover;background-image: url(https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2025\/03\/Grow-with-your-family_545x307.webp);background-clip: padding-box;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-271bf38d{width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-271bf38d > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1024px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-271bf38d{padding-top: 20px;padding-bottom: 40px;padding-left: 40px;padding-right: 40px;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-ab8d0982{width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-ab8d0982 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1024px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ab8d0982.uagb-layout-grid{grid-template-columns: minmax( 1px, 1fr) ;grid-template-rows: minmax( 1px, 1fr) ;align-items: stretch;justify-items: stretch;align-content: stretch;justify-content: stretch;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ab8d0982{margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ab8d0982.wp-block-uagb-container > *:not( .wp-block-uagb-column ):not( .wp-block-uagb-section ):not( .uagb-container__shape ):not( .uagb-container__video-wrap ):not( .uagb-slider-container ):not( .spectra-container-link-overlay ):not(.spectra-image-gallery__control-lightbox):not(.wp-block-uagb-lottie):not(.uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap){width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ab8d0982.wp-block-uagb-container > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap > *:not( .wp-block-uagb-column ):not( .wp-block-uagb-section ):not( .uagb-container__shape ):not( .uagb-container__video-wrap ):not( .uagb-slider-container ):not(.spectra-image-gallery__control-lightbox){width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-d4c1a7e3 .uagb-heading-text{font-size: 12px;letter-spacing: 1px;}.uagb-block-f9d54988.wp-block-uagb-separator{text-align: center;}.uagb-block-f9d54988.wp-block-uagb-separator--text .wp-block-uagb-separator-element .uagb-html-tag{font-style: normal;margin-bottom: initial;line-height: 1em;}.uagb-block-f9d54988 .uagb-separator-spacing-wrapper{padding-top: 10px;padding-bottom: 10px;}.uagb-block-f9d54988.wp-block-uagb-separator:not(.wp-block-uagb-separator--text):not(.wp-block-uagb-separator--icon) .wp-block-uagb-separator__inner{-webkit-mask-size: 5px 100%;width: 100%;border-top-color: #eabe5e;border-top-style: solid;margin-top: 5px;margin-bottom: 5px;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-cbb8c5bd .uagb-icon-list__source-image{width: 18px;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-cbb8c5bd .wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap svg{width: 18px;height: 18px;font-size: 18px;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-cbb8c5bd .wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap {padding: 0px;border-width: 0px;align-self: center;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-cbb8c5bd .uagb-icon-list__wrap{display: flex;flex-direction: column;justify-content: center;-webkit-box-pack: center;-ms-flex-pack: center;-webkit-box-align: flex-start;-ms-flex-align: flex-start;align-items: flex-start;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-cbb8c5bd.wp-block-uagb-icon-list .wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child{margin-left: 0;margin-right: 0;margin-bottom: 24px;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-48a597f8{width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-48a597f8 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1024px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-48a597f8{margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;background-color: #ffffff;;grid-column: span 1;grid-row: span 1;align-self: stretch;justify-self: stretch;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-22a41c70{width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-22a41c70 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1024px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-22a41c70{margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;background-position: 54% 48%;background-size: cover;background-image: url(https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2025\/03\/HelpFamiliesGrow2.webp);background-clip: padding-box;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-562935bf{width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-562935bf > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1024px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-562935bf{padding-top: 20px;padding-bottom: 40px;padding-left: 40px;padding-right: 40px;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-5a1442f2{width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-5a1442f2 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1024px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-5a1442f2.uagb-layout-grid{grid-template-columns: minmax( 1px, 1fr) ;grid-template-rows: minmax( 1px, 1fr) ;align-items: stretch;justify-items: stretch;align-content: stretch;justify-content: stretch;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-5a1442f2{margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-5a1442f2.wp-block-uagb-container > *:not( .wp-block-uagb-column ):not( .wp-block-uagb-section ):not( .uagb-container__shape ):not( .uagb-container__video-wrap ):not( .uagb-slider-container ):not( .spectra-container-link-overlay ):not(.spectra-image-gallery__control-lightbox):not(.wp-block-uagb-lottie):not(.uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap){width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-5a1442f2.wp-block-uagb-container > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap > *:not( .wp-block-uagb-column ):not( .wp-block-uagb-section ):not( .uagb-container__shape ):not( .uagb-container__video-wrap ):not( .uagb-slider-container ):not(.spectra-image-gallery__control-lightbox){width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-d9c0200f .uagb-heading-text{font-size: 12px;letter-spacing: 1px;}.uagb-block-aa17f10e.wp-block-uagb-separator{text-align: center;}.uagb-block-aa17f10e.wp-block-uagb-separator--text .wp-block-uagb-separator-element .uagb-html-tag{font-style: normal;margin-bottom: initial;line-height: 1em;}.uagb-block-aa17f10e .uagb-separator-spacing-wrapper{padding-top: 10px;padding-bottom: 10px;}.uagb-block-aa17f10e.wp-block-uagb-separator:not(.wp-block-uagb-separator--text):not(.wp-block-uagb-separator--icon) .wp-block-uagb-separator__inner{-webkit-mask-size: 5px 100%;width: 100%;border-top-color: #eabe5e;border-top-style: solid;margin-top: 5px;margin-bottom: 5px;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-ced20c64 .uagb-icon-list__source-image{width: 18px;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-ced20c64 .wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap svg{width: 18px;height: 18px;font-size: 18px;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-ced20c64 .wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap {padding: 0px;border-width: 0px;align-self: center;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-ced20c64 .uagb-icon-list__wrap{display: flex;flex-direction: column;justify-content: center;-webkit-box-pack: center;-ms-flex-pack: center;-webkit-box-align: flex-start;-ms-flex-align: flex-start;align-items: flex-start;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-ced20c64.wp-block-uagb-icon-list .wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child{margin-left: 0;margin-right: 0;margin-bottom: 24px;}}@media only screen and (max-width: 767px) {.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-85559158{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-85559158 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 767px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;flex-wrap: wrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-85559158{padding-top: 0px;padding-bottom: 0px;padding-left: 10px;padding-right: 10px;margin-top: 60px !important;margin-bottom: 60px !important;margin-left: 0px;margin-right: 0px;order: initial;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-ea16301a{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-ea16301a > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 767px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ea16301a.uagb-layout-grid > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{grid-template-columns: minmax( 1px, 1fr) ;grid-template-rows: minmax( 1px, 1fr) ;align-items: stretch;justify-items: stretch;align-content: stretch;justify-content: stretch;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ea16301a{padding-top: 0px;padding-bottom: 0px;padding-left: 0px;padding-right: 0px;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-26ccc5c9{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-26ccc5c9 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 767px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;flex-wrap: wrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-26ccc5c9{padding-top: 0px;padding-bottom: 0px;padding-left: 0px;padding-right: 0px;margin-top: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px;margin-right: 0px;order: initial;background-color: #ffffff;;flex-wrap: wrap;grid-column: span 1;grid-row: span 1;align-self: stretch;justify-self: stretch;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-84f50fa3{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-84f50fa3 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 767px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;flex-wrap: wrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-84f50fa3{margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;background-image: url(https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2025\/03\/Grow-with-your-family_545x307.webp);background-clip: padding-box;flex-wrap: wrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-271bf38d{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-271bf38d > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 767px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;flex-wrap: wrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-271bf38d{padding-top: 20px;padding-bottom: 40px;padding-left: 40px;padding-right: 40px;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;flex-wrap: wrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-ab8d0982{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-ab8d0982 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 767px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ab8d0982.uagb-layout-grid{grid-template-columns: minmax( 1px, 1fr) ;grid-template-rows: minmax( 1px, 1fr) ;align-items: stretch;justify-items: stretch;align-content: stretch;justify-content: stretch;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ab8d0982{margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ab8d0982.wp-block-uagb-container > *:not( .wp-block-uagb-column ):not( .wp-block-uagb-section ):not( .uagb-container__shape ):not( .uagb-container__video-wrap ):not( .uagb-slider-container ):not( .spectra-container-link-overlay ):not(.spectra-image-gallery__control-lightbox):not(.wp-block-uagb-lottie):not(.uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap){width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ab8d0982.wp-block-uagb-container > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap > *:not( .wp-block-uagb-column ):not( .wp-block-uagb-section ):not( .uagb-container__shape ):not( .uagb-container__video-wrap ):not( .uagb-slider-container ):not(.spectra-image-gallery__control-lightbox){width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-d4c1a7e3.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading {padding-left: 40px;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-d4c1a7e3 .uagb-heading-text{letter-spacing: 4px;}.uagb-block-f9d54988.wp-block-uagb-separator{text-align: center;}.uagb-block-f9d54988.wp-block-uagb-separator--text .wp-block-uagb-separator-element .uagb-html-tag{font-style: normal;margin-bottom: initial;line-height: 1em;}.uagb-block-f9d54988 .uagb-separator-spacing-wrapper{padding-top: 10px;padding-bottom: 10px;}.uagb-block-f9d54988.wp-block-uagb-separator:not(.wp-block-uagb-separator--text):not(.wp-block-uagb-separator--icon) .wp-block-uagb-separator__inner{-webkit-mask-size: 5px 100%;width: 100%;border-top-color: #eabe5e;border-top-style: solid;margin-top: 5px;margin-bottom: 5px;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-cbb8c5bd .uagb-icon-list__source-image{width: 18px;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-cbb8c5bd .wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap svg{width: 18px;height: 18px;font-size: 18px;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-cbb8c5bd .wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap{padding: 0px;border-width: 0px;align-self: center;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-cbb8c5bd .uagb-icon-list__wrap{display: flex;flex-direction: column;justify-content: center;-webkit-box-pack: center;-ms-flex-pack: center;-webkit-box-align: flex-start;-ms-flex-align: flex-start;align-items: flex-start;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-cbb8c5bd.wp-block-uagb-icon-list .wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child{margin-left: 0;margin-right: 0;margin-bottom: 24px;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-48a597f8{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-48a597f8 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 767px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;flex-wrap: wrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-48a597f8{padding-top: 0px;padding-bottom: 0px;padding-left: 0px;padding-right: 0px;margin-top: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px;margin-right: 0px;order: initial;background-color: #ffffff;;flex-wrap: wrap;grid-column: span 1;grid-row: span 1;align-self: stretch;justify-self: stretch;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-22a41c70{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-22a41c70 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 767px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;flex-wrap: wrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-22a41c70{margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;background-image: url(https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2025\/03\/HelpFamiliesGrow2.webp);background-clip: padding-box;flex-wrap: wrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-562935bf{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-562935bf > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 767px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;flex-wrap: wrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-562935bf{padding-top: 20px;padding-bottom: 40px;padding-left: 40px;padding-right: 40px;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;flex-wrap: wrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-5a1442f2{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-5a1442f2 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 767px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-5a1442f2.uagb-layout-grid{grid-template-columns: minmax( 1px, 1fr) ;grid-template-rows: minmax( 1px, 1fr) ;align-items: stretch;justify-items: stretch;align-content: stretch;justify-content: stretch;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-5a1442f2{margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-5a1442f2.wp-block-uagb-container > *:not( .wp-block-uagb-column ):not( .wp-block-uagb-section ):not( .uagb-container__shape ):not( .uagb-container__video-wrap ):not( .uagb-slider-container ):not( .spectra-container-link-overlay ):not(.spectra-image-gallery__control-lightbox):not(.wp-block-uagb-lottie):not(.uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap){width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-5a1442f2.wp-block-uagb-container > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap > *:not( .wp-block-uagb-column ):not( .wp-block-uagb-section ):not( .uagb-container__shape ):not( .uagb-container__video-wrap ):not( .uagb-slider-container ):not(.spectra-image-gallery__control-lightbox){width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-d9c0200f.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading {padding-left: 40px;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-d9c0200f .uagb-heading-text{letter-spacing: 4px;}.uagb-block-aa17f10e.wp-block-uagb-separator{text-align: center;}.uagb-block-aa17f10e.wp-block-uagb-separator--text .wp-block-uagb-separator-element .uagb-html-tag{font-style: normal;margin-bottom: initial;line-height: 1em;}.uagb-block-aa17f10e .uagb-separator-spacing-wrapper{padding-top: 10px;padding-bottom: 10px;}.uagb-block-aa17f10e.wp-block-uagb-separator:not(.wp-block-uagb-separator--text):not(.wp-block-uagb-separator--icon) .wp-block-uagb-separator__inner{-webkit-mask-size: 5px 100%;width: 100%;border-top-color: #eabe5e;border-top-style: solid;margin-top: 5px;margin-bottom: 5px;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-ced20c64 .uagb-icon-list__source-image{width: 18px;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-ced20c64 .wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap svg{width: 18px;height: 18px;font-size: 18px;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-ced20c64 .wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child .uagb-icon-list__source-wrap{padding: 0px;border-width: 0px;align-self: center;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-ced20c64 .uagb-icon-list__wrap{display: flex;flex-direction: column;justify-content: center;-webkit-box-pack: center;-ms-flex-pack: center;-webkit-box-align: flex-start;-ms-flex-align: flex-start;align-items: flex-start;}.wp-block-uagb-icon-list.uagb-block-ced20c64.wp-block-uagb-icon-list .wp-block-uagb-icon-list-child{margin-left: 0;margin-right: 0;margin-bottom: 24px;}}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ecebc267 .uagb-container__shape-top svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ecebc267 .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-top .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ecebc267 .uagb-container__shape-bottom svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ecebc267 .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-bottom .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ecebc267 .uagb-container__video-wrap video{opacity: 1;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-ecebc267{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ecebc267{box-shadow: 0px 0px   #00000070 ;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;overflow: visible;order: initial;border-color: inherit;background: linear-gradient(130deg, #ffffff 60%, #f8f8f8 46%);;background-clip: padding-box;flex-direction: column;align-items: center;justify-content: center;flex-wrap: nowrap;}@media only screen and (max-width: 976px) {.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-ecebc267{width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ecebc267{margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;background: linear-gradient(130deg, #ffffff 60%, #f8f8f8 46%);;background-clip: padding-box;}}@media only screen and (max-width: 767px) {.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-ecebc267{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-ecebc267{margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;background: linear-gradient(130deg, #ffffff 60%, #f8f8f8 46%);;background-clip: padding-box;flex-wrap: wrap;}}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-8d4ac8a0 .uagb-container__shape-top svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-8d4ac8a0 .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-top .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-8d4ac8a0 .uagb-container__shape-bottom svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-8d4ac8a0 .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-bottom .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-8d4ac8a0 .uagb-container__video-wrap video{opacity: 1;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-8d4ac8a0{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-8d4ac8a0 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1320px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;flex-direction: row;align-items: flex-start;justify-content: center;flex-wrap: nowrap;row-gap: 32px;column-gap: 32px;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-8d4ac8a0{box-shadow: 0px 0px   #00000070 ;padding-top: 80px;padding-bottom: 80px;padding-left: 12px;padding-right: 12px;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;overflow: visible;order: initial;border-color: inherit;row-gap: 32px;column-gap: 32px;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f .uagb-container__shape-top svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-top .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f .uagb-container__shape-bottom svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-bottom .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f .uagb-container__video-wrap video{opacity: 1;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-047d9c4f{max-width: 25%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f{box-shadow: 0px 0px   #00000070 ;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;overflow: visible;order: initial;border-color: inherit;flex-direction: column;align-items: center;justify-content: center;flex-wrap: nowrap;max-width: 25% !important;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f .uagb-container__shape-top svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-top .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f .uagb-container__shape-bottom svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-bottom .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f .uagb-container__video-wrap video{opacity: 1;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-047d9c4f{max-width: 25%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f{box-shadow: 0px 0px   #00000070 ;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;overflow: visible;order: initial;border-color: inherit;flex-direction: column;align-items: center;justify-content: center;flex-wrap: nowrap;max-width: 25% !important;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f .uagb-container__shape-top svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-top .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f .uagb-container__shape-bottom svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-bottom .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f .uagb-container__video-wrap video{opacity: 1;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-047d9c4f{max-width: 25%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f{box-shadow: 0px 0px   #00000070 ;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;overflow: visible;order: initial;border-color: inherit;flex-direction: column;align-items: center;justify-content: center;flex-wrap: nowrap;max-width: 25% !important;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f .uagb-container__shape-top svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-top .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f .uagb-container__shape-bottom svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-bottom .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f .uagb-container__video-wrap video{opacity: 1;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-047d9c4f{max-width: 25%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f{box-shadow: 0px 0px   #00000070 ;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;overflow: visible;order: initial;border-color: inherit;flex-direction: column;align-items: center;justify-content: center;flex-wrap: nowrap;max-width: 25% !important;}@media only screen and (max-width: 976px) {.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-8d4ac8a0{width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-8d4ac8a0 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1024px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-8d4ac8a0{padding-top: 80px;padding-bottom: 80px;padding-left: 12px;padding-right: 12px;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-047d9c4f{width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f{margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;max-width:  !important;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-047d9c4f{width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f{margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;max-width:  !important;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-047d9c4f{width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f{margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;max-width:  !important;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-047d9c4f{width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f{margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;max-width:  !important;}}@media only screen and (max-width: 767px) {.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-8d4ac8a0{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-8d4ac8a0 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 767px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;flex-wrap: wrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-8d4ac8a0{padding-top: 80px;padding-bottom: 80px;padding-left: 12px;padding-right: 12px;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-047d9c4f{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f{margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;flex-wrap: wrap;max-width: 100% !important;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-047d9c4f{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f{margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;flex-wrap: wrap;max-width: 100% !important;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-047d9c4f{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f{margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;flex-wrap: wrap;max-width: 100% !important;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-047d9c4f{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-047d9c4f{margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;flex-wrap: wrap;max-width: 100% !important;}}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-f064f662.wp-block-uagb-container{color: #ffffff;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-f064f662.wp-block-uagb-container *{color: #ffffff;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-f064f662 .uagb-container__shape-top svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-f064f662 .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-top .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-f064f662 .uagb-container__shape-bottom svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-f064f662 .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-bottom .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-f064f662 .uagb-container__video-wrap video{opacity: 1;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-f064f662{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-f064f662 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1320px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;flex-direction: column;align-items: center;justify-content: center;flex-wrap: nowrap;row-gap: 20px;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-f064f662{box-shadow: 0px 0px   #00000070 ;padding-top: 20px;padding-bottom: 20px;padding-left: 12px;padding-right: 12px;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;overflow: visible;order: initial;border-color: inherit;background-color: #25282a;;row-gap: 20px;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-dbd5f6c0 .uagb-container__shape-top svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-dbd5f6c0 .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-top .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-dbd5f6c0 .uagb-container__shape-bottom svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-dbd5f6c0 .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-bottom .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-dbd5f6c0 .uagb-container__video-wrap video{opacity: 1;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-dbd5f6c0{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-dbd5f6c0 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1320px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;flex-direction: row;align-items: center;justify-content: center;flex-wrap: nowrap;row-gap: 20px;column-gap: 32px;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-dbd5f6c0{box-shadow: 0px 0px   #00000070 ;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;overflow: visible;order: initial;border-color: inherit;flex-direction: row;align-items: center;justify-content: center;flex-wrap: nowrap;row-gap: 20px;column-gap: 32px;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-dbd5f6c0.wp-block-uagb-container > *:not( .wp-block-uagb-column ):not( .wp-block-uagb-section ):not( .uagb-container__shape ):not( .uagb-container__video-wrap ):not( .uagb-slider-container ):not( .spectra-container-link-overlay ):not(.spectra-image-gallery__control-lightbox):not(.wp-block-uagb-lottie):not(.uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap){width: auto !important;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-dbd5f6c0.wp-block-uagb-container > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap > *:not( .wp-block-uagb-column ):not( .wp-block-uagb-section ):not( .uagb-container__shape ):not( .uagb-container__video-wrap ):not( .uagb-slider-container ):not(.spectra-image-gallery__control-lightbox){width: auto !important;}.uagb-block-644e4891.wp-block-uagb-image--layout-default figure img{box-shadow: 0px 0px 0 #00000070;}.uagb-block-644e4891.wp-block-uagb-image .wp-block-uagb-image__figure figcaption{font-style: normal;align-self: center;}.uagb-block-644e4891.wp-block-uagb-image--layout-overlay figure img{box-shadow: 0px 0px 0 #00000070;}.uagb-block-644e4891.wp-block-uagb-image--layout-overlay .wp-block-uagb-image--layout-overlay__color-wrapper{opacity: 0.2;}.uagb-block-644e4891.wp-block-uagb-image--layout-overlay .wp-block-uagb-image--layout-overlay__inner{left: 15px;right: 15px;top: 15px;bottom: 15px;}.uagb-block-644e4891.wp-block-uagb-image--layout-overlay .wp-block-uagb-image--layout-overlay__inner .uagb-image-heading{font-style: normal;color: #fff;opacity: 1;}.uagb-block-644e4891.wp-block-uagb-image--layout-overlay .wp-block-uagb-image--layout-overlay__inner .uagb-image-heading a{color: #fff;}.uagb-block-644e4891.wp-block-uagb-image--layout-overlay .wp-block-uagb-image--layout-overlay__inner .uagb-image-caption{opacity: 0;}.uagb-block-644e4891.wp-block-uagb-image--layout-overlay .wp-block-uagb-image__figure:hover .wp-block-uagb-image--layout-overlay__color-wrapper{opacity: 1;}.uagb-block-644e4891.wp-block-uagb-image .wp-block-uagb-image--layout-overlay__inner .uagb-image-separator{width: 30%;border-top-width: 2px;border-top-color: #fff;opacity: 0;}.uagb-block-644e4891.wp-block-uagb-image .wp-block-uagb-image__figure img{width: 292px;height: 48px;}.uagb-block-644e4891.wp-block-uagb-image .wp-block-uagb-image__figure:hover .wp-block-uagb-image--layout-overlay__inner .uagb-image-caption{opacity: 1;}.uagb-block-644e4891.wp-block-uagb-image .wp-block-uagb-image__figure:hover .wp-block-uagb-image--layout-overlay__inner .uagb-image-separator{opacity: 1;}.uagb-block-644e4891.wp-block-uagb-image--layout-default figure:hover img{box-shadow: 0px 0px 0 #00000070;}.uagb-block-644e4891.wp-block-uagb-image--layout-overlay figure:hover img{box-shadow: 0px 0px 0 #00000070;}@media only screen and (max-width: 976px) {.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-f064f662{width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-f064f662 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1024px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-f064f662{padding-top: 20px;padding-bottom: 20px;padding-left: 12px;padding-right: 12px;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;background-color: #25282a;;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-dbd5f6c0{width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-dbd5f6c0 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1024px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-dbd5f6c0{margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;}.uagb-block-644e4891.wp-block-uagb-image .wp-block-uagb-image__figure img{width: 280px;height: 45px;}}@media only screen and (max-width: 767px) {.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-f064f662{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-f064f662 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 767px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;flex-wrap: wrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-f064f662{padding-top: 20px;padding-bottom: 20px;padding-left: 12px;padding-right: 12px;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;background-color: #25282a;;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-dbd5f6c0{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-dbd5f6c0 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 767px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;flex-wrap: wrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-dbd5f6c0{margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;flex-wrap: wrap;}.uagb-block-644e4891.wp-block-uagb-image .wp-block-uagb-image__figure img{width: 280px;height: 45px;}}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-beb12949 .uagb-container__shape-top svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-beb12949 .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-top .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-beb12949 .uagb-container__shape-bottom svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-beb12949 .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-bottom .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-beb12949 .uagb-container__video-wrap video{opacity: 1;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-beb12949{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-beb12949 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1320px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;flex-direction: column;align-items: center;justify-content: center;flex-wrap: nowrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-beb12949{box-shadow: 0px 0px   #00000070 ;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;overflow: visible;order: initial;border-color: inherit;background-color: #006c5b;;}@media only screen and (max-width: 976px) {.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-beb12949{width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-beb12949 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1024px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-beb12949{margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;background-color: #006c5b;;}}@media only screen and (max-width: 767px) {.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-beb12949{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-beb12949 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 767px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;flex-wrap: wrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-beb12949{margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;background-color: #006c5b;;}}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-beb12949 .uagb-container__shape-top svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-beb12949 .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-top .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-beb12949 .uagb-container__shape-bottom svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-beb12949 .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-bottom .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-beb12949 .uagb-container__video-wrap video{opacity: 1;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-beb12949{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-beb12949 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1320px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;flex-direction: column;align-items: center;justify-content: center;flex-wrap: nowrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-beb12949{box-shadow: 0px 0px   #00000070 ;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;overflow: visible;order: initial;border-color: inherit;background-color: #006c5b;;}@media only screen and (max-width: 976px) {.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-beb12949{width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-beb12949 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1024px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-beb12949{margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;background-color: #006c5b;;}}@media only screen and (max-width: 767px) {.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-beb12949{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-beb12949 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 767px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;flex-wrap: wrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-beb12949{margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;background-color: #006c5b;;}}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-5096eaa1 .uagb-container__shape-top svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-5096eaa1 .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-top .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-5096eaa1 .uagb-container__shape-bottom svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-5096eaa1 .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-bottom .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-5096eaa1 .uagb-container__video-wrap video{opacity: 1;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-5096eaa1{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-5096eaa1 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1320px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;flex-direction: column;align-items: center;justify-content: center;flex-wrap: nowrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-5096eaa1{box-shadow: 0px 0px   #00000070 ;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;overflow: visible;order: initial;border-color: inherit;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-89b3b7a8 .uagb-container__shape-top svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-89b3b7a8 .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-top .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-89b3b7a8 .uagb-container__shape-bottom svg{width: calc( 100% + 1.3px );}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-89b3b7a8 .uagb-container__shape.uagb-container__shape-bottom .uagb-container__shape-fill{fill: rgba(51,51,51,1);}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-89b3b7a8 .uagb-container__video-wrap video{opacity: 1;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-89b3b7a8{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-89b3b7a8 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1320px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;flex-direction: column;align-items: center;justify-content: center;flex-wrap: nowrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-89b3b7a8{box-shadow: 0px 0px   #00000070 ;padding-top: 2em;padding-bottom: 2em;padding-left: 2em;padding-right: 2em;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;overflow: visible;order: initial;border-top-left-radius: 30px;border-top-right-radius: 30px;border-bottom-left-radius: 30px;border-bottom-right-radius: 30px;border-color: inherit;background-color: #ebebeb;;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-97ee3d2f.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading .uagb-desc-text{margin-bottom: 15px;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-97ee3d2f.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading .uagb-highlight{font-style: normal;font-weight: Default;background: #007cba;color: #fff;-webkit-text-fill-color: #fff;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-97ee3d2f.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading .uagb-highlight::-moz-selection{color: #fff;background: #007cba;-webkit-text-fill-color: #fff;}.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading.uagb-block-97ee3d2f.wp-block-uagb-advanced-heading .uagb-highlight::selection{color: #fff;background: #007cba;-webkit-text-fill-color: #fff;}.uagb-block-232092dc.wp-block-uagb-buttons.uagb-buttons__outer-wrap .uagb-buttons__wrap {gap: 10px;}.uagb-block-232092dc.uagb-buttons__outer-wrap .uagb-buttons__wrap {justify-content: left;align-items: center;}.wp-block-uagb-buttons .uagb-block-00708611.wp-block-uagb-buttons-child .uagb-buttons-repeater{background: #f3bd48;}.wp-block-uagb-buttons .uagb-block-00708611 .wp-block-button__link{background: #f3bd48;}.wp-block-uagb-buttons .uagb-block-00708611 .wp-block-button__link:hover{background: #f4deaa;}.wp-block-uagb-buttons .uagb-block-00708611 .wp-block-button__link:focus{background: #f4deaa;}.wp-block-uagb-buttons .uagb-block-00708611 .uagb-button__wrapper .uagb-buttons-repeater{color: #25282a;}.wp-block-uagb-buttons .uagb-block-00708611 .wp-block-button__link.has-text-color:hover .uagb-button__link{color: #25282a;}.wp-block-uagb-buttons .uagb-block-00708611 .wp-block-button__link.has-text-color:focus .uagb-button__link{color: #25282a;}.wp-block-uagb-buttons .uagb-block-00708611 .uagb-button__wrapper  .uagb-buttons-repeater.wp-block-button__link{box-shadow: 0px 0px 0 #00000026;}.wp-block-uagb-buttons .uagb-block-00708611 .uagb-button__wrapper  .uagb-buttons-repeater.wp-block-button__link:hover{box-shadow: 0px 0px 0 #00000026;}.wp-block-uagb-buttons .uagb-block-00708611 .uagb-buttons-repeater.wp-block-button__link{border-color: #333;border-style: none;}.wp-block-uagb-buttons .uagb-block-00708611 .uagb-buttons-repeater.wp-block-button__link:hover{border-color: #333;}.wp-block-uagb-buttons .uagb-block-00708611 .uagb-buttons-repeater.wp-block-button__link:focus{border-color: #333;}.wp-block-uagb-buttons .uagb-block-00708611.wp-block-button.is-style-outline .uagb-button__wrapper .wp-block-button__link.uagb-buttons-repeater{border-color: #333;border-style: none;}.wp-block-uagb-buttons .uagb-block-00708611.wp-block-button.is-style-outline .uagb-button__wrapper .wp-block-button__link.uagb-buttons-repeater:hover{border-color: #333;}.wp-block-uagb-buttons .uagb-block-00708611 .uagb-buttons-repeater .uagb-button__link{color: #25282a;}.wp-block-uagb-buttons .uagb-block-00708611 .uagb-buttons-repeater:hover .uagb-button__link{color: #25282a;}.wp-block-uagb-buttons .uagb-block-00708611 .uagb-buttons-repeater:focus .uagb-button__link{color: #25282a;}.wp-block-uagb-buttons .uagb-block-00708611 .uagb-buttons-repeater .uagb-button__icon > svg{width: 15px;height: 15px;fill: #25282a;}.wp-block-uagb-buttons .uagb-block-00708611 .uagb-buttons-repeater:hover .uagb-button__icon > svg{fill: #25282a;}.wp-block-uagb-buttons .uagb-block-00708611 .uagb-buttons-repeater:focus .uagb-button__icon > svg{fill: #25282a;}.wp-block-uagb-buttons .uagb-block-00708611 .uagb-buttons-repeater .uagb-button__icon-position-after{margin-left: 8px;}.wp-block-uagb-buttons .uagb-block-00708611 .uagb-buttons-repeater .uagb-button__icon-position-before{margin-right: 8px;}.wp-block-uagb-buttons .uagb-block-00708611 .uagb-button__link{text-transform: normal;text-decoration: none;}@media only screen and (max-width: 976px) {.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-5096eaa1{width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-5096eaa1 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1024px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-5096eaa1{margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-89b3b7a8{width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-89b3b7a8 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 1024px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-89b3b7a8{padding-top: 2px;padding-bottom: 2px;padding-left: 2px;padding-right: 2px;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;background-color: #ebebeb;;}.uagb-block-232092dc.uagb-buttons__outer-wrap .uagb-buttons__wrap {justify-content: center;align-items: center;}.uagb-block-232092dc.uagb-buttons__outer-wrap .uagb-buttons__wrap .wp-block-button{width: auto;}.wp-block-uagb-buttons .uagb-block-00708611.wp-block-button.is-style-outline .uagb-button__wrapper .wp-block-button__link.uagb-buttons-repeater{border-style: none;border-color: #333;}.wp-block-uagb-buttons .uagb-block-00708611 .uagb-buttons-repeater.wp-block-button__link{border-style: none;border-color: #333;}}@media only screen and (max-width: 767px) {.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-5096eaa1{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-5096eaa1 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 767px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;flex-wrap: wrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-5096eaa1{margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container .uagb-block-89b3b7a8{max-width: 100%;width: 100%;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-is-root-container.alignfull.uagb-block-89b3b7a8 > .uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap{--inner-content-custom-width: min( 100%, 767px);max-width: var(--inner-content-custom-width);width: 100%;flex-wrap: wrap;}.wp-block-uagb-container.uagb-block-89b3b7a8{padding-top: 2px;padding-bottom: 2px;padding-left: 2px;padding-right: 2px;margin-top:  !important;margin-bottom:  !important;order: initial;background-color: #ebebeb;;}.uagb-block-232092dc.uagb-buttons__outer-wrap .uagb-buttons__wrap {justify-content: center;align-items: center;}.uagb-block-232092dc.uagb-buttons__outer-wrap .uagb-buttons__wrap .wp-block-button{width: auto;}.wp-block-uagb-buttons .uagb-block-00708611.wp-block-button.is-style-outline .uagb-button__wrapper .wp-block-button__link.uagb-buttons-repeater{border-style: none;border-color: #333;}.wp-block-uagb-buttons .uagb-block-00708611 .uagb-buttons-repeater.wp-block-button__link{border-style: none;border-color: #333;}}\";s:2:\"js\";s:161:\"document.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function(){ window.addEventListener( 'load', function() {\n\tUAGBButtonChild.init( '.uagb-block-00708611' );\n});\n });\";s:18:\"current_block_list\";a:17:{i:0;s:14:\"uagb\/container\";i:1;s:12:\"core\/heading\";i:2;s:9:\"core\/html\";i:3;s:10:\"core\/group\";i:6;s:21:\"uagb\/advanced-heading\";i:7;s:14:\"uagb\/separator\";i:8;s:14:\"uagb\/icon-list\";i:9;s:20:\"uagb\/icon-list-child\";i:10;s:11:\"core\/search\";i:13;s:18:\"core\/legacy-widget\";i:16;s:10:\"uagb\/image\";i:17;s:17:\"core\/social-links\";i:18;s:16:\"core\/social-link\";i:19;s:14:\"core\/paragraph\";i:20;s:30:\"meta-box\/fl-conditional-blocks\";i:21;s:12:\"uagb\/buttons\";i:22;s:18:\"uagb\/buttons-child\";}s:8:\"uag_flag\";b:1;s:11:\"uag_version\";i:1776773005;s:6:\"gfonts\";a:1:{s:7:\"Default\";a:2:{s:10:\"fontfamily\";s:7:\"Default\";s:12:\"fontvariants\";a:0:{}}}s:10:\"gfonts_url\";s:71:\"\/\/fonts.googleapis.com\/css?family=Default&subset=latin&display=fallback\";s:12:\"gfonts_files\";a:0:{}s:14:\"uag_faq_layout\";b:0;}"]},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg",508,508,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"kfairris@familylife.com","author_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/author\/kfairrisfamilylife-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"In this encouraging exploration of the real state of marriage, researcher and author Shaunti Feldhahn teams up with Ron Deal for a deep look at the facts behind the statistics.","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2019-05-28.pdf","transcript_content":"<strong>Bob: <\/strong>At some point in your life, you\u2019ve undoubtedly heard somebody talk about the divorce rate being 50 percent\u2014that 50 percent of marriages end in divorce. Researcher and author, Shaunti Feldhahn, says that number just isn\u2019t true.\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> There was this one article that was <em>heavily<\/em> quoted\u2014that quotes Dr. Jennifer Baker as saying that there is a 50 percent first-marriage divorce rate, 60 percent second-marriage, 72 percent third-marriage. A lot of people have used that, so we contacted Dr. Baker. She wrote us back an email, in all capital letters; [Laughter] and it was one line: \u201cTHAT\u2019S NOT ME; I NEVER SAID THAT; I\u2019VE BEEN TRYING TO GET THEM TO TAKE MY NAME OFF THAT WEBSITE FOR YEARS.\u201d It was an urban legend.\n\n<strong>Bob: <\/strong>This is <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> for Tuesday, May 28<sup>th<\/sup>. Our hosts are Dave and Ann Wilson; I'm Bob Lepine. So what\u2019s the real story on what\u2019s happening with marriage in our world and in our nation? We\u2019re going to hear some <em>good<\/em> news about marriage today from author and researcher, Shaunti Feldhahn. Stay with us.\n\nAnd welcome to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>. Thanks for joining us. So we\u2019re going to hear a conversation between two friends of yours today\u2014Ron Deal and Shaunti Feldhahn. You\u2019ve hung out with both of those guys; right?\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> Yes; we have a little bit\u2014mostly\/more with Ron.\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> I <em>love<\/em> Shaunti.\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> Everything she writes we read because it\u2019s based on research.\n\n<strong>Ann: <\/strong>Yes.\n\n<strong>Dave: <\/strong>She\u2019s presenting stuff that you can\u2019t refute\u2014it\u2019s like: \u201cThere it is\u2014it\u2019s in black and white.\u201d\n\n<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Well, she wrote a book, a while back, where she was talking about how we get the research <em>wrong<\/em> when it comes to marriage. She sat down with Ron Deal for Episode 3 of his new podcast, which is called <em>FamilyLife Blended<\/em><sup>\u00ae<\/sup>. They had a conversation about \u201cWhat is the reality?\u201d\u2014because we\u2019ve all heard, for years, that the divorce rate is\n\n50 percent\u201450 percent of people who get married get divorced. That\u2019s not the case; but it\u2019s been kind of misinterpreted, as we\u2019ll hear them explain.\n\nOf course, in the area of FamilyLife Blended<sup>\u00ae<\/sup>, this helps us know how many people are in blended marriages and blended families; because the reality is\u2014more and more people are in blended marriages or blended families, even though the divorce rate is actually going down. We\u2019re going to hear more about that as we listen to this excerpt from Ron\u2019s conversation with Shaunti Feldhahn on the <em>FamilyLife Blended<\/em> podcast.\n\n[Podcast]\n\n<strong>Ron: <\/strong>The narrative about the 50 percent divorce rate stat is discouraging people\/it\u2019s limiting them\u2014it sends them down the road of, \u201cWell, what\u2019s the point?\u201d and so they lose their energy and their desire to do hard. Even beyond that, you quote in your book, <em>The Good News About Marriage<\/em>, Dr. Scott Stanley, who\u2019s one of our buddies and favorite researchers out there in the marriage world. He says this, \u201cSome of the myths today about the risks of marriage lead to very bad behaviors that decrease the odds of a marriage succeeding.\u201d\n\nIt\u2019s not just\u2014\u201cI get discouraged about the idea or the institution of marriage, so I avoid it all together,\u201d or \u201cIf I\u2018m married, I just kind of give up.\u201d If I\u2019m married, Scott says that negative attitude about it <em>leads<\/em> me to then make choices and <em>do<\/em> things that make my marriage worse. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy!\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> Exactly. It\u2019s interesting\u2014one of the things, when I started seeing\u2014not just that the regular first marriage stats were better than we thought\u2014but that <em>remarriage<\/em> stats were better than what people thought. You know, there\u2019s differences of opinion on what those are but that they\u2019re better than what we think.\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> Right; right.\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> It\u2019s interesting\u2014I was sharing this with one of my best friends. She had been a single mom for ten or twelve years\u2014difficult\/difficult situation and was just about to get remarried. When she saw what I was finding in the statistics, she kind of\u2014it was interesting\u2014she, eventually, sent me an email. I, actually, asked her to read a first draft of the chapter on remarriage.\n\nShe said: \u201cFirst of all, it\u2019s blowing my mind. But secondly, I realized I was about to approach this new marriage all wrong.\u201d She said, \u201cIn my mind, I love this guy\u2014he\u2019s a strong Christian man; he\u2019s amazing; he\u2019s going to make a great step-dad to my kids. But\u201d\u2014this is what she said\u2014 \u201c\u2019knowing\u2019\u201d\u2014in quotes\u2014\u201cthere was a 60 percent chance of me getting divorced again from him, it would be foolish for me to not take steps to protect myself. I have to protect my children.\u201d\n\nShe said, \u201cI was going to have a bank account on the side and sort of have this sort of self-protective thing in my heart and in my finances; because knowing that it probably wouldn\u2019t work, I would be foolish not to.\u201d She said, \u201cKnowing that, statistically, I would be unusual if the second marriage didn\u2019t work\u2014knowing that that would be unusual\u2014I can be all in\u2014I can <em>expect<\/em> it to work. I don\u2019t have to protect myself, because\u201d\u2014she said\u2014\u201cprotecting yourself like that builds a wall\u2014\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> It does.\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> \u2014\u201cand causes the problems you\u2019re trying to protect yourself from.\u201d\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> The irony there is more research\u2014the one study I did participate in with Dr. David Olson\u2014we wrote a book called <em>The Smart Stepfamily Marriage<\/em>\u2014one of the things that we found is that guardedness and the fear of another breakup\u2014which is exactly what your friend had, going in, because she thought 60 percent of all stepfamily couples are going to divorce\u2014that that guardedness and fear leads to negativity, that cascades throughout the relationship, that actually <em>does<\/em> contribute to a less-satisfying marriage and higher risks of divorce. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy\n\nBut when you go all in, you begin to do the things that love would call you to do. That is a game-changer when you say, \u201cI\u2019m all in,\u201d\u2014you stop self-protecting. Here\u2019s a way I like to say it, \u201cWhen I\u2019m protecting <em>me<\/em> from <em>you<\/em>, there cannot be an <em>us<\/em>.\u201d I <em>limit<\/em> our ability to find intimacy\u2014to fully engage one another\/to give everything that we need to give.\n\nThere are moments where marriage is hard. There\u2019s great joy in a marriage relationship, but it always requires more of me than I want to give\u2014[Laughter]\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> Yes.\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> \u2014that\u2019s the discipleship aspect of marriage.\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> Right.\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> When I get to that moment\u2014if I\u2019m all in\u2014I find a way to do the sacrifice: to look deeply at myself or to love the way Jesus is calling me to love. But if I\u2019m guarded, then I find the easy way out\u2014I do the self-protective thing. That is a game-changer on the direction of your relationship.\n\nNow, at one point, when you were in the middle of this project, you called me; and we talked. I don\u2019t know if you remember this or not.\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> Yes! I totally, 100 percent, remember this.\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> Well, first of all, I need to say, \u201cThank you for that phone call\u201d; because I just happened to be doing the revised and expanded update edition of <em>The Smart Stepfamily<\/em>, and I changed my numbers. If people read <em>The Smart Stepfamily<\/em> today, it\u2019s\u00a0 got some Shaunti fingerprints on it; [Laughter] and I appreciate that so much.\n\nWhen we talked, I said to you: \u201cNow, Shaunti, you are walking into some deep waters with all of this. There\u2019s going to be a bunch of academics that come at you <em>hard<\/em> if you come back and say the divorce rate is not 50 percent. You better talk to everybody who\u2019s doing the research\/has done the research\u2014and not just comment on them\u2014but you ought to, actually, speak to them and run this by them, and get their feedback, and hear more of the background that went into their research.\u201d\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> You gave me a list\u2014\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> I did.\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> \u2014because I had been talking to <em>other<\/em> people. You were like: \u201cHere are the people that are in the stepfamily world. You need to talk to these people.\u201d\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> That\u2019s right. To your credit, you talked to those folks; you talked to other folks and you went in and dug deep. I think that\u2019s huge.\n\nThe listener, who\u2019s sitting here, going, \u201cMan, this just can\u2019t be true; I\u2019ve heard this my entire life,\u201d\u2014just know that you went and you, actually, talked to those researchers and academics.\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> Yes.\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> Were there any interesting stories that came out of your conversations? [Laughter]\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> Well, the funniest one\u2014because this is one of the most-quoted citations for the 60 percent and 72 percent divorce rates\u2014<em>Psychology Today<\/em>.\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> \u2014which I should tell the listener is a popular magazine, written by psychologists; but yet, it\u2019s meant for the public.\n\n<strong>Shaunti: <\/strong>Correct. It is supposed to be heavily based on research; it\u2019s supposed to be something that the public can trust. I\u2019m sure a lot of their articles can be trusted; right? It just happened to be that there was this one article, that was <em>heavily<\/em> quoted in this world of the divorce rate, that quotes Dr. Jennifer Baker, who is a very well-known researcher at the Forest Institute in Missouri. It quotes Jennifer Baker as saying that there is a 50 percent first-marriage divorce rate, 60 percent second-marriage, 72 percent third-marriage.\n\nWe contacted Dr. Baker and said, \u201cCan we get ahold of your study so that we can look at it?\u201d\u2014because that was what we had been doing on all of them\u2014was looking at the <em>actual<\/em> study, not the news reports. She wrote us back an email in all capital letters. [Laughter]\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> \u2014all caps?\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> \u2014all caps the whole email; and it was one line: \u201cTHAT\u2019S NOT ME; I NEVER SAID THAT; I\u2019VE BEEN TRYING TO GET THEM TO TAKE MY NAME OFF THAT WEBSITE FOR YEARS.\u201d\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> Wow!\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> It was an urban legend.\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> That was all pre-social media. [Laughter] Let me just say to our listeners: \u201cToday, it\u2019s even worse\u2014the stuff you will hear. I think there is more bad news about marriage and the institution of marriage than ever before. There\u2019s good news about the bad news about marriage\u2014it\u2019s not true.\u201d\n\nYes; there are marriages that end in divorce\u2014it is a lower number than most people\u2014so what are the numbers? I think 31 percent is a <em>current<\/em> divorce rate\/an actual divorce rate\u2014something like that.\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> \u2014ish. It just sort of depends\u2014you can make a case for 25 [percent]; you can make a case for 35 [percent]\u2014but there are some numbers that sort of circle around that 30 percent. It is <em>falling<\/em> because the highest-risk marriages today are the Baby Boomer generation. That generation is passing away, and the younger generation marriages that are coming on board have dramatically lower divorce rates.\n\nThe Baby Boomers\u2014by the time they had been married 10 years, they already had a relatively high divorce rate; because of that 1970s thing. The Millennials\u2014by the time they\u2019d been married\/those who have been married 10 years\u2014have a much, much lower divorce rate. The population that\u2019s coming in\u2014that is <em>replacing<\/em> the high-divorce rates with the low-divorce rates\u2014that societal, overall, number is falling.\n\n<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> Let\u2019s talk about Christians for a minute.\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> Yes.\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> A little while ago, I asked you, when you talked to the researchers, were there any surprising stories. There\u2019s a number out there\u2014people have heard\/I\u2019ve heard it in church, I don\u2019t know how many times\u2014that the divorce rate among Christians is exactly the same\u2014came from a study by George Barna and the Barna Group. Did you talk to them?\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> Yes; oh, yes. [Laughter]\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> What\u2019s the story?\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> It turns out that that\u2019s a big misunderstanding. It\u2019s actually based on a belief that Barna found something he didn\u2019t actually find. We hear pastors\u2014and I used to say this; okay?\u2014I\u2019m not knocking pastors; I used to say this as well: \u201cThe rate of divorce is the same in the church,\u201d\u2014and it\u2019s <em>not<\/em>.\n\nBarna didn\u2019t find that it was the same in the church, because he wasn\u2019t <em>studying<\/em> people in the church. He was studying belief systems\u2014so people, who you call them on the phone, and they say they think a Christian way, or a Jewish way, or an atheist way\u2014those people have the same divorce rates. But he specifically <em>excluded<\/em> whether they went to church from the analysis.\n\nI partnered with Barna, and I bought that same data set. We re-ran all the numbers; but with that one factor added in of: \u201cWas the person in church last week?\u201d We found, if the person was in church last week, the divorce rate dropped by 27 percent\u2014that was a study that wasn\u2019t even trying to get at that. When you look at the studies that have been trying to get at \u201cWhat is the divorce rate amongst people who attend church regularly?\u201d\u2014where church is a part of their life or their faith is a part of their life\u2014the divorce rate plummets\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> Has there been any other research?\u2014maybe even something recently?\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> Yes; about a year\u2014I want to say about a year-and-a-half ago, there was a Harvard study that found the divorce rate drops 47 percent.\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> \u2014when they are engaged in some activity?\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> \u2014just going to church.\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> What\u2019s the meta-message here is: \u201cLiving the Christian life is different than just claiming a belief.\u201d Basing your life and having activity in your life that is representative of your faith\u2014things that we could measure\u2014like prayer\/things like attending church as an outward sign of something that\u2019s going on inside you\u2014helps us distinguish between people who would just call themselves Christians and people who actually try to live a Christian life. When we do that, the divorce rate comes down considerably from those who don\u2019t hold that faith and don\u2019t live based on that faith. Is that right?\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> Yes; it is true. Just so you know, Ron\u2014I think you already knew this\u2014but amongst demographers, when you talk about the divorce rate, you\u2019re going to hear everything under the sun. There\u2019s a lot of controversy\u2014nobody agrees; you know, whatever. On <em>this<\/em>, there\u2019s no controversy. Every demographer <em>knows<\/em> that this is true; it\u2019s just that every Christian <em>doesn\u2019t<\/em>\u2014they\u2019ve all been, unnecessarily, discouraged.\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> Here\u2019s my commentary on this. I mean, tell me what you think. It seems to me, first of all, that the divorce rate among people of faith <em>should<\/em> be lower.\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> Yes; one would hope! [Laughter]\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> One would hope. If Jesus offers us anything that makes a difference in our life, and we actually obey and follow, it should make a difference; and sure enough, it does. I love that even secular research has supported that.\n\nWhat we do have to talk a little bit about is the difference between belief and activity; right? There are people, who go to church and are kind of spectator Christians; they\u2019re not interested in actually <em>living<\/em> the Christian life. They\u2019re just wanting to be around it and punch their clock and go to church. But when conviction moves us towards obedience, it <em>does<\/em> make a difference in our relationships.\n\nAre there things that you would recommend to couples that they <em>do<\/em>\u2014that, again, are outwardly signs of the conviction in their heart?\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> Yes; <em>all<\/em> of those things are going to matter. There\u2019s no one magic bullet; because if you look at every conceivable research study, they are all over the map\u2014like: \u201cWhat matters the most\u2026\u201d\n\nThe key is, essentially, \u201cAre you trying to listen to God and put Him at the center of your marriage?\u201d I mean\u2014because that will mean, for some couples, praying together. \u201cAre there other things?\u201d\u2014yes; individually\u2014I would say\u2014if you\u2019re <em>trying<\/em> to keep your own relationship with the Lord, front and center, and trying to put it in your marriage relationship in some way, then you are going to try to put the other person first. You\u2019re going to do things that are different than somebody, who doesn\u2019t have the power of the Holy Spirit working in you, and working on your conscience, and helping you and giving you strength when you don\u2019t have it in your own self.\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> By the way, I do think it\u2019s important that we get the direction of this right. One of my colleagues, here, at FamilyLife<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> shared with me recently\u2014he just put this very poignantly\u2014he said: \u201cYou know, God didn\u2019t give us faith for marriage. He gave us marriage for faith.\u201d\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> That\u2019s good.\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> Marriage is helping us become more Christ-like. There\u2019s nothing wrong with saying, \u201cBoy, I want to be like Jesus,\u201d and \u201cWhat\u2019s my personal walk with Jesus and how\u2019s that impacting my marriage?\u201d but marriage is not the ultimate there. The ultimate is to become more Christ like\/to follow in the footsteps of our Savior.\n\nEven the hard things in marriage are shaping us, are molding us\/refining us into the image of Christ. It invites us\u2014it\u2019s a two-way street. You know, the hard things in my marriage\u2014I have to go: \u201cWhat am I going to do? This is driving me crazy!\u201d I have this little conversation with the Lord: \u201cOkay; what have You told me to do? [Laughter] Alright; I need to look first at myself. I need to wrestle with who I am and how I\u2019ve been in this situation,\u201d and \u201cHow do I bring some truth and love to what I\u2019m really feeling?\u201d and \u201cHow do I present my struggle with what\u2019s going on with my marriage to my wife in a way that\u2019s palatable, and gentle, and patient rather than full of anger, and rage, and retaliation?\u201d\n\nThat whole internal dialogue with God is teaching me to be like Christ and, at the same time, helping me be a husband.\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> Well, it is going to come out as the fruits of the Spirit; right?\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> Yes; yes.\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> For me, I know myself\u2014you\u2019ve known me for quite a few years\u2014I am a pretty strong, opinionated personality.\n\n<strong>Ron:<\/strong> Really? [Laughter] I would\u2019ve never guessed.\n\n<strong>Shaunti:<\/strong> You would\u2019ve never guessed\u2014neither would Jeff! [Laughter] My personality is such that, in my own self\u2014if Jeff says something that hurts my feelings\u2014oh boy, he\u2019s going to <em>know<\/em> about it\u2014like I am going to come back with a biting comment; I\u2019m going to say something that is going to hurt his feelings <em>back<\/em>.\n\nBut one of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control. That, for me, is an example of that marriage tension\u2014whatever\u2019s going on with me and Jeff\u2014being used by God\/by the power of the Holy Spirit to help me to just <em>shut up<\/em> and not say something that, five minutes later, I\u2019m going to go, \u201cDarn, that hurt his feelings; and it just put us on a downward spiral, and there was no point.\u201d That\u2019s a fruit of the Spirit\u2014that God is trying to build in me for every area\u2014and He\u2019s using my marriage to do it.\n\n[Studio]\n\n<strong>Bob: <\/strong>Well, again, we\u2019ve just heard a portion of Ron Deal\u2019s conversation with Shaunti Feldhahn. If you want to hear the entire conversation, you should subscribe to Ron\u2019s podcast, which is called <em>FamilyLife Blended<\/em>. You can go to FamilyLifeToday.com. This is actually Episode 3, and we just heard a portion of it. She wrote a book called <em>The Good News About Marriage<\/em>, and there is a lot of good news. We hear the bad news, but the research\/the statistics show there are some good trends when it comes to marriage in our culture today.\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> And that feels hopeful; because it seems like, over the years, the news has been very <em>bleak<\/em> about marriage. I think people are afraid to step into it.\n\n<strong>Dave:<\/strong> Yes; I think, when you hear bad news, it\u2019s sort of self-fulfilling. You sort of give up easier. When you hear good news, you\u2019re like :\u201cI\u2019m going to fight for this. Other couples are fighting for it. The divorce rate isn\u2019t as high as we thought. Let\u2019s win this thing and let\u2019s be one of those that make it.\u201d\n\n<strong>Ann:<\/strong> I think one of the most hopeful things I\u2019ve seen with Millennials is they\u2019re trying to get help before they get married. They\u2019re trying to <em>invest<\/em> in their relationship and learn the \u201chow to\u2019s\u201d so they don\u2019t make the same mistakes, maybe, that their parents have made.\n\n<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Yes; we\u2019re seeing that with the number of Millennial couples, who are coming to <em>Weekend to Remember<\/em><sup>\u00ae<\/sup> marriage getaways, and there are encouraging signs. In fact, I\u2019d encourage our listeners to hear the entire conversation between Ron and Shaunti. It\u2019s really revealing; and as I said, it\u2019s encouraging. You\u2019ll find out as you listen to the entire interview why Shaunti disagrees with the projections that some demographers are making about where the divorce rate is headed. She talks about why she thinks Millennials are having a lower divorce rate than their parents or grandparents did.\n\nAgain, go to FamilyLifeToday.com to listen to the entire conversation. This is a part of Ron Deal\u2019s <em>FamilyLife Blended<\/em> podcast, which is part of the FamilyLife Podcast Network. If you\u2019re looking for some great new podcasts to subscribe to\u2014to download to your phone and have available anytime you want to listen to them\u2014<em>FamilyLife Blended<\/em> with Ron Deal, <em>Unfavorable Odds<\/em> with Kim Anthony, the new <em>Married with Benefits<\/em> podcast with Brian Goins <em>and<\/em> Shaunti Feldhahn\u2014all of those are available. You can subscribe and find out more when you go to FamilyLifeToday.com.\n\nBy the way, there\u2019s information there about Shaunti\u2019s book, <em>The Good News About Marriage,<\/em> which is a book we\u2019ve got in our <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> Resource Center. You can order that book from us online as well. Once again, the website is FamilyLifeToday.com. If we can help you with anything, or if you\u2019d like to order the book by phone, call 1-800-358-6329\u2014that\u2019s 1-800-\u201cF\u201d as in family, \u201cL\u201d as in life, and then the word, \u201cTODAY.\u201d\n\nOne more quick note: Coming up in October, Ron Deal is going to be hosting the <em>2019 Summit on Stepfamily Ministry<\/em> in Chesapeake, Virginia\u2014in the Norfolk area\u2014dealing with the issue of stepfamilies in crisis. There\u2019s more information about that upcoming <em>Summit on Stepfamily <\/em>[<em>Ministry<\/em>]. You\u2019ll find it on our website at FamilyLifeToday.com.\n\nNow, we are in the final week of the month. This is a significant time for us, because many of you know about the matching gift that has been made available to FamilyLife. We\u2019re hoping to take full advantage of that matching gift this week. If we\u2019re going to do that, we need to hear from listeners to make either a onetime donation or to become a monthly Legacy Partner.\n\nDavid Robbins, who\u2019s the President of FamilyLife, is here with me. This is an important week for us.\n\n<strong>David:<\/strong> Yes, it is; because when people partner with us, it enables us to keep living out the mission of what FamilyLife has always been called to do and what we want to keep doing in the future.\n\nI got an email this week\u2014I think I passed it on to you, Bob\u2014it was a good one. This guy said:\n\nHey David, I\u2019ve been working with a couple in my small group, whose marriage is hanging on by a thread. The husband is in unrepentant sin, but I have great relationship capital with him. I confronted him once, myself, back in February about his unrepentance.\n\nLast week, I took another guy in my group and we met with him. Going into it, I was unsure of what to say until I listened to the <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> episode on lies men believe about sexuality. It was a game-changer. I played the podcast version with all three of us. We listened to it together; my friend broke down. The episode gave me <em>perfect<\/em> language to use with this guy. The confrontation couldn\u2019t have gone better.\n\nMy friend invited us in, and he has a meeting with his pastor this week. I\u2019m not sure what will happen yet, but I know it is no coincidence I listen to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>. Thanks for giving me tools to minister to my friend.\n\nSo when you partner with us\u2014not only are we bringing help and hope into your own life,\u00a0 we pray and hope\u2014but also, it provides tools and resources for all of us to be ambassadors of Christ and to take His hope and who Jesus is to the world around us.\n\n<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Well, and as we said, May is a strategic month for your help; because we\u2019ve had some friends of the ministry, who have made available this matching-gift fund\u2014$645,000. We need to take full advantage of that this week, so we\u2019re asking listeners: \u201cEither make a one-time donation or become one of our monthly Legacy Partners and agree to make monthly donations over the next 12 months.\u201d In either case, your donations are going to be matched, dollar for dollar. If you become a Legacy Partner, all of your donations for the next 12 months will be matched, dollar for dollar, until the fund is gone.\n\n<em>And<\/em> if you become a Legacy Partner, we\u2019ll send <em>you<\/em> a gift card so that you, or a couple you know, can attend an upcoming <em>Weekend to Remember<\/em><sup>\u00ae<\/sup> marriage getaway as our guests. We\u2019ll cover the registration fee as a way of saying \u201cThank you for joining with us as one of our Legacy Partners.\u201d If you have any questions about that, or if you\u2019d like to become a Legacy Partner by phone, call 1-800-FL-TODAY. You can also sign up or make a donation, online, at FamilyLifeToday.com.\n\nNow, tomorrow, we\u2019re going to talk about what differentiates marriages that are going well from marriages that are struggling. Chip Ingram is going to join us to talk about marriages that work. We\u2019ll spend some time in Ephesians, Chapter 5, with him. I hope you can join us for that.\n\nI want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, along with our entire broadcast production team. On behalf of our hosts, Dave and Ann Wilson, I\u2019m Bob Lepine. We will see you back next time for another edition of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\n\n<em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas; a Cru<sup>\u00ae <\/sup>Ministry. Help for today. Hope for tomorrow.\n\n<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\nWe are so happy to provide these transcripts to you. However, there is a cost to produce them for our website. If you\u2019ve benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/donate\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?\n\nCopyright <sup>\u00a9<\/sup> 2019 FamilyLife. All rights reserved.\n\n<a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/\">www.FamilyLife.com<\/a>\n\n1","theme_header_position":"","post_header_is_sticky":"","is_header_overlay":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast\/305047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/podcast"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305047"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305047"},{"taxonomy":"podcast_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast_series?post=305047"},{"taxonomy":"cwp_profile","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cwp_profile?post=305047"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=305047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}