When Family Doesn’t Look Like the Plan
Grace, Responsibility, and Wisdom in Single-Parent, Co-Parenting, Blended, and Complicated Families
By Will Bourne · Bourne Again Media LLC
The family that exists may include more than one household, a returning parent, siblings with different histories, a stepparent, relatives carrying daily care, adoption or temporary foster care.
View cover ↗Explore the cover artwork
Choose a side, then select the cover to open the full-size artwork.
Explore the heart of this book.
The family that exists may include more than one household, a returning parent, siblings with different histories, a stepparent, relatives carrying daily care, adoption or temporary foster care. Will Bourne’s Family Formation Book Seven asks how people live faithfully inside that actual story. Its Wisdom emphasis reaches ordinary conduct: communication carried by adults, clear responsibilities, honest financial arrangements, relationships acknowledged without forced affection, and questions received without retaliation. Equal dignity does not require identical ability, productivity or independence. Support should preserve the choices that properly belong to the person receiving it. Jesus remains central. Grace does not require a false history, and the Holy Spirit’s work cannot be manufactured through adult control. Fourteen Parts and 55 chapters offer sustained attention to complex family systems while preserving the distinct work of comprehensive parenting, abuse response and divorce, remarriage discernment and later-life stewardship. Needed protective help takes priority over reading or discussion.
Book details and library reference
Family Formation, Volume 7 of 10. It also belongs to the Family Formation pathway.
Is this the conversation you need?
Why this book exists
The family that exists may include more than one household, a returning parent, siblings with different histories, a stepparent, relatives carrying daily care, adoption or temporary foster care. Will Bourne’s Family Formation Book Seven asks how people live faithfully inside that actual story.
Who it may help
This book may help readers carrying questions about family formation, especially those looking for a thoughtful, Christ-centered way to connect belief with lived formation.
Where it belongs
Family Formation, Volume 7 of 10. It also belongs to the Family Formation pathway.
Questions this book helps you face
- What is the question at the heart of When Family Doesn’t Look Like the Plan?
- What do you mean by saying that you cannot repent of a person?
- What should a single parent hear from this book?
The conversation behind the book
The family that exists may include more than one household, a returning parent, siblings with different histories, a stepparent, relatives carrying daily care, adoption or temporary foster care. Will Bourne’s Family Formation Book Seven asks how people live faithfully inside that actual story.
Choose a question from the interview index, or read the conversation from the beginning.
Explore the interview questions →Back to section choices ↑
Follow the conversation further.
Follow a question from When Family Doesn’t Look Like the Plan into a reader pathway, article movement, or connected resource. Choose the doorway that meets you where you are.
Watch & listen
Follow Bourne Again Media and Will Bourne for book conversations, teaching, reflections, and related media.
Explore the official media channels →