I got up well before the sun rose. I washed dishes, emptied the dishwasher, wiped the table from last night’s crumbs, the ones left over from dinner before we raced out the door. As the sun was rising, I picked up stray items, tidied surfaces, did a load of laundry. Read more…
Have you ever been deeply touched by someone’s story? Touched to the point that it changes your outlook on life or causes you see your situation differently? Maybe you even see God differently afterward? When I started writing about my stepmom journey, I often felt anxious when I realized that Read more…
It seemed so far away. Eight years ago, when our first “ours baby” was born, I remember thinking that some day WAY in the future, when she turned eight years old, my stepkids — her older brother and sister — would be out of the house. Someday way in the Read more…
Early on, I convinced myself my stepkids would end up spoiled from all the gifts they were receiving. They had double the parents, so that meant there were *four* generous sets of grandparents to indulge them with gifts, plus lots of extra aunts and uncles on all sides! On a Read more…
“I know I should pray about this, but I don’t know where to start. I’m just so confused.” Sound familiar? Sometimes the thoughts swirling around our heads are just too tangled up to eloquently put to words in a prayer that makes any sense. So we give up trying. Read more…
We sat around a circle of chairs and couches in our living room. I bounced a wiggly baby on my lap as tears threatened to sting my eyes and my heartbeat grew more intense. I got the courage to speak up, but almost as soon as the words began Read more…
There were so many nights that I stayed up late cleaning well after everyone was in bed, just so we didn’t have to start out each new day in a house full of dirty dishes, crumbs and toys strewn across the floor. “There is a season for everything…” As stepmoms Read more…
Sometimes being the “bigger person” seems impossible in a complicated blended family situation. What if you’re continually being put in last position? What if your marriage seems to be heading south because the kids or the ex seem to always be demanding something, and needing more of just about everything? Read more…
One Sunday morning when the little ones were being watched in the nursery and I had the privilege of hearing the full sermon and being a part of the subsequent worship, the pastor asked us to open our hands. At first, it felt too vulnerable. As a stepmom and bio Read more…
Three words I never thought I’d say to my husband about my stepson after a FaceTime call with him: “He’s so sweet.” Seriously. What?! “Sweet” and my stepson would never have been two words I would have put together in one sentence. Never. Not even when he was nine years Read more…