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…
Have you ever wondered if God really has a purpose for you as a step-parent…especially the one who feels rejected by his/her stepchildren? I know how frustrating it can be to feel like you have no place in your own home. It can feel lonely, like you just don’t fit Read more…
“I’ve been feeling like a failure lately…and it hurts.” These were the words that caught my eye as I was mindlessly scrolling through my news feed. And out of sadness for this person, I wondered what kind of words had been swirling through their mind day in and day out. Read more…
“So, is life easier without me at home anymore?” These were the words my stepson asked my husband this weekend, his first weekend back home to visit from his freshman year in college. If you’ve read anything I’ve written about my stepson, you’ll know that things weren’t easy with him. Read more…
“They need you,” he told me. The man I was starting to fall in love with looked at me intently over a couple of plates of the best pasta in town. “They need a mom.” “But they have mom,” I protested, curiously. “They need a mom who invests in them Read more…
We recently crossed into new territory as a stepfamily. With the departure of my stepson for his freshman year of college, and with my stepdaughter just entering her senior year of college, we have been confronted with a new stage in stepfamily living: No more stepchildren at home. Is it Read more…
This article was originally published on Her View From Home. I was at the kitchen sink late in the evening, scrubbing the stoneware baking dish and serving spoons from dinner. Actually, I had been planning on turning my back on that forlorn mess of dinner dishes teetering in the sink. Read more…
As seen on Today Parenting Team and @Today Show on Instagram; Love What Matters and Kidspot.com.au When we found out I was expecting our first “ours baby,” we were ecstatic and overjoyed. But there was a part of me that felt remorse. The remorse was wondering if it was fair Read more…
Two years ago, our family hosted a foreign exchange student from Germany. Back when I was a college student, my studies had led me to study music in Germany for three years. After that experience, I knew someday I would want to host a German student in my home. So Read more…