Our Step Family-
I’ll be honest, I had no idea what I was getting myself in to. When John and I got married our children were 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10. It’s now 19 years later and our marriage, the children, and family have survived. Don’t ask me how. It was and still is the grace of God, because I have no other explanation. I definitely wasn’t perfect and I made my share of mistakes (and still do). Everyone is grown now. John and I are empty nesters. Our youngest is a junior in college and the oldest is almost 30. It is so hard to believe how fast time goes by.
Right after we got married we went to a step family conference on blending families. It helped a lot. Not only did the conference help, but it was nice to get away and just focus on our marriage and the topic of our family. It was about a book written by Ron Deal called the Smart Step Family. Click here and it will take you to the amazon store if you are interested. I would highly recommend reading this book or another book if you are thinking about putting a step family together. Rarely do they completely blend.
I truly believe that the only reason that our family survived is because John put me first. Above everything! It was hard, but he was always there for me so I never felt unsupported or unloved, left behind or like a second choice. I feel like the key to a strong marriage is keeping the marriage first and in a step family it is so easy to put your kids above your spouse. I know because I struggled with it tremendously.