When Friends And Strangers See Amy And Me Out ...

… when friends and strangers see Amy and me out with our six kids – hers, mine, ours, and “all ours” – they love to describe us as a ‘90s version if the [Brady Bunch].

We definitely meet all the criteria of a blended family. Somehow in the blending process we haven’t gotten too mixed up. We’ve had to face some challenges of pulling our family together when certain dynamics would push us apart, but we’ve discovered the full range of joys – even a few extras – found in a nuclear family.

Amy and I have discovered that when we dedicate our marriage and children to God – not just in a onetime ceremony at the front of the sanctuary, but as a daily prayer – He helps us do what we can’t do by ourselves. Our six kids truly love each other. They miss one another during absences. They like being part of a big family, where even dinner is an event. They can fight like cats and dogs one minute, but they also defend one another against outsiders. They’re kind to each other. They entertain each other to the point that sometimes Amy and I believe it’s easier having six kids than one.

Because Amy and I know divorce is not part of God’s best plan, we realize we must rely even more on Him to transform something painful into something beautiful for both of us and the kids. The reality is that all parents – whether happily married or divorced – must put their children into the hands of God. Our divorces made that reality become more urgent.

A “hers, mine, and ours” household does present challenges that won’t go away, but the good news is that a wonderful family life is possible. We ay not be the Bradys, but we wouldn’t trade what we have for the world.

Les Parrott III, Once Upon a Family: Building a Healthy Home When Your Family Isn’t a Fairy Tale (Kansas City, Missouri: Beacon Hill Press, 1996), 82