Blended by Crystal Jones

When we speak of blended families, we are usually thinking about step families. But when I think of blended families I think of more than that.  I think of the family I inherited when I married my husband – ‘the in-laws’. 

Most brides enter their new family thinking their own family superior.  I was not unlike the usual. We tend to cling to the familiar.  We take the stance, that “my family doesn't do it that way…or act like that”.  So new brides tend to be defensive in a lot of ways.  I saw a lot of things in the Jones family that I didn't understand and a lot of things I didn't like. I am sure they can say the same thing about me (lol).

It’s funny, but as I grew in maturity, I saw the Jones family through different lenses.  I saw the love that they lavished upon each other, even when they didn't agree.  They showed up for one another in full force whenever there was an event.  They checked on each other.  They helped each other. This was a unique bunch.  At their core is love and forgiveness.   They are close knit and have an amazing sense of family that I love and adore.  It is honor to be blended in.  Thank you Lord.

And it’s not just the Jones, but the Deans.  My daughter married into an amazing family.  We are so attached to the Deans.  They snatched our hearts and poured themselves in.  We celebrate everything together.  The Deans are a family of educators.  They are loving, thoughtful and extravagantly generous.  They comprise a small family, so our super-sized group makes us all feel connected in a special way. Sometimes, I wonder where the Deans have been all my life.  They are such a wonderful blessing.

My granddaughter’s mom is not my daughter-in-law, but has become my daughter.  We share intimate conversation.  I am her mentor.  She is a smart, beautiful woman.  Tamekia, her fiancé and her boys are also our family.  We've all been blended in. There is nothing we wouldn't do for them.  She knows it. 

My husband was just recently exposed to a whole new family when he met his dad.  The Davis family is much larger than our own.  God keeps expanding our hearts to feel us with so much love.  My husband’s siblings are such beautiful people.  They have opened themselves completely up to us, fully accepting us.  God is amazing.  What a bonus!  We are so in love with them. 

When I look at the many ways God blends families, it blesses me.  It’s not just the in-laws and the steps, its a hodgepodge of people that make us all connected.  If we do not learn to love and accept each other right where we are, we lose out on the best part.  Let’s not reject our in-laws or step families because they don’t think like us or act like us.  That’s the best part.  We get exposed to a whole new way of life that will enrich and bless us if we would just open our eyes and our hearts.