Thankful Series: Day 25 (+Giveaway)
Like I wrote earlier this month, I’m sharing these posts as they come to mind, and I’m very aware I wrote about my hair before my family. Yikes! But let me tell you, I look around when I’m out and about and I never wish I had a kid that was more like anything I saw. I am so stinking grateful for our children.
We have four in total, and it’s always weird for me to explain because we have two lives—New York and Ohio. Those in NY know that I married a family, not just a husband. I am a step-mom, but that’s such an ugly word. There’s also a decade difference between my husband and me, and thirteen years between his oldest and me. So I trip on how to explain them and me, because “step” gives the impression I see a difference between the children I birthed and the children that came into my life when I started dating their father. But they are all amazing.
I thought today I would start with the oldest of the four.
Nope, I didn’t birth her, but she gets me. Even as a tween she had my number as a chocolate addict and we bonded during a camping trip. Over the years I’ve watched her blossom into an amazing wife and mom. She’s always had the hardest work ethic I’ve known, and I saw that when she was a teen. Today I can tell in her work she is trusted and beloved, and none of it surprises me.
She also has a huge heart that reminds me of her grandmother. The Arduini family would give you the clothes off their back. I am more reticent and skeptical, so witnessing this when I got to know the family really blew me away. Over the years I’ve watched the oldest sacrifice her needs to help others. Without thinking. More than once. It is natural to her, and for that, I’ve learned so much.
She’s also funny and just a joy to be around. When I first started praying for others, I was single, and I prayed for kids I didn’t even know I could have, and for their spouses. Once I married, I kept praying for the kids and their future. How God delivered. Both of the oldest children have spouses that are just perfect complements for them. Her husband is beloved, and he reminds me so much of my dad. My dad had the pleasure of knowing these children well before he passed, and he’d be so proud of them.
My only regret is I wish she lived closer. I imagine a lot of chats around the table, filled with laughter.
Growing up, I never pictured myself as a mom. I certainly never imagined I’d have a blended family. I’m so glad God chose me to be a part of their lives. I am blessed!
All this month I will be watching on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and my new subscribers for my monthly-0r-so newsletter. If you tag me @JulieArduini and tell me you’re #thankful or #juliearduinithankful, I’ll enter your name to win a copy of my fiction books. This includes Entrusted, Entangled, Engaged, You’re Beautiful and the boxed set of A Christmas to Remember (only available as eBook.)
If you live in the United States, you have the choice, if you are the one winner randomly chosen, of print (except A Christmas to Remember,) or eBook. If you are outside of the US, it is automatically eBook.
I’ll add your name once a day for each shout out I receive (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, plus one total entry if you are a new subscriber to my newsletter.) You may or may not receive confirmation from me for those entries, and my random draw is final. If winner doesn’t respond after 30 days, I will choose another. I’m thankful for you.
