No "halfs" in our family...

The following was posted on Kent's (my brother's) blog today, so I can't take credit for it. Some of you may follow his blog anyway, but he did such a good job summing up the dynamic of our family, I paraphrased a few parts and stole the rest... :)


Like so many families these days, ours has been affected by divorce. It's a slippery slope. When familes split, new dynamics are created. Children's lives and loyalties are divided. New spouses enter the picture. Sibling relationships are created out of thin air, rather than biology. Our culture hasn't done well with it. As the world becomes more "evolved", the foundation of the family as an institution is being rocked. So much dysfunction exists. Look around...how many bruised and broken families do you have in your midst? I wonder how much of this stuff has always been out there, but under the radar, vs. how much is a legitimate acceleration of our world literally going to hell in a handbasket?

Fortunately, we've managed pretty well in spite of the challenges that it presents. Our parents divorced when Kent was in college and I was in high school. They both remarried and have wonderful spouses that love and care for them. Our Dad's wife is four years younger than Kent and two years older than me, which makes for great fun when new acquaintances try to figure out who's who in our family. We have a younger brother who is now in college. He's an incredible young man who is destined for great things. Kent has two great kids from his first marriage, and a third that came along later and absolutely has blessed our family beyond anything we could have ever imagined.

People sometimes ask us how we do it. How could you possibly have anything in common with a brother so much younger than you? What's with this young step-mom situation? How does she deal with being a Grandma? Weren't Kent's two older kids jealous when the baby came along? Isn't step-parenting hard for Kent's wife? Is she always conscious that they aren't "hers"? Lots of questions.

So what is the answer? We think it's this: There are "no halfs" in our family. No half brothers. No half sisters. No step parents. It sounds like I am blowing smoke, right? Although some of these relationships are not 100% biological, we don't care. Our half brother is our brother. Kent's wife has raised his two older children and loves them like they were her own. Kent's kids and my kids call our Dad's wife Mamaw and our mom's husband Papaw. The bottom line is that although we aren't all 100% related, we have never chosen to see it that way or to give it any power in our lives. Is it always perfect? Nope. Do we have our disagreements? Yep. But we wouldn't trade places with anybody.

How does that happen? One reason is that God has placed amazing people in our family. The other is that we love each other. It's that simple. Love is a verb. Love is a choice. Love is an action.

What about you? Are there halfs in your family? There doesn't "half" to be. Think about it.