I have come to believe our greatest blessings come wrapped with our biggest challenges.
And God is in it all.
For me that blessing is being a mom.
The challenge is there’s a word “step” before mom.
Although you probably wouldn’t know it if you looked at the relationship I have with my son.
The thing is, when I got married, I married 2 men. One of them just happened to be 6.
Because I was too old to have children, it was a huge bonus that I got a package deal. 
Grace upon grace.
However, my son has a biological mom, and even though we have him 9 months out of the year, she is, in fact, the one who bore him.
So when she’s in town, I am Mom #2. Nevertheless, it’s my privilege to be able to love and help raise him. (And in many ways, he’s raising me too.)
I believe that being a parent is one of the most sacrificial acts God gives us. In fact, it might be the best way to understand God’s heart.
Being a stepparent adds to the sacrifice.
You cook and clean, do homework and cuddle, celebrate and cry, give hugs and rides, and at the end of the day, the child doesn’t really belong to you.
But do any of them really?
My husband calls me our son’s “Godiological mother”.
I love that.
I’ve thought about it a lot this week while his mom is in town.
My heart grows bigger as it hurts.
So here’s the question–if being a step mom is Gods grace in my life, the question is, does my grace have a caveat?
Or is it in some mysterious way all part of the grace?
I am willing to bet the latter.