Every year, numerous journal articles and books are published about the effects of blended families, or stepfamilies, on the children and stepparents involved when people divorce and remarry. Unfortunately, as many authors write, this problem affects both Christian and non-Christian families. Statistics show that divorce affects both equally in today's society, with little difference in the degree of devotion of couples. In any case, little is said about the effects of blended families on birth parents, those who bring their children into second marriages. . Birth parents are often overlooked in the analysis of what makes blended families work, their feelings are often ignored in the struggle to build a stepfamily, and too often they must live with two (or more) people who love, who hate each other and that make life difficult. unfortunate for all concerned. Consequently, parents must be aware of the emotional risks involved in creating a blended family and must realize that the role they assume is often that of mediator and arbiter. My husband learned this lesson from experience when his son from a previous marriage lived with us after our marriage. Since “little Greg” and his father had shared a bachelor pad until I came into their lives, Greg doted on his son. They played ball together, went bowling, played video games and cars. Greg lived to make his son happy. And because the divorce had left him with deep emotional scars, Greg didn't date me until he met me, more than two years after he signed the final divorce papers. Little Greg was not psychologically prepared for a stranger to creep in and steal his father's affection. Having acquired some of his father's disdain for women in general, he hated... middle of paper... Artaches again. We know that without a strong faith, and without continuous prayer and trust in the Lord to resolve our difficulties, we would never have remained together. Those times were hard on Jesus, they would have been unbearable without Him. But the process of growing up has taught us some valuable lessons about families in general and blended families in particular. We learned the importance of the role of the birth parent in a blended family and each of us gained a better understanding of the suffering of others. We have learned to love more and submit to one another in love, regardless of who is right or wrong. Both "little Greg" and I learned to be more respectful of Dad's feelings, and we were all enriched by the experience. Greg, Jr., now 35 and married, even introduces me as his mother. This is a big change from where we started all those years ago.