When I was 9 when I moved in with my real dad, Randy Barnes, and his wife, Carol Barnes…my step-mother. You know, I really don’t like using that “tag” step-mother, because she did raise me, even though she was not my biological mother, she played the part and she played that part very well. You see, I came to them from a very, I mean very abusive step-father. So mom and dad went from raising a daughter that was about to start 1st grade to immediately having a 9 year old, not even a month later 10 year old son. One thing that stuck out was mom and dad’s love for God. I am not going to say that it was a “Cinderella Story” for me, because it wasn’t. It was TOUGH for me.
Now that I am older, and a father, I look back at the whole situation. I put myself into Carol’s shoes and thought of every thing that she went through. I was not her son, I was my dad’s son that was coming from an abusive home. Wow! That must have been an extremely hard decision for them to make, for her to make. That was a life changing event in their lives. Not only was it tough for me, it was extremely tough for them as well. Probably harder on them then it was me. I was by all means not the perfect kid…come on, I had learned some very bad survival skills from my abusive ways. But, you know what, I would not change the events that happened. Could it have been better, sure, but God had a plan for all of us. I could not imagine how my life would have turned out if it wasn’t for Carol. She taught me some very good life lessons that I use, some everyday.
Carol, Mother, Mom, Friend….I thank you and Love you more than you will ever know!!! Happy Mother’s Day!!!
P.S. Thank you for not being the “evil step-mother”.
Oh my goodness, Joe, what a wonderful Mother’s Day gift. I am moved beyond words and I am SO thankful that God gave me the opportunity to have you as a son and I could not be more proud of you. It was tough, wasn’t it. But God is faithful and even when I was not all I should have been, God filled the gap - of course, that’s His specialty - filling the gap as He did in Christ Jesus. I know that I failed you at times, but even in the midst of it all I always trusted that God would not fail either of us. And for that I am eternally thankful and HE deserves the glory, not me. I am so humbled by your words and like Mary, I will treasure them up in my heart. There are two very fortunate women in this world who have the privilege of callling you “Son”. I am so grateful to be one of them. I love you, Joe.
Love, Mom
What an awesome Mother’s Day gift! I’m reading your mom’s response with tears in my eyes. Thanks to you & Melanie for watching Jenni for us a few weeks back. You guys were (and are) an incredible blessing! Check out my new blog sometime: http://steveetheridge.blogspot.com/