This is Madeline.
My spunky, smart, funny and wonderful 9-year-old daughter.

Well, the truth is, she's really my step-daughter....and I have to say that because it's part of the reason I write this post.
When Madeline started school, both of her parents were living in the same city. But then her mom re-married and moved to another city about 30 miles away. As you can imagine, this caused a situation where there was a dispute as to where Madeline would go to school the following year. James and I wanted Maddie to stay where she had already become established. Her mom wanted Maddie to go to school in the new city that she had moved to. So James, the judge, and Maddie's mom agreed on a school sorta mid-way between, but much closer to where her mom lived. At first, I was thinking this was going to be a lot of work, because Maddie is a 50/50 placement kid. But here's what I have come to realize; I LOVE my time in the car with Maddie. I don't always drive her, but the times that I do, I cherish. I have had the chance to share a lot of my own experiences with her, (because she is very inquisitive) and I've learned so much about her personality, her strengths and her way of processing information. She's an amazing kid!
I am able to hear her work through school issues, friends that sometimes do not-so-friendly things, I get to answers lots of questions for her about our faith, our family and so much more....I could go on and on. Lots of times we will get so enthralled in a conversation and get to laughing so hard, and she'll say, "how did we ever start talking about this?"
I have been listening to the Bible on audio since I'm in the car so much, and I'm hearing through Leviticus. I know, right? So a lot of times the narrator will begin a sentence with, "Then God said..." and his voice is real dramatic. As Maddie and I were listening to it one day in the car, each time there was a pause in the music, Maddie would say in this deep voice......."Then God SAAAAID.......!!" Cracks me up.



I'm blessed to be her (step)-mom.
Very sweet post. You are both blessed to have each other and to have a good relationship!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful and very sweet! Just like the two of you!
ReplyDeleteOh, I love it! And I concur with driving time being quality time. All the questions and conversations that led to Joshua wanting to be saved were on lengthy drives. Made me glad I didn't do the car DVD thing!
ReplyDeleteYou're a good Mom, Jill.:)
Right on, Jen! Why anyone would want to have movies playing in the car is beyond me! Thanks for the encouraging word.
ReplyDelete:)