I have never experienced this myself, but I can only imagine the emotions involved with combining families of different size, background, and circumstance.
In my family relations class, my teacher brought in his wife to talk to us about perspective in combining families or in her case, marrying my teacher who was single, her being divorced with two young children. There was a lot of question and talk about how it can be hard on children, and something my teacher and his wife said really stuck with me. They explained that even though my teacher wasn't their birth father, it didn't matter. They loved him as their father; the only one they'll ever have. My teacher then shared a video his son shared with him, to illustrate this example.
"He Didn't Have to Be" by Brad Paisley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjO1F6oCab8
As I watched this, tears came to my eyes and I couldn't help as they just fell down my cheeks during class. I was so touched to see just a glimpse of Brother Williams' experience as a father, and how much his sons and other children love him. I have such a testimony that Heavenly Father truly reaches out to us, and knows our situations. He can and will make part things whole again. I will always cherish what I have learned about this.
