The Gift of a Sister

I know all about the gift a sister can be. Mine is turning...a higher number...today. I have been thinking about her a lot this week (that is, a lot more than usual, which is already a lot). : )

Here's what I am blessed to realize; a sister can be such an instrument for change & growth & struggle and wisdom & most of all; learning how to be delighted in. This is straight up a gift from our Heavenly Father.

My sister has been such a picture of God's love for me (my brothers too, but this post is about the sista). I see such a reflection of the ways He has loved me through Linda mirrored in some of the interactions between Ava Gray & Havyn. Here's one of those:

Ava Gray (right now) is always a step behind Havyn. Life for her has been, well, harder. She is still learning to trust people after her beginning in the NICU and tends to hold people at arms length until she's real sure their ok. But even when she is trying to shut out the world, her sister will blatantly ignore AG's silent request to be left alone and will climb on top of her, bop her on the head, pat her cheek, suck on her foot. You know, little sister stuff. : ) And AG will often burst into this adorable grin. It's one that is reserved for Havyn alone. Not even Mama gets that one. Havyn can break through the walls little AG has set up around herself and draw her out to experience joy...love.

My sister has done exactly that for me growing up. I was a retreater and prone to isolating & shutting down when things got tough. My little sister would just bulldoze through all the carefully constructed "do not pass" signs I'd fling up everywhere. She loved me and she was going to be close and she was going to be annoying just for fun while she was at it! I realize now that my Heavenly Father loved me so passionately even when I was not yet able to see it or accept it. What I could see and could accept was the love of my sister. And I bet my Heavenly Father felt the same way about the situation that I do about my girls: it makes me so happy to see little AG receive love - from anywhere. Do I want her one day to be able to trust her Mama more and to get just an inkling of how incredibly much I love her? Of course. But for now, it is so sweet to watch Havyn showing her and giving her the love she can't accept from anyone else.

So on my sweet little sister's birthday, let me just say for the thousandth time: Sisters are a gift from God! I love mine so much, and it brings me more joy than I can say to see my two little girls already benefitting from the same precious gift.

Happy Birthday sister. Since I can't be there in person to celebrate properly with you, go delight/annoy the hay out of someone in memory of us!

And for everyone else, here's some pic's of sista's in action. The first one was taken in 1980 in front of the translator lodge in Papua New Guinea. The boxes are what we had our groceries delivered in. I'm probably trying to get Linda to do something my way (typical me), and she is probably ignoring me (typical her). The other pics are of two characters you are already very familiar with. : )