My Sister is My Hero

My younger sister is my hero.  I just wanted to put that in print somewhere.  MY SISTER IS MY HERO.

I've always cared deeply for my brother and sisters and parents.  I feel like we're a pretty close family.  We really enjoy being around one another.  I feel like I can tell my siblings and parents just about anything, and I hope they feel the same way, too.  I also feel that I can trust that they'll tell me the truth about things and, for the most part, I hope I take the truth well.  So, I feel truly blessed by my family.

But back to my hero.  I remember the first time I realized that she had something that I didn't.  We were pretty young and we both just met some people and I just went on with the activities of the day.  Before I knew it, she was running around with these people as if they'd been friends forever.  I remember wishing I could make friends like that.  But it wasn't because she was trying to be popular, it was because she LOVES people.  And I mean TRULY LOVES, the way we're all supposed to.  A self-less kind of love, and she has it...for everyone she meets.  If you've met my sister, you know that.  She's a great friend.

She's a great sister, too.  She calls just because.  She listens anytime of the day (or night) even in the midst of her own craziness.  She is an encourager and she has a pure heart.  She isn't afraid to challenge me to think outside of myself and sometimes tells me the things I don't really want to hear, but I need to...She's a great sister.

And she's an AMAZING Mom and Wife.  We had a great example of a mom (and a wife to my dad) to learn from, and my sister caught it all!  She prays for her kids like I'd like to.  She has patience beyond what I can describe and she gives all of herself to others.

But most of all, my sister is my hero because of the Godly example that she is.  She has strength beyond measure.  In a whirlwind 24-hr period, my sister's perfect baby girl went from being seemingly perfect to she and my brother-in-law having to say good-bye to their baby girl this side of heaven.  But the grace and humility that exuded from her from that day on has amazed me.  And I know that it wasn't just "holding it together" for the few hard days at the beginning.  She presses on everyday, because even through this unthinkable pain, her eyes are on the prize (Loving Jesus and People).  She looks for opportunities to LOVE people that she can now connect with more than before because of this experience.  She most definitely is my HERO and I am truly blessed to have a WOMAN of GOD to walk alongside and learn from.  You can read a little more of her heart and life here.