Meet my sisters...

My 3 Sisters and I Christmas 2013
I grew up in a home of 6 kids. I was #5 and the baby girl!  The beauties in the left  photo are my sisters and I.  When I look at this picture it is hard for me to hold back my smile... & then I think beyond the picture!  I think of the days when we all lived together...shared rooms, moments of anger, moments when we laughed so hard the tears ran down my legs :) I think of how I viewed them being the youngest...I watched their every move, how they did their hair, how they dressed, how they sang...I wanted to be just like them!  I was there when they had their first crushes, when they fell off their bikes and when they got sick...I was watching!  I also think of the struggles they've had. They had to deal with having a sister who is handicapped and maybe did not always get the attention they needed--carrying walkers, putting on leg braces, having to explain me...and yet they did it and I would not be here without their support.  These faces have gone through struggles of abuse, divorce, teen pregnancy, even Christians who condemned instead of loved (with Truth).  Still their strength from walking through this rubble of wrong choices and people's sin against them amazes me.They are my sisters and through the ups and downs of life I am honored to be 'just' the little sister to these ladies! 
Every time I say goodbye to them my heart hurts and on my loneliest of days I wish that they lived close so I could have a visit and coffee.  It was hard to leave them behind and move to Portage, but often when you let go...God fills your hands again.  Though there will never be ladies in my life that are exactly like these 3, there are a couple in my life who have become like sisters to me (through HIS blood & glory)  Let me tell you about them for a few lines.
I prayed that God would give me a friend here that I could connect with and just 'be'...not have to do anything or need anything, but one that would pray and of course drink coffee with me.  One night while attending prayer meeting this beauty of a gal walked in and she began talking about her daughter.  It was like instant connection...and she also works with individuals with special needs..so she just gets me!  Often I sit and chat with her and am encouraged and refreshed as she prays and helps me keep my focus on HIM.  This beauty also has an older sister who I have come to love & appreciate  too!  Both these women are mighty women warriors for the King & they have blessed me with their prayers, laughs, kids & freedom to be Dee.  They are gifts from the Father's heart and are two gals that are my Kingdom sisters.  God heard the prayer of my aching heart for my own sisters and gave me not just one, but two friends who remind me of the ways that the King smiles on His daughter.  My sisters are definitely gifts!  Now I can sit and be the voice of a sister to many of my girls & Youth in Portage because of  the example of 3 Stearns sisters and my 2 God-brought sisters!  I am one blessed King's daughter :)


 P.S. Many women in my life have brought strength & encouraged me as well...some of you for a moment, some of you for a year or four and some of you for a lifetime.  Please know your love and heart have not been forgotten!  You are a gift too...now keep on passing that gift around...there are more "Dees" out there who need love, joy & reminders of all that the King wants for them.  I release you to go be the gift of Jesus in a life today.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

From Familiar to Fascination

Image
  My prayer app says it every morning lately.  “…Spirit, move my heart from familiar to fascinated until it is ablaze with your unfailing love.”  And my heart knows that’s what it needs. I’ve had times when things have become so familiar to me that it has lost its fascination in me. But oh how I want to be fascinated again with God. Oh how I want the transformation of Jesus in my life. Where things aren’t boring or just dead and mundane, but to be in wonder.   Recently my sisters have come to visit on their vacations with their kids. It’s amazing the buzz around the house when people are visiting and it feels exciting not to know from one day to the next whether you’ll be hitting the beach or going on another drive with Dad to hear all the stories of days gone by. And for a moment the mundane feeling fades and you are met with a little excitement because someone(s) that you love has come to visit. This is what movement from familiar to fascinating feels like. Excitem...
Read more

The Truth (even when it hurts)

  Some years ago I had a friend who I was interested in pursuing a deeper, dating relationship with. I’m not usually so forward with my feelings, but I knew he was a guy that hit many of the characteristics I had prayed for in a spouse. So what did I do? I prayed and prayed, I talked it over with a trusted friend and finally discerned that I would need to initiate a conversation with him that would clarify if he wanted that deeper relationship too.   I was told the truth. He couldn’t date me. We then had a brief awkward conversation about how I maybe had the wrong idea and how he had lead me on emotionally. He left the conversation promising to restore his brotherhood to me and then we left. Phew. Ouch! I cried and I cried, but to this day I am glad someone was able to be truthful enough with me even if it meant I’d be hurt.  To be honest I don’t usually want to have conversations that risk my comfort and my heart so much, but I’d rather live with what is true than live i...
Read more

A Prayer for LA

  “Jesus of Nazareth, God of Golgotha,   Just days ago these people were celebrating (in homes they’ve lost, some with loved ones they’ve lost) your coming at Christmas. Come again I pray to our broken world. Sit with those suffering in the City of Angels, weep with us in the valley of devastation. Kyrie Eleison, Lord have mercy … Creator God,    I ask you for meteorological miracles - an urgent change to the Santa Ana winds, the visitation of rain. Protect and strengthen first responders and firefighters working ceaselessly to quell the flames… Renew them I pray with supernatural strength.  Kyrie Eleison, Lord have mercy …  Consuming Fire,    We are brought to our knees, confronted by the fragility of life. Let salvation arise from devastation. Lord of Los Angeles, God of the Angel Armies, rescue us. Deliver us. Save us… that we may turn again to you. Kyrie Eleison, Lord have mercy …” —Written by Pete Grieg
Read more