Hey sister!
I missed being around to help with your special birthday breakfast, I hated not baking you a cake & taking the kids for the day so you could relax. I don’t like not being able to take you out to get coffee or to sing our special family Happy Birthday song but I know, as much as you are here with me in spirit, I am there with you too. I am blessed to have you, Emmy, as my sister & my most intimate friend.
I have been blessed to find a place of refuge in your home. I know that I am seen as God designed me in your eyes. I know that He brought us together to learn from one another, to make some sparks sometimes when our iron gets to rubbing, & to bring out the best in each other. I am honored to be a daily part of your wonderful family. I love watching you parent 4 of the best/brightest/most beautiful girls in the world (and I am not just being bias…it’s true!) I am blessed to watch you serve your husband, seek God for each other & your kids, & how you serve our family at large. You are a constant example of community to me; never just excusing but working through to create more intimate relationships among the body. I have always had you to protect & speak for me when I didn’t have the words. I think part of the fight in me was learned from watching you fight for everyone you cared for. You are a most loyal friend! You have been the one to stretch us through times when relationship gets difficult. You have been a mentor, even when I didn’t ask I knew I could count on your wisdom & discernment.
Thanks for being you. Thanks for choosing a posture of brokenness before our Heavenly Father. Thanks for loving me in spite of myself & my fleshly nature. Thanks for being real community to me every step of the way. Thanks for releasing me to the world & for running open armed to me when I return. We’ve come a long way since the days of dividing the room into yours & mine sides, & having to be reminded to act like we loved each other in public. The truth is, I always did love you SO much, even if I didn’t know how to show it. You are a huge part of my heart, thank you for opening yourself up to me & letting me take as much or as little as I needed. Thanks for your advice & for knowing I may not always take it but I will learn either way. Thanks for seeing in me who I could be & not being satisfied with where I am! Others may try to compete but you, my big sister, have the competition in the bag! You are the best sister anyone could ever ask for. Thanks, I love you!
