Project Love: Sisters

Luanne shared a room with her two little sisters.  That was a disaster. Beds were constantly unmade, and dolls littered the rug, turning her room into a war-zone when she needed to walk in the dark.  What was worse was when Luanne needed to be alone. Phew! No more video chats or quiet discussions or alone time.  Toss that away, because there were two blonde-headed monsters barging in.  Look out world!

One night after her sisters kept her up past midnight chattering about their pets, Luanne had enough.   Her parents finally let the other girls move into their own bedroom.  Luanne made her bed.  She vacuumed the rugs and threw away old gum wrappers.  Pictures were taken down and new ones put up.  Finally the room was just right.  When visitors came over, Luanne beamed as she showed off her room.  With two less troublemakers, her life was becoming easier.

But Luanne failed to realize something.  Her little sisters weren’t monsters.  They might have been trouble makers, but they had potential for much more.

They were best friends in the making.

God selectively chose two girls to be Luanne’s companions.  Instead of accepting the gift with thankfulness, Luanne threw away an amazing opportunity.  As she locked her bedroom door, she locked away the hearts of two young ladies who needed her.  And she needed them just as badly.

Who are your troublemakers, dear friend?

I’ll tell you about mine.  God gave me three sisters to share my life with.  They each have completely different personalities than me.  We clash.  We "debate" about things.  We get mad.  But we're sisters.  And we love each other.

My 12 year old sister has two passions: her babies (meaning her sheep and goats) and China.  If she has any spare time, she’s outside with the animals or dreaming about when she’ll finally have mastered Chinese and be on her way to Asia.  But she’s more than that.  She also has a heart for giving.  If you tell her that you have a need, she’ll find a way to buy you a gift.  My little sister is growing up into a young lady.

My next sister is 10.  If you need to giggle, just hang out with her.  She’s known for her cute freckles, her contagious giggles, and her quiet personality.  All she needs is a book, and she’s happy.  She has read my novella countless times and is helping me with my WIP.  If I need story inspiration, she’s my go-to.   But she also has a love for her babies – two cute, potbelly pigs.  Her desire is to fly to Brazil to open up an orphanage for the lost in the middle of the jungles.

My youngest sister (we call her Baby T) is 3.  She’s the epitome of cuteness.   (I’m not even joking.) Everyone loves her huge, brown eyes and tiny body that’s just right for hugging.  Her favorite colors are pink and purple and brown and orange, and she likes sharing food, drinking tea, playing with baby dolls, doing puzzles, and reading books.  We also share a bed together.  =)

None of us girls are alike.  But that’s the beauty of it!  God gave us sisters to fill in areas we lack.  I’m often too serious – my sisters help me laugh.  I run out of story inspiration – they give me ideas.  Sometimes I need someone to spend time with – there’s always a girl waiting.

My little sisters have potential, as yours do.  It might be impossible to imagine at times, but they can become your best friends.

The apostle John wrote,

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." – John 13:34-35

God has loved us in a crazy, radical way.  He literally sacrificed Himself to torture and death just to save us - flawed, broken humans.  If that heroic Rescuer asked us to love others, what could possibly hold us back?!

Let's start by loving our sisters.

As I did last week, I came up with a list of places to start…but you need to add and modify them as they fit into your life.  And I want to learn about your own sisters!  Let’s be open with each other, shall we?

I’ll admit;  I asked my sisters for ideas to put on this list.  With multiple personalities we’re sure to cover everything, right?

(A quick note. Many of these lists for loving family members will have similar suggestions. For example, love languages apply to everyone.  Take what works best for you and your particular sister, brother, parent, and so on.)

• Appreciate your sisters' unique personalities.  This might mean loving their pets, showing interest in their hobbies, or not being upset when they do things differently than you.

• Find out their love languages.  Then act upon them. Buy them a gift, complement them, give them extra hugs.  (one of my sisters announced, "in case any of you don’t know, mine is quality time!")

• Do random acts of kindness.

• Take extra effort to listen to them.   And really care about what they have to say.

• Do something extra fun.  That might mean a dress-up and make-up party.  Or cooking something together.

• Let them borrow your things.  And don’t be upset if your stuff isn’t returned in brand new condition.

• Help them.  If they don’t look like they need help, ask anyway.

• Find something you have in common and have quality time together.  Especially just you and one sister.   Go on a picnic, do cross-stitching, or listen to an audio book.

• Pray for them.  And ask what they need prayer for.

• Talk all night long.   I mean it.

• Treat them as more important than yourself.  Which includes not being bossy.  (I'm talking to us firstborns. *cough*)

• Teach them what you’re good at.  And learn from their talents!

• Have deep conversations.  Encourage them.   Let them know your secrets.

I share that as the last one for a reason.   Don’t just build friendships.  Build deep relationships.  Share your struggles.  Ask for prayer

My three year old sister loves sharing struggles with me.  We go on the swings outside, and I always have to ask her, "What's your struggle?"  While they might be silly, trivial things, it makes her feel special to share how she wants to put together her play house or help Mommy more.

Your sisters are never too young to develop relationships with.  God put you together.  BE BEST FRIENDS.

No, I haven’t mastered it nor am I close.  But I want to have this relationship with my three sisters.  Don’t you?

I’ll end with a handful of verses from Philippians.

"Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others… Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world." – Philippians 2:2-4, 14-15

 Girls, let’s shine for Jesus.  And let’s develop unbreakable bonds with our sisters.

While we're here I would love to hear about your sisters!  How are you going to love them like Christ loves us?  And how did loving your parents go in last week's challenge?  Let's talk.  =)