How to Be a Sister to Your Real Brothers...

As I shared with you last week, I was not a loving sister growing up.  To be completely honest, I still struggle with being a loving sister to my only brother.  He has been the initiator in our sibling relationship.  He has been the one who has continued to seek open communication and be quick to forgive and forget.  He has (for the most part) been the mature one in our relationship...showing godly wisdom and understanding.

This last chapter in It's Not That Complicated has really set my heart on fire.  I have examined and re-examined my motives and intentions concerning my relationship and/or lack of relationship with my brother while growing up and now as an adult.

There were some great passages in the book that I have kept coming back to...

"Many sisters underestimate or fail to realize the tremendous influence they have over their brothers.  Younger brothers especially watch and learn from their sister's attitudes and example..... We really appreciate when you talk to us, ask questions, and are willing to patiently listen to us.  This shows that you care about us and what we think....Your respect and encouragement inspire us with confidence to humble servant-leaders we need to be."  By: Philip, the chef (pg.60)

"When they confide in me, it inspires me to greater care, protection, and tenderness towards them.  Because they behave like women, they remind me that I need to be a man."  By: Paul, the missionary (pg. 63)

"How a woman builds or breaks the relationships in her life id the surest sign of her salvation, her character, and her calling.  That is why, I believe, the Proverbs spend so much time discussing the end effects of sin or righteousness in a woman's life on the house in which she resides.  It is mission critical for a woman to be a relationship builder." By: Robert, the entrepreneur (pg.57)

And finally...."All boys start out immature, annoying, and desperately wicked.  But boys can turn into men overnight, and that little brother that you're helping to build a model rocket today might want to take you to space with him tomorrow!"  (pg.69)

I am still wrestling with what I am going to do with this new conviction I find myself immersed in concerning this most precious relationship with my adult brother.  I am holding onto the passage in Joel 2:25... He can "restore to you the years that the locust have eaten."

Remember girls, "almost every man, boyfriend, and husband in the world started out as some girl's annoying kid brother, and every one of those girls left her mark on what kind of man he became."  

What kind of mark will you leave on your brother(s)?