THE BLESSING OF SISTERHOOD
PART I
Ironed uniforms.
Taps at sunset. The ear-splitting
sound of jets taking off. Airshows. Commissaries.
And moving boxes.
We lived in
8 different houses through the course of my military childhood. My parents treated each new duty station as
an adventure. Across state lines, the
scenery, the brand names, and the accents changed, but my immediate family
stayed the same. We were quite close, my
two younger sisters and I. People often
referred to us as “The Guthrie Girls”. As
sisters, we were not only family, but friends and classmates, too. Homeschooling brought a sense of stability to
our constantly changing lives, and we loved it.
My sister
Jessica is nearly 3 years younger than myself.
Being the middle child, my mom used to refer to her as the “Oreo
filling.” She was the peacemaker in the bunch.
She was enamored with horses and cowgirls, and could definitely look the
part. Her outstanding feature was her long
blonde hair. Until the time she went off
to college, it only saw healthy trimmings.
I had thick bangs and waves that went every which way. Jess’ hair curled up and frizzed up in
humidity, and tangled horribly in water and wind, but she resembled a Medieval princess with a long
rippling sheet of blonde down her back when her hair wasn’t braided. Jessica was lovely. She’s still gorgeous, by the way. But, most important of all, she was
sweet. She prayed beautifully. She read Scripture beautifully. She often played the role of peacemaker. And she was nearly always willing to
participate in whatever playtime idea her bossy big sister concocted next. All in all, she was pretty amazing. Whether it be Barbie “Olympics” or “orphan
trains”, elaborate dress-up story lines or Disney karaoke, Lincoln logs or toy
soldiers, Jess was my closest friend.
Ashley was
the baby in the family. She’s in her
late 20s now, but forever an adorable curly-headed preschooler in my mind. Some of my earliest recollections of our
homeschooling days include her sitting at the dining room table with us,
coloring or playing with the Math-U-See blocks while we did our school
papers. She was learning about “Leif
Erikson” and “Erik the Red” right along with us, and for a period of a year or two she had “Luke Skywalker”
for an imaginary friend. She was a
little firecracker and consequently the one who got annoyed and pestered the
most by her sisters. Quite special to me is the fact that our
sisterly relationship grew stronger in the years after I got married. Ashley was the member of my family who
visited the most often. She came to help
me after every baby was born. She was
the one who took the beautiful newborn photos, the one who helped get lunch on
the table amid the toddler wails, the one who sat on the couch and had long
talks while I waited for my husband to arrive home from selling cars. She jumped wholeheartedly into
her role of “Auntie”, sending cards for every birthday and holiday, and buying
presents to go with every birthday theme her nieces and their mother came up
with. She’s a pretty strong and fabulous young
woman, and I love her dearly!
Jessica and
Ashley are my biological sisters. We
memorized AWANA verses together, tent camped together, canoed through
alligator-infested waters together, survived eating Mom’s “mush-mush-crumble”
together . . . We’ve made hundreds and even thousands of memories, while
walking hand-in-hand. Sisters. There’s no other bond quite like it on
earth.
But it
doesn’t stop there. Our loving Creator has taken a relationship so special and precious – the bond of
SISTERHOOD – and has allowed that concept to spill over into the spiritual
realm as well. How tremendously
beautiful that we can also have Sisters in Christ! We can be members together of GOD’S family!
No two
ladies are exactly alike. God has
created us with unique personalities, weaknesses, strengths . . . If we are His
children, then He has given us certain spiritual gifts as well. We may be as different from each other as
night and day, and yet, God in His infinite wisdom has woven us together in a
beautiful tapestry of grace; members of one body - the body of Christ.
I
Corinthians 12:12, 14 “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all
the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ . . .
For the body is not one member, but many.”
How is this
possible? Because when we place our trust in Jesus Christ as our personal
Savior, we are adopted into God’s family!
Galatians
4:4-7 “But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made
of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we
might receive the adoption of sons. And
because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore
thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God
through Christ.”
No matter the race, the nationality, the background .
. .
Colossians
3:11 “Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision,
Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.”
Are you a believer in Christ? Have you been adopted into God’s family? Then
you, Dear Lady, have sisters! – Beloved sisters in Christ! Do you realize how very special that is?! There are women and girls from every country around the
globe united by the redemption that can only be found in the Lord Jesus. Do
biological sisters, by nature, love each other?
How much more should sisters in Christ love one another!
I John 4:11,12
“Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. . . If we love
one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.”
Romans 12:10
“Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love . . .”
I pray that as you finish reading Part I of this
devotional, you’ll thank God for the beautiful blessing of SISTERHOOD.
Hebrews 13:1
“Let brotherly love continue.”
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