The importance of Sisters

A wonderful friend shared this with me and I found it incredibly powerful, so I share it with you now:


We All Need Sisters
Moms, daughters, daughters-in-law, sisters-in-law, grandmothers, aunts, nieces, cousins, and extended family, all bless our lives!
A young wife sat on a sofa on a hot humid day, drinking iced tea and visiting with her mother. They talked about life, marriage, and the responsibilities of adulthood.

The mother clinked the ice cubes in her glass thoughtfully, turned a clear, sober glance upon her daughter and said:

"Don't forget your sisters,' she advised, swirling the tea leaves to the bottom of her glass. 'They'll be more important as you get older. No matter how much you love your husband, no matter how much you love the children you may have, you are still going to need Sisters. Remember to go places with them now and then; do things with them.'

'Remember that 'sisters' means ALL the women in your life... your girlfriends, your daughters, and all your other women relatives too. 'You'll need other women. Women always do.'

What a funny piece of advice!' the young woman thought. Haven't I just gotten married? Haven't I just joined the couple-world? I'm now a married woman, for goodness sake! A grownup! Surely my husband and the family we may start will be all I need to make my life worthwhile!'

But she listened to her mother. She kept contact with her sisters and made more women friends each year. As the years tumbled by, one after another, she gradually came to understand that her Mom really knew what she was talking about. As time and nature work their changes and their mysteries upon a woman, sisters are the mainstays of her life.

THIS SAYS IT ALL:
Time passes.
Life happens.
Distance separates.
Children grow up.
Jobs come and go.
Love waxes and wanes.
Men don't call when they say they will.
Hearts break.
Parents die.
Colleagues forget favors.
Careers end.


BUT... Sisters are there, no matter how much time and how many miles are between you. A girl friend is never farther away than needing her can reach.

When you have to walk that lonesome valley and you have to walk it by yourself, the women in your life will be on the valley's rim, cheering you on, praying for you, pulling for you, intervening on your behalf, and waiting with open arms at the valley's end.

Sometimes, they will even break the rules and walk beside you...Or come in and carry you out.

The world wouldn't be the same without women. When we began this adventure called womanhood, we had no idea of the incredible joys or sorrows that lay ahead. Nor did we know how much we would need each other.

Every day, we need each other still

Best Mother's Day Ever!

I had an awesome Mother's Day!
Sophia and I had a fun time (my early riser) at the Men's Breakfast! I then had a pastoral meeting at Starbucks afterwards, but Kevin brought the girls to me in our new Radio Flyer wagon!! (this thing is so awesome- seats, seat belts, cup holders inside and out- and it was "tricked out" with princess chairs, bubble swords, and kites) Earlier this week I told Kevin that I wanted to have a fun family day out with a picnic. We had SO much fun at Burke Lake Park! I'll put up some pics soon!

We came home, napped, and then went to dinner at Austin Grill! We had a giftcard! (I love using those for the right times :)

We dropped off Kevin so he could see West Springfield High perform "Fiddler on the Roof" at least 5 of our youth are in it! And I took the girls home for baths and bed!

We did well- Sophia did not poop in the tub today! The other day- Thursday this week after covering themselves in yogurt at lunch we were a bit sticky so we took baths but in the middle of the bath- Sophia pooped- Everybody out- Clean the tub! But while I cleaned the tub and they ran around naked and she let a bit more go...so after cleaning tub- I cleaned the carpet. All the while I was saying to Grace and Sophia, "Don't touch it!" and Grace kept saying, "We don't touch it and we don't eat it! We don't touch poopy and we don't eat poopy! Its yucky!" I said yes that's right! strange to say but quite correct... But we had a great bath then and a great bath tonight.

But after our bath tonight while I was getting Gracie in pjs Sophia pooped! aghh - I did get her to the potty- so that was cool- and was able to clean up poop and encourage on the potty at the same time. And teach Gracie about encouragement. I'm next to Sophia saying "Great job!" and I asked Gracie to "encourage" her too and say "Good Job Sophie" and Gracie did it and I said- you are encouraging her can you say "encourage" and she said, "Yes! I like to encourage!" sooo cute.... all the while Lucy found her way to the piece of poop that I couldn't get to just two feet away and ATE it!!! Crazy dog!! Not that this hasn't happened before- but usually it involved her finding a stray diaper... and never in front of us- I thought- well there you go Gracie already knows about how we shouldn't eat poop!! lol We all said, "Bad dog! and Gracie put Lucy in time out!" hilarious! After cleaning up the carpet, I got Sophia into diaper and pjs and Gracie brought Lucy back to me- leading her by the collar. Gracie: "Mommy, Lucy is sorry. She's ready to come back." I said, "Okay- Lucy sit down. Do you know what you did? (she looked very remorseful) We do not eat poop! That is a no no- now shake, okay- we forgive you- but do not lick us! ugh"

After getting the girls down- I actually brushed Lucy's teeth! It was just too gross for me to be around her. I know they have special doggy toothpaste- but I don't have that- I didn't use enough to hurt her- but enough to clean her... it was just too gross.

After everyone was in pjs we read books- one of our favorites now is If Jesus Came to Visit Me, we also read a book about Dinosaurs that was Kevin's as a kid-it is awesome- helps you sound out their names and tells about what they ate etc., and a book about Beavers, and then the girls preceded to tuck me in- by covering me with every blanket, led prayers, sang to me, hugged and kissed me goodnight, all the while jumping on me, rolling over me and each other, and giving me every stuffed animal in the room. Grace said several times, "Sophia is SOOO cute!" Sophia was crawling up on our big red chair to get more animals that were up on top and Gracie kept saying, "Sophia, be careful," in this very caring hushed voice.


The girls finally went to sleep after snuggling together in Sophia's bed for about 10 minutes. Grace kept saying "Two more minutes" and then when I said it was finally time she said, "Mommy, just one little minute." Then it was time for everyone to be in their own bed and crying ensued.
I snuggled with each one a bit. Sophia played a game of wanting to snuggle in the rocking chair, then the big red chair, then on the floor, and then said, "House- play with house (doll house) No time for bed- crying-- I love you! Sang our song and left with crying.
Then on to Grace- we snuggled and she kept whispering to me and laughing- this girl was made for sleep overs! Then we sang the good night song- I sang to her, she sang to me, she sang our song for Sophia and for Daddy...then I said time for me to go to bed.
She laid on top of my head- it was like a classic wrestling move! While "pinning" me she began to tickle me and say "You're stuck! You have to stay heeerrrreee!"(imagine said sing songy) I could not stop laughing!!! But I finally peeled her off of me- hugged and kissed- prayed one more time- and left. As I left she said, "Mommy WAIT! I have to tell you something (this is her new thing) Yes? "Jesus loves you! And Jesus loves me, and Jesus loves Sophia, and Jesus loves Daddy, and Jesus loves Grandma, and Jesus loves Pop Pop, and Jesus loves Uncle Rick, and Jesus loves Lucy, and Jesus loves All the people." Its really impossible to stop smiling around here...


Epilogue:
Sophia went out about 8:30 and about quarter till 9 I heard Gracie crying so I checked again- she had pooped in her pull up! of course- POOP! but How cute was she! She said, "Sophia had a bad poop and now I have a baaad poop! Mommy, sometimes that just happens! Poop happens!" I lost it! I was rolling on the floor laughing so hard!

Clearly- the best day! Best Mother's Day so far! Every day around her can feel like mother's day- with Kevin for an amazing husband and girls like mine!
Thanks to God for my awesome family!

Growing in Grace and Wisdom

Part of may day today was rough. Really really rough. But that was the later part of the day. But other than this rough spot I had an awesome day with my girls.
I started the day attending an amazing National Day of Prayer Breakfast! Will write later on that...
Then I had an amazing day with Grace and Sophia.
Then the rough part.
But then I took a prayer shawl to my friend and neighbor.
Then we went out as a family- We walked around shops, ate at CiCi's Pizza (kids were free for Mother's Day coupon!), and laughed a lot. It was great for us to get out and play. We needed it.

The joy of my day- comes from God and my family. I felt God working in me throughout the day.
My girls- Grace and Sophia teach me, cheer me, and give me the gifts of witnessing God's presence.


The girls said and did so - so many cute things today.

I grabbed a scrap piece of paper and jotted them down- here they are:

I was vacuuming- stopped for a minute- and she pointed and Sophia said, "Messy Messy Messy Dog Hair's messy" and thought- how true!!! but Lucy is worth it.

Gracie soon woke up and liked helping me vacuum. She especially liked to turn it off and on. She turned it off and said, "Mommy, I'm going to talk for "one small little minute" and she told me that I had two eyes and pretty hair. Then she turned the vacuum back on for a few seconds....Then said, "Mommy, now I'm to talk for a BIG minute." And we had a longer conversation where we then decided to stop vacuuming! :)

Shortly after that Gracie found a piece of paper she had colored on earlier today, picked it up, and ran over saying, "Look! It's AMAZING!" and I said, "Wow, It's AMAZING?" and she said, "Yeah, I do that sometimes."


The other day Sophia and I were snuggling in the morning and Daddy had gone to the guest room. Gracie woke up and and came to snuggle too and Sophia was so excited reached out to hug her and said, "I love you Sissy!!!"

SO cute!

They truly keep me going- they make me smile when other things don't.

Thanks to God for children- they truly do show us the kingdom of God!