For The Love of My Sister

 

There is a saying when someone’s life has come to an end…A Celebration of Life where we gather to say all of the things we wished we had said, while the person was still alive.

Then there is the celebrating of a person’s existence.

Today is such a Celebration…one of my beloved sisters, who I entrust my every spoken word and heartfelt sentiment – my Best friend.

Throughout the years, she has been a quiet source of support; one where because of my sister, I have been able to thrive both in this world and in scripture.

In pouring over hundreds of pages of my Bible, I have often stumbled or misunderstood the scripture before me. It is then, my sister has provided guidance, loving support, and sharing of the written word.

Over the years, she has walked with me through the carnage of my life, my wounds that decided to re-open on their own…and remind me that within me, is an ever-growing light that shines thru the darkness.

My sister’s compassion for me is much like a lotus flower; always willing to open and share with me her beautiful heart. She has broken bread with me, nourished me, shared her spiritual gifts, and an abundance of generosity!

When I was displaced and curled up in a ball in my vehicle, my sister’s prayers covered me whole and I felt her comforting embrace, from afar. For while my suffering was not forgotten by her or many others; my sorrow was mirrored in the heart of my sister. 

My sister, is a keeper of what I've told her; she is someone I trust….with everything in my life.

In knowing all that I've shared, she would be the first to tell you that Christ does not want us to keep a list of our wrongs. Instead, to embrace forgiveness and let go of my anxieties… the ones that keep my knees on the floor.

For my sister knows the reasons behind the hurt and acknowledges my pain- both the emotional and physical, which yearn for healing. 

Over the years, I have been uplifted in the name of the Lord, by our close bond. My sister has Stood up for me time and time again, to help break the chains I feel shackle me.

“Tears shed for self are tears of weakness, but tears of love shed for others are a sign of strength.  And until I have learned the value of compassionately sharing other’s sorrow, distress, and misfortune, I cannot know real happiness.” ~From the Secret of Happiness by Billy Graham.

Today, when I awoke, it was to Celebrate my Sister.

Sitting before my Bible, I read the following, which is the most beautiful gift…

The Way of Love:  1 Corinthians 13

 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant  or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;  it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part,  but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.  For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Through my Sister, I have been truly accepted.

We have shed tears, exchanged cards of faith, and spoken words of hope together.

What I may see as reflections of brokenness, she sees someone worthy of love.

My sister has loved me... when the darkness surrounding me...seemed to shut out the light.

She has walked a mile in my shoes and still...she lets me share the pain...

Yet no matter what I divulge, she does not turn it into a weapon of control or destruction of me; for my sister prays only genuine love over me.

When I hear her voice on the telephone, I need to take a moment… to hold tight onto the kindness, she shares. For the other times of struggle - when I believe that I am all alone,  I am able to unpack from my heart….her constant friendship and who she is pointing too. 

Once I find myself so far away from the Son shine, I know it is my sister, who helps guide me along …back to where I am lit up by the light. When my busted heart needs her- there is never any bad intent . She meets me on the illuminated pathways, along the seaside, in the depths of the forest and every corner of my world, she has never left my side.

Her many gifts involve helping me, others and although she may not know it, my sister has been a teacher to those, who needed guidance.

This post is for my sister, the one true person who has great faith and love~ above all who is not happy with wicked thoughts, actions, and intent, but is simply happy with the truth.

By TL Alton 

* All scenery pictures, I was blessed to have captured- another outlet of his promises that I am not ashes, but the flame.