Life as an older sister/daughter isn’t always easy…it is often challenging. Examples of the challenges you may face on a daily basis may include your siblings not listening to you, not appreciating all the things you do for them, and doing things that annoy you! Everyone deals with these things. There can also be extra responsibilities that fall on you as one of the oldest in the household.
Despite these challenges, you need to remember daily that God created you for this special role, and you are blessed to be in your family! They are blessed to have your love and help! God made each of us for a purpose. Until we get married, our purpose is to serve our family. Serving our family doesn’t have to be a chore, it can be a joy!
As the oldest sister of 9 kids, including 3 with special needs that we adopted, it can be easy for me to look at the hardships and failures instead of the good in my family and life. That is not what God intended though! He wants us to embrace our lives and to seek him. I love my life as the eldest! Each member of my family is a gift. When I go away on an errand or leave on a trip, I look forward to being home again with my favorite people. Three of my favorite things to do are going on outings with a sibling or parent, playing games with my family, and watching movies together. I feel so special if one of my siblings gives me a hug or makes me something. It is the little things like that that make you feel loved!
Sometimes we can take our family for granted, but the fact is that we never should. Do you remember George in “It’s A Wonderful Life”? He discovered at the end of the movie that he was the richest man in his town because of the love of his family. God gave you the perfect family for you!
I urge you today to embrace the gift of your family and to find little ways to serve them. Believe it or not, it makes us happy when we do things for others, because God created us to want to serve! Whether you are from a large or a small family, you can seek to be the older sister God wants you to be! God created us to be perfectly imperfect and He uses us for His glory despite our faults.
I also challenge you to find some small way to love on or serve a parent or sibling today! It can be anything, such as making someone a cup of tea or coffee (my mom loves it when I do this!), writing a card, or spending time with that person. I promise you that not only will they feel loved, you will be glad you did it!
What is your favorite thing to do with your family? 😊
~Haylee
Adoption is very special to our hearts. When we were ages 11 and 8 (almost 9), our family adopted for the 1st time. We decided to adopt a little boy with Down Syndrome from Eastern Europe that we fell in love with on Reeces Rainbow. (www.reecesrainbow.com) It opened up a whole new world in front of our eyes. We saw children just laying around in beds all day and kids who just desperately wanted a mommy and a daddy to call their own. It was difficult leaving all those kids when we brought our brother home! A year later, we brought home another brother and a sister, who both have special needs. I can't imagine life without any of them! They are very precious to us and bring us joy every day! Granted, there are behavior issues from being in the orphanage and other difficulties that they face, but they make up for it with their love, beautiful smiles, and hugs ;) My parents didn't think that we would adopt again, but God had other plans! We hosted 2 siblings kind of last minute l...
Comments
Post a Comment