I just finished reading my sister's blog posts from the last few months. Her husband just returned from a 6 month deployment. She's had lots of time in those months to reflect and learn and grow. Suffering does that to a person. It's one of the reasons Paul tells us to rejoice in our suffering. If we let Him, God will do something great in us through it. She knows that. That's why her verse from the past months has been Isaiah 43:2. It's one of God's exceedingly great and precious promises (1 Pet 1:4).
As I read, I realized, God could not have made two more different human beings who came from the same womb. Same genetic material, same upbringing, same family, same circumstances...we even went to the same college!
She was the homecoming queen. I was on the debate team. She had the tender heart for animals. I like animals. Really. She studied elementary education. Me - aerospace engineering. She always knew she wanted to be a Mom. I was going to be an astronaut. In her home, with four kids, everything has a place and most of the time everything is in its place. In mine, well, not so much.
I've always wanted to be more like her, in different ways, at different times in my life. As I sat this morning reading her blog and thinking about these things, I tried to console myself with the fact that God doesn't create us all the same. But then, the more I thought about it, the more I realized, we are very much the same.
We share a deep faith and love for God, a desire to grow more and more into the wife, mom, and friend that He has called us to be. As iron sharpens iron, so we have helped one another. We share a love of running, a love of family, country and pizza burgers!
I just wish we could share the love of cleaning and organizing :). But then, I think reading her posts this morning has "sharpened" me as well. I'm feeling an overwhelming need to go clean out an ice chest for a volleyball tournament later today. Of course, hers would already be clean and packed away somewhere. But, you gotta start somewhere.
Maybe I'll even pack away that soccer gear piled in the corner of my bedroom from the last soccer practice I held as Elizabeth's coach. A year ago.
As I read, I realized, God could not have made two more different human beings who came from the same womb. Same genetic material, same upbringing, same family, same circumstances...we even went to the same college!
She was the homecoming queen. I was on the debate team. She had the tender heart for animals. I like animals. Really. She studied elementary education. Me - aerospace engineering. She always knew she wanted to be a Mom. I was going to be an astronaut. In her home, with four kids, everything has a place and most of the time everything is in its place. In mine, well, not so much.
I've always wanted to be more like her, in different ways, at different times in my life. As I sat this morning reading her blog and thinking about these things, I tried to console myself with the fact that God doesn't create us all the same. But then, the more I thought about it, the more I realized, we are very much the same.
We share a deep faith and love for God, a desire to grow more and more into the wife, mom, and friend that He has called us to be. As iron sharpens iron, so we have helped one another. We share a love of running, a love of family, country and pizza burgers!
I just wish we could share the love of cleaning and organizing :). But then, I think reading her posts this morning has "sharpened" me as well. I'm feeling an overwhelming need to go clean out an ice chest for a volleyball tournament later today. Of course, hers would already be clean and packed away somewhere. But, you gotta start somewhere.
Maybe I'll even pack away that soccer gear piled in the corner of my bedroom from the last soccer practice I held as Elizabeth's coach. A year ago.
