Sister Prayers

Years ago, during my first year away from home, I had the blessed opportunity to attend Ecola Bible School. I had known and loved the Lord for most of my life, but I really, truly met Him there on the Oregon Coast.
My prayer that year had been for God to strip me of everything about my faith that had been placed there artificially and to really know Him and stand firm in my faith on my own two feet.
And, boy did He ever strip me bare. It was wonderful.
Every Friday, the class would break into small groups to pray for each other. Almost every week, I would weep and pray for my sister. She was not a believer and she and I had no real relationship. We talked some, but I could never share my secrets or life with her, not really.
And she didn't share hers with me.

I remember once when we were kids (she a wayward teen, me a rule-follower pre-teen) we were home alone and she was in the bathroom(sorry, Sis, keeping it real).
"B!! Bring me something to read!" she demanded.
I had a brilliant idea. If only I could slip the right thing to her, she would change, she would know, she would love God, too...
So I obediently brought her something to read--my Bible.
Pretty sure she threw it at me. I know there was a lot of cussing involved.
Fail.
This is the sister that tricked me into eating poisonous berries: "You're the Indian Princess, so you get to try them first." (we found our pediatrician that way)
She pushed me down a flight of concrete stairs: "Hey, B, just bend over and touch your toes real quick."
Certainly, she messed with me. But she also fiercely protected me, although I didn't hear about the time she shoved a kid's face in the snow for making fun of me until I was much older.
Let's fast forward a decade or so.

My wedding day, my sister couldn't even look at me while I had my hair done without bursting into tears. We love to pull out the wedding video and giggle because my sister and niece (her oldest) were weeping the entire time, passing a hankie back and forth.
When I was in labor for my first born, my sister walked me around the mall. "Let's go in the fancy stores so your water will break in there!" (To leave an impression on Pottery Barn, is every woman's dream, no?
Her youngest was sick and dehydrated in another hospital when I was finally admitted to have Little Miss and my sister drove back and forth between both hospitals all night so that she wouldn't miss anything.
My sister and I talk almost daily. We laugh and encourage one another. We discuss life as mothers and wives. If I have a grouchy day, she (in true big sister fashion) tells me to buck up and reminds me of how much we have to be thankful for in the graciousness of our Lord. I get my turn some days to tell her to straighten her 'tude, as well.
My girls love their Aunt Tally. I love my nieces.
When I look back on those Friday mornings at Ecola, they are unreal to me. I can't recall the pain that had me crying for my sister each week. Now she knows the Lord as her God and Savior and the transformation in her life is incredible.
How often do we forget those answered prayers? Those times that God graciously extends His hand more than we could ever ask or imagine? Today, I'm so thankful for all the work He has done in my life, in my family's life.
Even more exciting to me is the legacy my sister will leave her children and theirs.
We are about as opposite as can be: she's a shorty, I'm tall(ish. really, just average, but she's super short). She's shy, I am most definitely not. She's organized; again, I am most definitely not.
She is all about camping and hiking and getting out. I can do those things and enjoy them, but am much more a homebody gal.
If she hates a movie, I will probably love it. If I recommend a book, she will probably turn up her nose at me.
I was afraid when she signed up to pre-read my book. So was she. She read the first page and wasn't totally sure it was going to be her kind of book. I almost told her to just write the review anonymously and never tell me what she thought.
Today she shared this on Facebook:
"Almost done reading my sissy's first book. can I say "uh-mazing" over and over and over again. I knew I was going to be proud of her gift from God in this, but I am in awe of this exceptional, inspiring and truthful depiction of what is really going on in the world, and how God is showing His light thru it all. I am putting her at the top of my favorite authors list, right next to Francine Rivers! if you want to be inspired, then go read this book for yourself.... just be prepared to put your life on hold, I can't stop reading!"
Answered prayers, above and beyond. I wanted my sister to know the Lord and for us to get along.
I never expected we would be friends and sisters-in-Christ.