Oh Brother, where art thou, in my dreams
When my pigtails fail to impress
Playground sisters and brothers were friends
you wished I'd be reposessed
The brother in movies stood up to the bully
While I served the bully at home
The brother in books lifted her up
You shoved me down into Unknown
Trapped me in corners to make me cry
a burr in your saddle from the start
But at bedtime prayers I would still love you
And pray there’d be room in your heart
For an annoying little sister
who was like a rock in your shoe
A splinter in your finger
A birthday with the flu…
A line of tape in the car
For those long trips
If I crossed the line
I’d get a swift kick.
“Sibling rivalry is common” they’d say
When Mom would ask a close friend
Her tears over all those years
Asking “Will this ever end?”
I thought we’d grow out of it
With our respective shoe sizes
But you, my big brother, keep me on my toes
And are always full of surprises.
But one thing won’t change
At the end of the day
When I kneel down for
Bedtime prayers to say.
I thank Him for you
Yes, even from the start
And pray that there still
Might be room in your heart
For this annoying little sister
like a rock in your shoe
Who grew up to be strong
And, in part, I thank you.
“I don’t believe an accident of birth makes people sisters and brothers. It makes them siblings, gives them mutuality of parentage. Sisterhood and brotherhood is a condition people have to work at.” Maya Angelou
‘The suffering won’t last forever. It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. “ 1 Peter 5:10 (Msg)
“I ask him to strengthen you by his spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all the followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God. God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.” Ephesians 3:16-20 (Msg)
