I held my breath and accepted the phone from my grandma’s outstretched hand. Never had I felt such nervous anticipation. It was as if my entire life hinged on what my mother was about to speak into my ear.
“Are you going to be sad?” Mom asked.
My seven-year-old heart deflated. “It’s a boy?”
“No, it’s a girl.”
And so began the Rebekah/Lydia show.
A sister is perhaps one of the greatest blessings God could ever give a girl. Though there are days it certainly doesn’t feel like that fact is true. After suffering through three brothers, I believed the gift of a sister was the best thing that had ever happened to me. Most days, I still feel that way.
I have to confess that Lydia wasn’t what I had in mind when I asked Jesus for a sister. I can’t play with her hair, she doesn’t like to shop, and most everything I love to do is what she would consider “boring”. At first, I was disappointed, but I now know that I wouldn’t trade her for the world. Lydia has stretched me and grown me in a way no one else ever could. I’ve learned a lot from her. And this may sound funny since I’m the older sister, but I want to be like her when I grow up.
I found that I connected most with Lydia at night. Once the lights were off in the rest of the house and we were supposed to be sound asleep, we’d be whispering back and forth, hoping Mom and Dad couldn’t hear us. Sometimes we would giggle at the silliest things, and other days we would share the intimate things of our hearts.
I don’t believe people when they say they are “just too different” from their sister to befriend her because, if Lydia and I can be seven years apart and differ so drastically, then anyone can be friends with her sister. While our personalities often seem to clash, our hearts are knit of the same fabric. And that is what makes our friendship work.
Beyond Waiting 
My sissy is 6.5 years younger. Loved her when mama brought her home from the hospital… she was like a real live baby doll (that I sat on once when she was a few weeks old). I used to lie on my back in front of the television and lay her on my tum as I watched. Then we aged… I hit adolescence as she hit that really annoying crazy kid phase. Couldn’t stand her. Then I hit 19 and fell in love with Jesus… and subsequently fell in love with my mini (what I call my sister). And now, I’m an old hag and she’s about your age… and she’s my BFF. Brace yourself. Watching your little sissy poo blossom into a woman is going to tear you up. Then you’ll get over it and start sharing clothes 🙂
Yeah, we’ve already definitely gone through that annoying stage. We managed all right at home, but I definitely didn’t want to hang with her in public. 😉 And I’m aware that watching her grow up is going to be the weirdest thing ever. I already have baby brothers who have outgrown me. Watching my little sister become a woman is something I’m glad I’m not having to watch quite yet. (She’s a slow bloomer.) And unless she undergoes a dramatic change in tastes… I doubt we’ll be sharing any clothes. 🙂
I love this post! It is very encouraging because Eliana is quite different than me… Sometimes being a sister is hard; but then, I couldn’t imagine living without siblings!