I adore my brothers. They shaped me into the easy-going woman I am today. Without their presence in my life, I would be much less resilient to playful insults, practical jokes, and farts-to-the-face. Although I wouldn't trade them for anything, growing up, I longed for a sister.
Sisters share rooms and act like best friends, right? Sisters share each other's clothes and never fight about it, right? In short, girls with sisters have a greatly enriched life, right? I'm sure they do. However, I don't feel sister-less because God gave me something better. From infancy, He placed two dear friends in my life who have not only remained my best friends for almost twenty years, but they have been the sisters I never had.
In a way, these girls are better than siblings, because we aren't forced to live together!
As children we played with our imaginations, creating secret fairylands that only we could visit and pretending that our plastic tea set was the Queen's finest china. As preteens, we all braved our "ugly stage" together, tried and failed at talking to boys, while growing closer through every awkward stage. As teenagers, we talked and dreamed of bigger events to come. Wages were made on who would marry first and have the first kid. We wondered if we would grow up to be who we wanted to become.
As I write this, realizing that one of my best friends is now a wife and the other is pursuing her career goal at nursing school, I can't help but feel incredibly proud of them and amazed at God's graceful hand over our lives. These ladies have guided me through many moments, but most of all, they have helped me to mature in my faith. By leaning on the Lord and walking in His mercy, we are, one step at a time, reaching our goals and growing in our knowledge of Him.
Three months ago, my sister Katie and I fulfilled one of our childhood dreams.
She married her Prince Charming and I stood beside her at the wedding arch as her maid of honor. (Disclaimer, that's my guy, not hers.)
A few months ago, my sister Sasha moved farther away from me than she ever has. But I'm too overjoyed to be sad because she's going to nursing school and pursuing her goal of becoming the wonderful NICU nurse I know she will be.
I love her so much that I went to Off The Rails with her, even though I loathe country music. (Except Johnny Cash, of course.)
None of us have the time anymore to chat as much as we used to, but that's okay. It doesn't affect us because sisters can never get away from each other fully; we're family!
I'm thankful for my non-biological sisters, and it made growing up with brothers totally worth it to know these two beautiful girls.
