Since leaving for college the fall of 1980, I’ve lived away from my home town and family pretty much the whole time. My little brother was only 8 when I married. It is true living far away doesn’t allow you to process happenings as you would if you dealt with it on a day-to-day basis. And so, I’ve grown more reflective as I’ve aged of my missed opportunities.

One area of reflection the Lord brought to my mind this month, the month of August, is the amount of grief my older sister and her husband have experienced. I know I will never fully comprehend the extent of it all, but it has been more than most people experience in a lifetime. She has mourned the death of an infant grandson, suffered the loss of a home to a fire, and while living in a rental waiting to rebuild, was robbed. She has made more trips to the jail to visit a son in the last two years than I can count, all while raising her son’s children until he is released. Additional examples could be presented, but some hurts only hurt more by being shared.

But what really has defined my sister’s journey is the tight grip our Savior has on her, and her total dependence on Him. Just as my pastor shared this past Sunday from our study in the Book of Ecclesiastes, “The measure of your life is not found in what you do; it is found in the person to whom you belong . . . your Creator God.” I’m happy, proud, and thankful to call her my OLDER sister. She reaches a milestone today, August 22, 2019. She has the awe-inspiring position of leading us into the 60’s. So, thank you, dear sister, for showing us exactly what it means to belong to Christ; To never give up and, to never give in to self-pity, but to continually turn to the great High Priest . . .  

“So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most” (Hebrews 4:14-16, NLT).

What do you need most today?