If there is one thing I surely want to remember about this summer is the amount of time I got to spend with my little sister. The fact that we're eight years apart in age is becoming less and less evident in the way we treat each other and admittedly also in that she's now taller than me. Yikes! But boy, do I love every bit of her. When we're together it's easy for me to completely let my guard down and act plain silly. We laugh so long and loud sometimes that I'm sure our parents are starting to become concerned.
This summer we beat boredom by taking pictures, eating farmers market bread, making fake movie trailers and other videos, filming our parents doing weird stuff, making fun of our parents doing weird stuff, boycotting against the viewing of telenovelas in our house, listening to Buddy Holly and Gepe, watching Rugrats for hours, baking chocolatey desserts and devouring them, practicing our Português (her favorite word is "abacaxi"), and looking up some seriously bizarre things on Google. Did I mention we laughed a lot?
Her existence is living, earnest evidence of God's love and involvement in my life. Without a doubt.
I feel sorry I didn't learn to appreciate her more earlier. I let the excitement of finally having a little sister and a new best friend die away as the years rolled on. I hope that I'll be able to make up all that time to her by loving her and honoring her virtues. Let me tell you, she has many. She is a light to the world, a beacon of hope, and the biggest blessing my family has received. I truly believe that. I find evidences of this truth every day as I witness the wonderful, graceful way in which she brings everyone together, whether intentionally or not. I especially see it in her unconditional forgiving nature. I am grateful for her wisdom, and the way she constantly calls me out in my pride and humbles me with her simple words. I pray that she will always stand for truth and goodness, no matter how much the rest of her changes.
Thank God for this little girl whose head is constantly somewhere in the vastness of space; seeking, creating, learning, and loving as she goes.
(Photos taken on the fourth of July, 2014.)
(Photos taken on the fourth of July, 2014.)
