The Little Kids

My family is unique in that it has a major age gap. I am almost twenty and my sister is twenty-two. My younger siblings are nine and eleven. It’s always been my parents, “the girls” and “the little kids.” However, this summer has been different. And painful. And bittersweet. And beautiful.

My older sister, who is my closest friend, moved seven hours away after getting married this summer, my two best friends from high school got married and moved an hour and a half away, and my boyfriend is two hours away for his job and internship. My family bought and moved into a new house, leaving my home of 19 years with nothing but memories and paint. So, this summer I have lost pretty much all the people that I spend time with and gotten a new home. Jostling to say the least.

However, as he always does, God has been moving in all this madness.

This summer our family roles have been shaken. My other “girl” isn’t here. And so, I’ve been spending my summer with my younger siblings and falling in love with them. God has used this summer to show me how much my family means to me; I tend to take them for granted. He has shown me what an influence I can be in their lives, for good or bad. He has been showing me how incredibly impatient and flawed I am. And he has been showing me a blessing that I overlook far too often.

My hope is that my brother and sister will grow up knowing how deeply I love them, how much I am on their team no matter what and how if anyone hurts them I’m in their corner with guns blazing.  These “little kids” that will soon be taller than me have captured my heart this summer. Honestly there are few places I would rather be than laying on my sister’s bed talking about her life or watching my brother build Lego dynasties and annoying him just to the point that he knows I love him, going on fair rides until I could puke or dancing around our living room until we end up hurting ourselves and each other. 

God always knows what he is doing. When it feels like all your comfort is being taken away, look around, there are a million beautiful blessings waiting to be uncovered.