PROVERBS 17:17
My younger sister and I are twenty-one months apart in age, and we could not be more different. I like to cook and work with beads. She could care less about those things and would prefer to simply eat the food and wear the jewelry. I prefer to spend time with a few close friends, while she is very social and likes to have a lot of friends at the same time. I am very opinionated, and she has trouble making even very simple decisions. My sister and I are together most of the time, but we have not gotten along since we were little kids. We are in the same high school class at a very small school, we go to church and youth group together, we are in the same Bible studies, and, of course, we live together. It is not an issue of not loving or respecting my sister, because I do! But that hasn’t made being together so often any easier. This summer it seemed to hit both of us that I am going to be gone to college next year. We have both been reevaluating our relationship and learning to treasure the time that we do have with each other. Our times together have begun to be more enjoyable for us both. Our relationship as sisters is definitely not perfect, but now I know that I would not give up on it—especially what it will become in the future—for anything in the world.
Rachel Thurman, 17, Cedar Hall School, Rockvale, TN
Sometimes the people in my
family are the hardest ones to love, Lord.
Give me the strength to love them the way I should.