Thankful Thursday - Siblings

This is my first time participating in Grace Alone's blog carnival Thankful Thursday;

Why be thankful on Thursdays? We tend to just give thanks on Thanksgiving; why not share your blessings on a weekly basis with us? You don’t have to participate every week; do it as often as you can. The road of life is hard, let us count our blessings as we travel this road…

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name”
~ Psalm 100:4 (NIV)

Click on the on Thankful Thursday to join the fun.

This week I would like to focus on my siblings. I am very thankful for my older sister (8yrs older) and my younger brother (3 1/2 yrs younger)

Growing up I remember looking up to my sister but since she was so much older than me our relationship grew stronger as I got older. I am thankful she took me under her wing and taught me a lot about horses, about independence & self reliance, and I'll never forget how she use to quiz me about the title & artist of those old country tunes. I am thankful my big sis was there to encourage me when I was very lost. I accepted Jesus as my Savior when I was 9 yrs old but didn't follow up to grow the relationship so it was my sister who led me on a journey to develop a relationship with Jesus. She showed me the hope I have in Jesus. I am thankful for her patience as I continued to lead a life full of sin. I am thankful she was there to hold me accountable, to convict me of my sins in a loving way. I am very very thankful she helped me opened the door for me to recommit my life to Jesus in October of 2001. I really GOT IT that night! It's like my eyes were really open, I saw scripture and life in a whole new light! I am very thankful for my big sister!

My little brother & I were very close growing up. We didn't fight much, well there was one summer. My little brother has a very fun loving personality. We had a lot of fun playing together in our backyard, and exploring while camping was a lot of fun together. I am thankful we had each other to share the joys and tribulations of our childhood. When my parents were going through rough times we had each other to lean on. When things got really rocky we had regular meetings our F.A.F.F. club. He always had a way of making me laugh when I was upset. Since he was my little/big brother I loved stealing his shirts to wear. Oh he'd get mad at me! He made a lot of rough family firsts (after the divorce) bearable. One of our first holidays we had a food fight at the table and I am pretty sure he started that. I loved watching him play sports. He has so much athletic ability. I've heard it said that girls will marry a guy like their dad, in my case I was looking for someone like my brother. It was an honor to have both my dad and my brother walk me down the aisle when I got married because both of them played a big role in my life. I am so excited to see my brother as a daddy!

I miss how close the three of us were during our childhood. That closeness seemed to fade some as we got older and began to life our own lives. I realize though that is just the natural way of life, it's okay and instead of dwelling on what we don't have I am THANKFUL and Cherish the moments we do have together. I love the quiet times when we can just share our lives with each other. I am thankful for the times my lil bro gets stuck in traffic because I get a phone call. We talked for almost a hour a few weeks back while he fought traffic. I am thankful for the few moments I was able to talk to my sister yesterday about our kids. I am thankful to be going to spend some time with my brother and his wife the end of this month.

These are all things I think about when I ponder LeAnne having a sibling. Someone she can grow up with, someone to share memories with, someone to lean on when us parents just don't get it, someone to play with when her parents are worn out, someone to read with, some to teach, someone to look up to her, someone to steal her toys and someone to share the chores with. :-)

What are you thankful for?