“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped…” Psalm 28:7 NKJV

Big Sister

Unbeknownst to her, my big sister taught me to stand up for what’s right and make the right choices. She was a good role model for her little sister. I admired the courage of her convictions, and she was and still is my hero.

After her fiancé was killed in a car accident, she decided to join me at my college.  Having my mentor on campus was great until the day students came running, yelling that my sister had been challenged to a car race down our road. This time, sister was not a good role model. Students were lined up along both sides of the road cheering and encouraging the racers. Running toward the road, I watched in horror as my sister and a friend were heading full bore down the road side by side, neck-and-neck.

What happened next took everyone by surprise. A car had entered the road and was headed straight toward the race coming directly at him. My head was swimming with possible scenarios. Knowing my sister does not back down, and would be determined to win this race, it had suddenly become an “game of chicken.” Since the oncoming car was in her lane, my sister slammed on her brakes to let the other girl move ahead so that she could move into the lane behind her, out of harm’s way, but her car went into an uncontrolled spin. All I could see was a cloud of dirt and burning rubber, and all I could hear was me screaming.

They were pretty shaken up and the car took its licks, but my sister was ok. I don’t know which of us was more upset, but I was the one still screaming. My sister was probably laughing but must have been pretty shaken up after that. I was thankful she was safe, but I aged greatly on that day. After that, people always thought I was the older sister. Of course, that is what she always told them! Oddly, they believed her. This was not a normal lesson on right choices, but it was a very good lesson on wrong choices! We were young and away at school, where we can all make some stupid “un-thought-through” decisions. But God had a plan for her life.

I found out in later years that God had given real “toughness” for what was to come into my sister’s life. He gave her the strength, perseverance, tenderness, and grace she needed to serve her husband during his years of illness. Now she stays very busy ministering to others who deal with the same disease and is a blessing to many besides me. I am still learning a lot from my big sis, and I am thankful.

“Thank You, God, our Maker, for being Husband to the husbandless, and Father to the fatherless. You are truly our strength day by day.”