My 'little' sister asked if she could put her version of my courtship story on my blog. At first I thought, yeah right!! :) But then I realized she was serious.
When I read her version, I was surprised. I didn't know she was watching me so much.
I'm a bit embarrassed to put it on, as it makes me out to be a bit more angelic than I know myself to be! If I am anything good, its only because of God's amazing grace.
But maybe this post will help you to stop and think about what the younger people in your lives are seeing when they watch you. Whether it's sisters, brothers, nephews, nieces, or just any people younger than you that you know---- whether you realize it or not, they're watching you!
What do you they see?
…………Little Sister Was Watching…………….
As a little sister, I often observed my older sister Emily. I watched her life day by day and desperately wished I could be like her!! She was very dedicated to Christ … I remember one time I was walking along the beach with her and I commented… “I want to surf one day!” she replied, “I want to serve!” That was Emily! Following Jesus…she lived to serve!!
She wanted to be a missionary and had her heart set on Jamaica!
Then when she was about eighteen years she heard about an orphanage in Liberia and after thinking and praying about it she decided she wanted to go and help there. However the door was firmly shut and she was unable to go… I am sure she was upset about it, but I never noticed. Instead, she settled down at home…. Helping my Dad on the farm, teaching Sunday School, writing devotions for girls, starting and running a “Girl’s For God” club, Teaching music, singing, handing out tracts… etc
Then one day we had two Dutch boys turn up at church, their names were Sjaak and Johan, they came from Holland and were travelling around New Zealand, they noticed our church notice in the newspaper and came along. We invited them back for lunch. Emily had her restricted license then and drove home in her own car, the two boys followed our van with their car… we pulled out to cross a road but realized there was a car coming so my Mum hit the brake. Unfortunately Johan did not realize we had stopped and he slammed into the back of our van!! Whoops! It didn’t really injure much but it gave the poor kids in the back a whopping fright!!!
They stayed for lunch and returned that night to the night service. None of us children bothered to be friendly… they had thick accents and could not speak English very well!! But my sister, Emily, overlooked the awkwardness and tried to make them feel welcome… she was the only one of us children who made an effort to talk to them.
Life went on… No one ever expected to see them back… but unbeknown to us, Johan returned to New Zealand as a resident and got a job in Carterton.
In January we had our annual Bible conference and he attended…
Not long after my sister received a letter from him in the mail asking her if she would correspond with him. She received a bit of a shock! She didn’t want to get married and live in New Zealand!!! She wanted to be a missionary!
After talking to her parents and praying about it, she decided it was God’s will and so she started writing to Johan. It was supposed to be a secret but I soon had suspicions. And it wasn’t long until all the sisters knew about it. A month or so later, Johan came to stay at our house. We all felt a bit bad for him,as he was coming to a home where 7 girls and 1 little boy lived; he couldn’t speak English very well; and we had friends staying as well. I remember him sitting at the breakfast table, not looking around, with sweat pouring down his face! Over the year we all got to know Johan a bit better. He shared his testimony at our church one Sunday and afterwards my Mum whispered to me, “Man! I really like that guy!!” Many other girls such as my friends and my sister’s friends watched Emily and Johan as they courted. One girl commented at a youth camp, “You would hardly even know they were courting!” They were both serious-minded and trustworthy …
A year later(but 2 years after the first letter) Emily and Johan announced their engagement, at Christmas when all the family was home and they set the wedding date for the following November… All of her sisters were her bridesmaids and some of Johan’s family came out from Holland to attend. It was a beautiful wedding.
Three years later and they have two beautiful little daughters…
Yes, Three years have passed… but I still miss my big sister a lot. Her life had made a big impression on my life and often times to my annoyance this is what happens…
…I am in my room and one by one four sisters appear into my room, they talk loudly, fiddle with my stuff, after half an hour. I have had enough so I yell loudly and authoritively… “Everyone out!! Now!!” and most of them run..
(As they know from experience that my bite is worse than my bark!!!) I feel guilty and think… “Would Emma have done that? (!!!!)” No! She hardly ever kicked me out of her room and if she did… it was done nicely.
…My Mum and Dad and all my sisters are going out and I will be home alone. Before leaving my Mum says, (Not implying that I do… just for the sake of last-minute-instructions.) “Laura, don’t sit on the computer the whole time and do NOT eat all the chocolate chips!”
That was the wrong thing to say to a very tired teenager who was hoping to spend the afternoon in bed anyway…not on the computer. Without thinking I moodily mumble… “I do not spend all my time on the computer!” They leave and once again the thought comes to me… “I never ever heard Emily talk back to my parents… she would have taken it quietly and gotten over it…”
How many times I have prayed… “Help me be like Emily!”
My big sister was not perfect but she showed me a godly example. She encouraged me to live the Christian life without even realizing it and that has forced me to realize that younger siblings are also watching me. I question myself. “Will they want to be like me? Would I want them to be like me? Am I like Jesus? As older siblings we have great opportunity to lead the way for those younger than us. May we take it seriously!
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