Baby Sister

My sister Darlin ~ 1 year old

I was six when my youngest sister, Darlin, was born on this day. Because my mother brought her home the day she was born, I saw her when she was just hours old and watched my mother bundle her in a blanket, and hand her to me. When she cried her first soft cry, I fell in love on the spot. I couldn’t wait to hold her after home school was finished, so I could kiss the top of her head. As she grew, I babysat her, played with her, and sometimes toted her along to my friends’ houses. I wrote down in my journal every cute thing she said, delighted in her curls and her cornflower blue eyes and the way she toddled around the house with her arms in the air when she first learned to walk.

I was married when Darlin was thirteen. When Darlin was eighteen, my mother struggled with her testimony and my parents’ marriage; by the time Darlin was nineteen, my mother had stopped going to church, and so had Darlin and my second-youngest sister, Sheri, leaving me, my father, and two other siblings still active in the church. In the ensuing years, as I started my own family, I grieved over and worried about my mother and sisters’ church inactivity so much that I distanced myself and focused instead on my own growing family.

Yes, I had some spiritual maturing to do. But, I’ve grown to realize that she may never come back to church, and I will love her just the same. She teaches me more about unconditional love then anyone I know. My sister Sheri baptized her daughter Whitney two years ago, and I’ve learned to trust that the Lord guides us—myself included—through the twists and turns in our lives and that ultimately, He knows best. In the meantime, I pray for Darlin’s happiness, delight in her company, and love her deeply. I am so glad that she was born and I can't wait to go visit her again soon.