Sunday, October 11, 2015

Birthday Guest

As awesome as it would be to hear Charity’s birthday post about herself today (do bloggers do that?) I asked if she would give me the honor this time.  I must say she is brave since, being sisters, we know just about everything about each other, even things we wish we could forget (nothing like mooning each other via text or anything… we would never).   I guess she took for granted that I am usually nice to people and would never embarrass her on her birthday. (heheh)

When I was 10 and she was 16 (yes, she is six years older and has less wrinkles and cellulite than me, shut up) I completely idolized her. She was somewhat of a rebel behind my parents back and for some reason she trusted me not to rat her out and would tell me about her secret boy flings.  One time she was telling me about how to hold hands with a boy. She demonstrated to me the two different ways (interlocking fingers and not) and told me when you hold hands without interlocking fingers it just means you LIKE them, but if you interlock fingers it means you LOVE them.  I took this as absolute truth for many years (obviously we were home schooled). I wanted to know how she knew these important life rules,  “Duh, I read Seventeen.”  She said. (Like I knew what that was!)

When it came time for her to marry (at the ripe young age of 18!) I cried like it was her funeral. 

When it came time for me to marry, she told me things that even Seventeen won’t print and then laughed at my shocked face (what are sisters for?).

Most of you who know Charity (or even just read her blog) know that she is REAL, she doesn’t do FAKE very well. That is one of the things I love so much about her, because you always know where you stand with her. I would MUCH rather someone be honest with me than leave me wondering all the time (does everyone not feel this way?). However, only a few of us know the true depth of her scariness. We have a childhood friend who swears when we were young Charity RIPPED her dress off of her because she was mad.  I’m not sure that is true, given the source, but I know it COULD be true.  She has even compared herself to Old Yeller when he gets rabies and foams at the mouth and tries to kill his owners whom he loves. Her words, not mine. 

And while I have never actually seen the foaming (or I would have cast something out of her), I have legit younger sister fear.  If fact, this summer she and I took a day trip to the beach with our kids and during the car ride I had to pee so badly I may have permanently damaged my bladder, but I was too afraid to tell her.  Seriously. Afraid. I considered just peeing in the seat and blaming it on one of the kids. I know she will love me and love me and love me forever because that’s what she does so well, but the fear is still there (now that she knows this, I hope she won’t lord it over me). There is probably some childhood trauma associated with this fear, like her trying to drown me in the bathtub or something.  Oh wait, never mind, I’m the one who did that.  So for all of you who never knew…. She is scary. And she has my back, so don’t mess with me, or…. Old Yeller.

If you don’t have someone in your life that you can laugh with, I truly am sorry. There is such great treasure in laughter and I probably laugh harder when I am with this girl than when I am with anyone else in the world.  I have definitely seen judging eyes peer at us when we can’t stop laughing because they think we are drunk. But it’s the non-alcoholic kind of drunk. The kind that sets your heavy heart free and hurts your cheeks and wets your pants. She can put you in a good mood in 10 seconds flat. She gives the gift of laughter so freely and it is contagious. You seriously want to be her friend right now, don’t you? 

She seeks out the deep things of God and doesn’t stop seeking until she gets ahold of fresh bread from His Spirit.  And I’m just going to say, that is hard when you are 24/7 mother to 4 children who need you every single second.  It takes a lot of time and discipline, and she does it. She is the first to tell you when she needs some Jesus time, and she will actually take the initiative to GET IT, meet with her Maker and let him mold her to be more like Him. And then she takes that bread and shares it with others who are hungry for more. She leads and disciples women beyond just her church and community…. She will straight up get in the trenches with you. I’ve seen it.  While she teaches FOUR DIFFERENT GRADES every single day to educate her children. I am in awe of how gracefully she juggles everything on her plate.

She still walks with a “strut” to beat all (ask her kids to show you).

She can hold her own in the uptown, posh, civilized circles, and break out her work gloves and holey jeans to till and shovel and plant the roughest country ground.

She has swept a hundred miles around her kitchen and dining room. Seriously, the broom comes out after every meal. Who does that?

She is the hottest 35 year old I know.
 It’s her birthday.

Worldwide party!

1 comment:

  1. The hair follicle operation can be repeated if the hair implanted has begun to loosen and detach. The surgeons provide consumers with long term treatment packages in keranique reviews order to save money. The offer is good for eight to ten years. If ever there is a large decline in the volume of transplanted hair during that period of time, the surgeons would operate for free. This is very helpful and practical for consumers.
    https://goldencondor.org/keranique-reviews/

    ReplyDelete

Athens

"People of Athens, I see that you are very religious in every way, for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your ...