Sunday Inspirations October 25, 2009

I wish to dedicate today's post to my brothers. There are two of them, one older, one younger. While we didn't exactly get along the greatest during our growing up years, they have been and will always be among those I love with all my heart. Perhaps even they cannot comprehend exactly how much I love them.


Over the last few weeks my younger brother has been desperately ill. Let me type the words "kidney stones" and you can spend a minute writhing in agony just as he's done for weeks. He began to lose weight, according to his sweet wife, and was, in a word, miserable. And no one is allowed to say he shouldn't be. During this time our family rallied together. My children, my husband, and I all prayed for Uncle T, in the hopes things would work out quickly. Several times a day my youngest would ask if "Ucwe has a stone? Ohhh." He ended up going in for surgery, which turned out to be the best choice as the stone had stuck and was simply spinning in place. My kids were all overjoyed to find out the stone was gone! I truly hope uncle T knows how much our family loves him.

This is a celebration month for my older brother. Not only do we celebrate his birth (Happy Birthday!!!), but five years ago he was given the gift of life. It was on a Sunday, like today, that a certain buzzer went off during church, signalling a miracle was about to occur: a kidney was ready for him. He'd suffered for many years from a kidney disease, had been on dialysis for so long, and barely able to function doing the most basic things. Our whole family aches to know someone died in order to help him live, but oh how grateful we are for the individual who marked "donor" on his driver's license. Because of this anonymous person, my brother had been given several more years of healthy life.

I'm thoroughly convinced our loved ones are given times of trial to allow others in the family to draw closer to them. When we pray for others, our hearts change. Even when it comes to those we don't plan to ever think kindly of we can see a change. For some individuals this can be a process done over years and years. For others the change can be almost immediate. Though we may never find ourselves loving with all of our souls those who have done us mountains of wrong, we can at least feel a softening of our hearts and a remembrance of who they are; that like us, they are children of our Heavenly Father.


Another blessing is simply the ability to feel close to those we are praying for, even if it's only in spirit. My younger brother is not just a short drive away, while my older brother lives several states to the east. I don't get to see either of them very often. We don't spend hours chatting on the phone or writing long, newsy e-mails back and forth. This does not, however, keep me from feeling distant from them, for they are as close as a prayer.

Yep, I love my brothers, even on days like the one in this picture, where they're both pulling on the back of my wedding dress just to be funny ♥