The Gift of Siblings

There seems to have been a bit more sharing of beloved personal possessions and a few more caring words exchanged between the littles today. 

Whatever the reason, it's been really, really wonderful to witness. 

Morning snuggles

Do you see all the sharing going on in this next picture!?!? Gabriella sharing her blanket (Gasp!) and her teddy bear. Mikey sharing his beloved Lamby (almost hidden between the two of them). 

Just look at the smiles on their faces! Joy!

HUGS, without even being asked to do so. 

Cuddling while TV watching. 

Quiet, calm, quarrel-less crafting  

I, so often, sit back and watch the three of you interact and send up prayers of gratitude, thanking God that He gave each of you each other. 

What a gift. A gift of eternal, everlasting friendship. A playmate, a companion, a best friend...for lifetime. 

I catch myself praying that many moments last long enough for me to capture them with my trusty, uber convenient iPhone camera. Many times I do and many times I don't. For those times I don't, I trust my heart with taking still-shots of those precious moments and with bringing them back to my memory time and time again. 

Every second of everyday is filled with endless opportunities for the three of you to play together, grow together and learn together. I am so grateful to be the one who gets to sit back and watch it all take place. I have never felt more fulfilled than I do while having the opportunity to mother the three of you. Life has so much purpose in loving you, raising you and training you up.  

I pray that you stay close as you grow throughout the years. I pray that one day you realize the priceless value in the gift that has been given to you. 

I'm sure you'll learn one day, just as I did, that you could travel to the ends of the earth and never find a friend more true or more dear than your very own siblings. 

You'll realize, just as I did, that your siblings are the only ones who have experienced the realness of life, right alongside of you, and can relate in ways that no one else can. Ways that, strangely enough, don't even need to be communicated. They've cried alongside of you. They've loved alongside of you and fought alongside of you, too. They've been there for the good and the bad and everything else in between. 

I love my brother and sister more than I could ever begin to explain and it brings me so much joy to know the three of you have each other just like the three of us did and still do. My life is so rich because of the love we share. I know you'll look back one day at pictures like these and feel your heart swell with love and adoration and with gratitude and appreciation for your siblings, just like mine does. 

"Friends come and go but family is forever."