Sisterly Love

Hannah helped coach Mary's cross country team.

A young mother of two daughters sent a question to my three older girls and me on how to develop a special bond between her daughters. She saw our girls as having an unusual relationship of love between themselves and wanted that for her own children.

I was grateful to God for her question. Years ago, I set about to do everything I could to make my girls have the best relationships with each other that was possible. That question encouraged me greatly.

Some of the girls are closer than others, they go through seasons that some may or may not like the other, they sin against each other and bicker among themselves. Yet, I see a love and closeness that is God honoring.

There were a couple of things that I purposely remember doing with regards to this issue.

One of the first Bible verses they memorized was Psalm 133:1.

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity!

I often talked about how the Bible wants sisters to love each other. They knew from the beginning of their lives that God's Word is how we want to live our lives. When the first question out about any situation is, "What does the Bible say about that?" it gives the proper perspective of the importance of Scripture. (Not saying that always happens, but it should.)

Also, when the girls were very young, I tried to teach them compassion for and how to help one another.  If one was hurt, I would say, "Hurry, your sister needs you to love her and help her." The first response to any little one getting hurt is for someone to run to get her "bubby" to comfort her. When they are little, this is easy. But as they grow, it gets harder.

Time and schedules get in the way. Little boo-boos turn into big hurts and real life pains. Starting at very young ages and fostering great compassion is key to good relationships.

There is so much more I wish I had taught my girls. That will be a longer post for sure.