Sarah's Take on Sisters

This is Sarah's response to the question we all got on how to get sisters to have a great relationship.

Sarah and Abigail

"Growing up with as many siblings as I did was definitely not the easiest thing in the world, but it definitely made other aspects of life easier! I am definitely closer to some of my sisters than others, but that's only because of circumstances. We were very blessed to have had such great parents to guide is in our relationships! Your question actually made me wonder also- how we are so close? I'd never really thought about the reasoning behind it before. 

The main reason I think we all really love each other is because of the way my parents brought us up with the Bible as the first source to go to no matter what circumstance. I remember short verses my mom would say to me when I was having a particularly bad time with one of my sisters- I still remember those verses. They're ingrained in my brain! 

We were also taught that family is always first after your personal relationship with Christ (which was above all else). There have been countless times when I have wanted to do something with friends but we hadn't had 'family nights' in a long time and I chose to do family night simply because they mattered more than my other relationships (given there are circumstances in which you choose to see a friend you haven’t seen in awhile, or there is a special occasion or a friend who is in need etc...) Even though I may not have wanted to hang out with my family more, it was just instilled in me that family is more important. And now, as friends have come and gone out of my life, I’m glad that I did choose family night over going to hang out with friends…and I have sometimes regretted having not chosen family time over a day with my friends. 

Whether it’s suffering, rejoicing, or whatever the case may be- it is done as a family. Through that we have definitely become closer because we know no matter how terribly we fight, how awful of things we do or say to each other, who we have with us at the end of the day is family. And that is a big part of why we are so close- I think. We really depend on each other. Part of being a good sister (which, again, I learned from my parents) is depending on God to give you the ability to serve each other. Yes, I fail countless times EACH DAY at being a good sister. I know that I do, and I know my sisters know! 

My mom talks a lot about how she feels like she can’t give each of us all the time and attention we need- and I feel like that as a sister a lot of times. That won’t always be the case with siblings- but because I have five sisters, that is 5 sets of emotions, heartbreak, struggles, triumphs etc… Not that I am so amazing at giving attention to needs of my sisters that there isn’t enough of me to go around- I’m not saying that at all. I just know that as humans, and girls specifically, we need someone to be there and attend to different things at different times. When I feel inadequate in this area, my mom’s words are always in my head 'be who God has called you to be'. She knows that you can’t do everything that needs to be done! 

All that being said, sacrifice is probably the biggest motion that brings us as sisters together. For example: Anytime Hannah takes time to watch TV with me or sit there and listen while I cry, I know this is a sacrifice. She barely has time to sleep, much less watch a silly TV show or listen to all of my life dramas. Another example of a sacrifice could be that I take Lydia to get a root beer because I know she’s always craving that. Even if I’m basically broke, I may pay for a root beer because I know that she’s having a bad day…It can be anything from cleaning Rachel’s house when she is overwhelmed- to reading a book to Abigail, or listening to Mary talk about a character in her book for the 4,000th time. I think that a big reason we practice the sacrifices that we do are because we know the Bible commands us to love each other and also displayed the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus dying in our place. Not to say we think of this sacrifice every time we sacrifice something for each other- but I think our parents started teaching us from this knowledge and taught us the truths of the scripture that ultimately played out in actions. 

I know I probably said more than you wanted in a million years haha Don’t think that we don’t have fights and wars against each other- because there have been times all six of us were yelling at each other. There have even been a couple actual physical fights (embarrassingly enough, it's true). Also, it is not by anything good we have in ourselves that we love each other the way that we do…It is by God’s grace that we love each other and we have amazing parents who love us also! I know you probably know all of the stuff I just said, but that is just from my perspective!"