The Baby, The Brother, The Wild One, and Me.

If you have siblings, most likely you already know how amazing it is to have them.  I love mine and feel so blessed by their presence in my life.  I am the oldest of four...I have two sisters, Danielle & Sarah, and one brother Paul.  I love them more than words can ever say. 

One of my favorite things about my siblings is knowing how genetically connected we are. There are no other people on the planet like the four of us.  Because of our parents, we are made up of the same DNA....like no one else.  There is a bond that connects us, like no other.  I would walk through fire to help them out and there is a deep rooted unconditional love that we all share for each other.

A couple months ago, I got to go home (Atlanta) and see all of them...sadly enough, it's been around 4 years since the four of us have been together, and boy did we enjoy ourselves.

We laughed, and laughed and laughed (mostly at inside jokes about our parents ((that is said in total love and respect for mom and dad))...just so you know).  We went to a Braves baseball game, went to the Georgia Aquarium, ate, talked and just enjoyed being together.  It was the best of times.

I could go on for days and days and tell you about the fights we had (they are hilarious now!!), the laughter we've shared (we're a bunch of movie-quoting goofballs) or the tears we've cried (we all wear our hearts on our sleeve)...it's really endless.


There are so many stories I could share...

Okay, so just a few...

When Danielle and I were really little,  I broke a vase and told my mom and dad that Danielle was the one who broke it...(she got the spankin, not me...this is a story that still provides a glare from her in my direction).

Or, how we all survived the horror of a huge earthquake in the Philippines, by all four of us sleeping every night together in one bed.

Or, how when we were kids I threw a rock through a window in the house that my dad was building (I was told over and over again to not throw rocks through the windows) and it hit Danielle square in the head and knocked her over....(yea, I got in trouble for that one...Spencer likes to hear me tell that story).

Or like when we were kids and my brother and I were fighting (I admit, I was totally provoking him) and he threw a hamburger at me during dinner...it stuck to the wall.  We still laugh at that one!

(This picture cracks me up...I know we looked like that bottom picture a time or two)

Ahh...the memories.

We've been through a lot together...so many things happened to us when we were kids.  I think about much of our time spent in the Philippines and the events in our lives that we have experienced together (both good and very bad).  There is a common bond that we all have.  It's true, blood is thicker than water.

While I miss them terribly, (I miss the ability to hug and kiss them whenever I feel like it), thanks to technology (facebook, texting) I talk to them almost every day.  I am thankful for the closeness I feel with them! 

The other day I was having a chat with my sister Sarah (she's the baby) and we were discussing the role she has among the four of us.  She was somewhat complaining (I use that word delicately) about the fact that she was the baby,  and although she is about to be 27 (August 13th!!), she still gets carded. 

I wish I still got carded.

Anywho, I told her that no matter how much she tries to change things, she will ALWAYS BE THE BABY...just like I will always be the mature-sensible-protective-goody-little-two-shoes oldest (I remind them of the status that I hold all the time, well.... at least the part about being the oldest...maybe not the other OCD traits that come with the territory).

Danielle, who is next in order, after me, has always been the wild one.  Not only is she beautiful, but she has always been the fun one.  We used to be really competitive when we were kids, I suppose because of how close we are in age (14 months apart).  She would always beat me during the Easter Egg hunt and collect more eggs than me.  It would tick me off and she would just smile...

What I envy the most about Danielle is her ability to throw caution to the wind and LAUGH.  While she doesn't always think about what the possible outcomes may be (you see, there is that over-protective-oldest-sister coming out)...she is very good at living in the moment. 

I wish I could be more like her and not worry like I do.  Danielle is also fiercely loyal and she would be the one to run after someone with a baseball bat to protect our family.  No matter what we are doing, people always want Danielle around because she has always been the life of the party.  I infinitely love her.

Next comes my brother, Paul (He'll always be Paulie to me).  I love my brother, he's cool.  We used to call him Captain Weirdo when he was a kid, because he would wear this play army helmet and a pair of yellow Mr. Potato Head glasses.  I don't think he likes it that we all remember him that way.  What I admire the most about my brother is that I think his heart is especially tender. 

And, he has done amazing things in his life.  He interviews musicians (real musicians, not the pop artists of our society today) and he's been able to meet alot of famous people in his lifetime.

Paul also tries to do good for this world, which is why I am really proud of him.  A few years ago he WALKED (yes, really walked) from Florida to New Orleans to raise money for the people affected by Hurricane Katrina.  Even today, I am amazed at his capacity to think out of the box that most of us rest comfortably in.   I think of all that he has done, and I am genuinely proud of him as a person, and I'm even more proud that he is MY brother.

Finally, there is Sarah Lee Cupcake...the BABY (she will always be known as Cupcake to us).  I think the three of us have been in love with her since her first breath in this world.  We used to fight over who would get to sit by her at dinner...running down the hallway, whoever yelled "Sittin' by Sarah" was the winner.  A place next to her was coveted more than anything in our lives. 

Sarah is a true beauty (honestly, drop-dead gorgeous), both inside and out...what makes her even more pretty is that she doesn't realize how gorgeous she is.  When I was in college after graduating high school, Sarah went everywhere with me.  She was my little sidekick and I loved every minute I ever shared with her. 

While Sarah is much more soft spoken than Danielle, Paul or I, she has a gentleness about her that I love.  She is the quietness in our sometimes loud lives.  What she doesn't realize is that while she is the youngest, many times she is the one who possesses the most wisdom out of all of us. 

And shes' tough...Tough Mudder tough, in fact.  She competed and FINISHED the Tough Mudder course in Atlanta last year.  Through the mud, muck, fire and electrical wires (yup, they knocked her down...but she got back up)...she finished.  She did something that I would never have the courage to do...and I admire her for that.  She's one of my hero's.

In fact, all my siblings are my hero's.

What I was trying to express to Sarah, however, while she was complaining about being the baby, is that no matter what we do in life, there are always absolutes in our lives that we must accept.  We shouldn't try to change things that are not changeable, but rather EMBRACE who we are.  Sarah being the baby is part of who she is as a person...it's in her core being.

Just like myself...being the oldest.  It's who I am. 

Just like you...whatever you may be...the oldest, the youngest, the only girl, the only boy, the only child, the chubby one, the super-skinny one, the short one, the tall one, the blonde one, the brunette one.  Whatever it is, OWN it...it's what helps to make YOU, YOU.  (Pretty special, huh?)

God has a PERFECT plan for each one of us.  He has mapped out our lives for us and all we have to do is follow Him.  That's it.  I think many times we try to over complicate what it takes to be happy in life.  In reality, its all there right in front of us.

Sure, there are many times in life that  I get frustrated with myself...I wish I was taller, or thinner, or not so sensitive or "sensible".  Sure, I may be the party-pooper at times, but when the tough gets going, I'll be the one right by your side.

But, you know what?

No matter how hard I try to change those things about myself that I wish were different, the reality is that I am at my happiest when I am true to who God wants me to be.  We don't need to change or try to morph ourselves into what others "think" we should be.  All we need to do is please our Heavenly Father.

And, doesn't it feel good when we are accepted, just as we are?

Soooo....if you find yourself wishing yourself to be someone else, or something different than who you are, remember:

The grass is the greenest where you water it.

EMBRACE your own life...stop fretting over things that you cannot change. 

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future"  ~Jeremiah 29:11

 The Baby, The Brother, The Oldest and The Wild One.