March 18,2009 @ 7:12am

The gifts of the Spirit spill out through me daily as peace, joy, wisdom, intelligence, healing, and love. God presents the best of life to me, and I am free to use my creative talent and energy as I will, affirmation from www.scienceofmind.com.
Happy Birthday Rhonda, little sister it has been a journey having you in my life and I'm a better person because of you.
At nine years old, my mother sat my brother and I down to tell us that she was having a baby. Essentially she was telling us that we would have a new brother or sister and honestly given the headaches I had from my younger brother, the thought of another pesky kid running around was not the least bit exciting to me but something happen. Something inside of my consciousness became a protective bee of my mother and the increase in roundness around her belly. I couldn't exactly imagine what might be growing in there but I felt it had to be something akin to a scene I had seen on national geographic when a mother kitten gave birth to her tiny blotches of new born kitties. These kitties were so small and looked like hair ball vomit but in time the kittens walked, meowed and suckeld milk from their mothers breast or they started to look normal. I don't recall ever touching my mother's belly because that seem appropriate, the belly seemed fragile and touching it could make something bad happen, where I came up with this, I'll never know but I do recall the sense of pride I had when in art class with a large piece of pink construction paper and a brown chalk like crayon, I drew the face of my mother and the my own face. In the end, I had created a portrait of my mother and I standing side by side, holding hands and where I assumed my post as protector of the thing that was growing inside of momma's belly. I wanted a girl of course and my brother wanted a boy. I won and on the day we found out the gender which coincided with th day Momma gave birth because back then, people didn't use ultrasound to determine the sex of the child, on this day, my brother rolled around on the ground in a fit of madness, my poor uncle tried to console him but he felt betrayed and more determined to make my life as miserable as possible or so I thought.
At ten years old and with a new sister, this catipulted my oldest child status into a new realm, one where I had even more responsibilities and it further made me feel different from most of my other peers who had an older brother or sister. Momma used the name I came up with to name my little sister, this always amazes me even until this day that her name came to me and my mother chose it. I could spend all day expressing the life of being an older sister and the good times and the bad but I will say this, having a little sister now is a joy to me. We are closer now than we've ever been and I feel safe knowing I have someone who I can depend on no matter what, it's almost like she's obligated but the truth is she isn't but I think we cherish our bond. I wish she didn't cherish the bond she has with my brother but it's like she said one day, I looked up to you guys almost like Gods or a parent and our approval means the world to her. I hadn't looked at my role as big sister in this way or at least I haven't looked at it in this way for a long time. Maybe the blessing in this moment is that given that I struggle to seek approval from my parents, at least I don't have older siblings or more people where I am trying to impress or live up to their expectations.
I love my sister, she is a rock star in my eyes, she is smart, brave, gorgeous, a really good mother (better than I'll ever be), determined, charismatic, expressive, a go-getter, funny, sensitive, affectionate, always wants the best for everyone, a fighter for justice, a wonderful advocate for her kids, family and friends and most of all she's just lovable. She may be emotional and stirs up drama but you've got to love that about her, she's living her best life and at least the one thing you can say about my sister is this, she's brutally honest. I take this day and learn from her, celebrate what she brings into my life and honor her divinity, in all of it's complexity. Today is the day God blessed me with a little sister, a friend for life and someone to love unconditionally. I love you Rhonda, may you have a life full of all your inner most desires and may you know the power and presence of unconditional love for all your days.
I am perfect and I am whole and I am complete. I LOVE ME!