brotherly love

I wish I knew how to explain the bond between siblings, at least that which binds me with my seven brothers and sisters. We share a tender, loving care that is unique to the eight of us but has everything to do with a deep affection instilled by our parents. 

In general, you won't see anything out of the ordinary, as far as grown siblings are concerned. But if we come together to pray, you most likely will notice a tightening of the throat, sniffling, and grateful tears moistening the eyes of one or more of us. 

And I wonder when it began. I didn't feel or sense it much while growing up. We grew up in two segmented time frames with almost twenty-one years between the first and last. I didn't even appreciate it when I launched out on my own. In many ways, we have all grown apart. We spend our lives within different communities, forming friendships with those closest in proximity. 

I wish there were an easy 1-2-3 step guide for how to create a strong sibling bond for my three kids. I would like to know if the life I'm living (along with my hubby's) will instill deep affection from brother to brother, brother to sister, and vice versa. 

We don't see many good examples of siblings in the Bible. Cain murdered Able. Joseph's brothers envied him and sold him into slavery. Their mothers created a crazy competitive dynamic as the boys entered the world, one by one. Esau and Jacob were separated and at odds for decades. Aaron and Miriam served alongside Moses well but experienced personal struggles staying under their little brother's God-given authority.  With his own eyes, Eliab had witnessed his baby brother anointed to become Israel's next king. Instead of encouraging him, he derided David publically when he heard him speaking confidently about the giant the entire army feared. 

The good examples I can think of are the brothers who followed Jesus as his disciples. I'd like to think of my boys walking in unity like that someday. But instead of wishful thinking, I choose to surrender it all, over and over. I choose to trust my Heavenly Father to work in those deep recesses of the heart. God is doing something in the present. It is His will that we look to Him and expect great things to unfold not only in the future but right now.