My sister is my best friend. She would do anything for me and I would do anything for her. We are only 13 months apart and I think we are bonded as close as twins. She was my playmate growing up--she would play barbies with me and I would play G.I. Joe with her. (Thank God she was a tomboy so now I know a little bit about those things so I can play with Liam and Brendan!) I always looked up to her--even when the day came that I was taller than her ;)
She has walked with me along all of my journeys. She put up with my hissy fit when she got engaged (I was annoyed that some guy was taking her away). In fact, she understood it. I am horrified at the way I acted (sorry Ryan) but she didn't hold a grudge. I was her maid of honor. She was my matron of honor. She was at the hospital when we found out we would lose Faith, she was there when we lost her, and she and Ryan stayed at our house in the days following. The two of them would give us the shirts off their back if we needed them. In fact, I am pretty sure that she made a pretty big sacrifice for me. I think they would have had their first baby a little earlier than they did, but Jenna wanted to wait until we were able to have a baby. I think she knew that, while I would love her baby and be happy for her, it would be very difficult for me to watch her have a baby while I was grieving for mine. That was an incredible sacrifice and I feel selfish even talking about it, but that's my sister. Selfless.
My sister is incredibly strong. She has dealt with sometimes debilitating headaches for most of her life. She spent a great deal of her high school life in and out of the hospital trying to get them under control. She watched while I went away to college and she had to stay home because my parents wanted to make sure her health was under control (she was able to go away for her Junior and Senior years--where she met her hubby). She became one of the most beloved teachers in her school. If you check out her facebook page, you can see how much her students adore her. She suffered a brain injury several years ago that would probably cause most people to need to quit their jobs, was just another obstacle that she overcame.
Now, I am asking for prayers for her, her husband Ryan and their sweet baby girl, Juliana. Juliana eats very little. They have taken her to multiple specialists to try to get her to eat. Every calorie this sweet girl gets goes to her brain (thankfully) but she really needs more. Fortunately her head grows with every appointment, which means her brain is growing, but she is very small. The stress is taking its toll on Jenna and Ryan. You can hear it in her voice, and see it in her own physical well being. I have asked my sister what I can do to help them, but she hasn't been able to come up with anything. So all I can do is pray, which isn't nothing, but I feel helpless for them. The Bible tells us that the "Spirit intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." That verse has always given me comfort. When I just want to cry out to Jesus and have no words, I know that the Holy Spirit is crying out the words that I don't have. And He is doing that for us now. Jenna is taking Juliana to a specialist at Children's Memorial this Friday. She told me that she just needs some good news. Please pray that the doctor will have something positive to say. They really need to hear it. Pray that this burden of stress will be relieved, pray for a miracle!
I did do part of it while Rori was at school and had a helper
