Dear Sister,

Dear Sister, I've always admired you from a young age.  Always looked up to you because you were my older sister. Of course, I wanted to be just like you when I was a little kid.  I always tried to dress just like you, always wanted to play with your friends, and even begged to be the maid of our playhouse just to be a part of your fun world.

Dear Sister, now you are thirty-one, and I am twenty-eight.  And here we are.....temporarily.  The reality of your move to New York set in tonight....hence the blog. This is really happening.

Dear Sister, here are just a few of the things I have learned from you....in just the few short years you were in Oklahoma. Most of these things I learned while sipping coffee with you, sitting on your porch next to the glowing chiminea.  And for that, I want to thank you.

Dear Sister,  you have taught me a lot about compassion.  You have taught me what "loving your neighbor as yourself" truly means. You have taught me the real meaning of "community" as Christ intended.  I hate admitting this one, but you have taught me to open my eyes to the hurting world. By that I mean, to be aware of the hurting parents who are unable to provide daily bread for their children, to the people who work multiple jobs and still cannot get by, to the people who truly need help to survive....dear Sister you have taught me much.

Dear Sister, you inspire me. You inspire me to have a flourishing garden so that I may donate all it produces to those in need.  You inspire me to toggle with the idea of really teaching Yoga, on a donation basis, and then using those proceeds to help Moms in my same community feed their hungry children. You inspire me to love people, truly love people, with a heart that does not judge.  You have taught me that a person cannot be judged by the situation that may lie before them.

Dear Sister, you have taught me much.  You have taught me that we are called to love people.  You have taught me that loving people means caring for those in need.  You have taught me that caring for those in need means helping provide for basic needs.

Dear Sister, I dedicate this excerpt to you. Perhaps it will be of a familiar comfort you.  We all read this together on your wedding day.

Lord, make us instruments of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let us sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon.

Where there is discord, union.

Where there is doubt, faith.

Where there is despair, hope.

Where there is darkness, light.

Where there is sadness, joy.

Grant that we may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console.

To be understood as to understand.

To be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in forgiving that we are forgiven.

It is in dying that we are born to life.

Dear Sister, I love you. I am sad to see you go, yes, but happy to see what your next journey holds. And, dear sister, I am so very proud of you.