My girls have been fighting a lot lately. I guess I kind of get it. For six years they have done everything together, including their simultaneous conception. Kind of crazy if you let yourself think about it. Two eggs? Both fertilized? Are you kidding me?
Then when they were born, they had to always share us and the attention. No sooner would I be gazing into one perfect pair of dark eyes than the other one would need something.
They shared a crib when they first came home from the hospital. We kept them that way as long as we could until they started rolling onto each other. It didn't matter how far apart we placed them, they aways seemed to find one another by the morning.
After six years, I think they've only spent one night apart. And so, they are getting on each others nerves. And that gets on my nerves. But even in the midst of all the nerve bothering, these girls need one another. Even at six, they are deeply and sweetly connected.
It also makes me think of my own sister. She is almost four years older than I am. Funny how back then, those almost four years meant I thought braces were cool and I was a tag-a-long and she got to do everything.
I already regret including this picture. She's the one with the cool braces. I'm the . . . other one. We used to live in the same town, 14 houses apart. But now she's a two hour drive away, and I miss her. I don't like our town as much without her in it. And that makes me think about my girls and how they are together almost too much, but how when they grow up, they won't be.
My sister writes for (in)courage, too. It is one more way we stay connected these days. Over the past year, I have been so incredibly blessed by this community of women who read and write for (in)courage. Your honesty, support for one another, and general fantasticness make this online beach house one of the safest places in blogland.
If you don't have a sister, hopefully you are able to find some level of sister-hood in this space. Because just like my fighting twins, we need each other. We need our online people and our real life people and our sister people. It can get ugly out there, so to know there is a beautiful community of women like you gathering here in this place is a great comfort.
by Emily at Chatting at the Sky
ABOUT EMILY FREEMAN
Emily Freeman is a writer who encourages girls of all ages to create space for their souls to breathe. She is the author of Grace for the Good Girl (Revell). She and her husband live in North...
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Love every single thing about this post. I’ve never had a sister. And here, in this place? I have a whole family of ‘em!
Love to you and yours!
~Lisa-Jo
Emily, you are singing my song here. I am super blessed to have 2 sisters IRL, but (like you said) this world can be tough and a girl just can’t have too many! I love the beautiful sisterhood found at Incourage!
And I totally get your Mama-of-twins-speak. Mine are boys, but still. :)
emily…
What a sweet post and wonderful reminder for me. I have twin daughters who own such a huge piece of my heart. They started their senior year in high school this week. The time has gloriously flown by and I am so excited to see where God will take them as they enter college.
sisters… I have one of the best. She is my best-est friend. She lives very far away and has for several years.. but our hearts seem to stay connected regardless. I’m happiest when we are all together…
Thank you for a wonderful year of (in)courage.. the community and words are like a balm to my soul.
Much love,
D
Having a close relationship with your sister is a blessing. Always cherish it.
As an only child I always dreamed of having a sister. In the last few years God has given me more sister-friends than I could imagine. I am sooooooo grateful for this awesome women I get to share my life with. Did I mention I am also grateful for (in)courage? Where would I have gotten my daily early morning dose of encouragement from?
How wonderful!!! I don’t have a sister but I feel so connected with all of you and so many other incredible women. You ladies at (in)courage were the first women I met in blogland a little over a year ago.
I started blogging at the end of August last year too! I didn’t realize that we were all brand new then. God has been doing an incredible work this year. I am so honored to be a part of it all. (in)courage is one of my safe spots…along with Chatting at the Sky!!! :-)
You are so right! We need each other. I wrote earlier this week about my baby sister who I would have gladly sold at certain moments: http://asgoodadayasany.wordpress.com/2010/08/11/squabble-sisters/
Bless you as you mother two girls finding their way. I know they will be just fine.
I love the post! i have a twin sister, and we FOUGHT LIKE CRAZY growing up. Now we’re best, best, best friends. We turned 40 in February. Here’s the link to my post that day. http://kendalprivette.blogspot.com/2010/02/bliss.html
i love that God has made women people who bond so closely, even without that family connection.
What a beautiful message. It’s so wonderful to be able to stop by here and pick up some encouragement from such a wonderful group of women. We all need that.
My twins (boys) are 11 now and they often argue, too. I try to remind them how lucky they are to have a brother, and a twin at that. They are ALWAYS together, but I think they’d be lost any other way. They talk about growing up and living on the same street (as each other and me!). And that makes my heart smile.
Thanks for the great post.
I have an older sister too. She had cool braces too. :) Now my two daughters both want braces. And glasses. :) Mine aren’t twins, but they are together way too much right now…and we are all ready for school to start in nine days (but who’s counting?). At the same time, they are the best of friends and I am so thankful for that! Thanks for this post and for reminding me that, as annoying as their annoyances with each other can be (for me), it is such a blessing that they have each other. So thankful for my sisters my real life one AND my Jesus ones. :)
Emily…what a beautiful post! I LOVE and read both of your blogs :) I have two sisters…I am the oldest, so they were the ones “adoring” me…LOL! We are all the best of friends…but sadly, one lives 13 hrs away and I absolutely hate it! We see each other as much as we can…but of course, we wish it could be more. I still pray that one day God will move us closer :)
Thank you Emily for the reminder that our kids will grow up fast and be far away from us and each other and then we’ll all miss living together in one house. I want to treasure it all right now.
I love the photos.
I don’t have a sister. I see you and The Nester online and it makes me smile to see you both being so uniquely and independently yourselves but still together and it’s wonderful.
As I’ve gotten older, there are times I wish I had the unconditional love of sister – someone I could call and tell anything to, cry to, laugh until my gut hurts. But I have amazing friends for that. I also find it in blogland but sometimes that only makes me wish we were really drinking coffee together and spitting out as we laugh too hard instead of sitting behind computers.
This comment feels useless but now that I’ve written it I don’t want to delete it.
Thank you for your post, Emily! Your words made me smile. I am a twin and have an identical twin sister. Like your daughters, my mom said she would put us at separate ends of the crib, and we’d always end up together in the middle cuddling. :0) And while we did have moments, like your daughters, on each other’s last nerve, I absolutely can’t imagine my life without her. I am who I am today because of her infinite friendship, immeasurable support, and overwhelming love. Sisterhood is DEFINITELY one of God’s most wonderful blessings!
This is the coolest post. I am all about some retro pictures.
I love what you said about needing real people (check), sister people (I’ve got one of those too), and online people (something I thought was creepy until a couple of years ago and now I totally get it.) These days, we find sisterhood in some rather unlikely places but oh how we need some sisters.
The world can be ugly, but my sisters, both near and far and in the nebulous blogosphere, make it beautiful and bearable.
I love the sisterhood of (in)courage — I have met so many beautiful souls here.
I have one flesh-and-blood sister — she lives 1,500 miles away, which makes my heart ache every day. But we are close, despite the distance. And that makes all the difference.
Thank you, Emily. As always your words and spirit shine!
<3 <3 <3 -- so awesome, such a blessing you two are to us; thanks for sharing :]
I agree – this community of sisters in Christ is such a blessing! Love the photos. Goodness, your daughters look line you!
Look *like* you! :)
Love this post! I am 42 and my twin lives so far away now. I do miss those days of growing up together. We fought like crazy too. i miss her and wish we shared a room again (we didn’t have to but did). We also roomed together in college. She is an amazing blessing to me. Your daughters will always have each other’s backs……it is an amazing bond I cannot describe. Hang in there as you navigate these waters in this season of life. Love your post and love The Nester. I am sure your mom is blessed by the both of you! <3
Thank you God!
I don’t have a sister, and my daughter is an only child. But we do have “sisters in Christ” for which I am eternally grateful.
Thank you sisters who post!
Blessings,
Beth
Oh my goodness what precious words. Love you, Sister.
And our teeth turned out quite nicely if I do say so myself.
I love this community simply for the grace and closeness I feel when I come here to read and catch up. I might not comment all the time but I find myself smiling, nodding and understanding more often than not.
I have a 2 sisters and we are very close…thanks for the testimant to this bond, either by blood or by relationship.
I have two sisters that I didn’t get to know growing up. One sister is online so we have been able to connect and I am hoping and praying she moves closer (she’s also 2 hours away, over a mountain pass, boo) so we can really get to know one another! We have very similar interests and I treasure the idea of having sisters. I only grew up with all boys. It took 16 years for another girl to be born in our family! It was lonely :)
I love my online sisters! Especially the sisters in Christ. Such a lovely special bunch and I am blessed to have so many come to my blog and open their broken hearts to me and allow me to pray for them and encourage. God is amazing!
Just have to tell you all something hilarious!!! You know the linky thing you set up yesterday? I signed in last night and being the rule-follower that I am, I visited the site of the gal before me and left her a comment. She wrote back to me and this morning we figured out WE LIVE IN THE SAME CITY. Isn’t that funny??? Gotta love God…
I love this site. I don’t have much time for blog reading lately, but I check in here EVERY DAY. Thanks for the courage…
I love that, Melissa! How fun!
love those sweet pictures. i hope my daughters are as close as you and your sister when they grow up.
What a great post and a great place to be (in) couraged! :)
Yay! There’s hope for my “Irish twins”! I have four girls, the oldest two are 10 1/2 months apart, and they are making me nuts this summer with the arguing… but I can resist the urge to drop-kick them with this reminder :).
And to all here at inCourage – this is a soul-food site for me and I love being a part of this community!!
-Laurie
http://livingpower.blogspot.com
What a sweet post! I am loving those pictures of you and Nester. What a special pair you are! My sister is four years older than me too, and I don’t know what I would do without her.
Bless you both!
I have two sisters, for whom I am eternally grateful. Oh, but I need more. More sisters–more women who will be the kind of forever friend that only a sister can be.
Sometimes we say that someone is related to us “by blood.” Well, that’s how we are related. By the blood of Jesus. Thank God.
so very sweet…I have two sisters and I’m sandwiched in the middle. I always say, I get hand me downs AND hand me ups. This just makes me want to see them a little more…
and my two girls. They are two years apart and it’s a joy to see them need each other too. I can’t wait to see what unfolds in them…
I just want to say, having enjoyed the experience of being an identical twin now for 48 years, there is no bond like that of a twin sister. Yes, your girls will argue and get on each others nerves (as well as their mother’s), but they need that too. As much as they each will provide an insurance policy against loneliness for one another their entire life through, they will have their moments of needing their space and expressing themselves apart from being one of the twins! :)
There is nothing like having a twin sister. Enjoy your girls…they are precious. Thanks for reminding me of the special tie that binds.
Blessings,
Joy
(PS. Thoroughly enjoyed your session at “She Speaks”)
i’m looking forward to visiting these twins, i admire them
whenever i meet twins,i’m so happy
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