The Adventure Called Brotherhood!

This Christian guy happens to be a brother to 7 (yes that is SEVEN) siblings! Brotherhood cannot really be called anything other than an adventure! I have one brother and 6 (yes SIX) sisters! I am the oldest of our crew, which can be good and bad. Being the oldest I got to be the guinea pig of the family. I got to do some things my siblings didn't because after I did them my parents realized it wasn't such a good idea. My siblings got to do stuff I didn't because my parents realized it wasn't a big deal. I was a good guinea pig!

My situation is interesting because I have siblings close to my age, as well as some ALOT younger then me. My youngest sibling is 3ish months and my oldest sibling is 19 years old. We have been through alot together, good and bad. Being an older sibling has been a huge blessing to me! It has been one filled with lessons and adventures. Maybe it is because I am the oldest, or maybe it is just the way I am wired, but I have usually been the one to come up with the bad ideas. Usually my brother (occasionally my sister) has taken the beating for the REALLY bad ideas. For example, I was the one who decided we should attempt a world record for the most people sledding down a hill on one inner tube. He was the one who face-planted in the ice. (By the way, parents can see right through that "it's not as bad as it looks" line)

Us three older siblings grew up together. We shared alot of memories. Me and my brother have shared a room for years. We used to make up games with flashlights and stuffed animals when we were younger. When we got older we played Mario Kart until late at night (now that i am an old man I go to bed well before he does). The three of us used to play all sorts of games of our own imagining. I remember building cars out of tinker-toys, smashing them, and then bringing them to my sister "the mechanic" to fix (Ironically I am actually a mechanic now... but I still like to smash stuff). One particularly dumb game we used to play, involved a 2 liter soda bottle filled with water, mud, rocks, etc. being thrown into the air towards the other siblings who had to run to avoid it.

We fought like normal siblings but we were always close. We knew how to cheer each other up and how to annoy the stew out of each other! I remember "hanging" my sisters stuffed bears by the attic door pull cord. I also managed to rig up a plastic spider to swoop out of the medicine cabinet at my sister when she opened it (I am especially proud of that one). One tine after watching a movie about bogey men living under the bed, I hid under my brothers bed and grabbed his ankle when he sat on it before bed. They may have gotten me a couple times along the way. Maybe.

Now I am learning what it is like to have baby siblings. There is alot more hugs and kisses and high pitched voices. Pat-a-cake and this little piggy are alot more common. For some strange reason I walk around at work whistling nursery rhymes. There are bottles to be given, hair to be brushed, boo-boos to be kissed, and snuggles to be had. It is all a great part of the family adventure!

Having baby siblings is also preparing me to be a better Dad and husband one day. After all i know how to make bottles, change diapers, put cribs together, and a plethora of other baby things. I have developed an iron stomach. I have been spit on, bled on, spit up on, thrown up on (yes there is a difference), peed on, and pooped on. I got this.

Being an older brother also comes with the responsibility of being a good example. If I do it, it is likely somebody else will do it. Sometimes I have been a good role model, others... not so much. By God's Grace I am growing and learning everyday. I am trying to be what He calls me to be. Being an older sibling is an extra incentive to work at being a good example. The times I have influenced my siblings to grow in God have really been important to me. And the times I have been a bad example have taught me to be careful.

Overall being a sibling is great! I cannot imagine being without my brother and sisters! After all, without them who would I pull practical jokes on? And who would I use to pull off dangerous stunts? Who would I have to talk to when I am lonely? Thank You God for my family!