my little brother

My brother is a God-loving man. He has grown up with this a part of him. But sometime in the past year he delved his entire being deeper into the heart of God. He has sought to immerse himself with God’s Truth and be an expression of Him. My parents and I have watched him with a thrilled awe. My little brother has gone from a self-assured, confident man who deeply loved his God, his family and his friends to a man who is walking assuredly with the One who loves him most, pouring his entire self out for His purpose, and giving the core of his being on the alter for his Lord’s purpose. He longs to serve the Lord in a daily way. I can hear it in his voice, see it on his face.

His plans for the future are not different, his interests and hobbies have not changed. But his love for the Lord is deeper and stronger, his openness before us, his family, is laid bare and honest. In some ways he is finally “growing up”, and in other ways he seems to be at the beginning of a new journey. Something in his spirit is deeply refreshed, watered.

I have always loved my brother. (I may not have “liked” him very much during some stages of our lives, but that’s different.) And during the years when he was in college, he matured and our relationship followed suit. It was a natural progression of time, I suppose. But this. This is so much more than “he’s grown up”. There is a sweetness to this new season. Now, when he calls me, he really calls to share his heart, not the surface of what he is experiencing. I am able to do likewise for the first time.

And in this, something within myself and my spirit is also refreshed, watered, nurtured.