If I were an only child.....

Sitting back after a more chaotic than normal morning, I began to wonder what it would be like to be an only child.  Here is what I came up with:

• The house would stay clean way longer
• I could sit through a whole basketball game without taking little ones, over indulged on Gatorade, to the bathroom 5 times.
• Life would be much quieter
• I might actually get to eat one of the cookies I just made
• My lip stick wouldn't be decimated by my tactile three-year old sister
• That book of mine that I couldn't find, oh it's currently being used to hold up blankets suspended atop a fort. I am going to have to wait to finish it.
• I would never get asked how old my son is....he's not my son, he's my brother. 
• If there were no other children, my conversations with my parent's wouldn't get interrupted 10 times and then finally have to be postponed. 

But if I were an only child....

• There would be no little hands to make messes that require the clean up.  I'd rather have the mess.
• I wouldn't be at basketball games cheering on my brother whom I love very much because he wouldn't be around.
• I would miss all the little laughs, squeals and screams that fill my life with joy.
• There would be no reason to make cookies.  Most likely, they would just go to waste.
• Sure, my lip stick might stay in one piece, but am I willing to pass that up for a little sister who wants to be just like me?
• I can finish the book later.  They are having way too much fun building that fort. 
• Although they aren't my children, I would miss out on the opportunity to love them so much.
• And though it would be nice to have an uninterrupted conversation, the interruptions are so worth it. Why? Because those interruptions aren't just disruptions, they are people, people God has put in my life for a reason.

What is that reason?  To learn to sacrificially love, serve and give of myself is the reason that God has given me siblings.  Although they are younger, at times, they are my teachers, the tools that God uses to shape and mold me more into the image of Christ.  However, they are also some of the greatest blessings in my life.  There is so much I would miss out on if I was an only child.

• Times of snuggling with my little sister before the crack of dawn.
• The priceless memories made while cooking with my other sister.
• Moments of laughing so hard I can't breath as my brother cracks jokes while we have a sibling sleep over in my room. 
• Painting nails with my sisters
• Reading books on the couch
• Watching and thanking the Lord for all the ways He is working in their lives
• And even amidst those frustrating moments, like cleaning marker off the walls, there is joy in knowing that God has a purpose for it all and that He has given me a great blessing, the blessing of being a sister. 

Do I want to be an only child? No.  I wouldn't have life any other way.