Meine liebe schwester

I am reading a book called The Cry of Spiritual Mothers and Fathers---it is an easy read and expresses sound wisdom. It brings to mind the relationship I have with my sister. I spoke to her yesterday before church. I truly love her.

My sister and I are spiritual mothers, especially to one another. We have been through so much together that we know exactly what to say or not to say to each other. Oddly enough, we were never close until much later in our lives . It seemed the pain and tumultuousness of our childhood and young adult lives caused a great chasm between us and it took years for each of us to heal on our own in our true Father's presence. I came to Jesus in my early teen years and she came to Him in her thirties. She is one of the most spiritually deep people that I know----she is a true mystic. I mothered her early in her formative Christian years and now she is my spiritual mother..... how wonderful is that!? We are not twins but we do speak a secret language. God is very fond of us. When I spoke to her yesterday I felt complete. I had fellowshipped with someone who truly loves me and accepts me as I am--------and boy.... has she seen me at my best and worst. She made my Easter with a few simple words and encouragements.

That is what a Spiritual Mother and Father really is; one who will continue with you because they believe in the reality of what they see beneath it all. They have looked with the eyes of the heart and chosen to believe in what God has placed there and the Holy Spirit is developing. They trust the work of The Trinity in your life; don't get annoyed; impatient or repulsed by you..... they endure; ask the right questions; provoke healthy thinking and emotion.....they value and love above all.
I always know when I have been around one of these people. I feel renewed.....valued.

There are a handful of people that I am drawn to nurture and encourage in my circle of life....it is strange, but I see wonderful things in them that I want to tell them. But most of all, I feel more led to proclaim to the spiritual orphans of the world that there is a Father so sublime who desires to express in the most winsome and tenderest of ways his love for them.... I believe that this is the only true and worthy message of a spiritual parent

In my mother role to my children I often find my self refereering the petty quibbling that takes place between my daughters----I persistently remind them that they will know each other longer that me or their father and that they will be even closer one day.....My greatest prayer for them is that they will fall madly in love with Jesus and will spiritually nurture one another like their Mommy and Auntie Lynn ( meine liebe schwester).

I thank you Jesus that there is a comfort that you provide through the nurture and love of those who have gone ahead and searched with honesty and learned in the crucible of pain and suffering how glorious it is to feed your lambs.