Wednesday, May 20, 2009

In Which Lindsey Flies to Texas...

After terrifying her mother and I with the prospect that she might've gotten on the wrong plane (she did, in fact, have a connecting flight in Phoenix that no one knew about until she landed in Phoenix), Lindsey arrived in Texas last night. Needless to say, posting may be light for the rest of this week. We're delighted to be able to visit and...well, we confess that we'll mostly be working on the conferences. (But "business trips" can be fun, right?)

In the meantime, Lindsey and I were interviewed for the Real Teen Faith blog a few weeks ago. Debra Weiss, a teen staff-writer for the site, asked very hard-hitting questions. One of Lindsey's answers I particularly liked, as it was pretty thought provoking for me too.

"DW: I have three younger sisters. One of them is nine and I’ve always wondered how do you leave behind a legacy not of physical beauty but of spiritual beauty, a beauty that does indeed come from the heart. Any thoughts on how we as girls can influence our younger sisters?

Lindsey: Oh, that’s a convicting one. I have two younger sisters also (ages 12 and 8), so this question really resonates with me; I’m always asking it too.

As the oldest, it’s been so important for me to recognize just how much our younger sisters do imitate us. We even have the potential to set the mood of a day by our example!

I’ve found that it also means a lot to my sisters when I spend one-on-one “sister time” with them. Sometimes that involves chats in our beds (we’ll share a room), delirious late-night fits of giggling, and serious conversations with probing questions to get beneath the surface. (Spilling my own guts makes it easier for them to show the same vulnerability, too.)

We can take initiative with prayer, reading the Bible aloud, discussing biblical truths and principles throughout the day, encouraging them for fruit in their lives, sharing new truths that God is teaching us, listening to them, and– this one has proved so important with my sisters and I– being quick to acknowledge personal failure. It’s humbling when I have to apologize to my eight-year-old sister– but it’s so necessary, and the softening results I’ve witnessed are immediate.

Our younger sisters don’t expect us to be perfect or want us to pretend we are. Actually, on the contrary, I think it’s a far greater, more influential witness to the power of the Cross for them to see our reliance on God’s grace slowly transforming us more into His image. The main thing, I believe, is simply to live with obvious, genuine, consuming passion for Christ and the Gospel.

Our family members are the ones who can really tell who (or what) we love the most, and it won’t escape our sisters’ notice if they see us delighting in God more than anything else. We won’t be able to keep it from keep from spilling out into our conversations."

Read Part 1 and Part 2 of the interview on Real Teen Faith.