The Art of Family: Brothers

If you have a really, really good memory, you might recall that I posted on my Great Great Great Grandmother’s scrapbook, and that I partially quoted an article written by one Reverend Frank W. Gunsaulus called “Being a Good Sister.” Although I, obviously, have no personal experience with being a brother, these words seem equally suited to brother-to-brother relationship as well as the sister-to-brother relationship if you simply substitute a few words. I want to share more of the article with you today, so prepare to be convicted and inspired:

“It takes brains, heart, conscience, womanhood, to be a good sister. Some other girl’s brother, with nothing to commend him, perhaps, but a huge stick of wood which he is barely able to carry up and down the street [a dapper cane, perhaps?], or a highly colored pair of gloves which he has scarcely brains enough to pull on, is likely to be of vastly more interest to you than the boy in your own home, who has shared with you your mother’s prayers and your father’s care, the blood and traditions and hope of your family.
“There is no nobler missionary work on this planet than to give him at least a good sister. You can make no grander contribution to the world’s treasure. Heart is the contribution most needed by our civilization to-day. If your brother has no more brains than to compare you, whom he sees in common duties, and associated with the drudgery of daily life, with another girl, whom he has never seen except at her best and on dress parade, that is not your fault. Be sure you give him a sublime idea of what a woman can be and ought to be in the midst of the commonplace. Every time you add to your worthiness…you add to the capital of the race and the quality of your future.”

Less than a week old, Micah is already the prince of the family!

I still remember when my family was only four girls, and Mama announced she was pregnant again. One fateful day we all crowded into the ultrasound room to check up on the baby, although my parents still wanted the gender to be a surprise. Unfortunately, the ultrasound technician was so overcome by her joy for us that she could not restrain from shouting: “It’s a boy!” Whereupon she was met with open-mouthed disbelief that not only had she just ruined our surprise, but we were also about to welcome a boy into our feminine family! A few weeks later, I shared my elation with a friend, only to meet with another stare of disbelief. She warned me with sober ten-year-old earnestness that brothers were horrible creatures, and whether they were older or younger didn’t figure into the equation—they were rotten to the core.
I was perplexed then, but I have now come to believe that she was dead wrong. My brothers are the joy of my life! And, in a society that abounds with spineless, overgrown boys who are more concerned about sports and cars than their families, we need to shoulder our responsibility as siblings to envision our brother’s futures.
Treat them like men. Ask them for advice, let them open the door for you, and impress on them that they will one day be the leaders of their homes and the breadwinners of their families! Tell them what talents you see in them and what ways you think God will want to use them. Pray for them daily, for they will face unimaginable pressure and even persecution in the future. If you are a sister, show to them the kind of godly woman they should look for as a wife. If you are a brother, show to them the kind of godly man they should become. Even if your brothers are older than you, look up to them, brag on them, and let them know that how they live today influences the choices that you make tomorrow.
As for those of you who don’t have brothers…I’m terribly sorry for you, for you just don’t know what you’re missing!