Clarity

I feel like I need to make something very clear to preface this post...

I love my brother. He is my flesh and blood. He's family. My best friend when we were kids. The one I could always count on to tell me I was being stupid and not smart. He's the analytical one. The scientific one. The one with a brilliant mind who is going to go SO far in life... If he can just screw it on straight.

College is a great experience. It's a time to learn and grow and figure out who you are as a person. It's a time to make friends, make mistakes, and make some really good decisions.

My brother is just a little lost right now. Details are not important. I just wanted to share some thoughts that I have come across since being thrown on this roller coaster by him and ask all of you who do read this, to keep him in your prayers. That's all we're living off of at this point. Just the simple, powerful plead in prayer that he will return to what he was taught.

First thought I found:

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it

This scripture is pinned up on a board in our Nursery classroom. I read it our first Sunday at Nursery leaders and teared up. I pointed it out to Trevor and we just smiled at each other through the pain. We can only pray.

Quotes my cute cousin sent me that meant so much to me:

"What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and conveniences, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
---Martin Luther King, Jr.

A quote on Twitter I read tonight:

"You cannot drive people to do things which are right, but you can love them into doing them"

It is my prayer, that I will be able to continue to view my trials as ways for me to grow and be able to help someone else later in my life who might go through something very similar. I love my brother. More deeply than I can ever describe and in ways that he might not even understand or be able to comprehend right now. He's all I've got. I'm dissapointed in myself for not being a better example for him. For not being the sister he needed when he started struggling. We had no idea. I had no idea. I pray that my failures as a sister will one day be forgiven.

If you ever do stumble across this blog brother, know that I KNOW without a doubt that the gospel is true. That there is a living God. I find strength in believing that you are completely in Heaven Father and Jesus Christ's hands. Your life is being watched, and your prayers-when you utter them-are being heard. I know that families can be Eternal and that your family loves you more than any friend or substance you'll ever come across. We want nothing but the best for you and pray that you will be strong. I love this gospel. I love who I am because of it. I love the feeling of completeness I have because of the knowledge I carry. I know that there is a living Prophet on the earth today who speaks on behalf of our Father in Heaven. He lives my sweet little brother. He lives and loves you so very much.

I won't give up on you brother.