{"id":4455,"date":"2015-03-03T05:20:00","date_gmt":"2015-03-03T10:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=4455"},"modified":"2015-03-03T05:39:01","modified_gmt":"2015-03-03T10:39:01","slug":"thats-my-sister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=4455","title":{"rendered":"that’s my sister"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IMG_3777\"<\/a>We get so wrapped up in the world around us… so wrapped up in our passions and perspectives that sometimes we lose sight of what\u2019s most important. And then… some days… something makes us stop. Something puts all else in perspective.<\/p>\n

For me, that\u2019s my sister.<\/p>\n

Nicole is amazing. Granted, she would be far more humble than me about that statement — she\u2019s always<\/em> been more humble (… even though she can\u2019t edit my blog posts).<\/em> \ud83d\ude42 She\u2019s sweet and silly and gentle and generous. She\u2019s faithful and fun and lights up the room. She\u2019s brave and beautiful, and her positive attitude has always spurred on those of us around her. I love that girl…<\/p>\n

Early Monday morning, my 34 year old sister lost her courageous battle with cancer. It\u2019s hard for me to pen this post.<\/p>\n

I will simply share three thoughts — insights that I think Nicole would undoubtedly, still be humble about, but ok with her big sister sharing — granted, smiling at me with that shy, contagious grin — one more, precious time…<\/p>\n

One…<\/em> too often we focus on things of lesser importance; we make a big deal about way too much. I thank God that one of the special ways Nicole sharpened me this year was to keep what\u2019s most important, most important. Don\u2019t let little things get in the way. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Don\u2019t be inviting of conflict nor accepting of disrespect. We were created for better and more.<\/p>\n

Two…<\/em> faith matters; what we believe matters. Nicole loved Jesus. To all who seek him, to all who turn in his direction, Jesus offers unparalleled, peace-giving promises — promises we can bank on. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ. You can bet I\u2019m banking on those promises now.<\/p>\n

And three…<\/em> as my sister so beautifully taught through her selfless example, we can always be hopeful and positive. Our obstacles should never diminish this gift of life; the pain\u00a0should instead point us to the truth — as opposed to us getting too wrapped up in all those lesser, self-prioritized passions and perspectives.<\/p>\n

When Nicole began her battle with cancer a little over a year ago, she started a blog to give her many friends a \u201ctransparent peek\u201d into her journey. She called her blog \u201cFaith Hope Shine,\u201d as it was important to Nicole to allow her light to shine even then. She was still encouraging those of us around her.<\/p>\n

She wrote, \u201cFeel free to join us in the days to come, as we begin this journey\u00a0\u2014 sharing our faith, holding onto our hope, and shining\u2026 no matter what.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

That\u2019s my sister. \u00a0That’s Nicole… \u00a0shining…<\/p>\n

Did I mention amazing,<\/em> too?<\/p>\n

I thank God for my sister… and for how through her, he has again shown me what\u2019s most important.<\/p>\n

With truth in my tears…<\/p>\n

AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We get so wrapped up in the world around us… so wrapped up in our passions and perspectives that sometimes we lose sight of what\u2019s most important. And then… some days… something makes us stop. Something puts all else in perspective. For me, that\u2019s my sister. Nicole is amazing. Granted, she would be far more … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “that’s my sister”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-event","category-daily-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4455"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4466,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4455\/revisions\/4466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}