10 Things that have Changed My Life: #10- My Little Brother

With this post, my ’10 Things that have Changed My Life’ series comes to an end.  The last life changing item I would like to discuss with you all is: my little brother.

My little brother’s name is Brandon and he was born when I was 12 years old and in sixth grade.  His birth and existence have changed my life in so many ways I cannot even begin to fully describe them all.  His birth had two immediate impacts on my life.  The first was that I went from being the baby of the family to the middle child.  The attention from my parents that I was used to was all of a sudden transferred to my adorable little brother.  This led to some behavior problems in my life.  My grades that semester plummeted (I got my first ‘F’) and I started getting in a lot of trouble.  I didn’t understand it at the time, but looking back I can see that this monumental change in my life greatly disturbed my peace of mind.  However, I do not look back at his birth in a negative light because of the second way that it impacted my life.

The birth of my brother created in me a love so deep and powerful that I had never imagined could be.  Just by virtue of his existence, I knew that I loved him more than anything else and that I would gladly die for him in an instant.  I had never felt this before.  The joy of seeing him grow up and being a part of his life- from learning how to crawl, to walk, to going to school- has eternally shaped my heart.

I know it is probably difficult for him to have a brother who is a Pastor- but I hope and pray that I will continue to be a blessing for him and a source of life.

I hope you enjoyed my 10 Life-Changing things series!!  Have any ideas for a new series??  I am reading about a book per week- so I am thinking about posting book reviews and my thoughts/reactions to them - so that will be about once per week.  I’m also thinking about doing something like “Story Saturdays” with a short story from my past or week.  Any other thoughts or ideas?