Losing your marbles!

This was the maid of honor speech that I read at my sister's reception after her wedding! I was told it was hard to hear what I was saying...so for those who did not hear well here you are:

My dear sister,

WOW! It is hard to believe that this day is finally here! After spending our childhood days, in the basements of all the different houses we lived in, playing house, now is the time when you begin to actually live “house.” No longer will I hear “Bethany let’s go play house!” No now I will hear “Bethany, you will never believe what we are doing at my house? OR “Get a load of this recent story about my kids.”

The things we played in pretend will now be lived out in reality by you. Gone are the plastic babies who we had to make cry, here will now be the real live thing in the flesh crying and screaming for your attention! Gone are the plastic bottles with fake juice, here and now there will be sippy cups with actual juice that can actually be spilled all over that brand new carpet!  Gone are the empty diapers that we envisioned had “messes” in them, now for the real mess! Those were some fun times Sis, and it is sad to leave them, but at the same time how exciting as we anticipate the future!

You were always the “guinea pig” being the eldest. And I grew up watching you. Sometimes learning from your mistakes, and sometimes making the exact same ones.

When we were younger you were always the “good girl” and I the evil tyrant, cheese you made me look bad! At times we got along famously…other times not so much.

Like the time you got marbles, and I felt that I should have some. There we sat innocently in the back seat. I in my car seat and you in yours. I could not get my eye off of those marbles, I wanted them something fierce! And as I watched them in your hand an idea sparked in my head. Now if I just took them, you would cry out, so I first knew that I had to ask you for them, thus you would be willingly handing them over, thus the crying out would be easily bypassed. But there existed another problem. The issue of the fact that eventually you would want them back.

This I would bypass as well and with great ease mind you! So I proceeded with my devious plan. I asked you for them, and you with your huge blue eyes and sweet spirit (Gullible *cough cough) kindly handed them over to what you thought was simply your curious little sister. Now our car seats were only close enough for you to hand them off, not close enough for you to retaliate and try to get them back should anything run amuck, which indeed it would!

Upon receiving them I began dropping them one by one out the window that was cracked because it was summer. And there on the little stretch of highway in Iowa your marbles were lost! I mean that in a literal not mental sense! Although the latter is at times debatable! Just kidding! LOL!

Anyways you may ask “why Bethany, why did you not just dump them all out at once…and why did you dump them out when you really liked them and wanted them in the first place?” Well in answer to the first I dumped them out one by one because I wanted it to be slow and drawn out, so that you would scream all the longer, and in answer to the second, I knew that if I tried to keep the marbles our parents would eventually return them to you, so in the end if I could not have ain’t no body gonna have em!

Now I was only around one or two at the time so of course I don’t remember actually doing this, I have just heard the story told and retold. But I want everyone to know that I regret what I did and wanted to pay my dues, and so here are two marble bags, I am paying back two-fold for what I stole, one for you Krista and one for you Caleb.

(Give them marbles) Here sister, and brother! And I swear I won’t take them this time!

Oh Krista, could I just see those for a second??? HAHA just checking to see if you would fall for it again jj jk!

Anyways in everything at the end of the day I could always count on you to listen and to share.

Being only two years apart, to a point I looked up to you but for the most part I saw you as my peer, as my friend, and a best friend at that! We were always close growing up and I believe that is due to our parents always telling us “You are each others best friends” and over time that became true!

I am so proud of you Krista and I love you! You have found a wonderful man in Caleb. I know that he will always take good care of you. In God’s sovereignty He made us sisters and now in His sovereignty He has allowed you to find a husband and to go on. But this is not the end Krista it is just another chapter! How good this past chapter has been, but we must press on and keep going forward! I look forward to the things God has in store for you both!

I pray for you both everyday and will continue to! I know that God will continue to bless you as you surrender to Him!

I love you Krista!