An Unfinished Tale of Two Sisters

Two pairs of sisters come immediately to mind when I look in the Bible for examples:  Leah and Rachel in the Old Testament and Mary and Martha in the New Testament.  In both cases, one of the sisters appears to be more highly favored than the other.

The story of Leah and Rachel plays out in Genesis chapters 29-35.  Two very poignant verses (to me) in those chapters are about Leah.  Genesis 29:17 “And Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful of form and face.” The Message paraphrase says it like this in verses 16-18: ^“Now Laban had two daughters; Leah was the older and Rachel the younger. Leah had nice eyes, but Rachel was stunningly beautiful. And it was Rachel that Jacob loved.”  And further in the chapter, we read in verse 31 “Now the Lord saw that Leah was unloved and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.”

It’s easy to feel sorry for Leah, but she ended up bearing six strapping sons and a daughter for Jacob, and Rachel died in childbirth with her second son.  Leah lived much longer and was buried in the cave of Machpelah, along with Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah.

In Luke 10:38-42, Jesus comes to have dinner with sisters Martha and Mary.  Martha is busy making all the preparations for the meal while Mary sits at Jesus’ feet.  Martha wants Jesus to get Mary to help her in the kitchen, but Jesus says, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”  Ouch!  I believe I would have taken that as a reproof if I had been Martha.  But, she doesn’t appear to hold any ill feelings toward Jesus.  In John 12:1-8 we see Martha serving Jesus once again while Mary anoints His feet with costly perfume.  With Leah and Rachel, we learn that Rachel is “the pretty sister,” and with Martha and Mary, it appears that Mary is “the most spiritual.”  Hmmmm.

I have two daughters.  They were born 4 years and 50 weeks apart. Both of these sisters are beautiful, and both are deeply spiritual. Both were identified as gifted when they were in the second grade. Both have bachelor’s and master’s degrees from college. Both are dearly loved by their husbands and children.  Both have made a commitment to homeschool their children. Both are musically talented and have wonderful writing and communication skills. Both are continuing to evolve into the women God designed them to be.  It thrills my heart to watch this happen.

Their differences surprise me and make me laugh.  In a lot of ways, I wonder how two daughters reared in the same home with the same parents could be so different??

Laura Katherine Pearson Baggett lives in a neighborhood in Rome, GA with her husband David and their two children, Nathan and Megan. The kids enjoy soccer, basketball, swimming, Auburn football and their iPads. Laura teaches college math courses on-line, leads a women’s Bible study at her church, substitutes on the keyboard at their church’s contemporary worship service and has written a book called Making Room for Jesus  (available on Amazon – hint, hint) along with a companion Bible study. She is a declutterer-extraordinaire and makes me want to be one myself.  For her 40th birthday, she decided to go a little wild with her hair color and has continued to experiment with pinks, purples, reds and blues. She loves makeup and especially bright lipstick. She has become a distributor for Senegence makeup and Lipsense.  This reclusive woman now regularly posts videos of herself applying makeup and lipstick and amazes all who think they know her with her wit and personality AND her various hair colors.  Her favorite holiday to host is Thanksgiving, and her crockpot dressing is to-die-for. She is a speaker/presenter at homeschool conventions, and I recently watched and listened in-person as she gave a wonderful motivational speech about “Freedom in Christ.” I see parts of myself in her, but she has gone way beyond me. I am blessed to be her Momma.

Laura and David with children Nathan and Megan.

Laura speaking about Freedom in Christ.

Julie Rose Pearson Rodgers lives on a 30-acre farm in Somerville, AL with her husband Brian. She is expecting her EIGHTH child in a few weeks.  Her kids enjoy going barefooted, working in the garden, creating art, experiencing nature in all its forms and BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS. They know all about goats, pigs, chickens, cows and donkeys and have their daily farm chores. They don’t have a television. Julie is a diligent teacher of the Bible to her children, she has many friends, she is a constant hostess with a gift for hospitality. She has an amazing eye for photography and posts snippets of their lives regularly on Instagram (you might enjoy following farm_momma_7).  Julie is very natural.  She was once a high-heel-wearing career girl in the corporate world, but now she enjoys going without makeup, being a devoted Momma and a consummate homemaker. As a young child, she loved baby dolls and real babies.  Now, she has a house full of them.  I am in awe of her ability to manage all of this with patience and grace. I see tiny parts of myself in her, but she has gone way beyond me.  I am blessed to be her Momma.

Julie and Brian with children Silas, Samuel, Margaret, Penelope, Rosemary and Bethany.

Julie with her oldest daughter Allie sharing a collage of nature.

Anyway, God has been speaking to me a lot lately about my daughters, so I thought I’d share them with you.  And, yes, they have a brother in the middle, but you’ve heard plenty about him already.

Enjoy your weekend.  Enjoy the unique personalities of your children.  And be sure to thank God for all the ways they are “fearfully and wonderfully made.”