A recent study finds that teens with a sister are less likely to report feeling unhappy or unloved. Another study found that those who had grown up with a sister were better at coping with setbacks, more highly motivated and had a better social life than those who grew up with just brothers.
Why is this? No one’s really sure, but many people think it is the emotional expression that girls encourage. One linguist thinks that girls and women tend to converse more, and that we get strength from the simple act of conversation, of connection.
I must confess I often have a hard time hearing God’s voice, but I don’t have that problem with my sisters’ voices as they talk to me or my own voice as I talk to them. In fact, sometimes in the symphony of our conversations, I know I hear that “still small voice” of God’s unending promise: I am here.
This message is adapted from “For Better or for Worse” written by Clare La Plante in the October 2011 issue of Gather magazine.
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