Sarah Elizabeth Brown Rutledge, the
baby of the family with four older siblings to dote on you (when they weren’t
dropping you on your head). You started out so sweet and meek and not so
outdoorsy. You are still sweet but you’ve grown into a strong woman, albeit a
bit stubborn at times and a fierce competitor. We no longer have to force you
outside so you don’t look so pale and frail. We understand you were nurturing
your brilliance by staying inside and reading all of those books but are so
happy you broadened those horizons to join us on the boat, camping adventures,
and all sorts of other crazy adventures. Some events you hold such vivid
memories of don’t even exist for you though! We’ll credit your vivid
imagination of being able to take events that you’ve heard about and make them
your reality, to all those years of immersing yourself in C.S. Lewis adventures
and others while curled up turning pages. My baby sister grew up to be my
friend and partner in crime. Who else would treat a dear friend to a “chocolate”
bean cake and run all over Wisconsin taking silly pictures with very large
“art” pieces or travel all over Europe without a real set plan in place. At
least we have some stories to tell like being stranded in Switzerland with no
place to sleep and no way out until morning and risking our lives by going with
a stranger and staying at his place. Good heavens, we better pray for our
children that they don’t follow our ways! One memory I still laugh about is
when I went to visit Grandma Brown in Van Texas. She was in her late 80’s early
90’s and still teaching Sunday school. I sat in on her class and she was
introducing me. She brought up “Cricket” and proceeded to tell everyone that
“Cricket” was her favorite. Yes, Grandma Brown did play favorites and you were
it! Thankfully I was confident enough in myself that I did not get my feelings
hurt and run off crying. I’m sure it was just that her memory was failing and
she got mixed up ; ) You’ve provided me
with some challenges as well. Remember Sunday dinner out with Dad after some
not so good college scholarship news? You were just developing those social
skills that were going to be incredibly helpful to your future. Although, I
think dad would have rather less of your free spirit and more of that little
girl book worm at that point in time! You haven’t always followed the family
pattern like graduating from Evangel University, but lucky for all of us, you
stepped in line and married a STEVE! Now, I believe the next pattern is to have
a baby at age 40! HAPPY 40TH dear sister. We’ll be waiting…
On a more serious note, I want to
let you know how proud I am of you. You have been such a blessing to so many
people over the years. You have always done your best to see everyone through
Jesus’ eyes. Love, Grace, Forgiveness, Generosity, Kindness, Accountability,
Servanthood are all words that describe
how you live your life. You take your job as mom, teacher and wife seriously
and do it so well. It isn’t easy with 4 young ones home all day and
homeschooling but you do it with a servant’s heart and full of love. I think if
you were to describe your life yourself, you would say “BLESSED” and I would
say “BLESSING”.
Love you sis!
Shar Bear
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