As unbelievable as it may seem, my first memory of our big sister Ruth (hereinafter referred to as Sister, because that's the way we affectionately thought of her and called her) is when we lived on the McLaughlin farm near Stamford, Texas. I know I should remember her from farther back, but for some reason those days were not deeply etched in my brain.
I have a vague image of Sister and me sitting cross-legged on the ground at that Texas farm, while Sister taught me all I ever learned about embroidering. Likewise, all I learned about crocheting was from Sister, during the short time she was home with us "on the hill" in Grants Pass, Oregon. That was following her return from China.
Sister inherently took the time and effort to impart to others whatever craft or skill she possessed. I believe that as a child I took for granted her God-given teacherly attribute. But now in retrospect, I admire her for those handicraft lessons! She also patiently taught me the rudiments of guitar-playing and piano-playing when she was with us for a very brief hiatus during our one-year "sojourn" at the Beacon Drive home in Grants Pass.
The only other memory of Sister at the McLaughlin farm was when she took me aside and told me that we were going to have a little brother or sister. I don't know at what point of Mother's pregnancy that was, but I think it was not very long after that joyous revelation, that the baby-of-the-family badge passed from me to Lyneva Joy (Neva) Mitchell. I was over 9½.
I cherish these early memories, as well as the later ones when Sister and Bruce (aka Bruth and Ruce) were on furlough from New Guinea (now Papua New Guinea, or PNG). It seems as if there were never segments of time long enough to really develop a growing, reminiscent relationship with Sister; but I loved her deeply and "looked up" to her from a geographical distance during my teen years and my married years, until her Home-going this past August. That perspective has not changed, and I can only hope to emulate Sister's eagerness to do God's bidding and to be about His business.
Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also [and siblings], and he praiseth her. (Amen! to Proverbs 31:28.)
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