Jubilation.

In the spirit of Christmas I would like to take a moment to express the amount of joy my brother brings to my life. I may seem to express my happiness and thankfulness for him over and over and tbh #sorrynotsorry. As much as I may have you believe we are like two peas in a pod, we tend to be much more than that; we are best friends. We fight, we argue, we disagree on certain things, we bicker and push each other’s buttons more times than not. BUT! We love hard, we hug when the time is right, we high five daily and smile as much as possible.

You see, there are days that are far from pure bliss. Days of unexplainable challenges that need to be faced, overwhelming meltdowns that need to be had, bursts of frustration that emerge when things don’t go as planned, and so on. I have learned the importance of pausing during these difficult moments. Moments that may seem to drag on for a lifetime, but in reality are over and done with in a matter of minutes, sometimes even seconds. There are times when I just pause in the midst of complete chaos and stare at this young man in front of me and become overwhelmed with compelling relief knowing that this stressor we are experiencing too shall pass. I have learned to focus my energy and attention on the good even when it is so far from the norm.

When I pause and look at my brother I see a young man expressing his emotions in ways that are pure, disorganized, unexplainable and honest. Pausing to see this helps remind me that he is wonderfully and uniquely designed by our indescribable Creator. Looking in my brother’s eyes I see adventure, excitement and innocence. He has this ability to completely soften my heart when it tends to harden. He helps me understand the importance of patience and love. He helps me be content with who I am and where I am in life. He helps me reflect on the beautiful and bittersweet moments we have journeyed through together.

He is my inspiration, my favorite person to be around, my adventure seeking friend, my number one fan, my inspiring role model and my consent JOY.

When i hear the word jubilation: I not only reflect on Christmas, I think about my amazing brother Brian.

Much love,
Danielle xo.