My own daughter's sister.

I was reading Be Strong in the Grace, since Theresa informed me Olivia's making a cameo appearance, and I don't know if she meant to but she made me think about how I am Olivia's "sister in Christ." How profound!

I have been given the office and vocation by God to be Olivia's mother. That means that I have the obligation and responsibility to raise her in the Faith, to discipline her, to love her, and to provide for her. I also have been placed in a position of authority over her, and she has the responsibility to love and obey me, and to recognize I am not her equal but her superior.

The humbling thought is that I have done nothing to deserve this office. I am not better than Olivia. We are made of the same mortal and sinful flesh. We are both subject to the curse, and tainted with sin. We are both made righteous only through the shedding of Jesus' blood for our sins. I am spiritually Olivia's equivalent.

That is important for me to keep in my mind. Temporally I am Olivia's Mama, but eternally we will both kneel at the throne of the King, side by side. We are both daughters of the Lord, and sit at the feet of the same Father.

²⁶You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, ²⁷for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. ²⁸There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Galatians 3:26-29