…Who Took the “Encourage Your Siblings Challenge” in April

We were so encouraged to hear from those of you who took the “Encourage Your Siblings” Challenge last month. Here are just a few stories we received and wanted to share!

Before we do, however, we want to congratulate the winner of The Maiden’s Menu Cookbook and potholder giveaway –

Abby Cooper!

We will be sending your prize shortly! God bless each of you who took the challenge; may He continue to bless your investment in each of your precious siblings.

Kinslea Davenport

My name is Kinslea Davenport, and I am 11. I have four brothers. From the very first day that we began this challenge, I felt closer to my siblings. We read a chapter of Proverbs every day. We also memorized Philippians 4:8, James 3:5, Colossians 4:24, and Matthew 28: 1-9 throughout April. For the special things we did together every week, we played soldiers, made a special breakfast, made a mopping team, played kickball, and had pillow fights. At the end of April, we had a special dinner, and it consisted of salad, meatloaf, baked potatoes, okra, and asparagus. For dessert we ate homemade ice cream and cookies. I am very thankful that we did this challenge because it brought me closer to my siblings.

Gracie Harmon

My name is Gracie Harmon, and I am 12 years old. I did the Bible study with my little siblings in April, and they really liked it! They kept asking me through the whole month of April when we could do another study. I don’t think that one day went by without them asking me! We memorized 5 verses together last month. Even my little 3-year-old brother can recite most of them. Thank you so much for you testimony to all of us that receive KBR!

Christianna Hellwig

Our special dinner went really well; we have a park behind our house and we went there to have a picnic. I have been really encouraged by my siblings’ response to our Bible study time together; they all want to do it again. I think we will do a deeper study of some godly men in the Bible next month. I have grown closer to them during this time and am seeing fruit in their lives. It is truly wonderful how the Lord works when we follow Him. I am so thankful that the Lord did not allow me to give up on our relationships and say it was to late; it is never too late to invest in them and create a memory that will last. Praise be to Christ.

Bethany Melton

We took the sibling challenge in the month of April. It was truly a challenge, but it helped all of my siblings and I grow closer together.

At the beginning of the month I gave my siblings a few eggs to attempt hatching them in our incubator. So far seven chicks have hatched, and we still have 6 eggs that should start hatching tomorrow. Leah (age 6) is so excited! I also let Leah help me with “chick chores.” Little children seem to love to do jobs that they see older people do! Throughout the month, I tried to participate in games that my siblings were playing. They enjoy it so much when there is another person in the game. I was amazed at how well my siblings did on their Bible verse memory! We memorized Ephesians 4:31-32, Matthew 5:44, and Mark 11:22.

For our special dinner together, my siblings and I made garlic butter chicken, mashed potatoes, broccoli, brownies, and frozen yogurt. I let my little sisters make the brownies. They were delighted! I’m sure that this challenge will not only encourage my siblings, but also be a fun family tradition.

Abby Cooper

My name is Abby Cooper and I am 9 years old. I have three brothers and we completed the “Encourage you Siblings Challenge.” It has helped me because I have heard and listened to God more on how to treat my brothers and how I should react to them. Before I would not have treated them very nicely, because I thought they were not being nice to me. The Bible verses we have memorized talk about “being kind to one another and building each other up.” (1 Thess. 5:11)

Throughout the day we say the verse when a reminder on how to treat each other. I think my brothers liked reading together. We enjoyed it so much that we are going to keep reading the Bible every day and memorizing verses too. Thanks for encouraging me to do this challenge.

The Cooper Siblings enjoying a trip to the zoo together

Elizabeth Bryan

We enjoyed the challenge; in fact, my sister Anna and I are continuing our Bible Study together! We had our special dinner together last week.

Sarah Wiens

Thank you for sending out the sibling challenge for April! When I first received it in mid-March, I knew that God wanted me to take the challenge. I was very busy preparing for a music exam, and I really felt this was God’s way of saying, “What’s more important? Your siblings, or your music?” So I took it, along with another girl from my church. It wasn’t easy. Memorizing verses was hard, especially for my little sister, who often ended up frustrated with herself because she couldn’t memorize as fast as everyone else can. But it was a lesson in patience; and as I kept going, I was really blessed. I couldn’t believe how there could be so many jewels of truth even in chapters of 1 Samuel that seemed purely factual! Every time I chose to spend time with my siblings instead of doing something else, I was blessed by the time I spent with them. At the end of the month, we did the special dinner, and then we quoted and acted out our memory verses for Dad and Mom. I also gave each of my siblings a character award (a ribbon with a piece of paper that stated various character qualities that I saw in each of them). They were simple awards, yet each of my siblings treasures their awards. Thank you again for sending the challenge out. It was a blessing to our whole family!

NOTE: Summer can be a special, but irregular time of year. In the midst of the varied schedules and activities it can be easy to let our time with the Lord become shortened each day. My siblings and I have enjoyed doing the Summer Pursuit each summer (hosted by Loving the Lord Ministries), as it is a special challenge to keep us diligently studying God’s Word together. It begins next month and we would like to encourage you to do the pursuit with your own sisters (and/or brothers)! Read our testimony here and check out the pursuit here.

Looking forward to what He will teach,
Sarah Lee