My mind these days is full of mortgages and 203(k) loans and all sorts of grown-up-y considerations like that. Soon, Lord willing, I will be one of the landed gentry! Benefits to owning a house are myriad. Among them:

1) I can put anything in my house, or throw anything away. ::dizzy with power::

2) Someday, I can ask someone to be Mrs. Jakeb Brasee without also asking her to be Homeless.

3) I can use my house as a base of operations, and dedicate the space to serving God (even the Gryphon Room).

I suspect that a Land-owning Ninja Gentleman enjoys unique advantages and suffers unique penalties. But what might those be? Certainly, a house will limit me geographically. It will also consume a chunk of time and money. But within my limited range I will have a more solid presence. I will be able to help solve problems that require a donation of Space — a silent, empty gift of terrific usefulness!

Offering a room to a sister would be, I think, improper…unless I vacate the house and live in a bin! I could do that. But I could do other things too, such as provide storage, take care of puppies, host secret meetings and family-of-God get-togethers (FIVE-HYPHEN-COMBO!!!).

I’ll have to wait and see. In the meantimes, dear Internet, why don’t you tell me? What uses might a big ol’ brick box have, for serving one’s sisters?

“There are no little people and no little places.”
– No Little People (Francis Schaeffer)

This is not a bigoted post against people of lesser stature. Being short is probably real useful, if you want to go spelunking! Or race horses or crawl through the ventilation shaft or narrowly avoid decapitation by blind and low-flying buzzards.

No! This post is about how there are no people of little significance! Nor are there places of little significance. You do not need to, say, write a book about brotherliness in order to be a good brother. Remember that you ought to, as me own mother used to say, “Grow where you’re planted.” She still says that, but she used to, too.

I hope that you know that your role as a good brother, even if it is never recognized or celebrated — will be recognized and celebrated for the glory it brings to the Lord. Next time you feel thirsty for adventure, like your life amounts to Not Much At All, like you need to make a bold move and become Somebody…maybe you do. =) But bear in mind that probably every day, you have a chance to lend a hand, or an arm, or an ear or a thought or a prayer or a heart, to a veritable fleet of immortal daughters of God, perfect works-in-progress, as they wend their way through the world. Wend.

That’s all. Just remember that you are not a little person, and the place you live is not a little place. If you live just a plain old normal life…and if you live it Holy…then it is a Miraculous life. If you love your sisters, you have accomplished what few men do, and gained the only kind of reward worth having, plus perhaps a pretty smile for your trouble.

Learned me a word the other day, from a sister o’ mine. “Virtuous” — according to her Ethics class, virtue is “fulfilling the purpose for which you were made”. In other words, do whatcha should. Let’s say you are a hammer.  <note to self: M.C. HAMMER JOKE> If you are good at pounding stuff, then you are a VIRTUOUS hammer. If you are good at putting out fires, you’re a weird hammer and maybe useful sometimes, but not necessarily virtuous.

Drawing together my widely disparate thoughts with a desperate segue, it behooves us to learn what is a brother supposed to be anyhow? Otherwise you could end up working really really hard to get awesome at something you aren’t even supposed to be doing! Because I was thinking about steadfastness today, I am going to mention it as a great…virtue…that a Virtuous gentleman should possess.

So, Bibley goodness! 1 Timothy 6:11 — “But as for you, O man of God, flee [a buncha bad stuff]. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” See? There it is! That’s in the ESV, which I am told is the Extra Spiritual Version. The NASB uses “perseverance”, which is another great word that I’m bad at.

Yeh, I am bad at being steadfast, bad at persevering. Not forever, I hope! I’m pursuing those virtues, as commanded in the verse above. Aside from it being a personal proving ground, why did I pick steadfastness? Because I have seen that it surprises and delights and blesses our sisters in a special way. Sure, righteousness and godliness and faith and love and gentleness are just as important…they just aren’t as surprising. Girls are happy to see a godly guy — but they are sometimes astounded to see a guy who is consistently godly for years and does not waver!

If you would like to be more manly in a worthwhile sense, start by being *unwavering* in ways that matter. Hold steadfastly to eternal life, to the good news about Jesus, to the public display of your faith. More specifically to our point, be an unswervingly good brother. Reliability, reliability, counts for much. Do you want to be a good comforter? Half of today’s comfort comes from knowing that the same comfort can be found tomorrow. Reflect the nature of Christ, who is the same yesterday and today and tomorrow. Do not let your love cast a shifting shadow — let it be something Reliable. Keep your word. Do what you say you will do. Be loving today and more loving tomorrow. Don’t wander away, don’t give up, don’t get bored, don’t stop praying or listening or caring for your sisters. Let her know that she is simply stuck with you — like family. =)

Soooo, questions! Do you struggle with steadfastness, finishing what you start? Do people find it easy to trust you, even after they’ve known you a while? How is God helping you to be faithful and reliable in all manner of things? How can you help others? How do you suppose women are blessed by brothers that can be counted on?

Sisters, if you have any stories of good examples, those are welcome here. ^_^

Look every1body! Two blog posts in one month. That’s steadfast, rite rite?