God Comes First

I'll Always Love You

The next morning I awoke to the sound of my brothers arguing yet again. What was this time? I yawned and stretched out my muscles, then stepped out of my room. My brothers were currently playing tug a war with a tie they they both claimed to be theirs. I just rolled my eyes and decided to let them be. My mom would yell at them in a bit anyways to stop fighting and get ready for church.

I went back to my room and looked for an outfit to wear. I had a lot of clothes to choose from, but I always ended up changing my outfit at minimum three times before deciding what to wear to church. Finally I decided on a floor length red dress with a little slit that went up to my knee, a white cardigan to put on top and black flats. With that settled I took a quick shower and put on some light makeup. Just some eyeliner, mascara and lipgloss. Looking at myself in my mirror I deemed myself pretty enough and headed downstairs to eat breakfast.

As I rummaged through the cupboards I contemplated on what to make. Cereal, cereal or more cereal? Ding, ding, ding! I think we have a winner! I took out three bowls and spoons and poured cereal with milk for my brothers and I. Sitting down at the family dinner table I yelled to the boys that they'd better hurry up and get ready if they didn't want their cereals to get soggy. I quickly blessed my food then plugged in my earphones and put on BYU Vocal Point. They had a CD of church hymns which I absolutely loved. Digging into my cereal and silently signing along to the hymns I enjoyed this feeling of peace washing over me. I felt content and happy.

CRASH!

I jumped up in shock and spilled a bit of my milk, but didn't have time to think about it as I ripped off my earbuds and ran upstairs as I heard both my brothers yelling out in pain, my parents right behind me. "Boys!" Both my parents and I yelled. We rushed into their room and saw that they both lay in a pile of broken glass. "What happened?!" My mother yelled frantically and tried to reach the boys, but my dad held her back. "Hold on Maria! You aren't wearing shoes, you'll just get glass stuck in your feet. Let Crystal and I handle this." Before he even finished his sentence I already made a beeline for my youngest brother who was 12 and crying uncontrollably.

I reached him careful of the glass surrounding me and leaned down to pick him up. I carefully dusted off any glass that I saw on him and gently picked him up fireman style. "Sh Joseph. I got you. Crys is here. You're ok. I got you Papito. I got you." His crying tore my heart apart and I wanted to cry along with him. I moved my brother to my room and set him on my bed while my dad did the same with my other brother Daniel. I hugged Jo and tried to calm him down telling him that I was there and it was all ok. When he could finally control himself I checked him all over to see if any glass had stuck on him. Thankfully he was fine. Only little cuts here and there nothing major. Same thing for Daniel. I was able to calm my erratically beating heart when I noticed they were fine.  I put my hand over my heart and took a long sigh. They were safe. Thank goodness.

After everyone calmed down and the glass was cleaned up my mom went on a rampage. She chastised the boys for play fighting on a Sunday and acting so recklessly. She grounded them for a month with no tv or any form of entertainment. She said they needed to work together to stop their arguing and love each other more. I stayed clear from my mom after that. When she got angry it was best to make yourself scarce. She was even more upset that there little play fight made us miss sacrament. She went on and on about the importance of Sabbath day and how we must always partake of the sacrament weekly to renew our covenants with God. I agreed, but I thought she needed to be much more gentle. When you scream at someone they automatically go on defense and their not really gonna listen to you, but I wisely kept my mouth shut. Later on that night after family dinner, scripture reading and prayer I went to my brothers room and sat on the edge of one of their beds. I smiled sweetly and hugged Joseph then Daniel. I hugged them tight and gave them a kiss on their cheeks. "I love you guys and don't you ever forget it. You really scared me earlier today." "We didn't mean to! We-" I cut Daniel off. "I don't wanna hear the explanations. I'm just glad that you boys are ok." I gave them kisses on their head and then shut off their light and closed the door behind me after wishing them a goodnight.

I went back to my room and threw myself on my bed sighing loudly. What was I going to do with these boys? I then laughed silently to myself. They sure loved to cause mischief, but I still loved them anyways. They were my brothers and I was eternally grateful for them. We may have our ups and downs, but my family was sealed for time and eternity and I wouldn't have it any other way.