I Just Wanna Brag

Most of you know that my little brother is living in Athens and going to college at UGA. What some of you may not know is that he's gotten plugged in with a local church where he plays with the band. Some Sundays he leads worship, others he just plays guitar. He's asked us a good number of times to come up and go to church with him there one Sunday and since he was leading this morning we decided to go.

I've seen and heard him lead worship before. Many times I've been right up there with him. Today I was just struck by how God is using him. While worshiping, I was watching him leading; singing and playing guitar. While listening to him pray, I couldn't help but be so proud of him and the young man he has become. You see, we have a very close relationship. We have a lot of things in common and, for the most part, we just get each other. We even have our own little language that aggravates some, but we don't really care. We kind of have the same sense of humor and lots of times we both laugh at things others don't really think are funny. 

We share a lot of the same interests; one of those being music. I remember it like it was yesterday (so cliche); we would sit in the floor of my bedroom with printed chords (later on we'd have a laptop looking up chords) to songs for him to play (mostly Taylor Swift and other ridiculously girly songs). Early on, he would only play and I would sing. He is a self-taught musician, so he was still teaching himself how to play guitar back then. I would love to be able to go back in time and watch and listen to us. Some of my best memories with him are sitting in the floor of my bedroom, tripping out at each other when we would sound awful, singing a part wrong, or playing the wrong chord. Our jam sessions became a regular thing. In fact, when I graduated and moved out for college, I was most sad about not getting to do this with him whenever I wanted! Anyways, I started encouraging him to sing different songs and then tell him how good he was (because he was and is!). I like to think I helped him discover his voice (you know, always giving myself props). But, really. Now when we play together, he leads most songs and I sing harmony. I tell him now his voice is more developed than mine and he is definitely more confident (in the most humble way possible!).

I say all of that to say this: He is my younger brother, but I look up to him sometimes. I'm so glad he discovered these talents and I'm so proud that he uses them to serve in the local church. I wouldn't trade those memories in my room or in my little two door Honda Accord for anything. Yall just don't even know. We had concerts on the way to and from school. 

So, I just want to take a minute to brag on my brother and tell you how awesome he is. If you don't know him, you're missing out. He's kind of opposite from me in some ways. He's a lot nicer and more kind-hearted than I am. He definitely got the athletic gene. He played basketball, baseball, and football and he's pretty much good at anything he tries. He's genuine and funny. We kind of have the same temper and attitude, but he is more of a people-pleaser (which isn't always bad). It drives me crazy that he has taught himself to play drums, bass, guitar, piano... and I'm sure other instruments that I don't even know about. I am protective of him and I hate to see him hurt. I want nothing more than good things and success for him. Yes, there are times when we drove each other crazy (and probably almost killed each other), but somehow we became best friends. I love him so much and I think the world of him. I'm so thankful God gave me a brother that I share a special relationship with. I know God will continue using my brother to do great things for His kingdom. Just keep following Him, little bro, because He is faithful in every way. You are such a blessing to me and many others. Keep your eyes on Him and He will guide your path. 

I love you Willy P :)


Here's the last post I wrote about him over a year ago. I went back and read it after typing this one. It's kind of weird that I wrote some of the same things again!