People tend to have a lot of opinions about what it means to be a middle child. As “Twin A,” four years younger than my Sister and one minute older than my brother, I can assure you, it's a thing!

Apparently nature doesn’t care about time, because those mere seconds somehow gifted me with the glorious title of “middle child” and all that goes along with it.

Keep the peace.

Make sure everyone gets along.

Don’t rock the boat!

Make sure everyone has what they need!

Don’t ask for too much.

Let everyone else go first.

Don’t be a burden.

None of these were ever spoken. It’s almost as if they were written into my nature to the extent that, as a toddler, I dislocated my shoulder and just stopped using my arm. When my mom noticed, she put me in the bath, got me into PJs, into my coat and to the ER only to have me sitting on the exam table singing Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes with the nurses. Apparently all the getting me ready to go relocated my shoulder, and it all turned out just fine.

Today, Jesus promises, “Whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you” (John 16:23). Asking for what we need can be a challenge if, like me, you try to do it all yourself because you don’t want to bother anyone else . . . even God.

Sister, are we willing to lay our hearts bare before our Heavenly Father, telling Him our deepest desires? It isn’t that He doesn’t know them already, but that He wants us to trust Him that much, and to trust the promise of His Son. “Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete . . . . For the Father himself loves you" (John 16:24, 27).

Today, be willing to ask in Jesus’s name whatever you need that “your joy may be complete” (John 16:24), and know that the “Lord is King of all the Earth” (Responsorial Psalm). Throw Him the reins and let Him reign in your Heart!

Sister, how can you let the Father love you today by asking for what you need?

[bctt tweet="Let Him reign in your Heart. // Sister Maria Fatima @DSMMEVocations" username="blessedisshe__"]

listen to today’s devotion

Jesus, help me to ask You, in Your name.