“And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it…” From Genesis 1:28, we see that God has mandated Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply. The Hebrew word for fruitful is to blossom and increase, while the Hebrew meaning for multiply is to increase and become many. God is adamant about growth and expansion and this verse tells of that longing in the repitition of that sentence. From the first two people God ever created, came a world full of people. Did God just want Adam and Eve to have more kids? Was that a mandate for all of God’s children? As we grow closer to God and become more in tune with His heart and His Word, we see that scripture is multi-faceted. There are levels and depths we find each time we read, like more pieces to the puzzle awaiting us the deeper we dive in.

As my sister and I sit here on a beautiful day outside at the park with our family, I can’t help but think how we got here. You see, we started out as two people, two ordinary girls who were in love with our Father and knew there was more for us, two ordinary girls who were best friends, sisters, but knew we were so much more. We knew we were called for something big, but how far were we willing to sacrifice, risk, lay it all down? Without hesitation we did, for Him and for each other, and the rewards have been too many to count. Our family over time became our “tribe,” as we call them. We aren’t just two girls anymore. We are two sisters, a part of the same family, having made vows to each other long ago that “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.  Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” (Ruth 1:16). Our vows weren’t just superficial and we don’t know many, if any other friendships that live as radically as we do, but there’s no other way for us. We see blessings that only came with our covenant. The vows we made to each other extend and flow into our families, our children. We love each other’s children as our own and our vows include taking care of each other’s families if heaven forbid, anything ever happened to us. We are there to celebrate birthdays, holidays, family movie nights and barbecues, Summer’s Winter’s, Springs and Falls for as long as we are here. Sissy and I are the first generation to pass covenant down to our children. We believe this is the best thing we can give them-committed, loyal family and the bond we share with each other for them and their generations. We are not just two families anymore, we are one.

1 Samuel 20:41: Jonathan told David, “Go in safety, inasmuch as we have sworn to each other in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my descendants and yours forever.’” We look up now and we have produced fruit, multiplied. Only with the Covenant vows we made was that possible. Now as a tribe, we have protection, covering, more power and freedom to go out and fight the principalities of evil with our backs being covered and our children and their children blessed and covered, as well.

Jonathan died, but David’s friendship lingered. In II Samuel 9:1 we see that David did a favor for Jonathan’s son in honor of Jonathan and his life. He brought Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, to the king’s palace (though the son was crippled) to live as one of his own sons in honor of Jonathan.