We've been making progress in the friend area...
Mason has been missing his friends the most, I would say. And he has attacked the continuing communication aspect with great precision. The other day after he finished the last letter and mailed it, and wrote the last e-mail, he sat back and sighed and said, "Ahh! It feels so good to be caught up! It's not my turn to write anyone!" :) Love that kid.
He gave me permission to post these...
Looking forward to his joyous reunion with Nolan (who he talks to every day on the phone).
The kids are really excited to see all of their old friends when we plan to be back in August, but some very interesting events have been occurring in the friend dept here:
1. Our most lonely kid was blessed with a friendship by a kid his same age, who lives next door, who loves to play sports, and is very sweet. I find this wonderfully odd... a little more than a coincidence. They have been playing together, wrestling each other, and they even started a little art club on the weekends together outside. They both get up at 7 am sharp and quietly meet each other on a bench outside to draw. When they play football or soccer they both come home drenched in sweat! They play hard. And this kid is so kind to Locke as well. When Lochlan said he couldn't say his name, he asked if he would call him Joe instead. So now his own family started calling him Joe... pretty funny :)
2. I decided to go on a night run around our complex and ran past a family who was walking to the pool. My family was on their way there too. So when I was done I went down and joined them and said, "I was the one who passed you guys on the path." and we struck up a conversation. They have a 10 year old girl who immediately started playing with Kaiah. They hit it off and spent the next couple of days playing together for hours on end. They had a couple of friends with Type 1, so they understand the importance of her issues, and that was also very reassuring! To top it off, her mom set up a treasure hunt around the whole huge complex of condos for all of our kids to do! Kaiah has been loving having a friend. Another possible "coincidence" that is working out well for us!
3. Cambria and Lochlan even made some friends with some kids in our condo. They invited us to story time at the library and the girls especially hit it off. The wierd part about this, is that the last 3 times we've been to the pool, this same family has been there as well. Coincidence? I don't know.
4. I was given some contact information for three separate people in Hawaii. I had their numbers in my phone and felt kinda weird about contacting some strangers just because we had a friend in common, so I didn't. Except for one gal who I was friends with on FB. We have been trying to get together for a few weeks and it just kept not working out. But as we were talking the other day, we realized that both of the churches that we are going on women's retreats with are going to be at the same camp on the same weekend sharing the meal time! What a fun coincidence! Or was it? I'm looking forward to seeing her again.
Also, I was told to call Dave the Kayak guy. He apparently loves to take people out on his 11 kayaks as a ministry. Well, before I called him, we randomly met him at a church's small group weekly meeting that we were checking out. We didn't even realize it was him until we put the pieces together... Now we have an open invitation for him to take us out to China Man's Hat whenever we want... and I didn't have to ask!
Another strange coincidence... I was told to call another homeschool mom who loves to make new connections and lives where I do. I felt pretty weird about calling her, so I didn't. I thought maybe, if I got desperate. But we were randomly kayaking, early one morning on the beach in Lanikai and saw a large group of women and children gathering in number as the time went on. I asked if it was a certain kind of group and they said they were just a bunch of friends who like to get together and exercise... taking turns each week watching each other's kids. One gal said, "Oh, you homeschool! Let me introduce you to this gal." It was her! I told her it was kind of weird, but that I already had her number in my phone and that I knew her sister-in-law. :) She invited me to the group, and to run a race with her on the big island. What a funny coincidence! Or was it?
And lastly, I have met on several occasions, a woman who is my age, has several kids, and left a pretty sweet life on the mainland and moved with her family to the island for reasons similar to ours. Every time I'm with her, I like her more. Her heart is amazing. And today I found out that she adopted her 4th child, who humbles her daily just like mine does, and has had a very similar road with him. She told me she thinks we are soul-sisters and can't wait to get to know me and my family more.
I just think some of these things are more than coincidences. I think that God has gone before us and caused these people to be here for me and my kids in a way that makes me feel so loved even though I really feel I don't deserve it. We have a long way to go to feel really connected, but this is such a fun start. I love how this story is going down!
