Ella Es Mi Amiga

I've been thinking a lot about friendship the last couple of days. Sometimes I feel like I am still in the first grade with it all. Seriously. I don't know exactly how someone becomes intimate friends. I didn't have another little girl to share all of my secrets with. I never played dress up with anyone or giggled about boys. I didn't pass notes or have a secret handshake. There is no one actively in my life who has known me since I was four.

I suppose I pick four because I know someone who has a couple of good friends that she has known that long. They grew up together.

For me, friendship is doing life together. But then it gets complicated by families and children. The time has to be carved out.

I also know that I have a tendency to gravitate towards children. I can talk easily with them and make them smile. I find it harder with adults. But I am working on it. Sometimes I volunteer to kid sit while a friend finds time with a spouse. I like that, but . . . .

While I do long for that "doing life together" kind of friend, the one who would drop anything at a moments notice, I recognize that I do have the start of some friendships.

Debbie was eight when her family moved here from Argentina. At there house, they speak a mix of Spanish and English. I know just enough Spanish to follow along. God brought to mind today the number of times I have gone over to Debbie's. Raquel and Lucas have tried to pull me into a game or activity. Debbie reminds them, "Ella es mi amiga." (Sorry, I don't know how to do accent marks!)

Ella es mi amiga. She is my friend. She hasn't come to see you but to hang out with me. I love those words, "Ella es mi amiga."

What are some of the best ways you've found for making close friends?

A Knight's Heart -- Hope Chronicles 44

One of the gifts I've received over the last year is being in Deb and Joe's small group. I've learned quite a bit from interacting with them. Last night after a meeting, they invited me to go out to dinner with them. It is a Mexican place that I had only been to once but had enjoyed. As part of the kid's meal, their children (Raquel who is 5 and Lucas who is 3) received a tortilla wrapped up like a cone with ice cream in it. (I have no clue what the technical name for it is.)

As they were eating, Raquel's fell to the floor. Debbie told her it "stayed there." Raquel burst into huge sobs. Not wanting to see his sister so upset, Lucas dove under the table to grab the cone and present it to his sister. As Debbie said, "What are you going to do with such a kind response?" The only thing we decided was that Raquel would at least be building antibodies and the 10 second rule has to apply in restaurants as well, right?

Apparently this is characteristic of Lucas with his big sister. Deb said that if they are disciplining Raquel, even just speaking firmly, Lucas makes the demand for them to stop because they are upsetting her. At 3, Lucas has become a knight rushing to the rescue.

I love the responsiveness of his heart. I pray that he never loses that responsiveness because it is so like God's heart. When we cry out, God responds. Psalm 34:17-18 says

The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

In Psalm 55:16-18 the psalmist writes:

But I call to God, and the LORD saves me. Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice. He ransoms me unharmed from the battle waged against me, even though many oppose me.

Both of these psalms point to the responsiveness of God to the plight of His people. Granted, we may not always get what we want the way we expect it. However, we can have hope because our knight, our heavenly Father, is always listening and always responding. He is ever present and ever attentive to His children.

Update and A Bit on the Ligher Side

Since I've asked many of you to pray over the last week about my going to NIU as a volunteer, I feel the need to update you. I'm not going. It's not for a lack of willingness, but it seems that it wasn't in God's plan at this moment. So, I have been praying today and will continue to do so. I just never heard from anyone other than the last email I posted about on Thursday. We were specifically told not to call because NIU was already inundated with phone calls about various things.

On a different note, I had a fun and encouraging day. At church this moring, we had a birthday party for EVERYONE. We were celebrating a year of doing KidStuf. I snapped lots of really cute pictures like this one of Lydia, Elena, and Grace. The thing that impresses me about many of the kids at my church is that they are so kind. I've seen it in various ways with older kids helping younger ones. And the younger ones just adore the older ones.

When I took 8 kids skating in December, they ranged in ages from 5-13. The older ones could have ignored the younger ones, but they didn't! I love to see the mix. It just so happens that the virtue this month was kindness. The parents got to brag on their children during service.

I've been getting to know Joe and Debbie and their two children. I've been in their community group and they have invited me over several times. I've invited them over a number of times, but they have never made it. (I suspect that part of it was a fear that their kiddos would destroy my house. While I don't want things destroyed, I have a pretty high tolerance level for kid messes and enjoy them -- the kids, that is.) Joe had to bow out, but Debbie, Lucas, and Raquel came for homemade soup and grilled cheese. We then made Peanut Blossoms (Hershey Kiss cookies.)

Raquel seemed to really enjoy making the cookies. She did a great job rolling the peanut butter balls in sugar. Lucas unwrapped the kisses but I think more ended up in him than on the plate for the cookies!

Even when the cookies had been baked, Lucas went for the chocolate. He then told me he wanted to share and gave me the peanut butter part. I discretely disposed of the ABC (Already Been Chewed on) cookie.

Both Lucas and Raquel were enthralled with Mali. (Katy is my shy kitty and she hid while they were here, but Mali doesn't mind company a bit.) I've been teaching Mali to do tricks like come, sit, and up. She was even willing to do up for Raquel and I finally have proof of my little one's talent. Hollywood here we come!

Have a blessed week!