He learned THREE kids’ names!

Yesterday afternoon was a delightfully lazy one. Nash and I watched Avengers: Age of Ultron and built one of his LEGO sets that he got for his birthday. As I was snapping the little plastic pieces into place one by one I had a little epiphany.

Have you ever built a large LEGO set? While following the instructions, there are times when I would think “How in the world will this thing stay together? This is going to fall apart in no time.”

Then I placed one small brick next to another, and it came to me.

Even before placing the larger piece over that little square one, it occurred to me that just being butted up next to the other piece adds strength and stability to the little one. In a similar way, I’ve noticed that being surrounded by close friends adds strength and stability in my life – emotionally, physically, and spiritually. For the last several years, I’ve walked closely with some awesome people (Shout out to #FNCampers!). These relationships give me strength when I am down, weak, pissed, on the edge. I’m pretty sure they would say the same of me. We support each other. To use a super buzzword – this is my community. My community that we just moved 1700 miles away from, but that’s not the point of this post.

Last night at bedtime Nash was telling me he didn’t have any friends at his new school. He’s had several moments of real sadness since we arrived in Pasadena 12 days ago. It’s been a huge change for him, and his 7-year-old brain struggles to process it all. Last Wednesday he started first grade in a new school in a new town surrounded by strangers. I don’t blame him one bit for feeling the way he does. It’s of course so natural for him to feel this way.

Obviously, it’s crazy hard to watch your child struggle. So last night at bedtime I gave him an assignment for today to learn 2 kids’ names and ask them what their favorite super hero is. A new tool in his tool belt to start building his own community.

He learned THREE kids’ names!

He came home this afternoon super stoked because he talked to THREE kids, asked their names, and one of them said to other kids at some point that Nash was his new friend. He is all sorts of pumped about his new friends. As I finished my work day, I could hear him in the living room singing “I maaaaaaade morrrrrre friennnnnnnnds. I maaaaaaade morrrrrre friennnnnnnnds.”

Thanks for those who have been praying for him.

Love you, all!