Zoo take Two ( with the Demans)

  First, it is February 10 and i am wearing a short sleeves. The sun is out, and we are just soaking in this warm winter. We loaded our two families ( 4 little girls!) into our van and took off to the Zoo. 

  We arrived five minutes before 10am. the only car in the parking lot, for sure. we were able to stroll around and talk, watch, and interact with the animals for a good hour before we saw anyone else. a zoo to ourselves. 

  Yasmin and Layla ran around giddy with the stimulation. They were waving and talking and shrieking and giggling through baboons and monkeys, llamas and bears. 

Ismay and Sophia were wide-eyed in the strollers pointing at animals and watching their sisters run wild. 

Sophia really liked the chimpazee, Charlie. 

  But then...we found the trampoline. and there was nothing quite like that, really. the girls were content to just jump and play on this for the rest of their time. 

  reminded once again how simple life can be. How pristine weather, some of your best buddies and walking around is all that really matters. loved watching the girls just enjoy each other and life. Sophia loving Claire Bear, Claire loving  Yasmin, Ismay always climbing and running around with no fear.  love how fun it is to watch their personalities grow and develop. 

  but it was bittersweet for sure, as the Demans will be moving back to Holland in 3 1/2 weeks. 

and we have really walked this road together.

 

We meet the first week of language school - and i did all 4 semesters with Yessica as my class mate. I was at her birth of yasmin and just a half hour late to meet sweet Ismay. We have girls the same age and have been in so many firsts together- pregnancy, babies, toddlers, school, adjusting to Jordan, learning to speak arabic, adjusting to beirut, going to a palestinian  refugee camp... 

  

  and laced with the “firsts” is the normal, and the funny, the awkward, the fabulous, the breakthrough, the losses, and the friendships. It feels so hard to imagine what life will look like without them here. In some ways, i am moving forward as though  nothing is changing, but when i think ahead of moments and they are not there, it feels so sad. 

 of course i am so very thankful that we had these past 4 years, and i am so full of faith of what God wants to do with them in the Netherlands...more than we can even ask or imagine. 

   cherishing these family trips with them for now and watching our girls delight in each other. knowing that Jesus sees our smiles and our aches. believing in community and deep friendship even when goodbyes make it so painful.

  knowing that what we have exchanged...our friendships...have changed us. we have grown, been challenged, loved deeper, understood more, and been changed. and that is kingdom friendship. the exchanges are spiritual and not measureable, but more powerful than we realize.