Tim left for India a couple of days ago. He will be gone for almost two weeks. First of all, I know I am a wimp. For those of you who have a husband in the military or a husband that travels often...I respect you so much. I do not like it when Tim leaves. A few days is nice sometimes...but over a week is torture. But before Tim left God graciously gave me this word: THRIVE. Which means to grow vigorously; flourish. Very refreshing...but a choice nonetheless. Yesterday morning I woke up and got the day going and I wasn't ready for the onslaught of "poor me" feelings. I had to fight them down. I was doing the dishes and saw several of the neighbors packing up for picnics and I thought, "poor me..." But I was clinging to my word: THRIVE. So I went and sat with my Bible and journal and God brought to mind Nazila. Her husband is GONE. He is NEVER coming back. Zilan, Aram and Lavine's Daddy has been forever taken away from them. Well, one can only wallow in self-pity for so long when faced with that reality. Especially when it's within my power to bring us all a little JOY. So I sent Annie to tell Nazila to pack up for a picnic. She had no food, so we went American style...PB and J sandwiches!
Aram chowed down on his PB and J. Nazila ate hers and Lavine's!
We went to our favorite tree...there was another family under our spot. they graciously shared their dolma with us. So we shared baby carrots, peppers and ranch dip with them as well as chocolate chip cookies. They loved the cookies!
After lunch we hiked out to find poppies and tadpoles!
This is not a posed shot. I just happened to capture her looking at this flower. What is going through her mind? I was able to talk with her about NEW LIFE. This is kind of a joke between us now, because the first time I had this conversation I mad a cultural blunder. I implied that she needed to move on and get a new husband. oops. not what I meant...but this time I got to use nature to explain what I mean by new life. The butterflies and tadpoles were perfect examples. Metamorphosis is an amazing analogy for what I was like BEFORE Jesus and with Jesus! She still doesn't "get it." But she will...
Hunting for tadpoles.
Poppies are a great hair accessory.
I love this little man...he is always giving me flowers!
He loves Lavine.
Jesse and Aram wanted their picture taken with Lavine too.
Holly and Nazila swinging Lavine.
the picnic gang THRIVING together!
Jesse getting a free ride back to the tree.
taking a little nap in the cool shade.
climbing up.
swinging...
making memories...truly we are THRIVING together...i love that this tree has already given us so many memories and there is so much symbolism in it. it was great to share it with another family and with Nazila.
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