new best friend

Tonight, I took the "youngers" (12 yr old daughter and 5.5 yr old son) out. The boy scouts were coming to the house for a movie and snacks - it was going to be a sweaty, smelly, fun night for them - so we needed to get away!

We decided to enjoy some pizza and some frozen yogurt. We had interesting conversations about kids at school, homework, playground madness, hippopotamuses, true friendship, and Perry the platypus. It was entertaining. We were serious, we were silly, we were stuffed!

After eating some cheap cardboard pizza, we headed over to Tutti Fruitti. We LOVE this place. But tonight I was struck by something other than the best frozen yogurt ever (I love the banana, the peanut butter is amazing too... but the pineapple/coconut, wow).

As we were walking into the yogurt shop, my youngest exclaimed, "well, HEY!" to a young, black boy. I had never laid eyes on him. Caleb walked up to him, sat down, started talking. You would have thought that we were in a high school cafeteria. They were hilarious... chatting, laughing, discussing major topics of the world (mainly Phineas and Ferb episodes)... I left him outside of the shop sitting on a bench with this friend of his... got his yogurt, came back, they were still going a mile a minute.

I loved sitting back and quietly watching this hilarious union. They could have been brothers separated at birth (of course with completely different parents due to the fact they were complete opposites). The little boy was in third grade - my son is in kindergarten. They discussed TV shows, siblings, favorite toys, how cool it is that a hippo can be completely under water while just his eyes pop out of the surface of the water, and many other highly important topics.

It was time to leave... they said their good byes, hugged, and I told the little boy's mother that she had raised a precious young man... she, of course, said the same. As we were approaching the car, my son says, "mom, he is just the coolest new best friend ever". I said, "Do you talk to him on the play ground or at church?".... He looked at me without hesitating and said,

"Oh mom, we just met."

My son... he did not care that he had never met this child. He did not care that the child was three years older and a foot taller. He did not care that this child was of a different race. He did not notice any of these things....

Instead, he saw a sweet smile. He saw an "awesome Phineas and Ferb shirt". He saw a child who could talk about all of his favorite topics.

I wish when I looked around Durham that I would see the town through the eyes of my son... there are so many friends that I am missing out on because I get wrapped up in crap that does not matter.

Lord, help me to be open to the people around me... thank You for sending Caleb to be my teacher.