It's Gonna Take a While

Did you ever have a friend at school who looked liked you, shared the same interests and people even got you confused sometimes?
Tobi has a little friend like that.  When I'm picking him up, teachers from other year levels sometimes call him his friend's name by mistake, but he doesn't mind... he just smiles.
There's a whole lot of laughter, soccer and eating sweets that takes place when these two get together!  Not surprisingly this little friend comes from two remarkable parents; a really beautiful family.
We knew that they would only be in Chiangmai for a year or two, but with a sudden turn of events causing them to pack up and move back to the States within a two week period, our little boy had a very hard 'good bye' to say this morning before going to school...


I went to Tobi's classroom this afternoon, to do my weekly volunteering, only to discover that his usual classroom teacher was absent today along with many other classmates.  In fact, there was only Tobi and seven others making it a very small class.  I missed his little friend racing up to say hello.  The class just wasn't the same.
As the day drew to a close and we walked hand in hand through the gates Tobi said, "Mum it's gonna take a while to get used to it".  "What's that?" I asked.
"Justus not being here".
My heart broke just a little at that moment, for I know the pain of having to say goodbye and the feeling of emptiness that missing friends can bring.
Throughout the evening he prayed for his friend and just keep repeating, "It's just gonna take a while".


I know.


Dave and I have both shed a tear too for the loss of such a wonderful family.
A while ago I posted this:
"The longer I’m here, the more I begin to understand that I have to change the way I view how life is ‘meant to be’.  I’m learning that life doesn’t follow a ‘rule book’ and that I’m not ‘in control’ ".

But it's still taking a while to get used to that too.