Ode to the Grays

Have you ever made insta-friends?  You know the ones . . . . from the get go you connect and jump right into friendship.  Not surface-y "Hi. How are you? Good? Good" friendship, but trust your vulnerable heart in their hands friendship.  This is the kind that is rare and precious.  Twice (so far) while in the Dominican I have been blessed with these kinds of friends who have come and gone.  So thankful.

This is what Dave and Jon look like when they are making fun of someone else.

As I sit sniffling at my computer writing this post, there is a family across town loading up their 7 kids, 2 dogs, and DR loot and memories to get on a plane to head back to life in the U.S. after doing L.I.F.E. in the D.R. for the last 18 months.  They have touched more hearts and built more bridges in the last 18 months that many could hope to touch in a life time.  They are not super - heroes, or perfect people, but the Jesus in each of them is so evident, welcoming and beautiful that everyone just wants to be near them.  My heart is full, but achy-like at the thought of not having them here, and I am not alone in this.

Some, but not all, of the Gray kids, Sawyer kids and Taylor kids eating cupcakes.

Their home in the D.R. was like a stomped on ant hill of Dominican kids of all ages mixing it up with Gray kids.  They were as hospitable and as gracious as their host culture, and they embraced all of it!

The girls dropping cheese puffs from their balcony into the open mouths of Jon (43) and Isaiah (14).   What you can't see in this photo are Dominicans setting off homemade firecrackers in the yard below.  Good times.

And the really cool part of it all, is that they, us (all of their friends), the kids who were daily at their home practically living with them, have all been changed.  The Grays, I am sure of it by their very nature, were super AWESOME before they came to live life in the Dominican, but NOW they are going back to OHIO and taking a big HUNK of the DR with them.  They have a different lens that they can see life through now, and while there won't necessarily be the same type of adventures in Ohio as there are in the D.R., I am certain that these guys are gonna find new kinds of states adventures that they are gonna DRINK UP!  AND, those of us who have known them here, also look at things through a broader lens as well!

So  Dave, Kate, Isaiah, Miriam, Anabel, Ruthie, Gabi, Zachary and Simon,

VAYA con DIOS!

We can't wait until the Lord crosses our paths again!  You are LOVED by many!