Friendships are beautiful things

Mikai has been invited to two birthday parties this month.  The first was with a couple we became friends with as both of our kiddos were in soccer together.  C's mom says, "the boys are so excited for you to come over.  Mikai was the first kid he invited to his birthday party"!  C2's mom says " C2 would love to have Mikai over to play....he mentions Mikai often".

I was humbled and floored.  I know Mikai is special, but Mikai is also my child so I am biased.  It becomes a real parenting victory when children are mentioning MIkai in a good way, at home.  In life all you need is that one friend.  It's the friend that is by your side when you're having a rough day, the friend who gets into trouble with you and shares the discipline, the friend who plays imagination and passes no judgement, the friend that picks up the phone in the dead of night when you call.  I know Mikai is still so very young, but the fact that he has made such great friends gives me great hope for his future.

It also reminds me that Mikai is awesome outside of the home too.  He shows off his winning personality and others are attracted to him because of it.  I don't know how he behaves at school, but I imagine he doesn't let his inability to speak overcome his inability to have fun.  A lesson, I am certain, we can all learn from.   Inabilities do not equal a missed opportunity.  In fact, inabilities can give us many great opportunities.

The other great thing about this birthday party opportunity is Mikai's excitement to celebrate with is friends.  i phoned him this morning to tell him that I told C2's mom that we were coming and before C2's birthday we had to go to C's birthday.  The excitement he had on the phone was just as awesome as knowing people like Mikai.  Mikai loves people.  He loves to make them feel great about themselves.  He runs alongside them and hugs them when they are feeling sad.  I think he believes it's his personal mandate to help others feel great.  So this is Mikai's opportunity to show love and feel loved back.

Is this why we chose to become parents?  Because there is no greater joy than seeing humanity at it's finest - loving one another.

1 Corinthians 13: 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.