Day 14 May 11

Oh friends, thank you so much for your prayers. This afternoon after I finished washing and doing Amara's hair (which included such inane and slightly insane conversations between the girls I really thought I would lose my ever-loving-mind!), we decided to walk to the beach. It was still raining a bit and I was congratulating myself on becoming all island-ish and not being so worried about the rain, but I brought my big umbrella with me in case it started raining hard and I just wanted to sit and watch the girls. No one uses umbrellas here - it's so strange to me! I felt a little odd walking with a big umbrella...

Anyway, when we arrived, the tide was in but on its way out which meant there were new tidal pools to discover every 15 minutes or so. And then! The sun came out for about an hour and it was so warm and beautiful that we had a really hard time leaving. While we were there, I saw an older Inuit woman there with her grandson and we struck up a conversation. She was so sweet and gentle, and so open and interesting to talk to that we chatted for a long while and I didn't feel drained. Yay for not being too socially awkward quite yet! I even gave her my cell number in case they are going out another time and want company. She told me that she is wanting to homeschool her 6-year-old son because he hates school. There is so much openness to homeschooling here, it's inspiring! 

I'm really sad I didn't take my phone along for pictures because it was a gorgeous evening full of blessings and rejuvenation - just like you prayed for Sharla!

A few moments to remember:
*waking up this morning I asked Amara if she had a good sleep and she said, "I slept like a stuffed duck!" I laughed and said "Does a stuffed duck sleep better than a stuffed dog?" she replied "Do people hunt dogs and stuff them?" 

* Giselle collects pockets full of shells every time we are at the shore. She opened her baggie of shells the other day and it stank so bad, so she decided to wash them today. Suddenly she comes running out of the bathroom yelling "There are crabs in my shells!!" Sure enough, there were two tiny crabs scrambling for shelter in the sink. Before I could figure out what to do with them, she pulled the plug and they went down the drain! 

* Honestly I've had a really hard time reading Kylar's instructor here and it's stressed me out a bit. One time she seems very friendly and kind and then the next few times, very abrupt and almost rude. I asked God today to give me more chances to just show her kindness and to maybe establish a relationship with her... or, if that wasn't up to me - just let it not bother me if she doesn't want anything to do with us. Shortly later, she came back from a training walk with Kylar and told me how quick he is - one of her top all time students, and that he is progressing very fast. She commented on how bright the girls are, and was in general just very sweet. I think I just need to not worry about her when she is abrupt and take her as she is each time, and show her love the best I can. 

*Giselle went for a walk to the grocery store with me just before dinner and she was so happy to be with me alone and help me! Her love language is acts of service and it's often so hard for me to let her walk that out because of her age. This walk to the store filled up her love tank so much because she was able to help me and quite often I told her I didn't know how I would have managed without her! I've been hoping for small moments like this to build better relationship with her, so this was awesome.

Alright - off to go watch a show with Kylar! It's the only time we have to connect during the day without a lot of interruption.