Amidst the stares

Picture this...10-12 kids, their parents and siblings packed into a pizza joint after the final soccer game of the season. This was the stage for the experience we had last night.

Little J has been playing soccer on the same team for a few seasons now, and the kids have become rather close. We've really enjoyed watching him and have enjoyed the community of parents, coaches, and kids. While Dillon has accompanied us to every game and practice most of the kids haven't "seen" him outside of a baby carrier. As I've mentioned before, he lives in the Ergo carrier. Love that thing. Anyway, we had him out and about at the dinner party as it's become pretty normal for us to do. And of course it didn't take too long before we started to notice a few stares. After a little while two of the kids on Little J's team came right over to our table and pretty much planted themselves right in front of me, as I was holding Dillon. Their mouths were agape and eyes were fixed on him. It was a bit odd...both of them just standing, not saying a thing, staring at my baby, for what was probably a few minutes but seemed like an hour. Right when I was about to say something to them (ya know, something like "shark attack") Little J excitedly ran up to his baby brother and kissed him on the face, laughing and hugging him saying, "Hi Dillon!" It was amazing to see the faces of his two friends completely transform from astonishment and confusion to relative acceptance. They, in turn, smiled, said hi to Dillon, and walked away with Little J, as if nothing had happened and it was now the most normal thing in the world. Our little six year old had completely transformed the moment from one of innocent awkwardness...into happiness and normalcy. His love for his brother set his friends at ease. What a blessing it was to watch our son be used by God to influence.