Break. My. Heart.

Living in a military-dominated town, we're painfully aware that people come and go. And come and go. And come and go. Our previous Life Group was full of favorite faces that are now in new places. It's just kind of the way it is.

But, today, it's breaking my child's heart. Up until August, the majority of our friends were based in Belton since our church is there. And that's been great...not too many moves so far. We're keeping somewhat tight-leashes on our friends. : )

But our new schools over here in K-town have brought with it some wonderful new friendships. And for Jonathan, it's brought a best buddy in the little boy pictured above with him, Artem. He spends every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday getting to hang out with the bff at school. We've gone on several play dates and just really soaked up what little time we have left with our friend.

Today I picked Jonathan up from playing at Artem's for the afternoon. We started on the way home and I mentioned how Artem's family was only two weeks away from their big move to Dubai in UAE.

And then it happened. Jonathan wept. And wept pretty hard over the fact that his buddy would no longer live close by. We've chatted about the move before, but today was a bit different. Being at Artem's house, seeing the boxes, chatting with his mom about how there's just two weeks left. I think it just felt a bit more real.

I was also telling Jonathan how far away Dubai is. I mean having friends move to San Antonio is one thing...we can see them when we go see Shamu. But, we probably won't be making a lot of road trips to the UAE.

So how do we deal with this? I know this is probably the first of many BFFs moving away since this is where we plan to stay (until everyone has graduated from Ellison at least. Did you read that David? Until EVERYONE is through Ellison). But, will it get easier?

My heart's just hurting for my little buddy who is losing his little buddy in a couple of weeks. Sniff, sniff.

Artem....you sure will be missed, sweet friend. We hope to Skype with you as soon as we figure out how! ; )