Drew

It looks like I'm actually shopping with my kid. I've never had this happen before since my own kids don't look like they could be my kids. We laughed about that.

This is my friend Drew. God meant for us to meet for multiple reasons, and the reasons keep manifesting themselves. Here's how God did it:

Last year, literally about a year ago, my TA Annie and I were at work and I was about to leave for the day. It was a Thursday and I get done around noon, so I'm always ready to head out as soon as possible. Annie got word that her sister needed her help watching her son, Noah. Annie asked if I could remain in the lab for a minute while she got Noah at our loading dock. Annie was expecting a visit from a former Especially For Youth participant any minute and someone needed to let her into our locked lab. So, because I love Annie, I stayed.

There was a knock and I let in a cute little blonde with an equally cute momma and dad. I immediately started to ask questions to get to know them, because that's what Hunters do. We make connections. Would you believe they're from Bentonville, Arkansas?! I didn't quite know the Arkansas geography yet, but I knew Allie was going to Arkansas for school. When they said northwest Arkansas, I couldn't believe it. They live 30 minutes from where Allie was going. Drew was accepted to BYU and going to be 30 minutes from where I live. We talked and talked. They are so nice.

So, the momma pact was made. Michelle Blankenship (equally cute momma) would watch out for Allie and I would watch out for Drew. What a relief! Allie would have a mom when and if she ever needed one. So would Drew. I loved her right away.

When I took Allie to Arkansas, one important stop was to the Blankenship home so Allie could meet both Drew and her new mom. Of course, we all four hit it off great as we visited for a bit. I knew Allie would be in good hands.

In September, school started. Allie was settled in Arkansas and Drew was here. Michelle and I did our momma duties. I introduced Drew to JDawgs right away. Michelle took Allie out to lunch one day. Drew actually took my class, so I got to see her every week. That was awesome. Neither girl ended up needing much help. They're both awesome that way. But, we moms have been able to drive them to the airport and just text and check-in. It's been great.

Drew recently got her mission call. She held onto it for 2 weeks until she recently flew home to open it. On Thursday, I picked Drew up at her dorm to bring her to American Fork. I was kind enough to feed her leftover pasta. See, I treat her like my own. We then went fabric shopping. I want to make her a skirt for her mission. While out shopping, we talked about where she might go. A lot of Tonga references had come up recently, so she was wondering if she would go there. We wondered if it might be Chile, where both Kamiko and Drew's boyfriend are serving. She mentioned that her boyfriend is getting tired of the same chicken and rice to eat. I told her about the rice, fried egg and fried banana that I had to eat so often. I never grew to like fried bananas. We took the above picture at the fabric store. We narrowed it down to a really cute red print. We met Keenan and Mel for yogurt and hung out, then I drove Drew to the airport. We had a fun time. Poor girl had a long night's flight ahead of her. Oh well, she's young.

The cute red we settled on

The skirt will look something like the red one in the middle of the picture.

My Drew opened her mission call on Friday evening. I knew she was opening it. In fact, I was with Annie (the one who introduced us) and Ali, both former TA's, celebrating Donut Friday and Annie's birthday, when I saw on facebook that Drew had opened it. Drum roll, please....OMG...Drew is going to Santa Cruz, Bolivia. I've been waiting 25 years for someone to get called to Bolivia. (Since they split the missions and created the Santa Cruz mission, I've always said that would be THE ONE to go to. I loved that part of the country). I've met students who have returned from there, but I've never known anyone to open their call to my Bolivia. Of course, it is Drew who won the lottery. I'm so excited for her. Annie and I called her immediately and I assured Drew that she won't gain weight, as she feared. The food just isn't that good. I reminded her of the rice and fried egg and banana and that now she gets to eat it. We laughed. When done with the girls at the donut place, I immediately called Michelle and told her that Drew would be just fine. I told her to not worry one bit. I told her how lovely Santa Cruz is and how kind and open and loving the people are. She got a bit weepy and said that the Lord is great to put people into our lives when we will need them.

Amen!