First Time: Joshua Invites A Friend Over

I don't know if play date is the right wording for 8 year olds, but that is what it was.
All summer long Joshua has been saying-
"I don't want to be friends with Taylor and Jacob's friends."
We have tried, especially this last year, to get him to invite a friend over, but he would get anxious and say-
"NO! NO! NO!"
Finally after the first week of school Joshua says to me very quietly and without looking me in the eye-
"Mom, I want to invite a friend over to my house."
Me totally shocked- "Who?"
No eye contact- "Tim."
I have no idea who Tim is, so I ask-
"Is Tim in Mrs Cohrt's class?"
"Yes."
"Is Tim in SPICE class?"
"Yes."
"Is Tim new?"
"Yes."
Okay then, that is why I don't know who Tim is.
We write a note to Tim and his family and send it to Ms. Jen who then transfers it to Tim's folder.
The next week I get a lovely call from Tim's grandmother Martha.
She is the sweetest lady from Georgia with a southern accent.
Tim was just diagnosed on the autism spectrum.
He is lively, but sweet she tells me.
We make a plan for Tim to come over to our house on Saturday for one hour.
Tim comes to our house and is lively and sweet.
He pulls Joshua by the hand and tells him just what to do.
Tim likes to jump from one activity to another.
He is fascinated with garage doors, cars, and electronics.
Joshua is quiet and shy, but shows Tim how to set up the chess set.
He tries to play the Wii with Tim.
They watch a movie, with Tim doing lots of talking, and Joshua pausing the movie a lot try to talk to him.
The two kept talking to me instead of each other, so I would remind them to ask one another instead of me.
It was an interesting play date.
And it made me so happy.
After 50 minutes, they were done.
"It's time for me to go home," Tim says as he looks out the window.
It was neat to see them interact with each other and to be doing their own thing side by side, to see that autism is so normal.

THE NEXT WEEK-
Joshua went to Tim's house.
"I'm nervous mom."
"Do you still want to go?"
"Yes, but I need to go to the bathroom."
We get in the car and drive the short distance to Tim's house (Yes he lives in our neighborhood!).
We knock on the door.
The whole family welcomes Joshua with open arms.
They know this is a first for him.
Joshua announces-"I'm nervous!"
"That's okay,"  they reassure him.
After a few minutes of checking things out he feels comfortable and climbs up the stairs.
"Mom you can go."
I'm back in an hour and everyone is happy.

Again I know Tim was put into Joshua's pathway for a reason.
He is the sweetest boy who likes to be social.
He lives in our neighborhood.
Most of the other kids in Joshua's program have lived further away.
He goes to Carol Rae and his siblings go to Highland Park, just like Joshua, so Joshua doesn't feel like the odd one out because someone is in the same situation as him.
(He's really been struggling with the whole different school thing this year.)
And let me tell you that this is the sweetest family.
Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, and kids all living under the same roof and loving each other and all the people around them.
Once again the Lord is watching out for Joshua and helping him in this next step-
FRIENDSHIP