Luggage arrived!

Our luggage just arrived and we are elated! As we tugged them up the stairs and opened them up, we were both struck with the fact that we packed WAY too much. We are too luxurious in America...and just.don't.know.it. I am grateful the Lord is blessing us with so much to see and experience here. This morning, we headed to the National Museum and on the way, we tried to capture as many mental photographs as we could. The one that stuck out the most: my eyes and sneaky camera were trying to capture the images of the street boys who live their lives by shining shoes. This is their way of life...my camera could not capture the image that popped up so quickly as our car swerved to miss another. There was a homeless woman leaning up against a streetpost with her belongings scattered around her. She was nursing her babe in her arms while trying to gather some things around her. My heart hurt. In an instant we were too far away for me to even tap Chris to look. Ethiopians LOVE their babies. They LOVE their children. They LOVE their culture. They want the BEST for their babies. We are blessed that the Lord has called us to bring up a sweet beauty in our home. We are blessed, humbled, honored. I have not had a chance to describe our visit to the orphanage. that is coming..as long as they let me use their computer :).

Court Date Changed..

okay...I won't lie...I am disappointed. ..and tired...and needing some clean clothes. We just got back from the agency offices where we found out that the Judge has postponed our court date until Monday afternoon. Want to know why? Because she is taking an exam for her Masters program and she needs extra time to study. Okay. Okay Lord. The Judge needs time to study. Okay. The Judge actually wanted to reschedule for Wednesday but our offices pleaded for Monday. Thankfully she obliged. SO, we are here two more days. That doesnt bother us. Our kids are in great care and all will be okay. ..but I am disappointed. ..and I have cried my many tears into a bathtowel so as not to disturb the rest of the guests here while my hubby lovingly has sat next to me and comforted me. I am not sure I am done crying yet...but I am going to be okay. i know that.

Arrived, survived...thrived

We are here!!! We arrived around midnight last night. By the time we got to the Guest Home last night, we had been traveling for about 26 hours...with about 3 hours of eye rest only. Our luggage did not make it with us. We are hoping to have it by tomorrow. I could go on and on about the craziness of our travel and the shear miracles that occurred to get us here, but I would rather focus on our experience since we have arrived. We are blessed by the generosity of everyone here. The sweet guest home attendant blessed us with a big welcome even though it was super late. After we got all settled in our room upstairs, I came back down to ask her a question and she popped out from under the stairs. Her little dwelling place and bed were in a tiny closet under the stairs. She was not bothered by her small quarters. She is young, probably and older teen, and she is grateful for the job. After about four hours rest, we were up again this morning to have breakfast downstairs; scrambled eggs, fresh bread, and coffee. We then got in the car with the social worker and a driver and headed to our trip South of Addis to Hawassa. It is about a 4.5 hour drive. Much horn honking, brake slamming, swerving, dodging, and speeding. Enough to make even the heartiest stomach a little queasy. I don't have a hearty stomach, so needless to say, I am still suffering from motion sickness. We saw soooo much on the drive. So much that it is impossible to really express and even pictures dont do it justice. National Geographic is very close to what we witnessed today. On one of our previously lost referrals, the comment was that the babe had been found while a woman walked to work. It is one thing to read about it, another to witness exactly what that means. I am not talking about a casual stroll down the sidewalk to work. "Walking to work" means walking miles on the side of this dangerous road or through pastures and over freshly plowed and rough fields to their place of work. Most work on farms. Some travel long distances to bring water back on the backs of donkeys to bring back to their straw huts or to the animals that they tend. We dodged folks all day on the road, nearly hitting them. I cannot describe it. They often walked in the middle of the road or drove their donkeys in the middle of the road..and typically they move if you honk loud enough and often enough. We were fortunate not to hit any living thing. I think what spoke to Chris and I most was the fact that there was not an age excluded from working. It was typical on this drive to see 3 and 4 year olds herding cattle or goats along the road with no one else with them. "Careful, babes, this is a dangerous road! Big trucks are having to dodge you!" They even carried whips and knew how to use them. We saw a pair of about 5 year boys walking together carrying an oxen yolk on their backs. They were working together following behind a clan who were moving their farming tools to a different plowing area. We saw an equivalent number of women carrying bundles of hay, baskets, water, or farming tools and their little girls with them. Every 10 miles or so, was a tiny village consisting of a dozen or more clusters of huts....that's it. huts and farms and kids and farmers. The images are forever engraved in our minds with a serene backdrop of mountains, fields, or deserts trickled with shapely bonsai looking trees and cone shaped huts amidst the farms. Oh forgot to mention that we stopped for a humble bathroom and coffee break halfway there. Chris and I both got a coffee, our sw got a macchiato, and our driver got a hearty injera breakfast. After getting the bill, we began to divide out our portions and then Chris ended up taking care of the whole bill. Not even $2 total for it all. They were moved but I am not sure they understand how moved we are about all of this. So very humbling. We finally got to the hotel..and then orphanage. details to follow.

Leaving Nash

Getting ready to leave. Our flight is delayed already. Oh well, I think that is just prep for Ethiopian time. You get there when you get there. No rush. No spiraling around a clock. We all need some of that in our lives.Met a couple of Ethiopian friends of Chris at the airport. They are so excited we are going to their home country. If you dont know much about the people of Ethiopia, they are SO loving,SO kind, SO giving, SO,grateful. Before we even made it to the gate, they were setting up arrangements with family in ET to greet us at the,airport and take us to a coffee ceremony and bless us with traditional meal if we would like. We have almost half dozen phone numbers and names to contact if we have any needs. Such a blessing. They are so excited for us. We are excited too. The Lord has seen fit to mend our hearts with this country, this culture, this people for a lifetime. Our family will forever be part Ethiopian. What an honor.Still at the airport.....and we wait. ..

Little Feet, Little Toes, Little Fingers, Little Nose...we are coming in a couple of days to see you!!!!

Court Date!!!!!!!!!

We received our court date!!!  We got the news as we were sailing across the big blue ocean on our cruise!!   These pics are about an hour after we heard the news. Perfect! We found out moments before we renewed our vows. Perfect!! We got home in time to have about 7 days to get ready. Now, we leave in less than 3 days. So very grateful for the support from friends and family. Thankful for my sis who is holding down the fort while we are gone.
We received more pics yesterday of our princess.  She has gotten her two bottom teeth since our last update. awwww..she is precious and is actually smiling for the camera. Can not wait until we can post pics of her. Please be praying for us: safe travels, staying healthy, financial support to cover all the travel costs of both trips, great visit to the orphanage, and favor with the judge. We are also believing for our paper work to be expedited Divinely so we can bring her home soon. The Embassy process that follows a successful court date is not known to be quick. We are praying for favor, favor, favor.

A chosen day

In the wee hours of May 4th 31 years ago, my earthly father passed away in a tragic accident. I was 9 years old. Each, year, that day does not go by without memories of that moment, memories of him, memories of days gone by, the whys, why me, what ifs, and then praises for today, praises for the Lords protection, praises for His Sovereignty despite the whys. On May 4th, 2012 in the wee hours of the morning, we got the email that we had a referral!! We had gotten word the night before that they were sending it to us, but for some reason, the email would not come through. It was a sluggish internet weirdness. I kept checking my phone for the email...nothing. We went to bed..nothing..I kept checking until well after midnight...nothing. When hubs got up at 2am to go to work. I checked again. SOMETHING!! It came. I sat up..we looked together. There she was!!! Beauty. Blessed. Her name means she is blessed. No more sleep for me that night. I was up the rest of the day. I began to search her birthplace, pour over her history, and stare googly eyed at her photo. Why Lord did you choose to have us receive this precious gift on this day? I can only believe that it is because days matter. Our heavenly Father chooses every day, every moment. He is Sovereign. Nothing on this planet happens without His foreknowledge and intervention. He is ever so present in our lives, ever so knowledgeable of our comings and goings, ever so purposeful, ever so loving. I have embraced this gift of receiving her referral as a purposeful message that this day matters. Perhaps my earthly father who now resides in the Heavenlies has been assigned to watch over our baby girl, perhaps he has spoken or pleaded on our behalf, perhaps this day was simply to send a message of hope that this little girl is it. After two failed referrals, I receive that. I am cautious. I am cautiously excited and hopeful. Now the wait...the wait for the court date. We have never gotten this far before. We have gotten referrals in the past only to follow with tragic phone calls months later. "We are sorry" phone calls. We are sorry but we are taking your referral and giving her to another family because of your husbands heart attack. We are sorry but there has been a mistake and your referral has been given to another family. We are sorry. I have been nervous, anxious, and yet deep down trying to wholly and completely trust the Lord. Please dear Lord. This must be it. "I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." Psalm 27:13,14