Loving Ethiopia: Day 30

Shopping.

This is inside the store at Alli's orphanage. On our first trip, I loved that we were able to by most of what we wanted with the proceeds benefiting the orphanage, and now I am getting excited to go back and get more. We are taking two suitcases full of donations for Ethiopia, so it doesn't make sense to bring empty suitcases home. Right?

And really my goal with shopping in Ethiopia is to bring Allison's first culture into our home. Never to ignore that she is Ethiopian, but to celebrate it.

8 Days

Today is 8 days until we get on a plane and leave for Ethiopia to bring Allison home. I hope. I have a heavy feeling this morning as I remember being 8 days away from our trip, 14 days ago. I hate that some of my excitement has been lost because of the delay, because 14 days ago I was having my carpets cleaned in preparation to have a crawler in our home again, and visiting with a neighbor, and then we got the call, and the roller coaster began. I hate knowing that part of our group got their date reinstated to September 30th and they are there right now, and their children are in their arms, and I want to be happy for them, but I am sad for us.

So, Thursday, September 30th (our first Embassy date) is coming to a close in Ethiopia, and I hope we get word that on this Thursday, when our attorney went to the US Embassy that this time we are on track for our Embassy appointment. I hope that I will finally make it to 7 days until we leave to bring Allison home. Then 6, then 5, then 4.....

Loving Ethiopia: Day 29

Celebrations.

On one of our nights at the guest house, we were treated to a traditional Ethiopian dinner, followed by dancing. We enjoyed watching the dancing, and later even participated. But the employees of the guest house were so happy and had so much fun that we were blessed to be a part of it.

One Less: Matthew West

This morning on K-Love I heard about Matthew West recording a new song that was inspired by a family who adopted their daughter. Matthew West's music has a special place in my heart because I adopted his song, The Motions, as kind of a theme song that has been an encouragement to me though the bumps and wait of our adoption (read about it here). We got home and out of the car before the actual song had played, and I got doing other things, but through the day, I kept thinking about this song.

So, now it is evening, and I finally had a chance to find and hear this song. It's beautiful, and just like my post about the new VeggieTales movie, I am so glad that people are becoming aware of the needs of orphans, both domestically and internationally. There are so many children without a family, and there are so many families who could open their hearts and homes to take a child in as their own.

I am counting down the days until there is One Less little girl who has to live without her family, an One Less family who is waiting to bring their little girl home.

Loving Ethiopia: Day 28

PENS:
During our day trip to the Portuguese Bridge, we were talking with our driver, Wendi (pictured in the red jacket), and he told us that the kids love getting candy and pens. As we passed through a small town we stopped at a little store and, along with our friend Kelly (pictured holding the pens), bought most of their candy and all of their pens. This picture was taken as we stopped to see some wild baboons along the road. Whenever we stopped we were surrounded by kids either asking for something, or trying to sell something. They preferred the pens over the candy. We were so sad that we did not have many pens and decided that when we go back, we were taking pens with us. On one of our last days, we were shopping for dresses for our girls and I gave a little guy the pen I was carrying in my backpack. He came back a minute later sad because it did not work. I felt SO bad, but it was the only pen I had on me. Luckily, someone else in our group replaced it for him.
So today, I scrounged through our house and came up with a large collection of random pens; many from hotels and realtors, and even a few old SOS pens. The girls helped me test every pen, because I did not want to give out a dud again. Most of this process has had to be a mommy & daddy process, but it is fun to be able to involve the girls when we can. They had fun helping, and I could see that they knew why it was important to make sure they worked and who they were for. I love to see their little hearts be so giving and loving to a country and to a people they cannot completely understand.
If you have any pens you are interested in sending with us, and can get them to us before we leave, we would gladly get them distributed. It is amazing how, what seems to us to be, a simple ballpoint pen can bring such joy to a child. It is so much fun giving to kids who are so appreciative.

by Tony

Loving Ethiopia: Day 27

Here's another view of the outside of the Holy Trinity Cathedral. Again, it was amazingly beautiful, and I am so glad that we got to visit it. On the right side of the picture is one of the many stained glass windows. It was beautiful from the inside, and our guide told us that at night the entire cathedral glows with the stained glass when the church is lit from the inside.

What I Love: "It's A Meaningful Life"

I love that adoption is becoming more mainstream. (Either that, or we're just more aware of it). I love that adoption was highlighted in our church service this morning. I love that we know so many friends with adopted kids, especially our Ethiopian families. I love reading novels by Karen Kingsbury because she is an adoptive mom, and intertwines adoption into her stories. I love learning the Bible from Lysa TerKeurst and Renee Swope (both adoptive moms).

And, I love that VeggieTales is coming out with a new movie about an adoptive family, and that Steven Curtis Chapman is a part of this project.

First, here's the DVD trailer:



Next, watch this music video from the DVD (but have your tissues close):



And now, watch this clip from Steven Curtis Chapman to hear his heart behind the music, and his heart as an adoptive dad:

Loving Ethiopia: Day 26

This is one of the stained glass windows from the Holy Trinity Cathedral. It was interesting that in this cathedral, as well as others that we visited, they had scenes from the Old Testament on the left side of the sanctuary and New Testament scenes on the right side. They are amazingly beautiful and intricate.

Do you have shoes, blankets, or diapers?

When we were at Toukoul a few months ago, we asked what the orphanage needed that we could bring back when we came for our Embassy appointment. We were told that they needed shoes for the older children and blankets and diapers for the little ones.

So we are asking, this week can you clean out the closets of your elementary aged kids (children's size 8 up to adult size 6) and send us their gently used shoes? Or, do you have unused baby blankets that we could take with us and leave for the little ones in the orphanage?

Could you go to Wal-Mart and pick up a pair or two of new shoes to send to Ethiopia for a child who has none? Maybe a package of diapers?

If you live near Chandler, you can contact me to set up a time to drop them off. Or, if you live out of town, I can send you our address so you can ship them to us (the USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes are a great option).

Thank you!

Loving Ethiopia: Day 25

The interior of the Holy Trinity Cathedral was amazing. Up near the ceiling was this painting of the Trinity; God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Around the Trinity are four icons of Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John though they are depicted as a man, an eagle, a lion, and an ox (though I don't remember who is what and why-I need to research that).

On this trip, and also when I went to Eastern Europe in college, it is so interesting to me to see different cultures worship. It makes me analyze what I believe and what is Biblically based, and what is based on culture and tradition. But it also reminds me that I love and serve a big God, who is God no matter what side of the globe I am on.

Girlfriends

I am so blessed by my girlfriends. I have been with these girls for years now and they have walked and prayed through this entire journey with me (you might remember that they threw a surprise shower for me a few months ago).

On Thursday it was starting to sink in that Friday (the day we were supposed to leave) was going to be a hard day for me, and I really should have some plans rather than just sitting at home feeling sorry for myself. So I sent out an e-mail to these girls to meet me for coffee at Paradise Bakery. Cindy stepped up and even offered her home so we could hang out longer with her little ones at home. Five of us made it to coffee, then Michelle and I continued on to Chili's to meet Melissa for lunch. Then Michelle and I headed over to the mall to start our Christmas shopping. I even got this adorable shirt for Allison for Thanksgiving.

By the time we finished there, it was time to pick Megan and Emily up from school. And I had survived what could have been a very rough day.

Thank you girlfriends! I love you all so much!

Loving Ethiopia: Day 24

In Addis, we visited the Holy Trinity Cathedral. It is breathtaking to see the beauty and care that has been put into their places of worship, in the middle of a country that has had so many struggles in its history.

What Happened?

This is where I should be. On a flight, on my way to bring Allison home. And up until last Thursday, I had no doubt that September 24th would find me on a flight to Ethiopia.

I think I have aged 10 years in the past week. So many uncertainties, and changes. But now, today is here, and we did not get the answer we were hoping and praying for. I am here, and Allison is in Ethiopia. For two more weeks.

What I really don't understand is why 3 of our 7 families are either in Addis or on their way. Why the Embassy didn't accept our file, but accepted theirs. No one has answers for us, and we may never know. But they are the three families who contacted the Embassy themselves when we were asked not to. We did what we were asked to do, and we sit at home. What happened?

I know that in a year this will all be a distant memory of a bump in the road, but today is a hard day.

Thankfully I have great girlfriends, and I am heading over to meet them for coffee and friendship. I just don't think I could stay home by myself doing my normal stay at home mom thing.

Loving Ethiopia: Day 23

Boys will be boys, even in Ethiopia.

Being the mom of girls (which I love) it amazes me every time that we have little boys over, that ANYTHING can become a weapon. A wiffle ball bat is a sword, a stick is a gun, and so forth.

Even in Ethiopia these little boys need to get their "man-ness" out, and show their strength and power. Only these boys are growing up in their father's footsteps and learning to be shepherds. They make these whips out of eucalyptus bark. And when they whip them, it makes a very loud crack. We heard it all over the countryside, and this little one was more than willing to give us a demonstration when we pulled over on the side of the road.

Loving Ethiopia: Day 22

This is a traditional Ethiopian coffee pot. After roasting the beans, they are ground by hand, and boiled in this coffee pot. Then the coffee is served in a series of three cups. The first one is extremely strong, then more water is added before each of the other two cups.