What's Next??...SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL ETHIOPIA

Our Promise for a Princess was fulfilled!  All praise be to God!  Our Ethiopian Princess came home to our family in August of 2012.  A four year process in total, allowing for great Spiritual testing and growth.  It was six months after we had been joined as a family that I decided to Google her former orphanage.  To this day I am perplexed as to why I did not do this sooner.  The name of her orphanage was on her referral paperwork, so I can submit it is for no other reason than for God's perfect timing in His great plan.

It was an early evening in March of 2013.  I googled True Love Children Center.  I found a Facebook page.  I started scrolling through some pictures and from behind me my daughter comes up and with great delight points to the screen and declares "daddy".  The joyful expression on her face I will never forget.  It immediately struck my spirit that whoever this man was pictured on my computer screen, he was someone very special in her life.  

His name, I would come to find out is Messele Abebe.  He is the founder and director of True Love Children Center in Hawassa, Ethiopia.  He is called "Papa or Daddy" by the kids at True Love.  They absolutely love him and I hear they follow him around like the pied piper.  Obviously he had poured much love into our princess for the 20 months she lived there and for that I will always be grateful.

Over the following months, Messele and I formed an "email" relationship.  I asked a million questions, and Messele would respond.  I wanted to know what it was like for kids at TLCC.  What had my daughter experienced?  What did she do with her time there?  What did they eat? etc. etc. etc.   I had questions about her birth family as well.  At every turn Messele was transparent and shared and went out of his way to help me. 

I felt impressed in my spirit that I was supposed to write a book to share all this new information. Eventually I settled on a children's book that would share a bit about life in an orphanage and our daughter's journey to her new home. We have been blessed with some very special pictures of our daughter and even an appearance she makes in a video of TLCC.  One day during our LONG wait, I remember looking at the pictures of our four biological children hanging on the wall across from my prayer spot and welling up in tears thinking we would not have baby pictures of our new daughter. God placed that desire in my heart and overwhelmed me in fulfilling it.  So, I completed the book, Keda's Journey and if nothing else, it is a great chronicle for my daughter about her journey in becoming part of our family.  

As the needs of TLCC became more apparent to me, God moved in my heart to want to help. I fell in love with the people of Ethiopia and had become particularly moved by the plight of poverty in relation to family preservation.  God started to birth the idea within my heart to start a 501 (c) (3) non profit charitable organization. Though I kept seeking to see if there was any way around it, I eventually came to terms that He was calling me to do it.  So, SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL ETHIOPIA was born.  The goal of SBE is to generate funds to provide for the needs of the poor and disadvantaged women and children in Ethiopia.  In relation to True Love this will be achieved through education, trade training, and care for the children at TLCC and the surrounding community of Hawassa.  Messele Abebe  has been given a vision of expanding TLCC and its community development programs and SBE plans to be a part of that.

We have created T-shirts ($15) and have copies of the children's book "Keda's Journey" ($25) to fundraise.  If you are interested in a t-shirt, a book or just want to bless us with a financial donation, please email us at SomethingBeautifulEthiopia@gmail.com.  Thanks so much!

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK!  SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL ETHIOPIA

A Video Clip to give glory unto THE GREAT I AM for the great things HE has done in our lives...

http://youtu.be/ho0FQQowd5I

THE PRODUCT OF THE PROMISE (a summary)

Tim and I met in high school.  We were married almost seven years later.  We always knew we wanted to adopt and when our baby number 4 was four years old we began to make that dream become a reality.  Two years prior we had interviewed with an agency, but we both felt we should wait.  It was Mother's Day (May 2008) that we all sat in our van one sunny Sunday after church and said a prayer as a family for God to lead us and guide us as we began our adoption journey.

"Who?" and "Where?" and "How?"...these answers could only be answered by divine guidance.  As we took in all the information from research, discussions with adoptive parents and prayer upon prayer, we were blessed with direction.  The "Who?" became clear to us.  He was calling us to parent an African toddler girl.  I couldn't give you a clear answer if you asked me "why?", but we both just knew.

Now we needed to know "Where?".  One day while fasting and praying for guidance, I went out to the mailbox and found our answer.  A Compassion International magazine had arrived and an article caught my heart.  It was entitled "A Promise for a Princess" (the article header has become our blog header).  The article highlighted the dire need and distress experienced because of poverty in Ethiopia.  While there, the author of the article held a tiny infant girl in his hands as she breathed her last.  He had decided they had to make a difference there in Ethiopia and I felt we needed to do the same.

Then came finding our adoption agency.  I had narrowed the large field of agencies down to three which I called and interviewed.  Ironically, I felt most led to use the only non-christian agency I had interviewed.  Knowing God is sovereign, we went in that direction.  (This decision was crucial and I had to hold onto this as a God directed decision in the years to come, as the process turned out to be full of unexpected twists and turns).

Now, "How" were we going to pay for this adoption?  I had full faith God would provide for the large sums of money we were going to need and I was hoping for the ol' "envelope method" where the cash unexpectedly shows up in your mailbox, but that was not to be the case this time.  Months into the beginning of our journey with part one of our application submitted, I received a call from my son's preschool.  They were looking to find a pre-school teacher for the upcoming year, and wanted to know if I knew anyone who might be qualified.  Unknown to them,  I do have a degree in Child Development and Child Care and taught pre-school PK (pre-kids...12 years ago!).  As much as I felt unprepared and anxious, I knew this was the Lord's plan and after interviewing, I accepted the position offered.  I ended up being there for two years and was so very blessed for taking on that calling.  Not only did that job provide a significant amount of the financing needed to complete our adoption, the resulting growth and new friends made the experience so much "richer" than the "envelope method" could ever have delivered.

I began that position in August of 2008 and we were finally paper ready and on the agency wait list in April of 2009.  The estimated wait at that point had grown from 6-12 months (which is what it was when we interviewed the agency) to 12-18 months.  A bit discouraging, but knowing God's timing is perfect, certainly seemed fine.  Well, when the 18 month time had come and gone and people we knew from other agencies were getting their referrals with only a 12 month wait or less from beginning to end, the struggle started to set in.  Time and time again, as I wrestled and pleaded and prayed to God, wondering if I heard correctly, wondering if we went in the right direction, I kept being told in my spirit "stay put".  Ugh, how difficult.  Thank goodness for the reminder of Abraham and the promise God made him.  I did not want to mess us things by trying to go my own way (the Hagar experience) so though the aching in my heart would continue, my spirit was able to find peace when I finally relinquished my "expectations" unto His sovereignty.  I would tell myself "If I believe He is God and He is sovereign and His ways are always best, then who was I to insist this was not the way it was supposed to be!?".  Peace finally came when I could believe in my spirit that WHATEVER God determines as best, is BEST!  Though the flesh would often try to take back over and rob me of peace, as long as I took that angst to the Lord, He was faithful to provide the peace that passes understanding to guard my heart and mind. 

It was not until that beautiful day (March 7, 2012), as I was painting a door I had unhinged on my back deck in preparation for listing our house for sale, that our call came.  (Yes, that was just one month shy of 3 years of being on the wait list!)  The product of the promise was revealed to us!  She was a two year old cutie just waiting for God to bring us together.  Two trips to Ethiopia later, (amazing trips I might add :) we arrived home to US soil on August 31, 2012 with our wonderful little princess.  FOR ALL THE PROMISES OF GOD IN HIM ARE YEA, AND IN HIM, AMEN, UNTO THE GLORY OF GOD BY US. 2 Cor 1:20 KJV  All glory be unto Him.  We are so blessed to have her!

So to anyone considering adoption my advice would be to "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and ALL these things shall be added to you.  Mt 6:33  He always has more than just the end result in mind and I can honestly say, I am so grateful.

Keda giggles

I tried to upload this video to the last post, but it didn't work.  One more try...

Here is Makeda playing with her siblings...Jameson is guarding the stairs (when he says "IYE" he is telling her "NO" in ahmaric to keep her from tumbling down :).  Ahh, a child's laughter...what a gift!

Our Journey Home

We Made It!  We are Home.  It was tough only because Makeda was stuck on me.  From when she woke up on Thursday morning until we arrived home and went to bed last night (Friday night) I could not go ANYWHERE without her.  She would not even sit on the empty plane seat next to me, she HAD to be ON me. The plane ride was tough with my sweet little sweat ball trying to get comfy on me or using me as a human playground.  I am THRILLED she is attatched, just made it challenging, that's all.  She wouldn't go to Tim.  One time she was asleep and i really had to go to the bathroom so we tried the transfer and as soon as she slipped into his arms, she started the wailing and I had to take her back.  My sleep was limited, to say the least and by the time we made it to the DC airport I was starting to get woozy carrying her and all that goes along with us getting through an airport.  God saw me through and sleep last night was deep and so very welcomed.  Enough about me though, lets get to the good stuff.

On Thursday, our last full day in Ethiopia, we went shopping.  While we were checking out the wares, Makeda whispered "kaka" which meant she had to find a potty.  Our translater took us to this little cafe and we tried, but there was no way she was using a potty in the ground, so she held it :)  Above is a picture of an 11 year old boy Tim had pulled aside from a group of boys that were out front of the cafe. When they see "ferenge" (white people) the kids swarm begging for money or food.  Tim brought this one in with him and they shared a coke and some conversation (with a bit of help from the translater).

When we got back to the guest house and had lunch, Zoie and Keda had some coloring time together.  What a blessing having Zoie there!

After our farewell coffee ceremony, we started to pack and get ready to go.  Here's a final picture in front of the beautiful view from our balcony.

Here's a picture of Makeda's first friends.  That's Tracey holding Keda's friend Theo.  They just adopted him this week too and we shared our experiences as we were all staying in the guest house together.  He is such a cutie full of tons of energy and joy :)

Just one more pic at the guest house.  Here we are all packed in and ready to go.  We headed to the airport and waited for our time to board and head home.  Makeda fell asleep at the airport and slept while we boarded and for the first leg of the trip to Rome where we stopped to refuel.  (That was about 7 hours).  Then she woke up ready to play.  I got some sleep while she slept in the beginning, but not nearly enough.  It was a bit tough from there on in for me, but she was fine.  We went to the bathroom about 8 or 9 times as it became her hangout.  Somehow she managed to squeeze out a few drops of pee even on the 9th time.  You can't accuse her of calling wolf!  We were in the window seat and had a lot of fun trying to slide out and crawl over an often sleeping dad numerous times.  Ah, memories.  So we made it to DC, stumbled out of the plane and somehow managed to make it to our next gate destination.  We ate some lunch and tried to freshen up a bit.  FINALLY I was able to get her to walk on her own next to me on one of our trips to the bathroom.  Ah, that was good!

This is Keda all dressed up and ready to take off from DC to make the final leg of the trip to Pittsburgh.   She fell asleep on the flight, cried in her sleep as we made our descent into Pittsburgh, likely due to the ear pain but never woke up until we were heading out to the car to drive home.

Here she is "meeting" her siblings :)

AH....we are home!!!  Thank you so much for sharing in our journey.  We are so incredibly blessed!  She is home now enjoying playing with her siblings.  She LOVES to play with them.  We trust she will  make great strides in learning her english, the "rules" :) and just growing in grace into all the plans God has for her without ever forgetting her roots in her beautiful home country of Ethiopia.  We are so grateful to you all for your prayer covering and support.  Blessings to all!

A Day of Firsts

Well, we have had a good first day together.  Makeda slept well last night and when it came time to wake up and she knew we were up, she buried her face in her pillow and pretended she wasn't there.  I'm sure this had to be pretty rough for her, waking without the familar sights and sounds of an orphanage.  She is absolutely fine with mommy and has no problem hanging on to me every waking moment of the day.  Everyone else though can forget about it.  Hopefully she will begin to trust a bit more and warm up soon :)  She has every right to take her time to trust again, that is for sure!  I am getting small new breakthroughs all the time.  A smile that she will quickly try to hide or a new understanding of my ahmaric.  This is a time to be cherished as she will be making great strides in development every day and we look forward to it.  For now, she is just checking out the world from the arms of mom.

This morning we made our return trip to Mission Ethiopia.  We had such a wonderful visit there last time with the women and minstering to the kids.  This time we brought back about 40 inflatable balls, 40 little stuffed animals and 12 coloring books with crayons and trail mix packed together.  A swarm of  eagar children approached us as we entered the compound.  Within a matter of 30 seconds, all had been handed out in a great frenzy.  It was fun to see all the children checking out their newfound treasures of sharing some of their trail mix with their moms as they made the necklaces they create to earn a living.  Thanks to the Manges family and the Walk's for helping us bless these kiddoes :) .

After our fun at Mission Ethiopia we headed over to a shoe store to buy ethiopian shoes for dad and Keda and a tee shirt for me from Shoes for Hope :)

Lunch was ready shortly after we arrived back at the guest house and then Keda and I were ready for a good afternoon's nap :)

It is after 10:00pm here as I type this.  Makeda is sitting on my lap.  That must have been one incredible nap as we don't even have so much as a yawn out of her right now.  She is playing for the very first time though.  She started with a pen and paper as I was typing and moved onto crayons and a coloring book and now she is busy playing with her tinkertoys.  We've got to shut this party down though as it is time to sleep.

Blessings to all !!  Tomorrow night at this time we will be boarding our plane for our trip home :)

It's my party and i'll cry if i want to...

...you would cry too if this happened to you =) ...

Today was our "gotcha day".  We headed to the orphanage around 9am and after we arrived we waited in a room as they prepared "Birtukan's" farewell party.  Finally they were ready and they escorted us to a small room I believe they may use as a school room as it had numbers and letters on the wall.  We sat in two of the four chairs in the front of the room while we awaited the arrival of the guest of honor.  There was popcorn, a bakery cake, injera, and soda pop.  This was all being video taped by our agency  as we are not permitted to take pictures in the orphanage.  Suddenly Tim and I glance out the door to our right and a heavenly sight appears, more beautiful than any earthly sight we have seen.  Makeda was dressed in a traditional Ethiopian dress and her hair was done just so and she was being escorted to the party over the dirt ground by one of her caretakers.  It was impossible when taking in that sight not to just be overwhelmed with emotion.  Four years of wondering, waiting and hoping and now this beautiful princess of ours was being brought into our care.  We will never forget that moment.

Well, Makeda was fine as long as we did not approach her.  They tried to hand her to our care, which upset her so we asked they hold onto her for her party, as it was HER party and she should at least be able to enjoy some of it =) .  So, they did hold onto her and we enjoyed a few songs sung to us by the other orphanage kids, they brought Makeda pictures they made for her and kissed her farewell.  The orphanage staff said a prayer over her and the other kids joined in and then we prayed over her together as well.  It was a beautiful farewell ceremony full of love and rich emotion.  Then it was time to go.  They handed Makeda to me and the tears and protest kicked in.  She cried for awhile and then once again surrendered to this new life that she has been called to.  We returned to our guest home.

Once back at the guest home we changed Makeda into one of her new dresses and went to the dining room to eat lunch.  Though she does not have a big appetite, she does eat well enough and we have also been successful in communicating about the potty.  I will say "shintabait" (potty?) and she will nod  her head yes or shake it no.  She still hasn't said a word, but we were assured at the orphanage she DOES talk and I am sure we will be privy to that side of her in due time :) .

After lunch it was off to our Embassy appointment.  Makeda took a nap on our way to Embassy as it was a long ride, made much longer by the mourners (many, many, many Ethiopian mourners) lined up along the streets slowly making their way to the palace to show their respects for the late Prime Minister.  It was quite a sight.  Embassy went well and they are doing the final preparations for her visa which we will get on Thursday.  

On a side note, Tim decided we should take a picture of me holding Makeda outside of the Embassy to mark the moment.  I said "Are you sure we are allowed?" to which he replied, "Hey, it's our embassy" and snapped the picture.  Well not two seconds later he was called over to a security guard who explained it WAS NOT acceptable to take any photos of the embassy building and had Tim delete the photo.  Making memories indeed, but not photographic ones if you are outside the US Embassy :)

When we finally made it back to the guest house we watched Zoie play with some of the guest house workers and kids that the family that i mentioned in our first blog brought back to the guest house to hang out for awhile.  Tim tossed a football in the street with them and they had a fun game of "hit the target" (it being a water bottle sitting upright on a wooden stool).  Makeda loves to be outside.  The above photo shows some of the neighborhood children that came by to watch.  We brought some inflatable balls and little stuffed animals to share with the kids at Mission Ethiopia and Tim shared a few with them to their delight.  It was a full and fun day.  Makeda is asleep now and we will see what great adventures tomorrow holds for us come morning.  Blessings to all!

We meet Again

Today, August 27, was the day we met again.  We were picked up at our guest house at 9:30 am by our agency and off we went through the city roads then some pretty bumpy back road terrain until we arrived at her orphanage.  We are not permitted to take pictures at the orphanage, but our agency sends along a camera man to capture it for us.  We walked into the toddler room and said hello to all the little bumpkins in the room.  Most of them slowly moved closer to their caretaker until they had her cornered between two beds.  The caretaker eventually scooted out and sat on the floor next to me to encourage Makeda to come sit by me.  Makeda was VERY VERY unsure and was in tears a few times as the caretakers tried to make her sit on my lap.  We just played with all the other little ones that wanted to play and patiently waited on Keda.  I quietly cried at one point hurting for her little heart, knowing how much she has had to endure in her short little life.  This just doesn't seem right, as it is so very painful, but the alternative of living a life without a family and in an orphanage is certainly much much worse.  So finally, as our time there was getting closer to ending, with the encouragement of the caretakers, I scooped her up as she flailed and fought and screamed and cried.  We went to another room where I held her and rocked her and whispered "ishee, ishee" in her ear (ahmaric for "okay") and said "wadeshelo" to her ("I love you").  Within time, her sweet little spirit surrendered and she melded into me.  We then headed to the van for the ride back to our guest house together.  She did cling to me thereafter.

We were at the guest house together from about 11am until 4pm.  She watched as we explored some of her new toys and books. We put her new sandals on her feet and she took to her bottle of "wahoo" (water) .  She also really liked the popcorn cakes we have.  She had spaghetti for lunch and when I said "shintabait" (toilet) she would shake her head yes if she had to go.  We successfully had two trips today.  Phew!  We even took a good nap together.We sat outside and watched Zoie play with the guest home workers and Keda sat quietly in my lap, continuing to take it all in, just not so sure what to do with it all.  We were picked up around 4pm to make the trip back to the orphanage.  She would look out the window with overwhelmed eyes at the world as it quickly passed by on our trip.  Her life has mainly consisted of living behind a gated orphanage and these sights on the street are something most children her age have been exposed to years ago.  So very much to absorb all at one time.

(oops, trouble with underline and text...oh well...)  She seemed to be a bit more at peace as she saw her caretakers at the orphanage again, but I must share I am pleased she did not JUMP back into their arms and was happy to share hugs goodbye with us.  Another encouraging moment today occurred today at the guest house.  One of the house workers (a very sweet girl) called Makeda by her birth name "Birtukan"and spoke sweetly to her in ahmaric and put out her hands to see if she would come to her.  Though I gently encouraged her, she clung to me.  That spoke to my heart that God is creating the bond necessary for us in her little heart.  Praise His Name!
So, tomorrow morning at 9am we go back again.  We will talk to the caretakers to get as much info as we can on Makeda and her routines and they are to have a farewell ceremony for her.  Then we will head back to the guest house, this time for good.  Our embassy appointment is at noon.  Getting all our ducks in order for our Thursday evening departure.

Your prayers for Keda's little heart and wisdom from beyond for both Tim and myself would be greatly appreciated.  She is quiet and certainly overwhelmed.  God bless her with peace, the kind of peace only He can give.
So, it's off to bed.  We will post more tomorrow night!  Blessings to all!

More than an adoption

Just an amazing little side story to give God some awesome glory.  This adorable picture was on the wall of the last room we stayed in on our court trip visit in May.  It was so sweet to see it every day.  We even took this picture of it to remember it.

Well, as God would have it (and He is such a FUN God), we met this family staying here at the guest house we are at this time.  They just sold their house a few months ago and have moved here with their two daughters to immerse themselves in the calling God has placed upon their lives.  You can find out more about them and their ministries on Kari's blog www.mycrazyadoption.com.  Roger's ministry is called Man up and can be found at ManUpAndGo.com.  Such a blessing to get to know these amazing people.  

So, here is where it gets fun.  As we were looking over some of their videos this morning, we noticed this picture on one of Kari's blog posts.

"We know that picture!!" we say!  "We love that picture!"  "We stayed in that room last time!"  Isn't this the sweetest...that is their adopted daughter Zoie!!!!  She is 5 now and is just such an amazing little girl and she is HERE.  We are having a blast together and trust she is going to be a little blessing in Makeda's transition over these next few days.

  OH MY, WHAT A BEAUTY!

I love our awesome God and the sweet surprises He always has in store for us!  All glory to HIM! :)

A Room with a View

We are here and settling in.  This view is phenomenal and is from the back balcony of our room.  We arrived early Saturday morning, took a nap for a bit and tried to acclimate to the time difference.  I started an antibiotic as my congestion decided to develop into a sinus infection with a nasty headache, but as of this evening (Sunday) I am feeling much better.  

Today (Sunday) we started the day off with church.  The Prime Minister of Ethiopia passed away this last week, so the service was centered around much of this (not very good when I was still very close to   snoozing)!  When service was over we went to lunch at THE LIME TREE with AB then shopping for a jacket for Makeda (it's colder this time than last and we were not properly prepared...brrr).  We then came back to our room and slept for a few more hours.

Here is Makeda's bed in our room.  We will get to see her tomorrow morning.  We will spend one hour with her at the orphanage and then she will come back to the guest house with us until 4pm.  Praying all goes well :)  Looking forward to tomorrow night's posting!

Sure would appreciate prayer for health (i am queasy and kinda off from sinus issue and belly confusion :) and of course Makeda's heart is ready for this big transition!

HER ROYAL RIDE HOME AWAITS

Well, it is 3am and after a whopping 2 hours of rest we are up and almost on our way.  Thank you soo much everyone for your prayers over this next week.  Our flight to DC is at 5:45am and then we fly out of DC to Ethiopia at 11am arriving around 12:45 am (which is 7:45am in Ethiopia).  We arrive home next friday the 31st.  We will do our best to post once a day, providing the internet is up and running (often a luxury in ethiopia).  Here we go... :)

A Tiny Tour

Hello all :)  We are in the final stretch of preparations for bringing home Makeda and realizing a dream God placed in our hearts long ago.  It has been so much fun preparing a room for our princess.  I did a video tour today for those of you who'd like to take a peek.  It is detailed as it is meant to be a rememberance for her.
As it stands, we will be taking off from Pgh to head to DC on Friday August 24th at 5:45am.  From there we will head to Ethiopia.  We will certainly keep you posted as you all know how we really appreciate the prayer covering :)  Enjoy the tour as we wait for "Something Beautiful" :)

THE DATE IS SET

We received word this morning that our Embassy date has been set for August 28, 2012.  It was a tough Tuesday having to concede that we would have to go to get her later rather than sooner.  It seems all the Ethiopian Airline flights out of Ethiopia are booked until the end of august (that is except for first class with tickets costing over $3,000 one way ...x3!)  And having to do transfers with her flying on another airline just seems possibly too painful for her (me too!! :)  Sooo, the end of August it is.  Thank you for all of you who prayed and those of you who called to remind me of the sovereignity of our God.  We plan to fly to Ethiopia on Friday August 24th and hope to be home the following Friday.  Some finishing touches need to be done on her room, then I hope to post a little video tour to share.  Thanks for prayerfully sharing this journey with us!  Blessings to all! 

MAKING PLANS

We have received word Embassy is ready for us to schedule our interview :)  I am amazed and so grateful to be at this point.  I am asking for prayer covering today as we pick 3 possible dates for Embassy to interview us (they will then choose one and let us know to be there :) .  We also ask for prayer covering for favor in making our plane reservations.  At this point it appears travel there is about the same as last time, but a ticket home is like 5 times as much!!!  Whew, that is a HUGE chunk of cash, especially considering we need to add a ticket for Makeda on the way back  (Horray!).  Sooo, a prayer or two today for us would be appreciated so things fall into place just as God sees fit.  He is the provider of ALL good things :)  THANKS!  I will update when we set our plans :)

TRANSITION IN THE TRANSITON

Hello all :)  We have received word that the Embassy is scheduled to interview Makeda's birth father on July 31st.  If all goes as it should, this is the last step before we receive our Embassy interview date in Ethiopia so we can bring her home.  It is looking like it may be sometime in August.  We also received word today that the transition orphanage she was moved to in Addis is closing its doors, so Makeda will once again be moved to another transition home/orphanage in Addis.  My goodness gracious.  Please pray she is handling this well.  I know God has her in His hands!  Thanks for all the prayer covering.  We are so excited.

Making ROOM :)

We heard from Embassy this week that they have all of our necessary paperwork.  They will now finish the process which includes another interview with the birth father for the embassy to confirm she is being relinquished.  If all goes as it should, we could be notified a month out that it is time to go get her :) .

Tim and I had fun today choosing her bedroom furniture.  How exciting to do this preparation.  It makes it all so much more real.  After so many years, she is just about to come HOME.  We will certainly keep you posted as we covet your prayers :) !

A Taste of our Trip

*Posting blog entries in our room in Ethiopia*

Hello all....finally taking some time out to share some of the fun pictures and videos we have from Ethiopia that we could not post over there due to slow uploads.  So, here goes...

This is a picture of "AB" and myself at our lunch after church.  He was our translator and we are so grateful God brought us together.  He was a big part of making our entire trip so special and has a special place in our heart.  He is Makeda's "Uncle AB" now ;)  Can't wait to meet up again on our next trip!  See you soon AB!

This is a fun video from our trip back from the orphanage.  It is difficult to see so small, but the truck ahead of us is transporting a slew of camels.  The couple in the car commenting with us traveled with us to Awassa to see their new son.

This is a cute picture of the sweet little girl God had waiting for me at the entrance of Mission Ethiopia. She just came right up to me as we walked in and took my hand and led the way as if she had been commissioned.  "And a little child shall lead them..." :)

This is where the women of Mission Ethiopia do their work.  They started the day with prayer in that little room to the rear right of the picture and then shared technique with me as we created beads to be made into the jewelry they create and is sold to provide for their livelihood.  It was such an honor to share some time with them in their work.  Very sweet women God has brought from the dump or the streets to know Him better and be blessed by those who care.

These are the kids at Mission Ethiopia.  Boy did we have fun with them.  I was able to share the little bit of cashews I had left in my goodie travel bag.  They loved them.  I kept trying to break them up in little pieces to make them go as far as I could.  Next time I will take little treat bags for all of them!!

Below are a couple of pictures from Mt. Entoto.  The top of this mountain used to be the capital and we toured some historic sites there.  This mountain has become a place where many of those afflicted with HIV have made their home and is a place of much poverty.  The first picture is of a woman caring bundled branches she will sell for very little but it is her livelihood.  The bundles are HEAVY and the mountain road is LONG and steep.  It is quite a sight and testimony to the need.  The other picture is of the magnificent view from near the top of this mountain of Addis Ababa below.  WOW!

Trying to describe the streets of Addis Ababa is difficult with words.  There is just so much to see and so much to take in.  Here is a very brief look at some of what we got to see as we travel by...

Ahh, yes, our Ethiopian Restaurant visit.  This was great fun for me as I love dance and just really enjoyed watching all the cool Ethiopian dance styles.  Below is one of my favorites.  To my fellow Zumba girls; perhaps some new Zumba moves???  Great fun!!

And then my turn to share in some Ethiopian Dancing :)  Woohoo!!

okay...you can stop laughing now :)  It was a lot of fun ;)

The last day of our trip; May 22, 2012...our 19 year anniversary.  On our way to the airport AB took us to an Italian Restaurant.  He even ordered us a little chocolate dessert to surprise us for our anniversary.  Awww, how SWEET :)

The plane ride home was LONG (17 hours) and definitely NOT my favorite part of the trip.  But considering the plane rides the "labor" involved in having our daughter, it is bearable.  Not looking forward to that part again, but definitely looking forward to being in Ethiopia, visiting familiar sites and perhaps some new ones and most wonderfully, bringing Makeda into our family and welcoming her into her new God ordained home here in the United States.  

Can't thank you enough for the prayer covering and well wishes.  It has been great fun taking this journey and even more fun sharing it with you!!  Blessings to all...

...TO BE CONTINUED :)

Keda's Birth Certificate

We got her birth certificate today :)  How very exciting and she looks sooo adorable :)  It's fun to see her hair a different way :)  It will still be many weeks while her paperwork is put in order and then we get our embassy date to go back and get her.  Please pray for Makeda as she is moved from the orphanage she has called home for the last year to the transition home where she will live until we come to get her.

As for the homefront, we are slowly making this new house into our home.  Tim is recovering well from his fall and we look forward to being settled in this incredible blessing of a home God has granted to us.  "The Lord Has Done Great Things For Us and We Are Filled With Joy" Psalm 126:3 :)

OFFICIAL WORD :)

PRAISE THE LORD !  We have heard from our case coordinator in Ethiopia the judge has officially aproved our case.  We legally have a new daughter.  Thanks for the continued prayer covering and support.  Love you all!  (She's a cutie :)