Trip to Ethiopia (Part 4)

The first night together was quiet. Davis was a restless sleeper, which I'm sure was due to nerves. Zoe was rather restless as well, but it is so cute to watch her wake up. She bends and stretches, moans and hums like an infant. Justin sleeps like a rock.

In the morning, we enjoy cereal and bananas together with the other couple of families here at the guest house. One family is adopting a little 3 year girl who is lively and active. The other family is adopting a 10 month old little girl. We have mothers, fathers, some grandmothers, and kids all together; it was great!

Pam and I take a few hours to go shopping for the kids. Before we leave we have the nanny try to explain to the kids where we're going and we try to assure them of our return. That didn't go over well with Zoe, because she tears up and starts clinging to Mommy. When we get back she's the first one to run to Mommy for a hug. Davis is more of a copy cat than a hugger, but it's all good because he gets hugs whether he understands why or not. Justin comes in for a hug out of politeness; he'll be the one that will take the most work on bonding - or so it seems. Appearances can be deceiving, we found that out through experience.

While we we out we got to know our interpreter, Aki and our driver, Yosef. These are wonderful Christian men who've been working for the guest house for a couple of years. Yosef gave us his testimony. Yosef grew up on the streets and one day was taken in by a Christian group and was sponsored by a Christian family here in the US. He came to know the Lord as a young teen and has been serving Him ever since. In his own words he said that he was "the fruit of my sponsor's labor, and I want to serve him like he served me for so many years." He and his sponsor still communicate and his sponsor even bought him a car.

Yosef's wife currently works with a Christian ministry that helps street people come off the streets. They clothe and feed them, and try to get any young ones back to their families, if possible. They teach them the word of the Lord. If they are unable to go back to their families they try to teach them life skills and independence skills. They even help them start self employment, like selling items in the city. Yosef's dream is to expand on this some where in Addis Ababa. He needs a bit of Bible teaching and leadership training, which is something he's working at now. We are praying that the Lord will guide his path in this. Yosef's heart is so big and tenderhearted for his people, it made us cry to hear his story.

Aki's story was very similar. His beginnings were in the streets, but he was a gang leader that went about robbing and stealing for a living. One day the Lord shown a light into his life that brought him to group of Christians from SIM (Serving in Missions) that lead him to the Lord and he has been serving him ever since. He had a sponsor who helped him get through school and he now works for the guest house. He spends every spare cent (birr) helping a few families with small children in his neighborhood.

It was people like Aki and Yosef that actually helped reassure us that those commercials that you see on TV are real. The children actually do receive this help. They actually live full and blessed lives and are able to carry on the Lords work. So if you have the opportunity to sponsor a child through Compassion International or some agency like that...Do it!! Like that movie "Pay it forward", your blessings will be paid out exponentially.

THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD

The Lord is my Shepherd - That’s Relationship!

I shall not want - That’s Supply!

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures - That’s Rest!

He leadeth me beside the still waters - That’s Refreshment!

He restoreth my soul - That’s Healing!

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness - That’s Guidance!

For His name sake - That’s Purpose!

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death - That’s Tribulations!

I will fear no evil - That’s Protection!

For Thou art with me - That’s Faithfulness!

Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me - That’s Discipline!

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies - That’s Hope

Thou anointest my head with oil - That’s Consecration!

My cup runneth over - That’s Abundance!

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life -That’s Blessing

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord - That’s Security!

Forever - That’s Eternity!

Trip to Ethiopia (Part 3)

When we get the kids back to the guest house, the first order of business is to get them into some better clothes. That was easier said than done because we weren't terribly sure what sizes they were actually wearing. Even though CWA care takers tried to give us measurements, the measurements weren't the same way we do it here. Justin is skinnier and Davis was shorter than we anticipated. Zoe was about where we thought she was. So we had to go do some shopping the next day. Meanwhile we sat around the room and watched them play with toys we'd brought along for them.

It was a delight to listen to them talk among themselves. They are typical kids with animated speech, and they all talk at once. It didn't take us but about 15 minutes to figure out that Zoe was in charge and the boys bowed to her will. She's much more extroverted and has already shown a talented grasp for learning English. (I think it's part being a girl and part being competitive) She and Analyse will be a great deal alike.

When we try to gauge their grasp of English, it is Zoe who tries to answer all the questions, even for the boys. They do have a larger vocabulary than our first three did at the very beginning, so that will help some. Unfortunately, we can tell that their vocabulary is disjointed because the boys can't form sentences with the words they know. Zoe can put two simple words together to form sentences. At one point she holds my face in her hands to get my attention and says, "Daddy toilet". By Wednesday, she was putting several words together as two word sentences to tell me she was looking for a specific toy and believes that we left it upstairs after nap time. After we looked for it for awhile, she told me to forget it and we move on to something else. Amazing!

Lunch and dinner were fairly uneventful. Praise the Lord!! They eat what was put before them without too much of a fuss. Another lesson learned from the first set - eat American food, right away! Davis is our enthusiastic but messy eater, Zoe is the very picky eater, and Justin fits somewhere in middle. We get to introduce them to our family tradition of holding hands while we ask the Lord's blessing; then we rhythmically squeeze hands as we say, "I - Love -You."

The kids play out in the yard with balls that are just laying around. They seem so non-plussed by the whole deal. I wonder if they are really as calm and content as they seem (something we've been praying about ever since the Lord showed them to us to choose). We shall see.

Trip to Ethiopia (Part 2)

Monday morning, we were to meet our little ones for the very first time. I'm so nervous, I want to throw up. I want everything to go perfectly and I don't even know what "perfectly" would be. The man from CWA who came to take us to meet them was the same young man that helped us three years ago when we brought home our other three little ones. Our oldest daughter, Leah had had a schoolgirl's crush on Mesfin, and we teased her about him on occasion. Unfortunately for her, he was just about to become engaged. So we caught up on the each other's lives. How the children had grown and how they were doing in school etc. He had graduated from college and was working full time for CWA now.

We arrived at the CWA office, when we drove up close to the building beyond the gate, I could see Zoe peeking around a door. She had that angelic smile (the one that's going to keep me in trouble for sure). When we got out of the van all three children came out and the two younger ones had their arms wide open for a hug. I scooped Zoe up in my arms and just held my baby girl. Her little body is so tiny, but her grip was strong. I smelled her hair, kissed her face, squeezed her some more before I finally set her down to meet her new Mamma. Pam was holding both Justin and Davis. We can see and feel the shyness in Justin. Davis is grinning ear to ear when I pick him up. I can tell he is going to be the family comedian/clown. (He's already fitting in at home with silly antics) Justin tries to be the mature young man and offers me a hand to shake - I grab him up! He'll never be to big to hug. We all exchange more hugs, and close inspections. After a few pictures we go in to fill out a little paper work. Zoe is already aware that she's Daddy's Little Girl, because she comes right over and sits in my lap as I'm sitting down.

Afterward we met with the counselor and nurse who go over their lives a little for us. There was nothing new that hadn't already been relayed to us in the updates sent to us over the past six months or so. Then we were given the opportunity to visit the houses that they had been staying in since coming to Addis Ababa almost 2 months ago. They are basically group homes with care takers watching over them. The boys and girls live in separate houses down the road from each other. The girl's house also has all the babies. I guess there were about 20 or so children in each house ranging from infants to about 12-13years old. Each home is protected within a walled compound. We were able to meet the caretakers; Pam and I conveyed our heartfelt appreciation for all that they have done and are doing for these little one's of God. We're not allowed to take pictures (To protect the privacy of the children). We were able to bring 3, 35gallon tubs full of donated items. There is so much still needed at these homes. Please, if you want to help, give financial donations to CWA.

After a short visit, we head back to the guest house with OUR children!

Our Trip to Ethiopia (Part 1)

We started out on Saturday the 16th. Linda and Gary took us to the Norfolk Airport, where we stood in a seriously long line. The whole time we're in line, I was watching the confusion going on at the counter. I felt that things were not going to go smoothly, but instead it was a piece of cake.

God slips in treats for His children ever so often, just to keep us moving. The airline's web site said that overweight charges would be $150 for anything between 51-75lbs. We had three huge tubs full of stuff donated by our church family and friends that were between 50 -75lbs. Plus we had our one check suitcase that we had at around 50lbs. The lady only charged us $150 total! So the extra money that was donated for excess baggage, we were able to donate to the orphanage.

We flew from Norfolk to DC and from DC to Ethiopia. We met quite a few families on their way to Ethiopia to adopt children, mostly babies and a few youngsters. The trip to Ethiopia was fairly forgettable (Which can be a good thing). I'd almost swear Ethiopian Airlines must hold beauty contests for their flight attendants. Amazing.

We arrived in Addis Ababa on Sunday, midday. Going through customs and immigration in Addis Ababa was long and tedious, but fairly uneventful as well. We met a Church group from Montana that was coming into Ethiopia for a couple of weeks on a short term mission trip. They were really excited to get to work. We were met at the airport by an Interpreter/Driver from CWA, who took us to The Ethiopian Guest House.

We had a suite that took up the top floor of the guest house, it was a beautiful and welcomed sight for very tired eyes. Thankfully we arrived at the guest house right at bedtime, so our bodies didn't have to struggle to get to sleep. Of course because of the 7 hour time difference between the East Coast and Addis, that was the last night of restful sleep for either of us. The only negative of the room (I'm American I have to complain about something!) was the bed - hard as a stone.

But, sleep we did because we were going to meet our little ones in morning.

We're HOME!!

Well, here we are...Exhausted but elated none-the-less. Our "babies" are home in our arms. Justin, Zoe, and Davis. I'm going to make this brief and then the details will start coming in, in short quips as I have time.

Suffice it to say that the trip though short, made profound impacts on our lives. This was not only because of the three new lives joining us, but for the experiences we had in Ethiopia. The Lord had several divine appointments for us while we were there. We met some beautiful Christian people. We saw some heart wrending scenes. We took in some very interesting experiences. And again, our lives were changed because of all of it.

Ethiopia is full of beautiful people - both poor and rich, living basically side-by-side. We met many adoptive families in Ethiopia, that was heart lightening - even if there were 20 some crying babies on the plane ride home!

We got to experience the deep, deep love of a church family that does not hesitate to step in and do whatever is needed - Brenda, Linda, & Nancy - took care of our babies while we were gone. We will forever be indebted (a debt of love) to them. May the Lord pour out tremendous blessings on them.

Nancy kept up our blog for us while we were gone. She writes better than I do.

Much, much more to come.

Speechless...

What an emotional day today has been. I am overwhelmed and speechless so I will end here. No, no that would not be right. I have so much to say I am not sure that I can accurately describe the emotions that were felt today...joy, happiness, elation, and any other adjective that can be used to describe anything dealing with the word "happy" because that is how we all felt today when we met everyone at the airport! After a very long flight from Ethiopia to Rome to DC and then to Norfolk, Va we were all looking down the United Airline's hall waiting to get the first glimpse of Juan and Pam and the kids as they exited their plane to meet us. All the "old" brothers and sisters and friends were looking to see who would notice them first when we hear something that sounded like Pam calling us from behind. They had actually beat us, unloaded all their luggage and were watching us from behind. I have been to the airport many, many times meeting friends and family and also saying good bye to friends and family, but I must say that this was the best homecoming I have ever experienced in my life. In my life! We had no idea what to expect, but let me just tell you that Justin, Zoey and Davis just came out and hugged their brothers and sisters and then they hugged us and you should have seen their smiles..oh my goodness..it was just so wonderful. These new kids seem like they have been here all their lives. They just belonged. There is no other way to put it. If you do not believe that Our Lord performs miracles you should have been with us today. It was spectular...those kids just belong here with Pam and Juan and Leah, Annalyse, Dylan and Jaden.

We brought sandwiches and drinks and juice boxes so everyone could have a bite to eat before we all headed home, but the kids were just too overwhelmed. Their very "favorite" Aunt Nancy brought them some Tootsie Roll Pops and now you know why I am the favorite Aunt! We divided everyone into group for the ride home. All the boys wanted to be together and all the girls rode home with their favorite Aunt! Zoey is so smart. Pam and Juan had told us that she was saying a few words putting simple sentences together and she is! Even her new sisters were shocked. My daughter, Emily, was sitting in the back seat with Zoey showing her pictures on the cell phone. Em must have a million pictures and she was telling Zoey about each picture. After they had finished looking, Zoey wanted to look through them by herself. There was a picture of Emily's friend, and when Emily got to that picture she told Zoey "my friend." Well, when Zoey went back through the pictures she came to the friend and said, "My friend." We were in awe. She will be speaking English in no time at all.

Justin could not wait to see the water since Juan and Pam live on the Sound and they have a very long dock over the water. Before we knew it he was at the end of the pier just about to jump in the water! We stopped him, but the first thing Justin wants to see is the ocean. So lookout...there is a new surfer dude in town!

Davis is a friendly little guy. He has the biggest smile I have ever seen, and I think he probably would have hugged every single person at the airport had we let him. These are cute, cute,cute and sweet kids. What a privilege it has been to a part of this with Juan and Pam.

As we were all loading up into the cars for our drive home I overheard Dylan tell his mom this, get the tissues ready people because this really brought tears of joy to my eyes...He said, "Mom, this has been the second most important event of my life. The first day was when Leah, Annalyse and Jaden came home. I am happy Mom. I am just so happy." I hope everyone is "just so happy" always!

First Words...Homeward Bound!

I was able to talk to Pam for a brief minute this morning, and they were all packed and ready and waiting on time to pass so they could all head out to the airport. It was so nice hearing her voice. She is ready to come home, but in all honesty she is not too excited about the long flight and the 5 hour layover before she gets to DC. She has coloring books and crayons and toy cars and toy trucks ready to help entertain the new babies. She is praying that they will sleep once they get on the plane, but they have never seen an airport or a plane so they may just be way too excited to sleep! Pam was able to share a little more about the personalities of her new guys. Justin is extremely shy, but he has learned to mimick Juan with perfection. Today they had oatmeal for breakfast, and Juan said, "Yuck oatmeal! I hate this stuff." He puhed his bowl away from him in a teasing manner, and lo and behold Justin tried to imitate the language and then he pushed his bowl aside and said, "Yuck!" How funny is that? Davis still has the group laughing. Pam says his comedic timing is perfect. Zoey is the MOM and she keeps the boys straight. As she has gotten more used to Juan and Pam she is no longer shy about disciplining her brothers. I think I mentioned that Zoey is very tiny. Her favorite place is Juan or Pam's lap and she would stay there all day if they would let her. The kids have learned a few English words...more about that in a minute...and they have tried every, single kind of American food that Juan and Pam have given them. They do not like what they have eaten, but at least they have tried. That is huge according to Pam. Now about the language. They have learned a few words like "yes Mama" and "No Mama" and they can say their names already. While I was talking to Pam, Zoey wanted to talk so guess what? I got to talk to the kids!!! Yeah Me!!! Zoey took the phone and said, "Yes Mama and Bye Mama." Then she rambled some things in here native tongue and said, "Ok? Bye! Bye." Then Davis got on the phone and said, "Hello Mama." then he said, "Davis." Then he threw the phone down and started playing with a puppet! But I got to hear him speak his first words on the telephone! It made my day!

The Embassy

Pam and Juan went to the Embassy and they passed with flying colors! All their "i's" were dotted and all their "t's" were crossed so that means they are one step closer to coming home. Looks like they will be able to leave Ethiopia with no delays.

Pam and Juan were also able to take a planned side trip to the WOMEN AND CHILDREN'S PROJECT. This is a small factory where women and children are employed to make woven shawls which they then are able to sell. By selling just one shawl the money earned is able to keep one woman or child off the streets for at least six months. This project provides food and shelter for it's employees and it also helps them learn a marketable trade. Pam was able to purchase enough shawls to keep about 20 women and children employed for at least another six months. What a wonderful blessing this project is to women and children in Ethiopia.

Pam and Juan are enjoying this time with their new kids, but they are really looking forward to coming home to the OBX. They are all very tired and have had little rest. Justin continues to shy and quiet. Davis and Zoey are holding onto Pam tightly because they are afraid they she may leave them. Pam is reassuring the little ones with lots of hugs and kisses and they are praying together.

Although the waiting is over, the journey that God has planned for all of them is just now beginning. I cannot wait to read the sequel!

God Bless you all and thank you for your continued prayers...

Getting to Know You

I was able to talk very briefly with Pam today by text messaging, and all is well. She said they are a little more rested than they were yesterday, and they all have had a great time getting to know each other. Pam also said that she thinks the children get cuter and more adorable each time she looks at them...now that is love!

Tomorrow they will pack up and begin their journey home. I doubt that Justin, Davis and Zoey have ever seen an airport or an airplane or any of the new things they will see in the next 48 hours as they travel home. Please pray that they are not frightened of all the new sights and technology that we all take for granted. Pray for safe travel and a happy reunion with Leah, Annalyse, Dylan and Jaden..oh, and don't forget Cookie, the dog!