People have asked about our trip. I really cannot tell about it, really, without getting very upset. Fortunately for you, Reader, you'll be spared my red face, popping veins, and frantic tears. (A huge sigh.)
I think that it's Rob Bell's writing style that aggravates me so, and here I am about to give him a nod. Ugh.
-The Bethany staff in Ethiopia is amazing. We were all so blessed by their hard work, passion, and care. Thank God for them! Please pray for them.
-The Ethiopians that we met were so hospitable. We stayed at Ethio Comfort Guesthouse and left in tears after the most informative and best coffee ceremony.
-Our son was very well taken care of in Ethiopia. Thank God!
-None of us (NONE OF US) does enough with all that we've been given. Yes, given. What we have... our time, money, everything, is not really ours! Give it back!
-Herds of goats ran in front of our taxi everyday, on side roads and on highways.
-Our sixteen hour flight home was not the nightmare that I had imagined it to be. Thank God! However, I do not want to take that flight again for at least a year. :)
-Our fruity, Ethiopian-American welcome home was just what we needed and wanted. Thanks Fs and K!
-A teenage boy offered me some of his meal, a meal that he needed and was given, to try to calm my tears.
-I loved the constant loud-speaker prayers from the neighborhood place of worship.
-Holy rain, Batman!
-Neither Rob nor I could get ourselves to take many photos of other-than-adoption-world Ethiopia. We snapped a few out of the car windows, but barely any at all. Here is one of our favorites:
-We have a very calm and happy baby boy. Oo! He is so cute!
-Rob tasted the meal pictured below twice, if you know what I mean! I think he may have ingested some kitfo "juice." Ulch.
-There are around 400 children in one orphanage that I was told about. That is ONE orphanage in ONE city in ONE country on ONE continent! There are too many children without homes. NOT ONE of these children asked for this situation or did anything to "deserve" the situation. We all need to do more!
-You should all sponsor a child or family through Yezelalem Minch or Esperanza Viva.
-God gave me the two things that I had been praying about for months regarding our trip. I do not deserve such blessings.
-All of the older kids, waiting for their families at the transition house, kissed Israel goodbye. So sweet!
-We had delicious guacamole and clearly homemade, wonderfully greasy chips at a Mexican restaurant in Ethiopia.
-What?!
I leave you here, Reader. We are now a family of three. Until the work of becoming four begins...
