Our trip to Ethiopia

Sorry I've taken my sweet time in updating..  I really think it has taken me these last few weeks to process everything and get back into my normal groove..
I want to begin by thanking everyone for all the prayers, I think the prayers are what held me together while I was there because since I've been home its been a bit of a struggle.. As I said before, we are in the process of adopting a baby girl from Ethiopia, and what a process it is..  This trip had nothing to do with the adoption but it has definitely stirred up lots of feelings about it since I've been home.. Being in Ethiopia was so amazing and it made me want our little girl even more, so what do I do, I come home and start working on the nursery, BIG mistake..  When her bedding came last week I kinda fell apart, I've since given all my wants to the Lord and have found peace in knowing that he is in control of everything.. Ok, so enough about me, I know you are all dying to hear about the trip..
Ethiopia is such an amazing place and it's so hard to put into words what it is actually like there.. I've been going thru our pictures and they bring such a heartfelt smile to my face when I look at them..  The people are so gracious and loving and the ones who are directly linked to the kids have such amazing love for all of them..  One of the main reasons we went to Ethiopia was to visit Kidmia.. Kidmia is a non-government run orphanage a few hours outside of Addis Ababa..  Kidmia means PRIORITY in Amharic, which is the official language of Ethiopia..  The priority of Kidmia is to provide lasting change in the lives of orphans and vulnerable children in rural Ethiopia..  Please go visit kidmia.org to find out all abut this organization and how you can help..  Our first two days were spent with the staff and kids from Kidmia..  The first day we went to Guncherie, which is the town that Kidmia is located in..  The minute I stepped out of the car I had 2 little girls take my hands; I said then to David, "this is what this trip is all about"..  I made my priority that week to just show love to as many kids as I could..  Holding the hands of 2 sweet little girls we toured the facility..  Its mainly made up of two houses that the 25 kids live in, a directors house, a pavilion where the kids eat and play and study and a small office/medical clinic and a kitchen..  They also have a beautiful garden, a chicken coop and a few milk cows..  Our hope is to team up with the Kidmia organization and build a few more houses for more kids and a mission house that can house mission teams when they go over to help.. After our tour we were able to pass out the goodies we had taken over..  The little girls all got a new baby doll and we also had lots of balls which the kids loved..  We even took a football, which they had never even seen, a football to them is our soccer ball.. It was so fun watching David teach them, even the adults, how to throw the football.. We later passed out chocolate candy, took pictures and had to say our goodbyes, I ofcourse was crying..
We then headed to the Negash Lodge for the night..  The lodge was such a cool place!! The lodge is made up of different style huts/houses from the different regions in Ethiopia.. Ours was called the Amhara House and was made of stone walls and a thatched roof..  The property has tons of monkeys and I was able to take a pic with some of the residents..  The next day the kids from Kidmia came to the lodge when we spent the day on the playground, in the hot springs and swimming..  We all had such an amazing day!! My prayer is that each of these children find a loving family to adopt them or that they are reunited with family members that can give them love and support..  Day 3 of the trip we went to visit the Gladney Foster Care Centers and to Kolfe which is the boys orphanage, ages 7 and up..  Kolfe was unlike anything I could have even imagined..  It's set up to house around 150 boys and there are over 250 living there so needless to say they have needs..  They are in need of more beds, clothes, soap and food..  I was reassured that Gladneys incountry staff would see that they would get what the need.  It was so amazing to me to see all the work that Gladney does incountry..  We were so lucky to meet so many sweet boys of all ages, they all have such a big heart and really want to go far in life..  As I left Kolfe all I could do was pray that the Lord would supply all their needs..  Our stop at The Gladney Foster Care Centers was so uplifting..  It was so great to see all the precious kids so well taken care of and happy, I find peace in knowing that our daughter will soon be in the loving care of the Gladney staff if not already there..  Our next day was so fun!!  We went to a local amusement park with some of the kids from the orphanages..  It was awesome seeing the smiles on their faces as they rode the rides and played..  That day lunch was provided by Gladney, and what a feast they put on..  It was our first time to try traditional Ethiopian food and we loved it, however eating with our fingers did take a little getting used to..   The following day we visited two more orphanages, one was where the infants are and the other was the girls ages 7 and up and both boys and girls under 7..  This was a hard day for me, I really struggled with seeing all the babies and its hard to not get into the mindset of what can WE do, when I know that its all about what HE can do..  Once again I cried and prayed for all the sweet kids needs to be met and that they would all have a mom and dads arms around them soon..  The next day was Sunday and we used it as a day of rest..  We tried to find a church that had been recommended to us but after driving around for two hours we gave up, the church service would have been over by then anyway, I said "I'm glad Ive embraced this go with the flow attitude" because normally being lost for 2 hours would freak me out!! Our last day was spent touring around the city a little more and finding a few other projects we would like to get involved in.. I can't say enough about how thankful I am that God has sent us on this journey of adoption and opened our eyes and hearts to helping orphans and others in need.. We are so truly blessed!!

Last day to shop and pack

We are busy getting ready for our trip to Ethiopia tomorrow!!  As most of you know, we are adopting from Ethiopia, however we are still in the WAITING stage of our adoption process..  The waiting time is an average of 9 to 10 months for a referral, so for now we WAIT!!  A few weeks ago I mentioned to David that I wanted to find a way to get involved with aid in Africa..  We prayed about it and started spreading the word about what we were wanting to do..  God answered our prayers and here we go....  We leave tomorrow for 10 days..  Stay tuned for updates from Africa!!

Lots to take to the kids

Lots to do

Getting geared up for our upcoming trip to Ethiopia. We have been iced in for 3 days and have so much to do since we leave on Monday. We are gathering up supplies to take to the kids at kidmia and the foster centers of Gladney. I will post the details of the trip tomorrow.