We had an amazing time in Ethiopia. Our love for the country and its people expanded more than before. Our time with our son was nothing short of amazing. He is a wonderful young man and we can't wait to have him join the rest of the family. Obviously, communication will take a while on his end and on ours, but we will get there. Realistically, we are dealing with three different languages.....Ethiopian sign language, American sign language and then English. It's going to take a while...but we all seem to be pretty determined. :-)
We spent our time with our son playing lots of games - Uno, Bounce Off, etc. He also enjoys throwing the football and kicking the soccer ball around and has a great sense of humor (necessary in our family!). We also spent some time each visit comparing signs in our own language, spelling words and trying to just learn more about each other. He did a great job testifying to the judge (with the help of his wonderful teacher) and was clearly discouraged when the judge said we needed to place another newspaper ad to see if his birthparents respond. His testimony was clear....he wants to come home with us. He's spent at least 8 years in an orphanage and has watched numerous kiddos leave with their adoptive families. He's more than ready. We were delighted to learn that he remembers Martha from when they were at the orphanage together - what a gift that is!
We were also blessed to see and experience Ethiopia - the beauty of its landscape, the culture, the generous and welcoming people. We were able to worship Jesus Christ together with believers from all over the world - a little taste of heaven! And, visiting a Young Life Camp in Ethiopia was definitely a highlight. We also had our hearts broken again by some of what we saw....the poverty, the harshness of living on less than $2.00 a day for so many people. It's hard to wrap our minds around so much of it and impossible to describe it.
For now, we're home. And, our bodies, inner time clocks (and tummies) are still adjusting. And, right now, we could really use your prayers. We have a few decisions to make in a very short amount of time (like less than 24 hours most likely) and because we don't feel well rested /re-aclimated (and thus aren't sure we trust our decision making right now), we just need God to make things very clear. We'd like to put out a fleece like Gideon (Judges 6:36-38) and have it that clear. These decisions aren't easy - they involve lots of money, schedules, our family, other people and the possibility of one or both of us returning to Ethiopia in just a week - we don't take them lightly. Would you please pray that we make the best decisions for everyone involved? We depend on your prayers and the nudging of the Holy Spirit.....to God be the Glory!
We spent our time with our son playing lots of games - Uno, Bounce Off, etc. He also enjoys throwing the football and kicking the soccer ball around and has a great sense of humor (necessary in our family!). We also spent some time each visit comparing signs in our own language, spelling words and trying to just learn more about each other. He did a great job testifying to the judge (with the help of his wonderful teacher) and was clearly discouraged when the judge said we needed to place another newspaper ad to see if his birthparents respond. His testimony was clear....he wants to come home with us. He's spent at least 8 years in an orphanage and has watched numerous kiddos leave with their adoptive families. He's more than ready. We were delighted to learn that he remembers Martha from when they were at the orphanage together - what a gift that is!
We were also blessed to see and experience Ethiopia - the beauty of its landscape, the culture, the generous and welcoming people. We were able to worship Jesus Christ together with believers from all over the world - a little taste of heaven! And, visiting a Young Life Camp in Ethiopia was definitely a highlight. We also had our hearts broken again by some of what we saw....the poverty, the harshness of living on less than $2.00 a day for so many people. It's hard to wrap our minds around so much of it and impossible to describe it.
For now, we're home. And, our bodies, inner time clocks (and tummies) are still adjusting. And, right now, we could really use your prayers. We have a few decisions to make in a very short amount of time (like less than 24 hours most likely) and because we don't feel well rested /re-aclimated (and thus aren't sure we trust our decision making right now), we just need God to make things very clear. We'd like to put out a fleece like Gideon (Judges 6:36-38) and have it that clear. These decisions aren't easy - they involve lots of money, schedules, our family, other people and the possibility of one or both of us returning to Ethiopia in just a week - we don't take them lightly. Would you please pray that we make the best decisions for everyone involved? We depend on your prayers and the nudging of the Holy Spirit.....to God be the Glory!
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