Update

So, the internet here is pretty slow, so I don’t think I’ll be able to post any picture! :( Sorry! I’ll post them soon after we get home, I promise!

Yesterday we got to meet Desalee’s biological father. It was such an emotional visit. I’m not going to go into detail, but we know that giving her up was a hard and painful decision for him and that he is so thankful that God had allowed us to be her family. Our hearts are full and we are so grateful to have had this opportunity! It will mean so much to be able to share this with Desalee one day.

We went to the town where the meeting took place by van….it took about 3 hours to drive there. Once we got out of the city and into the rural areas we found Ethiopia to be breathtakingly beautiful! I’ve never loved 3 hour van ride so much! Addis is in the mountains, so the scenery is like a post card! The driving is crazy! My mom would have passed out! The people use the streets for walking and herding livestock, so there were many obstacles (goats, cows, sheep, chickens, people…) and I don’t think the brake pedal got much use! Once we noticed that the driver was going 105 Km/hr and the speed limit was 30km! (that’s about 65 miles per hour on mountainous “highway”!) But we never really felt unsafe…it was more like an adventure! And we made it there and back safe…thank God! And no animals were harmed, although we thought one chicken was sure to get it! They honk their horns all the time as a signal to people to get out of the way, which is pretty different from how we use it in the states.

Today we attended the International Evangelical Ethiopian Church. It was an energetic service and we got to worship with people from all around the world! I really enjoyed it. We sang a few familiar worship songs…in fact, one of my favorites, Wonderful Merciful Savior, kind of made it feel like home. I was a little emotional this morning from a little bit of home sickness. I really miss the kids! The familiarity of the worship kind of pushed me over the edge!
We had a really nice lunch at a golf Country Club…they are treating us great! The food is excellent, although we haven’t had a lot of authentic Ethiopian cuisine. Most of the restaurants serve dishes from all over the world, so it’s not too hard to find a familiar favorite. We’re especially thankful that we haven’t gotten sick, although Ryan is developing a cold/sinus infection. (Prayers!)
After lunch we went for Machiatto’s at Kaldi’s Coffee. It was the best coffee I’ve ever had! Kaldi’s is totally knocking off Starbucks with their logo and the atmosphere of the café. But you know, as soon as you drive by you think “Starbucks?” and think it must be a coffee shop! Smart!

Tomorrow we go to a farewell celebration at the orphanage and then take Desi into our care. We’ll have her with us at the guest house until we bring her home on Thursday night! We are pretty scared! I don’t think she’s really that comfortable with us, and she’s only seen us for a few hours on Friday. We know she’s probably going to be terrified! It’s bittersweet to be finally getting her to ourselves and yet knowing that taking her from the orphanage is going to be really hard on her. We would love your prayers for us and her tomorrow. That God would help her feel safe and secure and that we would be attuned and sensitive to her needs. Everyone in our travel group is feeling the same way, so we do have a pretty good network of support here…and the staff at the guest house is so gracious, I know they will help us however they can too!
So, that’s it for now! I hope to be able to update again…we’ll see how the week goes!

Love, S