So. I've heard it said many times before that God is in the details.
Those little things that fall into place that seem uncanny, but you know are in NO WAY an accident? Well, we've had some of these along the way, and I thought it would be fun to share them!
Or this - although you have to read all the way to the end to get to the good detail stuff AND I didn't even go into all that was amazing at the time.........getting the scarf as a gift from my friend who had just come back from Ethiopia, the DAY that I was already blogging about the scarves? Neat enough - but what I also didn't say was that took place the first day a different group of friends and I were starting our clothes "fast" in the study 7 (An experimental mutiny against excess). I was going to be wearing only 7 articles of clothing for two weeks. I had a jacket, pair of jeans, pair of comfy pants, 2 short sleeved shirts, a long sleeved shirt and A SCARF picked out to wear, the day this happened was literally day 1. The scarf that was the EXACT same color scheme as the the scarf that I had planned to wear for the duration - meaning that it already matched everything I had chosen. It was SO amazing to be able to wear something that had meaning and because it happened day one (rule follower that I am) I could swap it out with the scarf I had chosen, because I'd not yet worn it. I probably can't explain it totally so that it makes sense, but it was mind boggling how the timing of the blog post, starting that 7 fast, meeting my friend, same color scheme all played out. I was left awed.
So I shouldn't have been surprised at all when after waiting for 9 months for a new referral, Little Miss's actual Ethiopian name would be SO incredibly close to the name we'd had picked out for over a year, that we would just keep the one she came with :)
I also shouldn't have been surprised when I met her in person for the first time, that when she turned her head, I saw this......
A folded ear - shockingly like my husbands. None of my biological children have inherited this from their dad. But there I sat. IN ETHIOPIA. With our daughter........who has my husband's ear.
Insane.
Little Miss also has a dimple on just one side of her face when she smiles.
Which is the exact same side as her dad's and Tori's one dimple.
Little Miss also has a dimple in her chin.
Just like Jason, two of our bio kids & I.
God is good. He is in the details. This adoption story still feels far from over since Little Miss isn't yet in our arms. However, I know this much, God has wowed me beyond belief already (even though his timing was different then mine), and I can't wait to see what else He has in store for my family and this precious little girl!
Too many things to expand on - so a partly bulleted summary is what you get:
Looking back at my week of blog posts while in Ethiopia, I use the word amazing a lot.
I am a BIG chicken (not news to some of you - especially Jason & Rhonda)
What is with full on shopping malls within international airports? I honestly don't get it, I didn't enjoy walking through a mall to get to my gate.
The cultural samplings of people at international airports is mind boggling......since I'd never been out of the country before, it was eye opening.
Ethiopian coffee is seriously like no other. The rest of the world doesn't know. I felt like a coffee pack mule on the way back - the least I could do to repay a coffee loving husband that took on the brunt of the load when I left the country :)
I am very used to BIG children and babies......Little Miss's smallness was throwing me off in a way I didn't expect. So odd to see a newborn sized baby do older developmental things.
Ethiopians are extremely loving and hospitable people.
The reinforcement in my mind that the response to orphans and the orphan crisis is not just adoption, definitely a small piece of the puzzle, but it is really prevention. (5 million orphans in Ethiopia alone - which is a country about the size of Texas)
Amazed at the United States. That in our country there is opportunity for all. Put in the effort, time & sweat equity and you can do anything - not true other places. Seeing it for the first time was eye opening.
The single thing that surprised me the most about Addis was the sheer amount of people. People everywhere. Walking everywhere. Only wealthy people in Ethiopia own a car. This fact alone brought out the wide divide between how I live and others in the world.
The exchange rate of US dollar to Birr is 1:19 - visited an ATM in Ethiopia (and unfortunately because I am not good at fast math :) thought I was taking out a lot money. Since everything is paid in cash in Ethiopia we wanted to make sure we had plenty (along with the money we brought) to pay our guest house and driver - 3,500birr is what I took out (100 birr being the biggest denomination - so it looked like a LOT) We did the math in the car to find out that it was only $151 US.
Shocked at my response to the $151.....it was crazy I viewed that amount as ONLY in my mind. That amount to someone else in country would be a large, unattainable at one time, sum. That is when it hit me - I.am.a.rich.person. Ouch. (disclaimer: by that amount being ONLY $151 - what I am not saying is that I have that amount of money to waste or spend as I will, or even that it is such a small amount. Years of Dave Ramsey facilitating has made Jason and I VERY careful with just how we spend our money. What I was, was humbled by the simple fact that I have that amount or more available to me, should I need it, when so many others don't have that luxury)
These last few facts kept shouting at me while I was there. Car ownership being rich, my dollar being worth so much, how inexpensive things were to buy because our money was worth more, the opportunities we have in America that are not available to all. Crazy when you think that my household in America financially feels about mid-pack culturally. Middle class. A lot of people have more than us (or look like it - because they are probably carrying huge amounts of debt), and I've seen with my own eyes that others have a lot less.
Let the cultural mind wrestling begin.
While in Ethiopia - I kept coming back to a few passages of scripture. Over and over. Chewing on them in a whole new way.
Matthew 6:19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is there your heart will be also."
Gut check. I know where I think my heart is, but where is my heart? Do I find comfort in my things?
It keeps going a few verses later speaking on not worrying......Matthew 6:25-27 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"
If my things were taken totally away and my dependance totally on God alone, could I relax and rely on Him alone? How much of my confidence is because I have "things"?
Matthew 6 is coming to a close with the not worrying about tomorrow and ties into chapter 7 with.......Matthew 7:7-11 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish will give him a snake? If YOU then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask?"
The comparison of God the Father with us as natural parents. Of course if our kiddos ask us for something, we will generously give what they need - out of love.
Followed of course by......Matthew 7:13 & 14 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."
Paying attention to my course. Does it need correcting? Does it feel easy? Am I really on the wide road? Letting culture lead me? Or is God leading me?
Then wrapped up with Matthew 7:15-23 - The sum up being, you will recognize people by their fruit produced. A good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. The two cannot be interchanged. What is my fruit? Has my life been so impacted by the gospel that the fruit of it is absolutely reflective of the change within?
This is the first time that I noticed a certain thread connecting all of these verses.....
Don't store up treasure on here on Earth - store up treasure in heaven.
But yet while having less, don't worry. God will provide what you need when you need it.
ASK when you need (legitimate need - look at the examples), He will provide.
Whoa. The things above sure seem like a narrow road.....VERY different than the majority.
Just what is my fruit? Good? Bad? Is it reflective of what has been done for me?
Am I the only one seeing this? I tell you. I couldn't read through these passages of scripture while in country without being totally broken. Tears people. From a non-crier. I just saw these passages in a totally new light. You see I AM RICH PEOPLE. The culture that I live in just shielded it from my eyes. Comparison to the wrong standard is what keeps us (me) fooled.
I hate to say it, but I must. YOU ARE RICH PEOPLE. If you are reading this. On a computer. In America. If you own a car. Own a home. Have running clean water. Electricity. This is you too.
What to do with that knowledge? Honestly, I wish I knew. I'm not sure. I know it isn't cookie cutter and has to look different for everyone. However, I do know "that to whom much is given, much is expected; and the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked" (Luke 12:48) and I have been given much, now what to do with it.
Practically for me - it starts with a major adjustment to the lens in which I view the world, maybe it is God prepping me and my family to actively do more. For now, supporting ministries like Embracing Hope that minister to the poorest of the poor and spreading awareness. I do know that I won't ever be the same and that God's got this. He knows where he is going with our family, we just have to be open to his direction.
Jake was just 17mo. old when Tori was born. I remember the odd phenomenon of seeing him for the first time AFTER she was in my arms.......he looked absolutely ginormous! The still mostly bald headed, 5 toothed boy was so large in comparison to newborn Tori. I wasn't expecting that kind of comparison when coming home yesterday. I know that my kiddos are older and therefore there is no comparison to teeny tiny little Miss, but when I saw them yesterday for the first time? I swear they looked as though they had grown by a foot since I left.......most likely it is the newborn comparison, but it caught me off guard, big time!
Our flights yesterday couldn't have gone smoother. Ethiopia to Frankfurt (via an unexpected stop in the Middle East at 2am - definitely scary when you're not expecting it) to Houston to Kansas City. We had a tight connection between Frankfurt and Houston - an hour and a half to get through immigration, collect our luggage, check in at a different airline to get boarding passes, go through security screening again and then board the plane with long lines throughout each step of that process. We did have to do some socked-footed running after the security screening, but we were NOT going to miss our last flight! We arrived and it was already open boarding, no lines with minutes to spare. Praise the Lord!
As hard as it was to leave my sweet girl? I am so glad to be home. However, I can't seem to think of my little Miss or see a map of the world without tearing up. So my local people be prepared. It is hard to leave someone so precious, so vulnerable on the other side of the world - I am so incredibly glad I had the chance to go - but she is now more than a picture. She is full of personality and absolutely precious. Just look at her......
As for where we are in the process? We should be receiving our paperwork this week (that we've been waiting three months for) and will be submitting to PAIR. There is a glimmer of hope that we could get in before courts close, but just a glimmer - everything would have to move lightning fast AND smooth with no hiccups - which as you all know, has not been our story thus far. We need a miracle. Would you join us in prayer? Please also be praying for her health. The nurse "sister" at the foster home was talking to me, just Monday, about because she is SO small, that she has very little in reserve if she were to get sick. It is definitely more risky for her to be there longer than she has to be. Pray that she gains weight and that God would protect her from illness. I know that God loves this little gal. That he even knows the number of little curly hairs on her head and that I can trust that He is holding my sweet baby in the palms of His hands.
Our visiting with the kiddos was as fun as ever. It is amazing to see the difference a few days has made - especially with Rhonda’s little man, since he is a bit older. He was tentative at first and now that he has warmed up and he is all about interacting with his mama. How fun that has been to watch. Being able to learn about their personalities, seeing just how much the nannies at the foster home LOVE them - it is priceless!
We met a couple today for lunch, Carmen & Trent Post, who started Make Your Mark ministries here in Ethiopia. They minister to street children to rehabilitate, educate and sometimes reunite with their families, they come along side about 80 families to help give them short term support so that families can stay together (orphan prevention), they are also work with global orphan summit which is trying to help (grassroots) in countries like Ethiopia to establish a foster type system and encourage people to adopt within their own country. It is like a trifecta of amazingness. After spending 4 days in Ethiopia, it was good to be able to talk to folks that have been living here for awhile to help us process what we’ve seen, how we can make a difference, etc. I left wowed at what God can do through His people when they follow his calling for them. What a testimony they have.
Then to top that off? We mentioned that we still needed to buy some Ethiopian coffee before we left and we got hooked up w/ their favorites. I am now a coffee bean importer :) Jason, be prepared!
Our visit took up the entire time (and then some) between the visiting hours, so they brought us directly to the foster home to visit the babes. During our visit, there must have been a show that the nannies who were coming off shift love to watch on Sundays and the visiting room is the only place there is a TV. So four of the nannies joined us in the room to watch a show. While they were with us in the visiting room, they noticed the photo books we had of our families and asked to see. Each one of them poured over each picture wanting to know who everyone was - husband, kids, grandparents, etc. It was so fun to tell them about the families these kids are going to be joining. These women are incredible. One thing I am continually in awe of is just how much the nannies love these kiddos. The babies just LIGHT UP when they see them. The nannies (when going to fetch things, coming on or off a shift, etc) always walk by and interact with the kiddos. Kissing them, getting smiles, talking to them, etc. Makes this mama’s heart so happy, that if I can’t be there, that someone is doting on my girl. Loving her, kissing her. She is getting the best care possible, I am sure of it!
We head home tomorrow evening. It is good that we stayed long enough that we are looking forward to going back, not wishing we had more time. I can’t wait to squeeze all my people! Please be praying for Rhonda and I as we say goodbye to our sweet babes for now, for traveling safety, and for sleep on the plane - or it is going to be a LONG 26 hours……
Whew. You know how you don’t realize how bad you felt (past tense) until you start feeling normal again? Today was that day. Today was the first day I’ve felt totally normal. Not tired, draggy, overwhelmed, lightheaded, etc. It was amazing to feel like myself again to face the day ahead.
We got a later start today as we didn’t have anything planned in the morning except visiting the babies. Little Miss was as sweet as could be! We got to play, snuggle, I got to feed her a bottle and enjoy another short time of relaxed baby sleep in my arms. After she awoke, I got to experience yet another first - a diaper change. Who knew a mama could be so excited about a diaper change? I was, and I think that Little Miss has one of the littlest tushes I’ve ever seen! Ha!
After leaving the foster home we went to lunch at a restaurant named Lucy, which is named after “Lucy” the oldest human remains ever found, which were found in Ethiopia (the restaurant is located next to the Lucy museum). We took our driver out with us as well. I ordered my favorite traditional Ethiopian food, tibs wat, and was hopeful I could take the full on spice that Ethiopian food offers……..turns out I could! Yay me! We then visited another orphanage to deliver some gifts to two special girls waiting for their parent’s adoptive court date and brought along donations as well.
The afternoon visit with the babes was full of bottle eating and snoozing for a certain little girl. I am realizing why she is so teeny…..she is a super slow eater and still tries to “talk” while eating. Silly girl. She averages about 2 to 4 oz. of weight gain per week. Now that I’m here I’m seeing that she only seems to take in 2 to 3 ounces of her bottle each time she is fed (or at least fed by me). Please be praying that this little one continues to gain weight consistently - she is seriously the teeniest baby I have ever seen.
Overall an amazing day!
Side note - we had a big laugh today. Our driver, Eschetu, asked us “Women from Missouri, are they all tall?” So funny, I know he had to have been wondering that all along, it only took him three days to ask…….Rhonda being 5’10” and me being 5’11” I’m sure we are quite the sight ;)
It started with waking up at 4:30am so I could facetime the hubs and kiddos at home at a decent hour (for them). It was the first time I had been able to see the kids faces since I left on Tuesday and it was SO good to touch base. I was able to show them some videos of sweet little Miss, so it was fun to watch their facial reactions to seeing her cooing, smiling and interacting for the first time. Tori was even teary when watching her - that girl wears her emotions on her sleeve!
We had breakfast early at the guest house before our driver came to take us to visit Embracing Hope Ethiopia, the ministry that works in Kore’. We took them about a third of the donations that we toted here.
We spoke with Christy Shannon who (along with her husband) started this ministry whose goal is orphan prevention by providing help to the poorest of the poor in Ethiopia and were given a tour. It was amazing. The heart behind their ministry, the stories she shared and the vision they had for the ministry in the future was absolutely incredible. Looking for a ministry to support? I know of one!
Embracing Hope Ethiopia is about 30 min. away from the foster home and guest house. Since the foster home little Miss is staying in has certain visiting hours, we had to hightail it back in order to get a chance to see the babies for the last bit of the morning visiting hours. Our driver was incredible. Ethiopia has no lanes, street signs, stop signs, stop lights, speed limits - basically not many written rules. Surprisingly, it is fairly safe. You will hear a lot of honking, but it is more of a happy information honk than anything, just for communication purposes. Also throw into that mix a lot of people who are walking all over the place? It can be a bit unnerving at times. I actually had to just shut my eyes for a bit because I was getting a bit anxious, sometimes it is easier not to see :) Our driver was able to deliver us to visit the babies with about a 1/2 hr. left of time to spare. What a man!
After lunch we headed to Connected in Hope compound. I even got to try my hand at weaving, which they probably regretted afterward, because I stink! It is harder than it looks, even with a loom. We did just a bit of shopping after leaving Connected in Hope and I was able to find a sweet Ethiopian dress for little Miss (that she will fit eventually……)
The afternoon visit was great - lots of smiles, coos. Jason and I have on our hands one happy baby - so fun! This visit was also full of firsts. The first time she spit up a lot on herself and me, resulting in a clothing change for her and wet pants for me (oh how I had forgotten!) and the first time she fell totally asleep a long enough chunk of time that I could just enjoy relaxed baby weight in my arms. Granted, it isn’t a lot of baby weight compared to my boys, but there is nothing more sweet than that.
Look at these little feet!
I found out today that little Miss was sick last week. Since our updates always come a week later than they actually happen, THIS would be the week that I would have seen on the update that she was sick and on meds. Instead, this week I am sitting in Ethiopia playing with a active and healthy baby. How amazing it is to not have to endure a week of trying not to worry until her next update if she is better, or how she is doing. I already know. Thank you Lord!
Oh the cute littleness that makes up my sweet girl. She is an absolute doll baby. All eyes. She is smiley and cooing. Oh.my.word. It was absolutely surreal to see her in person and she is just amazing.
I had a chance to speak to the lawyer handling our case this afternoon and found out that THE piece of paperwork that we were waiting on came in TODAY! It still needs to be translated, but should be at my house in the US by next week. Can I get a woot woot? Praise the Lord! She seems to be healthy as a horse, a very mini horse at that, is extremely alert and is right on target with things developmentally considering she is in an orphanage type setting of care.
Besides having the chance to snuggle, play & inspect her all over - I was able to bottle feed her both visits today, which is when my gal apparently LOVES to be vocal. Staring right in my eyes and “talking” when she is supposed to be eating. So cute.
Honestly, I do not know how I physically made it through today. Only about 4 hours worth of sleep in the last 2 days, combine that with not knowing which meal we were on or when we had eaten last (the constantly switching of time zone will mess you over) and a high altitude? There were some moments of feeling weird and lightheaded, but thankfully that has passed.
Tomorrow I am headed out to Embracing Hope Ethiopia to take them a bunch of clothing, socks, underwear, shoes, children’s vitamins, baby vitamins and some fun kid stuff that they need. This will be the first place I visit to distribute the crazy amount of donations that you all helped with. Then I will visit little Miss later on in the day!
We finally made it!!!! I'm going to try to update each day - so here goes.....
As a first time world traveler (ha!), never knew how a day can seemingly last forever, currently ours isn’t even over yet.
Starting at 12:45pm on Tuesday……..it began. Between Rhonda and I, we had four 50lb. bags of luggage to check, two rolling carry-ons and two backpacks. Most likely appearing very high maintenance to the other travelers. After getting all checked in, our initial flight to Toronto was delayed almost 2 hours - which is a problem when you only have a little over an hour layover at the next destination. You guessed it, we missed our connection. We were told that someone would meet us BEFORE immigration after we landed at our gate to let us know what was going to happen since we were now flightless. What we were not told is that we would unload on the tarmac and then have to speed walk seemingly a MARATHON distance before arriving at the said location. I can’t lie. If we weren’t a bit freaked out about messing up the whole journey right as it started, it would have felt like we were on the Amazing Race. Rhonda and I rocked it - I was SO thankful for long legs and a sense of urgency in a travel partner! Thankfully the airline was able to put us on a flight to London that left 2 hours later, which was perfect because we originally had a 12 hour layover, so we had the time to spare. After each of us slept less than 2 hours on the plane that evening on the way to London (who on earth gets good sleep on a plane? ugh!), we arrived to try to navigate the massive airport that is Heathrow. Honestly, the biggest mass of people and nationalities I have ever experienced. Wow. Since we had a long layover we stored our bags and hit the city. In a mere 4 hours we were able to take an express train to the underground Waterloo station then walk to see the London Eye, Big Ben, Westminster Abby and even have lunch outdoors at a cafe. Cool. Even with 2 hours sleep we were refreshed from the movement. Headed back to the airport to check in with Ethiopian Airlines and finally boarded the plane at 9:30pm London time (3:30pm Wednesday Missouri). We finally arrived in Addis at 7am - spent a half hour getting our visa, going through cutsoms, getting our baggage. At 8am we finally met up with our driver to head to the guest house.
Whew. 36ish hours from beginning to end. Freshly showered and about to head off in the next 15 min. to meet our babies for the first time. EEEKKKK!!!!!
If you've been following my blog for any length of time, you probably are aware that I am a planner of extraordinary proportions......and I have been in full on plan mode since purchasing my plane tickets to Ethiopia last Wednesday.
I spent time last week scanning the Facebook adoption forums I've been a part of for SO long for traveling tips, packing tips, donation tips - even tipping tips! Ha! The results have been list upon list. Oh how I love a good list!
Since my last blog post - I've had some super fabulous people come along side us in this journey. People are donating needed items, lending us huge bags to use for the trip, making plans on helping out my family in practical ways while I'm away, giving money to pay for extra baggage fees so we can bring over all these donations.......it goes on and on. We are humbled by the love and support shown. We are simple amazed by the giving hearts of our family, church & friends.
My niece Ana with Tori at her pop/cookie stand last Saturday - Ana raised $160! She was super excited about shopping for the needs of Orfins in Ethiopia.
This week, as I was shopping for some socks & undies to take to Embracing Hope Ethiopia, I had one of those - "Wow, that was awesome God" moments. 10 min. before needing to drop off my youngest kiddo at preschool, I ran to a store that was having closing sale. I got there right when it opening and, because I was a woman on a mission, had the merchandise I needed in moments. This store was having a morning meeting - so they directed me up to be checked out by the woman at customer service. Since there were extra discounts, it took her a while to ring up all of our stuff, in the process she noted the fact that I was purchasing a lot of socks & undies. I told her excitedly that I was taking them with me to Ethiopia next week and they would soon be on little Ethiopians :) - she looked at me in complete shock and said "Do you know where I am from? I am from Ethiopia!" WHAT? How cool is that? She grew up in Addis Ababa and came over to the U.S. as an adult. We talked for awhile (therefore making us late to preschool - so much for a quick trip). I was blessed beyond belief. She seemed blessed beyond belief. I walked away.........Praising God.
God is good. So good. Can I get an amen? Let me tell you how overwhelmed I am that I get to go to Ethiopia. I get to be the delivering hand giving to those in directly need. To meet needs with what others are sending. It is humbling. It is incredible. I am so amazed with how this all started with wanting to adopt a child that needed a home - and over the course of this process, through the waiting, through the delays, God has opened our eyes to the need. Given us a love for a country that we've never even visited. We are experiencing first hand how our God is in the changing hearts business......we would have never guessed that a totally changed heart was going to be the outcome of the step of faith we took in the Summer of 2012. Even with the pain in the process, even though it feels far from over, how glad we are that God didn't leave us as we were!
If you'd still like to donate, it isn't too late, but for packing purposes it would be helpful to have everything by Sunday afternoon. The biggest needs we still have at this point is for clothing (used is fine) particularly sizes 12 to 18 mo. - we also could use infant & children's ibuprofen, tylenol and vicks vapor rub.
Please be praying for me as I continue to prepare for this trip. Continue to pray for our adoption process as well......we are still waiting on paperwork so we can move to the next step. Pray for our little gal's health and safety as she waits for us to come get her for good.
I am leaving for Ethiopia in a week and a half - EEK!!!!
While in Ethiopia, besides loving on my little miss at the foster home, I will also be visiting another nearby orphanage and a few ministries (Embracing Hope Ethiopia and Connected in Hope) and am HOPING to be able to bring a bunch of donations with me to meet some immediate needs and show some love!
Want to be a part?
What is needed?
So glad you asked!
For the orphanages
One major need is medical grade formula, such as Enfamil Enfacare or Nutramigin. These are formulas for preemie babies - but are literally lifesaving for malnourished babies. This type of formula is not available at all in Ethiopia, which is why bringing it in to orphanages in the country, it is like liquid gold. Anyone who is in good with a formula representative or a pediatrician might be able to get there hands on a lot......for free. Any help with this one would be GREATLY appreciated.
Other big needs are:
*Over the Counter medications, such as: children's Tylenol, ibuprofen, cough medicines, vicks vapor rub, antibiotic ointment, children's vitamins, anti-fungal meds, etc.
*Bumbo baby seats - (USED is just great!) baby to nanny ratio is too high for the younger babies to get all the uprightedness (like my new word?) that they need. This helps get them upright more often!
For Embracing Hope Ethiopia (I contacted them yesterday and this list below comes directly from them) Want to know more about what they do in Ethiopia? Orphan prevention at it's finest.
Please check out their video here. Things we are really low on right now include:
12mo. & 18 mo. short sleeve shirts
12mo. & 18mo. long sleeve shirts
12mo. & 18mo. pants
12mo. & 18mo. sweaters, sweatshirts, and hoodies
12mo. through 4T winter coats We can always use:
9 mos - 4T
short sleeve shirts,
long sleeve shirts,
pants,
sweaters, sweatshirts and hoodies
socks
underwear.
Connected in Hope - actually I won't be taking anything this trip donation wise, but we will visit. However, remember those scarves from this blog post? Shipping is crazy expensive, so oftentimes they use people traveling to bring scarves back with them to ship locally to the office in the states. I will be using my suitcases, that are now empty of donations, to help bring some of these back!
Fun Stuff - we would also like to bring some fun kid stuff to bless these kiddos with. Things like:
Jump ropes
Punching balloons/ balloons
Stickers
Sidewalk chalk
Tiny plastic hairbands or hair accessories
Soccerballs or balls that can be deflated for travel :)
Well, there you have it folks. One complete list! In the off chance that I end up getting more than I can physically take over, no worries! Jason & I will be going again and between the two of us, could bring even more stuff. Oh my.
