The draw commenced a few minutes late due to Saturday morning relaxedness (new word for ya!). I coaxed a pj-clad Tori from a morning cartoon in order to give the drawing total objectiveness.
The winners are announced via photo below, check it out :)
Names going in the hat!
My lovely assistant
The draw.......
Our first winner!
Our second winner!
Thanks to all of you all for entering - I hope that everyone checked out Connected in Hope and the amazing work they are doing in Ethiopia! Congratulations to Liz and Kari - your winning scarf will be in the mail this coming week :)
Missed something? Click here to read about it and then comment via fb post OR blog to be entered! You have until Saturday morning, September 13th @ 9am. It's that simple :)
Oh, that everything could be so simple........
My kiddos will help with "the draw" tomorrow morning, so tune in (after you comment to put your hat in the ring) tomorrow morning for the winners to be announced!
For your listening pleasure, ah the lyrics. Redeemed.
So you know how a few blog posts ago, I mentioned how those of you that have stuck with this blog for so long deserve some sort of reward? Well, it is time! Having just gotten back this week from Ethiopia and making some purchases from Connected in Hope's weaving compound in country, I thought this would be a good opportunity to show you all some love while at the same time highlighting this amazing NGO.
Connected in Hope (former firewood carriers association) was founded by an adoptive mom who saw a need. Teaching women a skill and providing income generating programs, education, afterschool programs, social work services and adult literacy/education programs is giving these women a hand up. The program not only creates opportunity for women with limited options, but it also works to make sure their family stays preserved. I encourage you to check out there website - you will find opportunities not just to purchase items and learn how you could host a trunk show that would help support these women, but you will get a glimpse into a different life. A glimpse that is invaluable, because let me tell you first hand, the way we live here in America? Oh peeps. We are wealthy. Ridiculously wealthy. With that glimpse, with that knowledge? We can use our dollars purposefully and help - whether that be choosing to purchase quality products that give back and support those in need or by donating.
Pictures are worth 1,000 words, so here you go.........keep scrolling for the giveaway!
A typical firewood carrier's load is 70-80lbs, walked 10 miles down a mountain and sells in the market for a dollar.
Former firewood carrier, now artisan working on a scarf. Each scarf takes approximately 2 hours to complete.
Sign outside of Connected in Hope's compound I visited in Addis at the base of Mt. Entono
Weaver inside the shop where completed scarves are ready to sell and/or ship
Amazing, right? So obviously I am giving away scarves.........two to be exact!
To enter the drawing, leave a comment on this blog post (don't worry when it doesn't show up immediately, I moderate my comments due to trollers who occasionally spew negativity, so there will be some delay, but will eventually show up :) OR if you are a fb friend of me or my hubs, you can leave a comment on the fb status that contains this blog post.
What should your comment contain? Identifying info of who you are (it would be hard to send an anonymous person something) and a favorite color or two.......since I have a wide variety of scarf colors - that way, if you are one of the two lucky winners, I can send you the scarf of your dreams that has a story behind it!
The drawing will take place NEXT Saturday at 9am, and the winners will be announced on the blog.
There you have it folks.
Finally a short-term reward for keeping up with this adoption story for so long! Whew. It's about time!
I have made it home and am back on the grid. Internet outages made communicating difficult for those last two days we were in country. Which sometimes feels hard, not being able to talk to the hubs and kiddos whenever I desired or when our time frames lined up (i.e. the best time to call and talk to the kids has me waking up at 4am to chat with them at 8pm, right before they go to bed). However, when I contemplate the fact that I am half way across the world, in a developing country none the less, and have internet access at all? I am more than grateful for the times I got TO connect! Lack of internet connection at the end of the trip is why the blog posts ceased......
The rest of the trip was incredible. Most of the visiting times with sweet little miss were spent alone in the visiting room, which was a treat. Each time I visited we would play for about a half hour, she would take a bottle and would inevitably take a nap. She is taking her bottle SO much better than when I visited in May, which makes this mama's heart rejoice. Little Miss still typically won't eat more than 3 1/2 to 4 oz. a time, however she wowed me the day before we left and downed almost the whole 7oz. that they prepare for her each time. Oh, and the napping. How I LOVE holding and snuggling relaxed baby weight. There is nothing else like it. I loved it when my bio babies were small and I love it now. The last few days of our visit I started bringing my bible and devotional packed in my bag to bring, knowing I had at least an hour per visit to spend snuggling little miss and reading the word by myself. Having seen God's hand throughout this process (in more ways and in more details than I've ever shared publicly on the blog, but willing to share IN person), being closer than ever towards the end of our journey, experiencing His faithfulness and then HOLDING ONTO little miss while spending time reading, praying & rejoicing? Awesome.
During our last couple days there I experienced some things that will ever be beautiful memories......getting to meet the boys of a friend in country, who is now dear to my heart, and seeing the pride he has in his children. Witnessing a coffee ceremony send-off for multiple families heading home with their children this week and seeing the love that the nannies/staff have for these precious children. But the most amazing thing? Watching Rhonda's little man learn to trust her, reach for her and begin truly attaching to his mama and seeing their family reunite after our long journey home.
Incredible. Absolutely incredible.
This journey may be long, but there is joy unspeakable along the way in so many little things. Even in our long flights - how challenging it can be to sit still for that long of a period of time. No amount of movie watching or book reading can make it an exciting experience. It is just something that has to be endured because the end result is good. Long plane rides AND I had the center seat each time. Rhonda on one side. Unknown person on the other. Not that I'm complaining, I was ecstatic to be going - but as a person with introvert tendencies? Awkward potential. However, out of the probably two to three hundred people aboard, who do I sit next to? An Ethiopian pediatrician on the 13 hour flight there, and a church-planting pastor from the Congo on the 17 hour flight back. How amazing is that? The little things. Even down to who I sit by.
I see God's hand in it all. It is not at all because I am something special. Not.at.all. It is because God loves me and He is good. Unmerited grace. Unmerited favor.
Do you know why the gospel message is also called the good news?
Because that grace?
That favor?
The sacrifice He gave?
The love He has?
It is also for YOU.
Seriously, you all, I promise that every time I sit to blog, I rarely intend to end with God's love for you and the gospel.....however, that seems to almost always be where the writing takes me. Amazed by His love. Amazed. I am finding that as He is writing my story, God IS the story. His grace is the main thing. That is my story. That is my song..............and now this hymn is in my head - so here you go!
Africa could be so cold? That pretty well sums up the day. Cold. It rained pretty much all day and I don't think it ever got out of the 50's. I even saw my own breath today while visiting little miss. Apparently my body is used to temperature controlled indoor climates, because with no central heat I have been shivering all day (and that is with jeans, long sleeved shirt w/ tank top underneath, hooded sweatshirt on top of that AND shoes/socks). What I really would've loved was some warm fleece blankets, mittens and a warm hat! I'm not sure I will ever get over being surprised that Africa can be this cold. It is that strange to me.
Our visits have been so wonderful, since Rhonda has taken custody of her little man, little miss and I are the only ones in the visiting room......which means I can have conversations with my sweet girl, sing and act silly without feeling odd with others listening in on our back and forth.
What a joy it has been!
While I am visiting each day, the nannies and staff will occasionally walk by the room we are in and come in to visit. They can elicit smiles from my girl by just a look (and a few smooches thrown in for good measure). Today one of the nannies came in as we were playing and she was talking to little miss in Aramaic. As she was talking you could tell she kept asking her about her mama (because I recognized that word)......she was asking who her mama was. It was so sweet. Little miss would watch her for a while, when she'd heard the word mama, she would look over at me and the nanny would then cheer and say yay!!! Be.Still.My.Heart. I am in love.
We also spent some time today looking at pictures of her awesome daddy, siblings, grandmas, papas, aunts, uncles and cousins. This girl is SO loved already - I'm just trying to give her a head's up that she is part of a large and amazing family!
Two more days left and then I head back to my other loves who are stateside. Oh, how I can't wait for everyone to be on the same continent. Soon and very soon!
........can sit unsupported for a little while and is building her stamina.
........says ba-ba-ba-ba and I'm pretty sure is going to be a big talker (like her sister & mama).
........smiles at anything and everything!
........is eating solid foods.
........,according to the nurse, likes everything but the fish soup (um, hello. She is her mama's girl)
........still has the smallest hands I have ever seen.
........'s immune system is strong and is healthy despite her lack of weight gains (Praise the Lord)
........is obviously, as shown in the above picture, already a Mizzou fan :)
........wanted to show her dad she is ready for the 1st football game of the season!
Day two with Tiny Miss Mighty went well. I am loving this time with her. It has been good to get a chance to speak directly with those who care for her day in and day out, as it gives me a much better picture of how she is doing health wise and what they are doing for her. It eases this mama's mind to know and see that they are on the ball and acutely aware of how she is doing. It is also neat to see how everyone who works for our agency, in country, knows who she is. That is a lot of people folks. - from the guards, all the nannies, drivers, even the office staff we've encountered all know and ask specifically about my little miss by name and if she is with me, interact with her in a loving way that you can tell (by her excited smiley reaction) that they are people she knows. It is so awesome to know that my gal is loved. Truly loved. It is such a blessing that, even though her stay has been extended by this paperwork delay, she is in the BEST possible environment while she waits.
After a full day and not much sleep last night, in the words of Dr. Suess.....
Today is gone,
Today was fun,
Tomorrow is another one......
So glad I still have some days left with my little miss. Prayerful that we will be back to get her for good in just a couple months!!!!
Also, fun fact - it is cold here. Yes. In Africa. Jeans everyday. Layers. We went from 90 degree days and needing air conditioning in Missouri - to rainy highs in the 60's during the day and the low's around 49/50 degrees and turning on the heaters at night. Who would have ever guessed it? Crazy!
After almost 30 hours of traveling, we made it safely to Ethiopia. This time we tried a different route by flying to Washington D.C. and then taking a direct flight from D.C. to Addis Ababa (which is a whopping 12 1/2 hours).
That is a long time to sit still. What is incredible to me is that there were a fair amount of babies and kids on that flight and they all did so well - I know this, because I really never slept. Ugh. How I wish I had Jason's narcoleptic like ability to sleep anywhere.....it would come in handy for times like these.
The man that I sat next to for 12 1/2 hours on that direct flight? An Ethiopian man who has been a pediatrician in the states for 20ish years. Just a tad bit of awesome getting to speak to someone who knows children, knows the culture, etc. Amazing grace. Things to be thankful for are literally everywhere!
So we arrived at 6:45am Thursday morning here, which is 10:45pm Wednesday night for all my central time zone folks. We had to then wait in a fairly long line for our visa into the country, but I can not tell you what a JOY it is to be in this country and witness the little things (besides the gawking at the absolute beauty of people from this region), such as this - those families with little babies and kids on the plane? Some of them needed visas. These folks automatically get bumped to the front of the line because they have children with them. It is obvious the value this culture put on families. That it is automatic to help them in any way. One person in front of the line was confused about why all these people were allowed to continually get in front of him and he voiced it to one of the workers. Her explanation? "That is how we do things in Ethiopia". Things are just different here. Priorities are different. Like an awesome kind of different.
Since it took us longer than we anticipated getting out of the airport we only had about 10 min. once we got to the guest home to settle in before we were off to see the kiddos.
Knowing that Little Miss is older (therefore a lot more aware this time) of just WHO she is with, I was bracing myself for a tear filled visit - mostly her tears, not mine. Thankfully that wasn't the case. She came right to me, but after a few minutes began to cry, but being young (therefore easily distractible) a few toys and pointing out a few random things changed it all. I got to feed her and she napped for about an hour, which means this mama got a rest in too, which was MUCH needed! She woke up her super happy self, about 15 min. before our visiting time was over.
JOY unspeakable! I love that little miss :)
Rhonda took custody of her little man this morning and it is incredible to witness the love of this mama and just how much her little dude is opening up. I just keep thinking of Psalms 68:6 "God sets the lonely in families......"I am watching redemption at work. God giving this little man beauty from ashes.
Incredible.
After that morning visit, while Rhonda went to the US embassy to get her little man's visa, I took the world's deepest power nap. I slept like a rock. It was a beautiful thing!
My afternoon visit with little miss was awesome. She stayed awake the whole time, no tears, LOTS of smiles and consumed almost 6 oz. of formula in an hour and a half timeframe (which I believe is a record for her!). I still can't get over how small she is. I am praising God that she is healthy & happy despite her stature. I can not wait to get her to the US and see what changes happen when she is part of a family and has access to more specialized medical care.
Please be praying for favor. That as little miss's documents proceed through the process that they would be expedited whenever possible due to her noted health concern. Oh how I would love to be back here in a couple months and pick this sweet girl up for good! I can not wait until she comes home - what an amazing story she will have.
