Ethiopia Day 4 Hope Arrived

Sunday morning, and we decided to take a quick walk to Kaldi, the coffee shop.  As we exited the hotel Sue and Jeff Dood were unloading their stuff from the van after their redeye flight.  I barely knew Sue from an adoptive mom's group I got connected with in our area, but I was so happy to see them.  My crazy puffy eyes probably gave away my emotional night before. They had waited longer than most families have to for their second trip.  But they were here finally, and would get to bring Kobe home.  We said a quick hello, because we were going to go with them later to Engida to see Kobe and Caleb.

Jason and I had heavy conversation over macchiato.  I'm so thankful for him, for his tender heart, his passion for people and intense love for God.  He's such a great dad to our girls that I don't doubt for a second his ability to be that for our boys.

Brandon and Emily were off early that morning doing their own thing.  If you know Brandon this won't surprise you one bit, but he found an Ethiopian training camp for runners, so he went to some crazy high altitude for a run with some pretty amazing runners.  Emily got to tag along and take pictures.  Before our trip Brandon texted me to see if Jason and I would be interested in doing a 5k while there.  Bahaha... um, no.  Bless his heart for asking:)

The big white giant

Jason and I took about a 30 minute van ride through the city to get to church.  This was pretty much the last thing in the world I wanted to do.  I had no idea what kind of church we were headed to, if they would speak any English at all, if we would be required to be involved in some awkwardly uncomfortable part of the service...absolutely no idea.  We pulled in where I saw a sign that said "International Evangelical Church".  Sooo strange to pull into this nicely paved parking lot and a very nice building.  We got out, went inside and were surprised to see white people in the mix, because we really hadn't seen but maybe one up until this point.  Everyone was speaking English.  Their children's ministry area had grass.  I hadn't seen  much of that.  We sat down, and again this huge lump in my throat.  I felt comfortable, because there were people like me there.  Part of me hated that I felt that way, though.  The place filled up with about 600 people.  The music began with more familiar.  I don't even remember all of the songs.  I know one of them was "Here I am to Worship" and another was "In Christ Alone".  It really didn't matter, because I already have a tender spot in my heart when it comes to worship... I tried to ignore the little girl in front of me that  was turned around staring at me.  I was again wrecked for about 50,000 reasons.

We left before church was over, because we needed to meet Emily and Brandon for lunch.  Emily and I ate some awesome french toast, and the guys got a "hamburger" (apparently that is really ox) and fries. 

Off to Engida.  It was fun to watch Sue and Jeff get to see Kobe after waiting I think 4 months.  It was so precious... Sue said they were going to leave Kobe for just a couple of days, because they were traveling to see where he was from, but they would be back Thursday to take him home.  The nanny put her hand over her heart and got teary.  

Such a special couple.  This was their second adoption, so they were veterans:) I love that our boys will get to grow up knowing each other.

This was going to be our final visit with Caleb.  He was a little fussy.  The nanny said he was happy until we got there.  Thank you.  I wish I didn't know that.  Regardless, I felt a peace holding him.  Again our visit was close to nap time, so I'll just blame the whimpers on tired and not feeling great:).  We did get a few smiles out of him when Jason would soar him up in the air, and when the nanny would talk to him.

One of my favorites...

good thing I didn't go blonde...I think it might have spooked him even more:)

Saying goodbye was a little teary for me.  I can't really explain the emotions too well.  I was sad, but because Caleb is attached to his nanny I knew he would not miss us.  He's healthy and doing well.  He will be fine without us.  I just selfishly want to get both boys home to move forward with our family.

We got back to our hotel, rested a bit, then met up with Kara and Rob and their family, Sue and Jeff and Brandon and Emily.  So we hadn't seen Kara and Rob since we had just arrived the first night, and Kara asked how I was doing.  Ugh,  I'm usually so good at controlling my emotions!  I was getting so annoyed with myself.  I barely knew these people!  But she so sweetly hugged me as I told her some of our unknowns with Joshua, and just the feelings of disappointment that our boys are basically the two that seem to be the least interested in us of all the children.  She and Sue took turns telling me of other similar situations and those children are well adjusted and fine now.  And they went through the list of things that are just normal.  It's normal to walk in the room and not have an immediate feeling of "this is MY son".  It's normal for your child who has been abandoned and traumatized to not talk yet.  It's normal.  

We ate at the Turkish Restaurant.  My meal that night left me longing for a plain old peanut butter and jelly sandwich (which I never even have at home).   We got to ask Ellie and Kate how they felt when their parents brought home their little brother and sister.  It was so good to have Kara's parents there.  Just the joy and laughter they added was so refreshing (made me miss my parents).  Brandon and Emily were soaking in the conversation with us, and we were so glad to have them with us.  

I felt like Jason and I turned dinner into an adoptive parents panel, but both Doods and Plaisiers were so gracious to answer honestly, to speak truth into fears, to let us know these emotions are completely normal, to reassure us that we have such great support when we get the boys home.  We laughed so hard at times, and that was such good medicine for us.  As we walked back to our rooms later God pretty much whispered to my heart, "see, I would not call you to this and just leave you alone.  It will be okay.  Your boys will be okay.  They are chosen for you."  I so needed this hope.  We got back and talked in the hallway forever.  I felt like I had known these friends for so long after just an evening together.  

Then I'm not sure why we didn't connect the dots earlier, but we also realized this night that Rob and Kara's little girl was at Jane's House with Joshua.  So awesome, because Brandon got some great pictures of her earlier.

We do adore our boys, and the more I look at their pictures the more antsy I am to go snatch them and bring them home, but ,nevertheless, we were initially struck with fear. 

Answered Prayer:  We needed hope and peace

1.  church was refreshing

2.  just knowing that Caleb is attached to his nanny the way his is means he is able to bond, so will be able to bond quickly with us.

3.  Rob, Kara, Sue and Jeff had been through this once before, were connected with many families who have been through adoption, and were so used by God to give us peace.  And they were just fun and down to earth, so that was a huge bonus:)

Once everyone made it back to their rooms Jason started not feeling so hot.  He was getting the chills and was feeling so sick to his stomach.  I sent out an email to our families to pray.  The next day was court.  Please don't be sick:/