ethiopia day #2 (day 11)

(thursday, june 23)
everyone slept until about 7:15 am!!!
went down to the lobby of the guest house to see 3 other American families!
it was so WEIRD to see people speaking English :-)
we almost didn't know how to interact!
in rwanda, it was JUST our family!

i didn't feel right most of the day.

at 9 am we headed out for the boys' medical appointments.
they were pretty basic.

after we finished, we ate lunch at Lucy
then went back to the hotel for the rest of the day

everyone napped except me...i wanted to make sure i slept that night
we hung out for the rest of the afternoon/evening.
it felt weird to have TIME without appointments/etc.
we had a dance party in our room - LOTS of laughing - that was so fun!

dinner was cliff bars eaten down in the lobby
and then we let the kids watch a movie on the dvd player and eat a tootsie roll
they all were in bed by 9 pm

seems like ethiopia is going to be a bit calmer for us than rwanda
was. we do miss their clean streets, though!

nyagakunda

Nyagakunda means I love you in their language
A few days into having them we really started asking rwandans that were helping us words to communicate with Lincoln.
It became very important with him being older
It is hard to connect with him - partly because of the language barrier and partly because of who he is
My sister captured some precious moments of he and I on the floor of the Ethiopian airport saying "nyagakunda" to each other
He doesn't say much quietly, but this he does and it's precious

rwanda, day #10, ethiopia, day #1

(wednesday, june 22)
we were told to just stay at the hotel and peter would call us when he knew anything...he was going to do all he could to get our passport completed.
we ate breakfast.
finished packing.
my stomach was in KNOTS.

at 10 am he called and said we could come get the passport.
didn't really believe it (if you've been there, you understand that) until pat walked back out of the passport office WITH it in his hand.
the smile on his face was priceless!!!!

dropped pat off at the US embassy to finish levi's paperwork and the driver took the rest of us to Bourbon Coffee to grab lunch before we went to the airport

took off from Kigali International Airport at 3:15 pm.
i was glad to make it out of there..WITH pat and levi.
but it was quite emotional to leave with lincoln and levi...to take them from their "home"

arrived in ethiopia at 7:45 pm
got to the guest house at 10 pm and tried to find what we needed to go to bed!
whew! we made it!!!

rwanda, day #9

(Tues, June 21)
had a slower paced morning at the hotel
hannah went to the genocide memorial
i started packing...and went for a run
we all went to Africa Bite for lunch
and then headed to the passport office for what we thought was just a routine "pick up our passport" appointment before a BIG appointment at the US embassy at 2 pm to start the visa process we will finish in ethiopia

when we got to the passport place, they said they wouldn't release levi's passport to us.
we were floored.
it was an obstacle we didn't see coming and it was hard to know how to react at that point.
we tried all we could to talk to them and get it straightened out...with no result.
we went to the US embassy, knowing we didn't have all that we needed.
as were were getting through security there, the friend i mentioned in my last post walked in.
such a blessing.
she calmed us down in an incredibly intense few minutes.
we spent 3 hours there. with lincoln and levi.
hannah was at the hotel with the other 3.
we got everything processed for lincoln...and they granted us an "emergency" appointment the following morning IF we could get the passport straightened out.
made for an uneasy evening/night...trying to pack to leave the next day, but trying to be prepared for pat and levi to stay behind.

peace

"..the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace."

Numbers 6:26

peace.

it's been the cry of my heart for this journey from even before we left.

and He has granted it.

yes, there have been moments of despair...and stress...and sickness...and confusion.

but HIS peace has always been there.

PRAISE HIM!

there have been so many answers to prayer the past 10 days.

i'm sure i don't even know them all.

there have even been answers to prayers i haven't even known to pray.

like, minutes after we were told we couldn't get levi's passport...which meant we couldn't bring him home...and we had to go to another appointment, a friend - that i knew just through email, but met when we were in rwanda, WALKED into the same building for another reason. coincidence?? no. God is so good. her sweet, calm spirit calmed both pat and i when we were SO close to losing it.

i hate to admit that there have been moments that were SO hard. SO intense, that i couldn't even pray. i had no words.

but, people have written me encouragement along those very lines.

letting me know that they are praying WHEN I CAN'T.

oh...He is good.

He is meeting our every need.

today things feel blurry...fuzzy.

every time i stand up or blink and open my eyes, i can't quite focus. things seem a bit blurry.

not sure if it's my body...or my heart.

but, one thing i do know. HE IS GOOD.

i struggle to find reasons WHY or WHEN.

i struggle with feelings of GUILT for already failing these 2 boys that He's trusted me with.

i struggle with questioning WHY ME? when i am such a poor example of His love as i'm impatient with my husband and my kids.

but...HE IS STILLL GOOD.

this trip has been moment after moment of pure trust and faith.

hannah would ask as we got off a long flight into an international airport in the middle of africa, "so, do we know who's meeting us?"

um. no. we just keep walking. we get our suitcases. and keep walking. and hope someone walks up to us that knows us.

and, when they do, we get into a van with them and trust they are going to take us where we need to go.

yesterday morning, hannah and i were sitting in a restaurant with all 5 kids. pat was at our LAST embassy appointment so that we could get to the airport for our flight out.

i looked up at her and said, "we are sitting in a restaurant in africa with 5 kids. 2 of whom we can't communicate with and can barely control. we have no phone. no money (pat had it all). no driver waiting for us. and we are just trusting pat is going to come back with peter and our driver and get us at some point."

SO much trust and faith.

but, HE's met us all along the way.

taking a deep breath here. trying to switch gears. we are over halfway there.

ethiopia is different. can't quite pinpoint it yet. looking forward to taking it all in.

my eyes are on home. but i want to see HIM here, too.

rwanda - where we stayed

the place we stayed in rwanda was called chez lando.

we didn't have a choice. it's where our agency books all the families that travel to rwanda.
but we were VERY pleased. we loved it!

it was gorgeous. we felt safe.

our rooms were on the bottom floor of this building.

the service was amazing. clean towels and made our beds every day.

we walked on this walkway to breakfast every morning...

 and to the playground :-)

the internet was not great. but we got better service in the lobby.
a few TOUGH nights skyping in that lobby with my baby at home...

bathroom...

one of our 2 rooms...

tears shed laying on that bed. kids sick on that floor...and in that bathroom (and hannah :-( )
2 new little boys to put to sleep and dress and bathe and feed welcomed into our arms in these rooms.
movies watched on the dvd player on those beds by the kids.
fanta's kept {kinda} cold in the little fridge on the floor.
memories made. dreams became reality.

fried

We got it'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are overjoyed. We can all leave together!!!!!!

Pats computer is fried we think. Sending this from my sisters iPad. Not sure I will be able to blog much from now on. Your emails/comments have been such an encouragement to me. Having a hard time understanding why some of these circumstances have to happen.

Thank you for your prayers

We fly to Ethiopia in 4 hours

One step closer to home