Uniquely Woven: February 2009

Yep, Chris and I are Ethiopia bound! I am excited, thrilled, amazed, and humbled. I still can't believe we get to go back so soon. And no, we are not traveling to bring home a sibling for Lily, Claire and Zane (although they are already asking for another sibling, and we do hope to adopt again one day). This trip is about 48 children who have lost both their mothers and fathers, and are living on their own, raising themselves and often their siblings.

Imagine Leul who is 14-years-old and lives with his 12-year-old sister. His father passed away 12 years ago and his mother died 3 years ago. They survive by the support of their neighbors who help with room rent and food expenses. Leul is in the 5th grade and has asked for prayer for he and his sister that they would be successful in the future and would contribute to their country. He also requested prayer for the daily necessities for sustaining life and their ability to attend school.

Imagine Ibsa who is 14-years-old and lives in a closet-sized room on the compound where his family used to live. He has lost both his parents and a sister. He has a brother that lives in a different village who helps pay his $5/month rent. Ibsa is extremely lonely. He requested we pray for his success in school and to live with someone who could be his family.

Can you imagine? I can try to imagine but I think I only allow my brain and heart to go so far. The heartache is too much.

Our church set out to raise a reasonable sum of money to provide assistance to these 48 children. The money was designated to go towards food, clothing, shelter, education, small business development and hopefully towards identifying local families that can adopt these children within their own communities. Our church blew us away because within just 2 weeks God provided over 3 times the amount of money we hoped to raise!

We are so blessed to have partnered with Food for the Hungry on this project. Their staff continues to visit with these children and provide us with updates. We know the names of these children. We have their photos. We know their stories. They know about us - this small group of people in Austin, Texas that are praying for them, raising support, and planning to soon come visit. It certainly does not come close to replacing a loving mom who tucks them in at night, hugs them before they go off to school, feeds them, and encourages them. It does not replace a loving father who provides them with shelter, guidance, and security. We hope it offers them some hope that someone out there, even so far away, cares and is working and praying on their behalf.

Lily, (my oldest daughter who is four) recently asked me a tough question. She asked, "are these orphans God's children too, like I am?" I told her, "Yes, these children are very important to Him and He loves them very much just like He loves you." She asked, "then why does He not give them food to eat and families to care for them?" I told her that God tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves. He also tells us to care for, and visit orphans. God has blessed our family with resources and wants us to give these children food and help them find families. When we ignore the suffering of others, get caught up in our own materialism and comfort, we disobey God. He does not make His people obey, just like I can not force my little ones to obey. He gives us a choice.

Something we frequently discuss with our children is that when we disobey, bad stuff happens (natural consequences of our actions/choices) but that when we choose to obey, good stuff happens (blessings, joy). For example, if (ok, WHEN) one of our kids throws a tantrum, they have to take a "time out" from playing to cool off. But when they respond in love to one another, they get to continue to have fun, learn together, and play.

Chris and I have made bad choices, we continue to screw up - but we are works in progress. God continues to work on us and our hearts, teaching us how to better "love one another". God led us to adoption and has used it to teach us more about Him. I have learned much through adoption about how He sees me, how much He loves me, how powerful and real He is, and how He wants good for us and longs to bless us.

We are so fortunate to be connected to this project, and humbled to have the opportunity to go to Ethiopia in a few months and spend time with these children. There is much more to this story that I will share in the next post. So come back and visit!

Little man Zane is two-years-old today. He was sick yesterday and I actually loved it. All he wanted was for me to hold him as he dozed on and off throughout the day. He was so sweet and cuddly. He is better today but we will hold off celebrating until next week. I would like to claim that Zane's fever is the result of his delayed celebration but...

In all honesty, it sucks being the third child and mama has not spent any time planning a bday celebration. I love birthdays but my plate has carried extra items these last few weeks and a certain someone's birthday snuck up on me in the midst of it.

In other news, my Ironman-in-training husband completed his third marathon on Sunday! I'm so proud of him. The kids swung between enjoying trying to catch Daddy at as many mile markers as possible and so ready for him to be done so they could go home. The pics to prove it....