T-4.25

We've been a waiting a little over 4 {FOUR} Months!!!

It just zipped on by just like that!

And since it's been several weeks since I posted last there are lots to fill you in on what we've been doing waiting on this little African Princess to make her arrival.

A few months ago Emily & I took a road trip to Atlanta. (That's one of our favorite things to to! Shout out to our incredible husbands who give us to time steal away!) She told me that she had surprise lunch plans for us & of course I got excited! It KILLED me but I literally had no idea where we were going until we pulled up in the parking lot & saw this sign:

 Y'all I could barley get into the dern parking space I was so excited!!!!!!!!
An AUTHENTIC ETHIOPIAN RESTAURANT!!!!
Of course I was tearing up before we could get in the door good! #tearball

We walked in to Authentic sites, music, art, people, clothing, pictures, baskets, food, you name it and it was real & straight from Ethiopia!!

Our waitress greeted us when we walked in & it.was.SURREAL! This young woman was beautiful & I couldn't help but think, my daughter! My daughter will resemble this when she is grown! SHE.WAS.BEAUTIFUL! Like, I couldn't stop starring at her.

When she sat us, it was sort of an awkward moment because I was obviously in a little state of shock/excitement/overwhelmed/emotional/every other feeling under the sun so Emily explained to her that it was our first time there & I was in the process of adopting a little girl from Ethiopia. She was very kind & patient & let me ask all sorts of questions. Part of me wanted to keep asking her questions just to hear her speak <3

Her name is Tizita. (tuh-zita) It means "melody" or "song." The way she described it was like as mother being filled with a melody/song (joy) over her baby. She just recently move to Atlanta.

We told her we wanted authentic ET food, we wanted to try everything & that I couldn't handle spicy food.
She handed us the menu:

And began to explain how it worked.
First let me point out what the Greeting says at the top:

"Sharing food from the same plate, and the breaking of injera, to pick up a mouth full of the chosen dish, signifies the bonds of friendship."

It was such a special treat to have my very first taste of Ethiopia with my best friend! What a cool thing to share with her! Our bond exceeds an injera breaking meal any day! #Jesus

Please Note: we passed on the Gursha tradition ;) HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

While we were waiting on our food I couldn't stand it any longer. I had to get up and walk around to look at things. We had the whole place to ourselves! The Lord just arranged it that way so strangers wouldn't have to see my cryface. :)

Lots of DJ equipment behind those curtains. They like to dance ;)

All of the table tops had different things on/in them.

Some were filled with seeds & all sorts of things like this one below.

Others were filled with pictures of Athletes (running of course) & pictures of their beautiful land.

This one above is of the alphabet.

You have to know the condition of my heart right now.

It's so wanting any.little.thing it can grab to soak in & know about where/who our daughter is. 

What music she is hearing, 

The language spoken around her, 

The distinct look of her people, 

Their culture, 

Their food

Their hair, 

Their skin, 

anything. 

And ALL of it was right in front of me and I was just plain ole' overwhelmed. 

It was like I had stepped inside Ethiopia for just a little while & got to feel it. 

This process is causing us to fall in love with another land/country/people we have never met before & our hearts are becoming tied there. 

I got back to our table, my heart so full of joy & longing for her at the same time.

The tears just came out.

So thankful, so so thankful to be there.

And I'm not exactly sure when we will be able to finally see her sweet face but one thing I'm sure of this...

I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

Ps 27:13

We will see her! 

So the food came, we drank tea & shared our meal from this big circle thing with all sorts of stuff on it!

Some we recognized & some we didn't but tried.

So this is what you do, you unroll the rolls of injera around the edges, tear off a piece & use it to grab whatever your going to eat & then put all of it in your mouth.
The injera bread was spongy & porous & almost tasted like sour dough bread a little.

I'll be real honest with you, Tizita nor the owner of the restaurant would tell us what Tripe was when we ordered it. We tried it all, even the HOT AS FIRE spicy beef. I mean it was like someone was in my throat with a little knife jabbing me! H.O.T! After we both tried the Tripe Tizita & the owner came over to check on us & I asked him exactly what is tripe. He said "you know, tripe" and proceeded to rub his abdominal area and told us it was the stomach/intestines of a bull. Ummmmm.... WHAT? Yes, bull.

In other countries/cultures they just eat different things. Things other than Filet Minon are delicacies!
Anyway, the food was VERY good and filling! A FUN new adventure for sure!

And then it came time to leave.
GAH I'm such a tear ball.
I had to say out loud "get it together Kimberly!"

He is good Y'all. The Lord is so good.
We may not have her yet but He is giving me opportunities to get closer.
Opportunities like eating lunch at this place & experiencing a little bit of Ethiopia with my best friend.

He know, He knows my heart & my weakness & hears our prayers.
The Holy Spirit groans with us in accordance to His will. (Rom 8:26)
Would you pray with us, would you groan with us, that He would bring her home this year?
Especially those of you who have waited for your precious ones from across that big ocean.
That 2013 would be the year she is forever ours?

Emily, thank you for an unforgettable/precious day! Best.day.EVER! I love you my friend!

Thank you for your prayers & kind words of encouragement!
Every person who has asked/said "any news" "how's it going" "I'm praying for you guys".
Oh Lily you are so loved already baby girl!

Tomorrow is Christmas Day in Ethiopia!! I'm praying this is her LAST year in Ethiopia!!! That next year she'll spend Christmas with US!!!

Here's an explanation to their calendar system: http://goafrica.about.com/b/2012/08/27/recelebrate-the-year-2004-in-ethiopia.htm

It's actually pretty cool, I mean over there it's the year 2004!

Our Christmas this year was great! Started out a little weepy feeling like their was one missing, because there is BUT the Lord was ever present & filled us up to the brim with thanksgiving! We have a lot to be thankful for, esp this year.

This was probably my favorite gift & it wasn't even for me:

I have TONS of these in my momma's attic. I was a Cabbage Patch fanatic when I was a little girl!
I can't WAIT to give this to her!!!

We are still waiting& expectant! Our estimated wait time is 6-12 months. It could be longer.

Thank you for asking, thank you for praying.
Thank you Lord for grace during this time.
Do what only you can do, Lord!
Find Your glory here!
Our eyes are.on.YOU!

May the things of Earth grow strangely dim in the light of His glory & grace,

Kim