On edge..

I'm literally on the edge of my seat.

The anticipation of THE phone call/email makes my heart race like this robust coffee I tried to drink a few weeks ago.

I'm catching myself thinking:

"Last year ON Mother's Day, I was literally sitting in the home of an Ethiopian family visiting with them IN Africa. Wouldn't it be SO COOL if we got THE call on or around this Mother's Day?!?!"

"What if my phone goes off in Bible study with THE call!?! I'm gonna go out into the hallway and answer it and a I may or may not care if I scream!!"

"What if we get THE call on Father's Day? That would literally tickle my husband pink."

When the screen of my phone lights up I break my neck to look at it. What if it's THE email?

Brushing my teeth, will today be THE day?

Where will I be when we get THE news?

Will I be grocery shopping in Wal-Mart? Will I leave my buggy or proceed to checkout? If I leave it there I'll blow my witness. Surely they'll understand, won't they?

THE ANTICIPATION IS KILLING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


It could be any day or months from now.

No one but the Lord knows....

Reminds me of this verse:

No one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son Himself. Only the Father knows.

Mark 13:32

No one knows when Jesus will return to claim His redeemed. 

Just like no one knows when we'll get the call for our Lily.

I wonder since Jesus doesn't know when His Father will say "It's time, go and get them," if He is on the edge of His seat as well? 

Can't you just see Him standing on the edge of the clouds like a runner at the start of a race waiting for the "GO!!"

And as believers we are EAGERLY hoping for the day when God will give us our full rights as His adopted children, including the new bodies He has promised us! 

Romans 8:23

We are longing for His return!

And since we don't know when He'll come back we should live in this anticipation in sharing the Good News with anyone we see!

Just this morning someone asked me how was our adoption going and I was EAGER to share with them that we are #2!! It literally could be any day.

Am I that eager to share the news of the One who paid the price for my sin? 

The One who rose from the grave? The One who has rescued me from the pit of hell? The One who has bought my life with a price? His own blood? The King of Kings? My great high Priest? My Comforter My Healer My Provider!

Oh that I would live my life on the edge of my seat to share about my Savior all the time!

We're nothing with out Him y'all. 

He died for you. 

Do you know Him?

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

Kim

Loss.

Her time arriving is coming closer and the pain and sadness she is fixing to experience is beginning to fill my heart.

We may be gaining her but she is loosing everything.

Her family. Birth momma/father/care taker/friends

Her country. Culture/Sights/smells/sounds/people/food

The loss of her family its self is overwhelming to think about.

She has not chosen to be an orphan.

Imagine if you were taken from the only "home" you've known all your life, to a country to permanently live in a home with a group of people, a different skin color from yours, people who speak a different language than you, eat different foods, dress differently, who are hugging and kissing all over you, rejoicing & crying over your arrival. Cameras in your face, new clothes on your body and all you REALLY want to do is run back to your all the things familiar & feel safe that were in your life.

I can't help but put myself in her place & wonder if any of these thoughts will come to mind.

The longing for the safety of the familiar.

Even if she comes from a "not so good" place by our definition. 

To her, it's all she's known.

I wonder exactly where she is right now as I'm typing this.

If she's even born yet. 

If she is still with her first momma, who is alive and well. 

Or if she is living in the streets. 

Or if she is being cared for by her grandmother who is ill and dying and is her last living relative to care for her.

I wonder how old she is.

I wonder if she has siblings or is an only child like me.

I wonder what all she has experienced in the short time she has been alive. Starvation/sickness.

I wonder if she has been hurt. By words or hands.

I wonder just how deep her pain will be.

Will I see it in her eyes?

Will she show it by her actions? Outwardly or by nothing at all.

One day she will ask me about her momma, her first momma. Lord give me the grace.

There will be moments in her life that I'm sure the wondering of who her first momma was will come across her mind.

What did she look like?

What did her voice sound like?
Did she sing to me?

How deep was her beauty?

Was she saved?

Will I see her again in Heaven?

Did she love me?

Did she want me?

Can you imagine not knowing these questions about the woman who gave birth to you?

The woman who carried you for 9 months. Who felt you move inside of her. Felt every hiccup. Every kick.

The women who's voice you heard and responded to even in the womb. The woman who went through excruciating pain to bring you into this world. The one who heard your first cry. The woman who fed you and bathed you....

This is a bitter sweet journey for her and she doesn't even know it.

So I'm praying for her heart already. The pain. The sadness. The loss.

I can not over look or try to fix, or make better, or cover and replace, take away or change.

Rest assured it is pain only my Jehovah Rapha, my Healer, can sooth and heal.

So when the day comes and she is finally "home" while my heart will be leaping for joy but it will also be mourning her loss.

I'm asking the Lord for wisdom. 

A knowing only given by the Holy Spirit as to when to hold and cry with, hold and listen to, hold and read the Word over and to love forever. And the grace to carry us through it all....

Baby girl you are being covered in prayer by your second momma already...

I love you.

Number 2!!!

It's a good thing I'm typing this instead of writing it because you wouldn't be able to read it I'm shaking with such excitement!!

We received the news that we are number 2 on the waiting list!!

T
W
O

As in next to number 1, as in almost there, as in OH MY GOSH THIS IS HAPPENING!!!!!

The crazy-just like the Lord- thing is, the day we found out we were number 2 is the day before Roger left for Cuba on a mission trip.
The day before I left for Africa last May we found out we were given the $20,000 grant.

Y'all, my words, they can't explain. Some things you just have to see.

That's the sole purpose for sharing this crazy journey with you is so that you will see the Lord & for His glory.
Oh my friend if you don't know Him you are missing out!!!

So what in the world is happening now...

This means once we become number 1, we wait for a referral.
The file containing a female between the ages of 0-4.
Her picture.
Her medical records & family history that they are aware of.
And we accept her.
Then we make plans to travel. This could take a several weeks to prepare for.
We are waiting to hear if we have any left over from the $20,000 grant we received to apply towards travel so we may be doing some more fun-raising.
Anxious to see how the Lord provides!!

I also want to share with you one other detail.

When we were filling out the mountains of paper work, we got to the line where it said "number of children you are requesting."
Roger and I felt that the Lord wanted us to be willing/open to a sibling group of 2. {see a pattern here with the 'w' word?}

This does not mean we are getting two children.

It does mean that if we become number 1 and our referral comes in, if she has a brother or a sister up to age 8 that brother or sister will come home with her and be in our family. They will not split up a sibling group.

I know, I know what you're thinking.

But we are trusting the Lord with this and He knows!! He.knows.
Willingness is what He wants.

What would your reaction be if I told you of a family that brought home a sibling group of 3 boys from Ethiopia to add to their family of 3 biological boys & 2 daughters from Ethiopia for a total of 8 children.
This family lives in a very moderate home and to make room  for these new additions they gave up their master bedroom & bathroom for multiple sets of bunk beds that would sleep all of their boys.

I can tell you what my reaction was "ummmm WOW. THAT is radical. THAT is something I'd never thought of. THAT is the most selfless act I can think of."

And then I asked myself, could I do that?
Could I/would I give up our nice spacious bedroom & the comfort of our big spacious bathroom to condense into a little extra bedroom with a bed & dresser for the sake of bringing home children to a forever family and raising them in a home filled with love & the Word of God?

This family was obedient to the Lord and He made a way for them.
Just like He made a way for the Israelites to escape Egypt by parting the Red Sea & just like He made a way for us to know Him by sacrificing His own son, Jesus, for you.

I am the way, the truth & the life, no one comes to the Father accept through me.- Jesus

John 14:6

We may not live in a "big enough" home or have "enough bedrooms" or "make enough money" by the worlds standards to bring home 2 children, but if we are obedient to the Lord, He will make a way and we have complete trust in Him.

Does the thought of bringing TWO children home scared me to death, yes it does!
But the thought of being disobedient to the Lord scares me more.

So, here we are, NUMBER TWO on the list.

Shaking yet?
Me too :)


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

Kim

T-6 / Madagascar / GOOD NEWS!!!!

You may have seen this on my FB or Instagram feed last week:

This is GOOD NEWS my friends!! Our agency emailed us to let us know the license had been renewed & we were good to move forward with waiting for our daughter!!
I can't say thank you enough for the prayers, messages & texts of encouragement. The body of Christ as it's finest! THANK YOU!!

I also referenced a "fight" aka "ware zone" that ensued during the month of agony in between the bad and good news. I wanted to share what I fought in hopes of encouragement!

When we were told the news of the hold/government changes our options were:
-Wait out the changes in Ethiopia
-Switch Countries

My prayers quickly turned into ones that sounded like this:

"LORD!! What do we do?!?!?! Do we wait out these changes that could take a year or more or do we switch countries? But I don't want to switch countries Lord! My heart is tied to Ethiopia!"

"My heart is tied to Ethiopia" = prayed for, as in asked the Lord to send rain for good crops/jobs, for Him to send missionaries to pray over her & love on the people/children in her orphanage & spread the Gospel, for Christian radio to hit the airwaves there & saturate their hearing with songs that tell of our God & His story, longed for, studied about, eaten their food, looked into the eyes of beautiful Ethiopian people, talked everyday about, dreamed about, purchased their music and the list goes on and on.

The thought of "switching countries" did NOT float my boat, in fact it made me, still makes me sick to think about. "Switching countries" was NOT an option for me the 1st couple of weeks into this pause.

{Not to mention the fact that Roger kept reminding me that the Lord gave us a specific Word that our daughter was to come from Ethiopia.}

A few days into the news we learned that we indeed had a few other options we could seek out.

We could switch to an Agency (who's license was still active) that include an Ethiopia program and be placed on their wait list OR we could seek out waiting child lists' and choose a child from a list.

I reached out to a couple of lists & emailed an agency & the response was like a door closing to those options.

So back to square one. Wait or switch countries.

Here ensues the battle......

-Is this what You're doing Lord? Closing the door to ET and pointing us towards another country?

-Is this my flesh desiring to switching countries so we can get this show on the road (see some movement?)

I needed discernment.
{the ability to decide between truth and error, right and wrong. Discernment is the process of making careful distinctions in our thinking about truth. In other words, the ability to think with discernment is synonymous with an ability to think biblically.}
Biblical discernment is explained PERFECTLY in this post by John MacAuther

I knew that if we were to change countries it would be to Madagascar. 

{It's the island everyone leaves off when thinking/talking about/printing Africa.}

The Madagascar program opened up in our Agency soon after we were approved & into our paperwork. I remember the day I found out and thought, a) Where exactly is Madagascar? & b) How cool to adopt a child from there! And honestly never thought about it again, until now.

I am not exaggerating when I say that the thought of changing from Ethiopia to Madagascar literally made my heart hurt, it LITERALLY made my heart hurt. As soon as the thought came to mind I would make myself quickly think of something else. And I mean, with a quickness!
My track record with the Lord when praying over decisions/seeking His will has been asking Him to literally put it in front of me all the time, show me in His word, make it in neon pink all over the place, door WIDE OPEN, in other words Lord, make it CLEAR! No gray, no guessing, no hesitation. OR slam the door shut & prevent us from moving foward.

-As I somewhat allowed the idea of switch countries stay longer than a millisecond, I called a adoptive momma and while talking about the situation with her she shared with me that in her two adoptions, the Lord changed their country. {sick feeling}
-I walked into Publix and literally ran into a buggy filled with markdowns of Valentine Day cards and guess what theme they were, Madagascar (the movie). {sick feeling}
-When I would log onto FB random posts involving Madagascar would pop up. {sick feeling}
-I started dreaming about it. {sick feeling}

The list goes on and on. And on and on. It was beginning pop up everywhere I turned.
Except for the Word.
I told the Lord I did NOT want this to be me running wild with my own desires. Seeking this out on my own. Wanting this just to see us moving. And at the same time was begging Him to make it clear if this were His doings or not.
Did He tell us Ethiopia to get us into Madagascar?
Did He close the door to open another one?

DO YOU SEE MY STRUGGLE HERE????????

I slowly starting Googling Madagascar. Images/maps/religion/culture.
I looked for maybe 5 min's and closed it out.
{SICK FEELING}

Emily and I went to see Les Mis in Charleston, SC a couple weekends ago. That morning in our hotel our conversation ended up on Madagascar. We stumbled upon a blog of a family in Atlanta that was adopting from Madagascar, watched a video of an adoption from Madagascar & saw beautiful pictures of Madagascar.  That afternoon after we ate lunch we turned to walk down a side walk and a trolley pulled up beside us. Guess what plastered on the side of it?
MADAGASCAR

All I could do was look at her and laugh.
WHAT IN THE WORLD LORD???

I told her on the way home I guess it was time for me to get serious about praying about Madagascar.

I still had that hurt. That sting every time I thought about it.

BUT, GOD....

The Lord is so gentle. He's such a gentleman.
The sweet reminder of just being willing was remembered.

The willingness that got us here in the first place.
The willingness of two years ago when we said "Lord here is our YES. Whatever you want us to do, whatever the cost, whatever it looks like, whatever it takes, we are willing."

Maybe He just wants us to be willing to change our countries.

Willingness doesn't mean it's not going to be painful or you won't be scared to death.

It's just simply a surrender of my will and acceptance of His.

So I told Him last Tuesday morning on the way to Bible study. I'm willing Lord. It hurts to think about, it's not what I want, but if it's Your will, I'm willing.

That afternoon is when we got the news Ethiopia was GOOD TO GO & our pause was OVER!
That.after.noon!!
We were staying with Ethiopia!!!
I can't put into words exactly how I felt.
The THANKFULNESS that He allowed us to stay with Ethiopia.
The THANKFULNESS that the changes/decisions only took 1 month. ONE month people!
The RELIEF of the battle of switching countries was over, just like that. In 1 minute all of the sleepless nights constant prayer, insane emotions. Over, just like that.
The REALIZATION that the Creator of the universe bent His ear down & heard my cries and even answered me.

He's so good y'all. He's so faithful.
He only wants your "YES."
He only wants your willingness.
Let Him decide the rest. What it will look like & be full of. He'll show you and it will be very clear!

6 Months. We've been waiting six months.
Because waiting is NOT paused. It is a slow play.
Waiting has never felt so good....

As soon as I pray, you answer me, you encourage me by giving me strength.

Ps 138:3

Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us!

We are glad!

Ps 126:3

Some friends & I have had this on repeat this week.

Have a listen. 

It's a good one :)

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

Kim

Prayer Request: Ethiopia Changes/Delay

Yesterday we received an email with not so good news.

The Ethiopian Government has decided to make changes to their adoption process. They are consulting with other countries to see how their programs run.
While they are in the process of discussing/making those changes the government is not renewing licenses with Agencies in Ethiopia causing them to not send referrals out.

(Referral = Files containing a child's information (pictures/medical info/etc) matched with a family. This is what we are "waiting" to receive from our agency for our Lily.)

Our agency informed us that they are not accepting any more Applications for Ethiopia at this point & that  worse case scenario we could move laterally to another program (Country) within our agency.......

When I hear the term in the adoption world "Worth the fight" this is the fighting I think of.

This fight is fought on my knees.

For we are not fighting against flesh & blood enemies, but against evil rulers & authorities of the unseen world, against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Eph 6:12

There is an enemy that is real y'all. 

And his greatest desire is to steal, kill & destroy. 

And he doesn't care what your name is, how much money you have or who your momma is! 

He does not want these orphans to have forever families!  

I know the end of the story and the Lord still.wins.

Would you please, please pray with us?!?!

Pray for:

*the orphans in Ethiopia

*the families waiting

*for birth mamma's & daddy's 

*for speedy decisions/changes to take place within the government that would ultimately make this process more efficient!!

We are fighting for you baby girl!

Tooth.and.nail.on.our.knees.FIGHTING.for you!

The enemy will not win! He may cause delay but my God NEVER delays!

He is ALWAYS on time! 

We are doing what Moses said: 

"We are not going to be afraid! We are standing still & watching the Lord himself fight for you!" 

Ex 14:13-14

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

Kim

Created 4 Care: My Confession...

"That doesn't sound like you."

Is what my momma told me this morning on the phone when I was telling her about my weekend at Created 4 Care.
This weekend was not a fun, warm fuzzy, picture takin' weekend.
It was a hard, lonely, emotional one.

Imagine a woman who can't bear children surrounded by 400+ momma's who all weekend are sharing their stories about their children, showing pictures on their phones to each other, laughing, taking pictures together in hopes of keeping up with each other later.

This is how I felt.

Listening to all the other adoptive mamma's go on & on about their travel experiences, the countries, the challenges they are dealing with now, when they are adopting next, share the pictures..

And then after they got finished my questions would come:

What country are you adopting from?
Me: Ethiopia

How long have you been home?
Me: We are waiting.

Oh, how long have you been waiting?
Me: Almost 5 months

Yes, we waited 2 years.

TWO YEARS
2.YEARS

And that was every other conversation I had or over heard.

Ethiopia....2.5 year wait....Ethiopia....2 year wait....Ethiopia....3 year wait......

This thought of this time in the waiting room being 6-12 months is not reality.
Listen, it could be, but the chances are not likely.
The hard core truth is that we are going to be waiting a loooooong time.

Before I knew it, I was becoming angry, bitter, JEALOUS, lonely & was ready to leave.

Sure there were 250+ other momma's there who were also in the waiting room along with me but the last thing I wanted to do go seek them out & encourage them to sit around with me and talk about how jealous I was. Who in the world would want to do that?

I knew my heart was showing on my face. I knew that it was becoming VERY obvious that everything I was feeling was being shown and I HATED it. How selfish of me to allow my sour state effect my friends who are rejoicing with fellow momma's and new friends over what the Lord has done for them, how He is still working all of their stuff for good & sharing those precious pictures of their blessings!

Saturday night I found myself around a corner by myself to escape the smiles & laughter, Bible in hand & called my husband.

I begin to tell him everything I was feeling, experiencing & how I just wanted to escape it SO BAD!
I was ready to come home.

He tried to encourage me & remind me that all of them had been exactly where I was at one point & knew how I was feeling & for me to remember all that the Lord had done thus far in our journey. His voice was encouraging alone.

We hung up & I just sat. I needed something from the Lord, I needed some encouragement from HIS Word.
I opened my Bible to Habakkuk, of all places, & began reading:

Even though the fig trees have no blossoms & there are no grapes on the vines,

even though the olive crop fails & the fields lie empty & barren;

even though the flocks die in the fields & the cattle barns are empty,

YET I will rejoice in the Lord!

I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!

Hab 3:17-19

This is exactly how I was feeling.
No blossoms, no grapes, failure, EMPTY, BARREN

But I KNEW I had to CHOOSE to rejoice.
And at the time, the last thing I wanted to do was rejoice.
It comes to the point where you choose to trump your feelings & beg the Holy Spirit to take over.

I had to read the words out.loud. Just reading them in my mind was not good enough.
I had to say them out loud.
When His name is said, the very atmosphere has to change.
And it.did for me in that moment. Thank you LORD.

He met me right there in that little corner, right in my bitterness, anger, jealousy, loneliness & gave me a Word of hope.

Even though my little pink blossom isn't here yet & the barn is feeling empty of a precious little girl, YET I will rejoice in the Lord.

Y'all the rubber is hitting the road.

We heard this weekend:

"Adoption is not an act, it's a process."

And this stripping away of me is a part of the process called: "Adoptification" aka sanctification through adoption.


I went back to our room filled with 2 momma's home with their China babies & one friend who came as a supporter to her best friend.

Side note: you do NOT have to be an adoptive momma to attend Created 4 Care. You can come as a supporter of someone you know who is adopting/has adopted. OR if you are praying about/considering adoption. I HIGHLY recommend you attend. This kind of real-life training/teaching is not in a book & not online.

I knew the Lord was doing a work. As I laid there in the bed Saturday night I literally felt like I was in a warzone. The enemy on one side & the Lord on the other. My flesh on 1 side & the Holy Spirit on the other and I COULD NOT get the upper hand. I just couldn't do it. I couldn't overcome the jealousy, the bitterness, the anger, the feeling of wanting to escape. Even with my Word He had just given me to help me in that moment I knew something else was needing to take place.

The next morning the Lord delivered the perfect message through our speaker.
He tends to do that.
Deliver just what you need at just the right timing.
Whether it's a word or a Lily.

She taught on the story of Hagar, you know, the Egyptian servant Sarai got Abram to sleep with so they could have an heir?  Sarai became contempt (angry/jealous) with Hagar & treated her horribly so Hagar fled to the wilderness. Poor Hagar! This was not her fault! When she got to the wilderness the Angel of the Lord FOUND her (bc He sees right where we are), called her by Name (bc He knows our name) & asked her "where have you come from & where are you going?" The Angel proceeded to tell Hagar to return to Sarai, submit to her authority & added "I will give you more descendants that you can count." (Through her son Ishmael.) The Angel went on to be very honest with her & told her "this son of yours will be a wild man, as untamed as a wild donkey! He will raise his fist against everyone, yes he will live in open hostility with his relatives."
Then Hagar referred to the Lord as "El Roi" which means, "the God who sees" & she said "I have been seen by the One who sees."

Once you have been seen by The One who see's, it doesn't matter who else sees you.

So Hagar went back. Abraham & Sarah had their son Issac. He grew up & was about to be weaned so they threw a party. At the party Sarah saw Ishmael laughing & that same bitterness & anger rose up in her towards her Egyptian servant Hagar & Sarah had Hagar & Ishmael banished.

IMPORTANT PART:

Hagar & Ishmael ended up wandering in the wilderness & when the water was gone she made Ishmael go sit in the shade while she went a little ways off & began to pour her heart out to the Lord.
"I don't want to watch the boy die."
God heard the cries of the boy & said "Hagar, I have heard the boy crying, go to him & comfort him, for I will make a great nation from his descendants."

And here it is..............

"Then God opened Hagar's eyes........and she saw a well full of water....."

In her state of hopelessness Hagar had lost her vision. She could no longer see. She couldn't see what the Lord was doing. She couldn't fix her eyes on the promise He had made to her the first time in the wilderness: " I will give you more descendants than you can count."

When He opened her eyes, He opened her spiritual eyes & gave her vision.

He enabled her to see the movement she could not see. 

Oh Lord this is what I need!! The reality of waiting for a possibility of years completely & utterly wipes out my vision. I'm being honest.

This is not something my husband's sweet words can encouragement me to get through.
This is not something my best friend who has been there & done that can get me through.
This is ONLY something the Lord can get me through and the realization of this IS HARD.

In my kicking & screaming on the inside, my flesh, wants to take over & become a hard hearted, bitter, jealous girl.

There is my confession.
Here is what I am asking the Lord:

Open my spiritual eyes so I can see the movement I can not see with my own eyes.
I want to perceive what You are doing.
I want to know what you are doing.
I want to be aware of your presence.


This picture of me coming to the END of myself & Him taking over is what it feels like.
And the scary part is that I know there will be more things to come to the end of but...

There.is.no.place.I'd.rather.be.
Becoming more like my Jesus is worth it.
And my daughter is worth it.
And His glory is worth it.
And knowing Him more is worth it.

That image of the man sculpting a tiger out of a block of wood comes to mind.
He see's the tiger before He even begins & chisels everything away that is not the tiger for the end result...

Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror but THEN we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but THEN I will know everything completely, just as God knows me completely.

1 Cor 13:12

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

Kim

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