Today

Eyerusalem (Rue) and Tsinat (Nat) were very excited to be in the airport before we left ET; they were completely enthralled with planes and then we took off and then the throwup came and the excitement quickly left Nat.  After 32 hours and countless barf bags we arrived in Savannah GA with a very sick, dehydrated and exhausted little Ethiopian.  Rue traveled beautifully, smiles and giggles the whole way which is interesting because it was she that concerned me in regards to travel due to her ears.  Countless times throughout the flights Nat would raise her head from her sick-enduced coma to throw up yet again and through the snot, spit, throwup and tears I saw sad and empty eyes.  I asked myself multiple times what have we done and how can I possibly care for them and quickly God reminded me that I would not be the one caring for them, that He would be handling that and I would just need to be the hands that held the barf bag and He would do the rest.  As soon as we left ET I began to see the girls differently, they seemed more broken and lost then I had realized.  One of the stewardesses was giving us advice to battle the air sickness and she mentioned that they often fly refugees out of Africa and when she said that word "refugee" I realized that we too had brought 2 refugees out of ET and the thought terrified me.  I had expected to feel relief when we finally got them on the plane to bring them home but I was not relieved, I was concerned as I looked at the girls.  The severity of their loss and pain became ever more apparent as we traveled back to the land of abundance, their lack became painfully obvious as we neared plenty.  Life in ET can be very difficult even when you do have two parents but when you are an orphan difficult does not even begin to describe life.  Our girls have suffered in ways unimaginable to me.  They lost their father as toddlers and their mother was left to raise them as a single mom.  Rue fell down 6 stone steps at the age of 3 and subsequently lost her hearing.  Then 2 1/2 years ago their mother became very ill one evening, the girls tried to get help, to find someone to get a car to take her to the hospital but that help did not come until the following morning and it was too late by then.  Rue and Nat cared for their dying mother throughout the night; this little girl that sat next to me on the plane throwing up her little guts had watched her mother die and to be honest I don't know what to do with that except pray and catch her throwup.  After burying their mother they went to the orphanage where the have spent the last 2 1/2 years waiting, waiting for a family, waiting for an answer.  So I pray that they will meet their Answer very soon and their Answer will heal their every wound and dry every tear but in the mean time we will catch the puke and wipe away the snot and the spit and give Him the space and the time to do what He does and what they so desperately need.

With the understanding that we are dealing with two wounded souls here I completely understand that we will have difficult days, but today, their first day at home was NOT one of those difficult days.  Today was perfect, perfect weather (I prayed this morning for a beautiful day) from a perfect God and through His sunshine and gentle breeze He smiled down upon my little family today.  And we have done enough laundry to clothe a small army because that is in fact what we have here and we have eaten avacados, apples, potatoes, rice and bananas and we have played UNO and Go Fish and built Lego houses and looked up a dozen or so words in the ASL dictionary and have played charades many times in our attempt to communicate with Rue and Nat and it has been wonderful, heavenly really.  We have explained quite a few times that is ok to flush toilet paper down the toilet and that it is unnecessary to wash your underwear and socks in the sink and we have figured it out moment by moment and God has been good to us everyday in every way.

Today was a day of firsts ~

First time on a trampoline ~

First time for new sisters to hang out ~

Today was a day to learn new things from your new dad ~

Right now we are the midst of showering 6 children after feeding 6 children and soon we will read Bible stories to 6 and then we will have the joy of tucking in for the night, times 6.  And while they sleep we will continue to pray that God heals them while they sleep, heals them while the play, heals them while they learn and that He will continually fill our home with His presence so that Rue and Nat will become whole in their new home.  Soon our girls will no longer be the walking wounded but rather they will walk in the joy of the Lord ~

Isaiah 35:10   "The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads.  They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."