Bitter Sweet Day

I MISS MY KIDS!!!! I WANNA COME HOME!!!

Bad news first...All of the flights are booked through the ENTIRE weekend. If we want to cancel our flight and book with Ethiopian Airlines, Turkish Airlines would keep 80% of our fee. Yikes. We are on a waiting list, so if there are any cancellations, we could get out of here earlier, but right now we have to keep our original flight, arriving home at 7:45 Tuesday evening. Kennady, Landon, and Carson...we have prayed and prayed together as a family about Ava's adoption for 15 months, right? So, God is in control. If we can't come home until Tuesday, God has a reason for it. So we are sad, but we are trusting God.

Good news next...Ava is a U.S. citizen. Our embassy appointment went very well. Travis and Joanna (his wife) went to each appointment with the 12 couples and walked us through everything. We learned that Ava can never again be an Ethiopian citizen. That kind of upset me because I don't feel we should be the ones to make that decision for her. When she gets older, she may want to return to Ethiopia (hopefully as a missionary :) If she does, she'll still be a U.S. citizen.

We began the day at the Holy Trinity Church. A replica of the Ark of the Covenant sits behind a red curtain, only to be opened by the priest on Sunday. Why that rule? In the Old Testament, no one but the priest was allowed to even see the Ark of the Covenant. Obviously, it wasn't Sunday, but we were asking Travis to please hold our cameras behind the red curtain, without opening it, and snap a few pictures. Priests were humming in Ge'ez (the root of Amharic like Latin is the root of English) in one corner of the church while Christians lined the pews praying, so Travis didn't think it was appropriate.

More bad news...Gary got sick from our Ethiopian traditional dinner tonight. You only get sick when you eat large portions of food that your body is not use to! I can't even begin to describe the flavor. We had to eat with our hands using this sour bread to grab the food. I had about three bites so as not to offend anyone. Gary thought he kind of liked it, so away he went! We got to see some traditional Ethiopian dancing. Interesting.

Ava's diarrhea must be gone. I hope. She slept 11 hours again last night and went down tonight at 6:30 when we left for dinner. She was wearing Old Navy pajamas when we left. When we got back to the guest house, her caregiver had put her in a thick blanket pajama suit and had her wrapped in a blanket with a blanket on top! She was sweating! Culturally, Ethiopians believe cold and wind will make their babies sick, so they keep them wrapped year round. Sounds like my mom! :) It was 80 degrees today and I saw several babies with hats on wrapped in big fuzzy blankets!

I will never forget the things I have seen here. Gary and I have been talking about the 2 million orphans and extreme poverty. There are government schools that all children are SUPPOSED to attend. Even if they graduate (and when they do they will be bilingual...Amharic and English), there are no jobs for them. After talking with several people, the root of the problem here is 1) WAY too many people...almost 6 million, and 2) no jobs. There are hundreds and hundreds of mud houses, shacks, or tents set up along the roads where people sell things. Fruits, shoes, coke, bread, etc just to try to make a little money. Everything is negotiable. No set prices. We'll learn more about this when we go souvenir shopping!

In the morning we meet Ava's grandfather. Hopefully he'll allow us to video. I'm nervous about that. How do you meet a grandfather who had to give up his daughter's daughter because he couldn't feed her? These families do not give up their children because they don't want them. They can't feed them. How can we help him understand that before the world began, God knew Kantale would be a Butler. He had a plan for her life. I just know, as I do for Kennady, Landon, and Carson, that Ava will make a difference for Christ. Not a Sunday pew warmer. Not a lukewarm Christian. Someone who will change the lives of others for Christ. Someone who will leave a void when she's gone. That's what I pray for my children. Nothing less.

One thing I have noticed about the children here...They are so incredibly happy. Mommas keep them close, holding their hands or carrying them on their backs. No strollers, no kids wondering around alone. Everyone holds hands. Men hold hands with other men or have their arms around each other. Women, too. The girls that work at our guest house always have their arms around one another or they are sitting on each other's laps. Another bitter sweet feeling. In some ways, I envy the Ethiopians. They seem to have the right frame of mind...people focused, hard workers, and content. If there were jobs here, they would be working hard. You can see them trying. Building mud homes, selling what they can, working in construction (there is a lot of road construction right now that has created more jobs.) Mules are packed down with cement blocks or bags of grain. Little ones following right behind! I haven't taken many pictures of this. They don't like to have their picture taken by Americans. I can understand.

Landon, in a few hours from me writing this, you will be in the archery tournament! I'm thinking about you. I can't wait to hear all about it! Carson, I know you miss us, and we miss you too. It won't be too long! Kennady, we love you. Have fun with Michaela. After this, you may not be spending the night with her for a while! :)

I'm tired. I love you all. Good night!
Tammy