High/low

This entry will be short as I am a day behind.  Today is Thursday, but I haven't yet written about Wednesday. 

Each day after we finish our activities and return to the guest house for the night, we have a group meeting.  We discuss the day just finished and the plan for the day upcoming, and everyone shares their high point of the day and their low point.  Here are my high and low for yesterday, Wednesday.

Yesterday morning we were back at CFI.  After the first day, the kids have been waiting for us each day at the gate.  They run into your arms and hug you, so glad we are back.  Some of them will wade through the group looking for that one special adult, the one who held them all morning yesterday or played ball with them.  Even though Zoe, Terri, and I have worked with the women almost exclusively, we each are still part of the swarm of arriving each morning. 

On Tuesday, as we were leaving for CFI, Zoe came out to the van asking if it was okay to go to CFI without her passport as she hadn't been able to quickly find it.  We left, and she came with us, and when we got back to the guest house that night she still couldn't find it.  Michelle, being the able leader that she is, realized that Timkit (Epiphany in Ethiopia) began on Wednesday, and that if Zoe was going to have to go to the U.S. Embassy to try to get a new passport, she was going to have to right away.  Offices would be open Wednesday and maybe a half day on Thursday and then closed till next week.  Not good if you need a whole passport processed by Saturday night!

When we came back from CFI to have lunch, I was so heavy for Zoe.  After lunch, the group was headed for Bright Hope School, and Zoe was going to the U.S. Embassy.  Elizabeth, Peter's wife, who is American and has had to deal with the U.S. Embassy here, was going with Zoe.  I felt so burdended to pray for Zoe, for the passport, for it to be found.  Yet, I couldn't find a time or a group to join me.  Finally, as we were walking out the door to Bright Hope School, I just grabbed Michelle and Zoe, and we prayed together.  We boldly asked that the passport be found and that it be found right away - before Zoe even got on her way to the Embassy.  We were confident in God's grace, His mercy, and His power. 

We left the guest house.  I kept hoping the guest house manager would run out the door at the last minute waving the passport in the air.  She didn't.  We made a stop at Peter & Elizabeth's house, so Elizabeth could get her passport.  It suddenly occurred to me that Zoe's passport could be there.  She had been in Peter and Elizabeth's house earlier this week.  It wasn't.  We talked on the way to Bright Hope and there was conversation that Zoe's passport could be there.  Ephrim dropped the group at Bright Hope and drove off with Zoe and Elizabeth.  I prayed.  I hoped.  We spent a couple of hours at the school.  Bright Hope is a government (public) school on the edge of Korah.  Korah is a community that was formed on the edge of the city trash dump.  It was started by lepers coming in from the countryside.  They were shunned from their neighborhoods and hoped to find medical care and opportunity to support themselves in Addis, the big city.  They found neither.  They were ostracized in the city as well, and formed a small community at the city trash dump where they could scavenge the trash for food and things they could sell.  I had heard about Korah, and we were supposed to visit the trash dump last year, but couldn't.  It was sobering to be there.  Korah has existed long enough now that a third generation has been born there from the original families.  Besides leprosy, the community also now suffers severely with AIDS.  Although Bright Hope is a government school (government schools are technically free, but require payment for uniforms and school supplies), 1500 children from Korah attend there totally free.  300 of those children suffer from AIDS and are also given a free lunch.  It is an amazing place, with its own vegetable garden and chicken farm. 

As I stepped out of the director's office at Bright Hope, I saw Michelle, who said to me, "Zoe wants to hug your neck!"  My response:  "Zoe's here?"  With a huge smile, Michelle told me Zoe was there and had found her passport!  I wanted to scream!!!  I love it when God makes Himself known.  He invites us in the Bible in the last chapter of Malachi, to "try Me and see if I won't open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing on you."  We did, and He did.  It is humbling and exciting to tell God out loud that you need Him and you trust Him and to ask Him to apply His hand to you.  It is breathtaking when He answers and does just that.  Zoe finding her passport, or more accurately, God directing Zoe to exactly where her passport was located, was my high for the day.

As we left Bright Hope, we were driven by the city dump.  I had caught a glimpse of it last year, in a sight that is seared into my mind and heart forever.  The sight this year was much the same.  Big backhoes were moving trash around in an area that was obviously used for new dumps.  As these enormous machines worked, as huge birds circled overheard, dozens of people scrambled over the trash.  They carried large shawls on their backs, and most of their shawls were full.  I cannot describe to you the feeling of watching fellow human beings digging in huge mounds of garbage for their very survival.  The feeling, indescribable as it is, only deepens when you think that they do it every day, and that it is all the hope they have of doing anything.  Watching those people in that place was my low. 

You don't forget images like that, and you shouldn't.  I hope I never do.  I also hope I never lose the sick feeling in my stomach when I think of it.  I pray it spurs me ever on to do something.  You also don't forget highs like that.  That kind of God high is the only thing that makes that kind of low bearable.  It is the only hope we have.  It is the only hope they have.  It is power in the midst of impossible tragedy and suffering.  I pray that we learn ever more to request it and to rely on it. 

Please pray for us as we continue seeking opportunities to bless, ways to make things better here, and wisdom to depend entirely on God who is the only One powerful enough to do something about it.

Beauty and Fire

I fully intended to post last night, but we had a little excitement - our guest house caught on fire!!!  We had an electrical fire in the breaker box right outside our bedroom on the third floor.  As we were putting the kids to bed, reading Bible story, etc., we kept hearing a crackling, whining noise.  We thought they were still grinding coffee downstairs in the kitchen, which they had been doing when we came upstairs. The lights began flickering and then were going off and coming on.  Again, this would not be that unusual when a coffee grinder is running, as the electricity is not completely dependable here.  However, what we didn't know was that the breaker box was flaming in the hallway on the same wall that our clothes cabinets in our room sit on (where all  our clothes, our passports, & our money are stored).  I heard voices, sounding excited, and then I heard, "Do you think I should get them out of here?" followed by "Yes!"  There came a knock on our door, and realizing the situation, Carlos ran down the stairs, Dave grabbed up Kiki, and I did what any mother would do - I started grabbing everything I thought we would need to get through the next couple of days and to eventually get out of the country!  I was loaded like a pack mule when I stepped into the hallway.  By that point the fire was out.  Thank you, Lord!

God always provides,  He knows what we need, and on this trip He knew we would need an electrician, so He provided us one in one of our team members.  Thank you, Dick!  He immediately had everything under control.  We ended up with no power on the top two floors of the guest house, but everyone was safe and the house only sustained damage on the one wall.  This morning an Ethiopian electrician came to assess the situation, under Dick's supervision.  (There is no building code here!)  We were told that we would have no power or electricity on the top two floors for the rest of the trip.  (Which I think meant that all 19 of us would be sharing one bathroom!!)  This afternoon, however, after further analysis and repair, the second floor has full power and hot water, and the third floor (ours) has hot water, but no power.  What a relief.  We don't need electricity, but hot water for a shower sure is nice.

The fire leads me to the beauty.  One of the greatest blessings of this trip has been my teammates.  Yesterday, we spent the morning back at CFI.  More time with the beautiful children, and wonderful fellowship with the women.  The number of women coming to our "women's fellowship" has increased each day.  Yesterday, we had almost 40.  We had planned a craft for each morning this week, and three of us are trying to coordinate teaching 35-40 Ethiopian women how to make something through a male interpreter!  We've dyed scarves, sewn small felt stuffed animals, and beaded the scarves.  Yesterday, we needed about a million small felt pieces cut out in the shapes of a lion's body, mane, paws, and face.  Several folks on our team spent Monday evening cutting out those shapes.  Even so, we ended up without enough yesterday morning - more women came than on Monday!  We needed to teach the sewing project and cut more pieces.  We also needed to iron the scarves that had been dyed on Monday, to heat set the color.  We were a little busy, to say the least.  Out of nowhere, in walks Dean, a member of our team, and says, "Do you need me to iron?  I'm free this morning, so I can iron for the next three hours if you need me."  WHAT?  A man, volunteering to iron for us for three hours?!  And before he even started that, he began cutting out our extra felt pieces with a pattern.  I'm not joking  when I say it was a beautiful act of service.

In the afternoon, we went to Onesimus - a drop-in center for the street kids of Addis Ababa.  Onesimus is an amazing place.  It provides education, food, medical care, and love and support to street kids - runaways, orphans, and abandoned children, from the very small to teenagers.  It is hard, hard work done by amazing Christian Ethiopians.  The ladies in our church collected books to fill new, mostly empty shelves in the Onesimus library.  What an amazing privilege to be the one to deliver those books, to see them go on the shelves, to see the joy and encouragement felt by the Onesimus staff.  Thank you, ladies of Northside Baptist Church!  You made a real difference in the world yesterday!  Onesimus, the name of a slave in the book of Philemon in the Bible, means, "thought to be useless, but useful to the Lord."  I love that name.

The kids at Onesimus are hardened street kids.  Many come into the center high.  They are scrappy and ready to fight.  They are in constant survival mode.  As they played basketball yesterday afternoon, a number of fights broke out - quick, vicious, violent fights.  And then, a picture of beauty.  One of the guys on our team, Tim, a tall, athletic guy who was running basketball drills with the kids, stepped in and pulled the kids apart.  He was calm, firm, and strong.  He stopped the fight and reprimanded the kids.  But the beauty was in the way he did it.  I'm sure some of these kids are used to getting knocked in the head by whatever adult happens to be around.  They get harrassed and likely beaten by the police.  They get bullied by older kids.  Here was a tall, strong man who treated them kindly and with respect even as he brought them under control and reprimanded them.  It was beautiful to watch. 

As the guys played basketball and ran drills with the boys (and yesterday there were primarily boys at Onesimus), I sat there wondering what to do to try to engage the boys.  As I looked around, I saw another teammate, Zoe, sitting on a bench playing hand-clapping games with a group of three older boys.  I had no idea what to do with these kids.  Zoe sat down and started playing.  Without being able to speak to each other, they were having a grand time and laughing their heads off.  It was beautiful.  There was one very small child at Onesimus yesterday, sitting alone on the stairs, staring off into space, alone.  Not much later, I saw Zoe holding that precious little one, rocking very slightly back and forth, rubbing her back gently.  Before I knew it both their eyes were closed.  It was a picture of perfect tenderness.  It was so incredibly beautiful.  Zoe has a breathtaking ability to engage and love kids.  It is a privilege to watch.

And finally, back to the fire last night.  Carlos was completely freaked out by the whole incident.  He was beside himself for a good while after the fire was put out.  Now understand, that he never wanted to come to Ethiopia to begin with.  He honestly admitted that he was afraid.  He is a cautious, cautious kid that hates the unknown.  He has come to Ethiopia and thrived, but a fire in the middle of it was just too much to bear.  The men on this team rallied round him and encouraged him, consoled and reassured him.  Boys need good Christian male role models, even those who have good fathers, like Carlos does.  My boy is surrounded by them on this trip.  I looked up once to see Dean hugging him and reassuring him.  Neil took him upstairs and gave him a special necklace to wear to sleep in that his father had given him.  Dick took the time to explain the electrical issues, which  means all the world to Carlos - knowledge dispells the unknown and thus, the fear.  Even Sirgahuy (sp?), the Ethiopian woman who runs the guest house and cooks and cleans for us, was hugging and kissing him and gave him a special flashlight when we had to go upstairs in the dark.  It was beautiful!!!

God tries us, and sometimes those trials are hard, hard, hard, but He gives us beauty in those trials.  Thank you, Lord, for eyes to see the beauty You so faithfully provide!

First Day of Service

The first time I came to Ethiopia I fell madly in love - with my new baby girl and with this beautiful country and its people.  The second time I came to Ethiopia, I was desperately heartbroken - by the tragedy of starving children, by the heartbreak of mothers who can't provide, by the vastness of the suffering.  On this, my third trip to Ethiopia, I was confronted by reality.  The beauty is still here, the dignity and joy are still present in the people, the passion and fire of their faith is pulsing, but the hunger, the loss, the pain, and the hopelessness slap you in the face. 

This morning, our whole group arrived at CFI at 9:00.  We conducted Bible school for the kids, and a few of us participated in a women's fellowship with the mothers/guardians of CFI's children.  This women's fellowship was a new addition from last year, and boy, was it popular!!  CFI cares for 70 children.  We expected up to 25 women in our fellowship and were surprised when 32 showed up and a few more wandered in as the morning progressed.  We had taken plain, white scarves and dye for the women to design and make their own beautiful scarves.  How fun it was to see them catch on to the process so quickly, make it their own, take charge, and create their own patterns and colors regardless of what the "typical" process was!  And all this despite a language barrier!  When we first started, I found myself without a particular assignment in the process, so I went around the room and tried to learn everyone's name and asked about their children.  We laughed alot, because after about 5 of them, I couldn't remember who was who or how to pronounce any of them except "Olive"!!  It touched me deeply to hear their stories - a mother who "disappeared" leaving her child to be raised by her sister, a grandmother whose daughter died, leaving her to raise a grandchild.  I was proudly shown beautiful twins, dressed identically, and was introduced to another Kidist, who immediately jumped into my arms and hugged me for at least 3 solid minutes.  What a joy to serve these amazing women, women who lead desperately hard lives, but whose joy is real and whose children are every bit as precious and wonderful as our own.

This afternoon we went to Kechene, the poorest area of Addis.  (And that's saying something.)  An amazing man named Nicodemus, in his old age, began (with his wife) caring for recently orphaned children in his neighborhood in Kechene a few years ago.  He now runs a drop-in center for impoverished and orphaned children in Kechene that serves 130 children 7 days a week.  The children are fed, clothed, and educated as best they can be given the resources available - an absolute miracle.  The main classroom is a cinderblock room with one window.  There are 24 benches, eight to a row in three rows, and the children sit three to a bench.  There is no electricity, and the only light comes from the one window or the one piece of vinyl that replaces a single sheet of tin in the roof.  I visited this same center last year on this trip and thoroughly enjoyed watching the children and their energetic, totally funny teacher sing songs and do silly motions for us.  They were amazing.  The room was depressing.  Walking back in that room today slayed me.  It was all the same - the same dark, dank classroom; the same desperate, desperate need; the same pain in tiny little faces; the same worn, ragged clothes.  It was almost more than I could bear.  As soon as the kids finished singing and we left the classroom to go outside and play, a little girl grabbed my hand and was my buddy the whole day.  All I had to offer today was a hand to hold, a smile, a game.  Important and yet woefully inadequate.  Her name was Delita, and she was an absolute delight.  I imagine her life is far from delightful.

Our kids continue to be amazing.  They played with the kids at CFI and at Kechene.  They did not cling.  They weren't afraid.  In fact, I had to go looking for them to see what they were up to and have the enjoyment of watching them participate.  They love the whole team, and how blessed we are to see the adults on this team engaging them in conversation, playing cards with them, making sure they have hand saniziter, including them.  After many long days and short nights already, they had baths and went to bed early tonight.  I pray they rest well.

We are so blessed.  As Michelle, our leader, has said many times, it is a privilege to be here doing this work.  It is amazing to be doing it together as a family.  It is important to know that children and mothers live this way.  And it is imperative that we follow the direction of our Lord and do something about it.  As our family verse for this trip says:  Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this:  to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.  James 1:27.

Please pray for us as we start a new day of service tomorrow.

We're Here!!!!!!!!

Okay!  I dropped off the scene for the last two months, and I apologize for that.  Dave fell off a ladder Thanksgiving weekend and could have killed himself, but for the grace of God.  The last two months were a flurry of doctors' visits and surgeries, but amazingly, Dave was still good to go on our trip.  We got it all put together, and we are officially in Ethiopia! 

We left on Friday to meet our team at the airport, carrying more luggage than any one family could ever manage.  Each member of our family took two large suitcases, the kids each carried on a duffel bag, I had a purse (really a huge bag stuffed with snacks, neck pillows, passports, and about 50 lbs. of other gear), a book bag (which I never leave home without and which typically weighs at least 25 pounds), a camera bag, and a small rolling suitcase, which we also carried on.  We were on a different flight from the rest of our team, so we saw them off and then grabbed a bite of lunch.  Our flight was then delayed for over an hour - very stressful when you are supposed to connect to a flight in Detroit and then meet your team in Amsterdam for the final connecting flight to Ethiopia.  We made it to Detroit in time for our connection, and Carlos then got really stressed out about the overseas flight.  We talked about taking things one step at a time, settled into our seats, and took off.  At about 10:30 p.m. we settled in for sleep, and woke up in Amsterdam at 1:30 a.m. our time to discover it was really 8:30 a.m. where we were.  Short night.  We met our group, made our connection, and arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at 9:00 p.m., where we found our beloved Tia Terri, who had flown in to join us from Chicago via Franfort, Germany.  So, we left our house at 9:30 a.m. Friday morning, and arrived at the Providence Guest House, our place of residence for the week, at about 12:30 a.m. Sunday.  Door to door, that's 39 hours. 

I have to say, our kids were amazing.  Friday night gave them 3 hours of sleep, they had very little food (the airplane food was particularly horrible all the way through), and they went to bed at 1:00 a.m. Sunday morning.  Even so, we had no meltdowns, no tantrums (no big ones anyway), and lots of compliments on what great travellers they are.  Thank You, Lord!  Carlos vacillated between being distressed at going and thinking that this was a terrific adventure.  Kiki was excited beyond words the whole time.  By the time we went to bed Saturday night/Sunday morning, she'd already made friends with everyone on the team.  As we went to bed, Carlos was almost in tears, wishing he was home.  I confess I was ill at ease myself.  Lack of sleep and nutritious food were contributing factors, I'm sure.  I sent a quick text home to the two best sisters a girl could ever have, got immediate responses, scripture, and prayers, and finally fell asleep I don't know when.  3:00 a.m.?

Kidist slept like a rock.  Oddly, Carlos apparently decided to start sleep walking in Addis.  At least twice in the night, I woke up to find him walking around our room.  One time, he walked up to the side of the bed and asked, "What time is it?"  Both times he climbed back in bed and went back to sleep. 

The big joke about our room is that we got the "jacuzzi suite".  Having a family of four, we got the biggest room, which includes a double bed, a set of bunkbeds, and its own bathroom.  In that bathroom is the largest jacuzzi tub I have ever seen.  Not exactly what you expect to have on a mission trip.  What is hilarious, though, is the miniature hot water heater hanging on the wall above the tub.  That hot water heater provides exactly enough shower water for two people to get clean if each of you shuts off the water as soon as you wet your hair, turns it back on to rinse, shuts it off again to lather your body, and rinses off very quickly.  We decided that you could either have bubbles from the jets in a full tub of ice cold water or you could have a nice, hot soak for your feet!  I really don't get why the thing is there, but anyway, the Valadez family is enjoying a jacuzzi suite during our service to orphans and widows.  Shameful.

This morning we woke to an incredibly beautiful day.  Warm Ethiopian sunshine spilled from a bright blue sky with puffy white clouds.  We worshipped at Beza International Church.  They offer an 11:00 service in English.  These people know how to worship!  Carlos' comment as we left the church was, "These people know how to do music!"  We returned to the guest house for lunch:  eggplant and potatoes over rice (yummy), tuna pizza (yes, you read that right), and lamb pizza (also good). 

Peter Abera, founder of Compassion Family International, the organization we will spend the most time with this week, told his story and the history and mission of CFI.  He and his wife, Elizabeth, have incredible hearts for the Lord and for the poorest of children in Addis Ababa and their families.  Peter's story moved me to tears, even though I'd heard it once before.  Hearing how God orchestrated a million details to bring Peter and Elizabeth, to this place, doing this work, with the people that have come on this team, is astounding.  Truly, we serve a sovereign, almighty God. 

We are relaxing now as the sun is setting.  We'll have dinner, a team meeting, and then head off to bed.  Tomorrow, we meet the kids of CFI, and begin the heartbreaking work of loving those who are in the midst of the deepest tragedies.  Please pray for us!  Please pray that we get good sleep tonight.  Please pray that we bless kids and families/guardians tomorrow.  Please pray that God is glorified in all we do.

Shoes and Shots

On Sunday, we lugged home from church two big boxes and one laundry basket full of shoes and a bag of shoelaces.  We spent the afternoon sorting shoes - checking for holes, making sure the shoelaces were still intact, tying pairs together (not so easy with the velcro type).  We stuffed each pair with a pair of soft, new, white socks.  (Thanks, friends!)  We also stuffed each pair with a note written by one of our elementary kids from church.  A couple of Sundays ago, we provided small cardstock squares and markers and colored pencils and asked all the kids in Sunday school that day to write a note to the child who would be receiving the shoes they had collected.  We typically have around 40 kids, so I thought if each kid wrote 3 notes, we'd have our shoes filled.  Attendance was down a bit, not everyone wrote cards, and some were illegible, so we came home with only 50 cards.  Another note-writing Sunday will be in order!

We let the kids decide what to write.  We asked them to write a note, draw a picture, include their favorite Bible verse, or write whatever was on their heart.  Thanks to Michelle, who with very little notice got us the Amharic translation of "Jesus loves you", we were able to write out "Eyesus Yiwodihal" for our kids to copy if they wanted.  Most of all, we wanted them to sign their names.  We want the kids in the Ethiopia Youth Soccer Ministry to know that real kids their own age collected these shoes and sent them half way around the world for them.  In the "Kids' Cove" where our kids meet for Sunday School and Wednesday night services, we have an enlarged photograph of the kids in the Ethiopia Youth Soccer League.  My hope is to take to those kids a picture of all the kids in our elementary program.  I so want them to see each other's faces!  How cool will it be for the Ethiopian kids to be able to connect a face with the name on the note in their shoes?! 

My kids were excited to carry two big boxes, containing 50 pairs of shoes with socks and notes, into the "white house" where we have our weekly Ethiopia team meetings on Sunday evenings.  Little by little, it comes together.

Which brings me to yesterday.  I took Carlos to the pediatrician for his 9 year check-up after school yesterday.  The boy is terrified of needles.  I don't know how this happened or why.  Neither his father nor I get squeamish at needles or blood or anything else really, and he's had no horrifying experiences with needles.  But the last time Carlos really had to get any immunizations (maybe age 5?) he went completely beserk.  He was kicking and screaming and flailing about the exam room.  Fortunately, Dave was with me, because it took both of us to hold him down.  He ended up kicking the nurse - with his gym shoes on.  I was mortified.  They marked his file.  With the introduction of the flu mist, we were saved.  A quick squirt up the nose each year has saved us the drama of the injection, so he has passed his yearly exams for a few years now without any incident. 

However, remember that I wrote a few days ago that Carlos might need three vaccinations before our trip?  For this trip, kids have to be vaccinated for Typhoid, Yellow Fever, and Hepatits A.  Kidist got the Hep A when she came here 4 years ago.  I couldn't remember if Carlos had received it or not.  The doctor checked his chart yesterday, and sure enough, he hadn't gotten that one.  Suddenly there was panic in his eyes - a shot?!!!!  "Mom, I'm not supposed to get any more shots until I'm 11!!!" his voicing rising with fear.  Dave was not with me this time.  I explained that he had to have this shot for the trip.  He started to panic, but I told him, flat out, "You cannot freak out on me this time.  You have to sit here and take this shot like the big boy you are."  I wasn't sure until the moment the needle hit his arm, but he did it.  He let out a banshee scream that I'm sure terrified every child in every room down that hallway, but he sat there and took it. 

I was proud of him.  Rational or not, we all have our own fears.  He had to face and conquer his right there on the spot.  There are grown-ups who couldn't have pulled it together and sat there like he did.  This trip is causing him pain and anxiety, and he's facing it with incredible courage and without bitterness and resentment.  I am humbled watching him. I am grateful for God's Spirit within him. 

By the way, I'm going to schedule him and Kiki for different days to get their last two vaccinations at the Travel Clinic.  I'm afraid irrational fears are catching!

Birthday Presents

Our children have been blessed to be able to have parties with their friends for their birthdays each year.  However, with each birthday party, an additional 5 or 8 or 10 toys were coming into our house.  Our kids have too much already, and Dave and I decided that beginning at age 5, our children could relinquish those gifts from friends for a higher purpose. 

When Carlos turned 5, we explained that he would be getting birthday presents from mommy and daddy and aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents, so that he didn't need to get so many more toys from friends.  We asked him to think of someone who might need something and then ask his friends to bring a gift for that person in need.  That first year, Carlos asked his friends to bring new or used baby toys for the nursery at our church.  the nursery workers were in the process of cleaning out old, worn-out toys, so it was the perfect time to bring in new ones for the babies.  His friends (or more accurately, his friends' parents) all complied with our request, and Carlos was able to deliver new and used toys to the church nursery.  One of his favorite people in the world, Mr. Hap (the Children's Minister at our church), was there to receive the donation and talk with Carlos about it, and he was hooked.  He got it.  He liked it.  And any consternation over what he might be missing was gone.  The next year he chose to support our church's food pantry, Covenant Foods, and asked his friends to bring food for the food pantry.  We delivered more than a shopping cart full of food to the pantry that year.  Covenant Foods has been his passion since. 

When Kidist was first presented with the idea, she was ready, because she'd witnessed her brother contributing to Covenant Food all these years.  However, it's tough to give up birthday presents at such a young age, especially for Kiki - our social, vibrant, fun, in-the-moment kid.  She did it, though, and right out of the gate, she wanted her substitute presents to go to Ethiopia.

Carlos still loves Covenant Foods and Ms. Mary, who runs it, but after much thought, he decided this year to do something for the Ethiopian children he will be meeting and serving in January.  The elementary aged kids at our church (which includes Carlos and Kiki) collected over 100 pairs of gym shoes this summer to give to the kids in the Ethiopia Youth Soccer Ministry, a ministry we will work with in Addis Ababa.  There are about 100 children in that program, all of them street kids in Addis.  Carlos decided it would be nice to give each child receiving a pair of shoes a new pair of socks as well.  He asked his friends to forego a present for him and bring new socks to his birthday party.  He received 104 new pairs of socks!  The very best part is that our kids had collected 103 pairs of shoes.  I love it when God makes the math work!!!

Tomorrow we will begin stuffing shoes with socks.  I can't wait to see my kids' faces when they actually hand those socks and shoes to kids who desperately need them.  I know that giving up birthday presents will never be the same for them after that.  How grateful I am that they can learn that lesson so personally.  What a privilege and a blessing.  Thank you, Lord!

Happy Birthday, Carlos!

Today is Carlos' 9th Birthday!  He set his alarm this morning for 6:17 a.m., the time he was born.  I set mine for 6:15 a.m., so I could be by his bed when he woke up.  What a blessing to sit there in the dark and listen to my son breathe!  Somehow, I woke him up, and he sat up in bed, very excited, and said, "Mom!  Get in and lay down with me, so we can be together when the alarm goes off!"  So much excitement over the moment of his beginning.  We laid together like spoons, and I thought back to the cold, November morning nine years ago when he left me to take his place in this world.  Precious.  He's so big now.  I told him as we headed downstairs for breakfast that I thought he'd gotten taller overnight!

He got a half hour of Wii before breakfast, and we ate cinnamon rolls, both big things in a house where TV/video time is tightly controlled and Mom buys only healthy cereal and high-fiber, low-sugar oatmeal!!  The cinnamon rolls were his sister's idea.  She is a sweet freak, so I'm fairly sure she wasn't thinking as much about her brother's birthday as she was angling an opportunity for herself to have junk-food for breakfast. It made for a fun start to her brother's day, so we went with it.  When he found out breakfast was her idea, she was rewarded with a huge, lift-your-feet-off-the-ground hug.  It was a good morning. 

I am reminded of how intensely and abundantly we are blessed.  It really is crazy when you think about it - over the top, "open the floodgates of heaven and let it pour out" kinds of blessings.  My kids are beautiful, smart, healthy, good, safe, well fed, and well cared for.  So, so, so many others are not.  I don't know the whys of it all, but I do know that as a family we want to do something about it.  

Happy Birthday, Carlos!  We love you so much!  Enjoy this day.  And remember, Son, that all your many blessings are from the Lord.