Happy 2nd Birthday, Ayal!!

March 2nd was Ayal's 2nd Birthday.

We are declaring him now 22 years old,

but his real age and birth date is anyone's guess.

~ ♥ ~

If you want to read the most amazing memory from my 2nd trip...  click here,

and read about his 1st ever birthday, and the story behind this photo.

At the end of February, I began reminding

both boys that Ayal's birthday was coming up.

Yes, it is that insignificant there.

As I reminded them, now that they

have a family, it was important to us...

And so, Emnatu John, became my hands and feet.

Turns out, that my choice of March 2nd?

Well that will ALWAYS be a holiday in Ethiopia,

and provide both boys with the day off from

work and school...

It's almost like I planned it!

(but I didn't...)  

The pictures are grainy, they had to use

 a camera phone, but we were so thankful

 to be a part of this!

Emnatu sprung for cake, soda,

snacks, party ware and dinner.

Ummmm... THAT'S a CANDLE!!!

John and I were planning to pay for this celebration.

Planning being the prime word there...

Emnatu was greatly offended by this.

Sweet kid argued with me profusely

 that he HAD money,

and would pay for this himself.  :O) 

Love his heart...

♥ Fendisha, my favorite food. ♥

Loving the photos of us in the background of these.

Back in January, I sent birthday cards for the kids.

Emnatu's was sent to Ayal,

and Ayal's was sent to Emnatu...

Happy Birthday, Ayal John!

So glad you were able to feel special for a day!!

Neat Little Piles

Click the link below:

Neat Little Piles

Love this post from Jerry Shannon.  Jerry and Christy live and work among the poorest of the poor in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  I can't wait to share with you more stories of their ministry when I get back.  Top on my list is for the boys and I to go hold our sponsor babies at the Shannon's day care center... and hopefully take the family out to dinner, to love on them just a bit!

I encourage you to read this post, and catch a glimpse of life for these moms in Ethiopia.  Then pray...

Happy "Family Anniversary"

March 14, 2010,

this young man responded to an email.

He had learned that

God has given him the answer

to a long, long, long prayed prayer.

He now had a Mom,

He had a Dad,

 He had a second brother,

and he had a sister.

So proud to show me his paper from
work, saying he had gotten a raise.



He had people who cared about

him, and his accomplishments.

God used this young man

to change us,

our family,

our priorities,

our fear of leaving the country. ;o)

~ ♥ ~ ♥ ~

And in the process,

this young man changed a little too...

God's goodness in

the past 730 days...

Nothing short of amazing!



Something you might have missed during the darkness...

There were things I wanted to share, but didn't the past two months while the blog was off...

Is it just me, or does the size difference between them,
freak anyone else out?  Sheesh!

 Emnatu and 35 other boys/young men, were asked

 (a better word is "forced", but that sounds negative, and

 really, this was a good thing, hence the word "asked")

 to move out of the orphanage January 11th.

This was his life for so many years, he was
dreading the quiet of living on his own.

This is a good thing for Emnatu especially.  John and I had been asking him to move... well, actually, John was nice about it, I was pretty much type-shouting it for quite a while, but Emnatu John was scared.

Life in an orphanage was the only thing he had ever known (orphaned around age 2) so the unknown of adult life had him terrified.  A week before he moved out...  our/his computer was stolen by one of the other boys.  Further proving my point, that it was time!!! (Guess what I will be lugging with me next week??)

He has moved twice since January, but as of the past month, he is now living with Ayal. Life is good. They are able to share expenses, and they have a 3rd roommate, and with a bit of help from Mom and Dad, they are making it comfortably. (I think)

This is their stove.   Try to control your excitement...

They will always be our "boys", but truly, they are now adults, and learning to live as such.  Emnatu has asked me to teach him how to cook.  I don't know how much I can teach him in a foreign country...

This is the "kitchen" from Ayal's last rental. Ooo, ahh....
CLICK ON PHOTO to enlarge...

 I am not good at "camping" cooking, but it is looking like my first Saturday will be spent at a missionary's house, where SHE has offered to teach us all some dishes.  (And, a second missionary is going to make me some pancake mix, so that the boys and I can make Jesus Pancakes back at the guest house.)

See? Now I can...

Share freely that is...

without fear!

Oh, this is going to be good!

(If you are looking for the post on the reasons for the privacy of this blog, check under this post.)

Meet one of our favorites at Kolfe...

Gashaw

I met him my first trip, (Aug of 2010) and fell in love with this sweet, sweet boy.

He is deaf, in an orphanage with only 3 deaf kids.

Gashaw is an underdog, an outcast of sorts...

always just on the edge of friendships.

To be his friend takes work.

I get this kid.  I too often feel like an outcast,

I don't "fit in" anymore in my surroundings.

(and I thank God for that!)

Very few people want to sit and talk for hours of

orphans, sponsor children, Africa...

I'm on the edge of friendships, just like Gashaw, always looking in.

Maybe I have always been that way, maybe because I was an only child... and now, as an adult, it is only worse, with this God given passion, that just doesn't fit comfortably into this American life I live. 

I know that to know me, isn't always to love me,

and I take a work to stick with.

That is why, I love, love, love this young man!

Smiling, in the midst of a downpour!

Hook, line and sinker,

I get this kid.

When we got back from the trip in August, John said he had a soft spot for Gashaw too.

Oh, how I wish you could meet him.... his smile is amazing, and for those who work to speak his language... aw... the rewards are huge.

--------------

Trip #3...  August.

John and I had been working with the older boys to hand out the clothing we had brought.  We didn't have enough for all 250+ kids, but we did our best, based on what the boys determined were the most needy.  But we missed one.

Later that afternoon, Gashaw came up to John and I and signed, asking us if we had a shirt for him.

 WE DIDN'T... we had nothing, and there was no time to go shopping.  "It's okay, it's okay, don't worry, it's fine." Gashaw said to us, with his huge smile, but our hearts literally broke in two.  Why hadn't we thought of him, and held one back?  Of course he wouldn't be hanging around waiting for a hand out, or have his photo taken... Gashaw is never around for that... he doesn't fit like that.

Ethiopian Finger Sign different in so many ways from our ASL.

So we went home, with the resolve to get him a shirt ASAP.  To bring that sweet smile to his face and let him know he is loved and prayed for.

(Now, I know, you are reading this, thinking there will be some big announcement... like, we have another Kolfe Son, or we are paper adopting him...  We were open to both of those, and had even done some checking... but God has better plans for Gashaw that don't include us...)

This is what Emnatu sent us a few months later...

We sent him 2 shirts, a letter, and candy & snacks galore.

A few months ago, I saw this photo on fb... and I knew...  it had significance.  Gashaw doesn't get his photo taken often, especially paired with another boy such as this. (who is being adopted)  ♥ Gashaw is in the process of moving to America. ♥  The boys tell me he is being paper adopted, and will be leaving soon, if not already.  Our hearts are so full of joy for him.  I hope he is there a few more days, and I can squeeze the life out of him one more time!

There are people all around us, that for whatever reason, are a bit different than us. Don't assume that means they don't have something very precious to bring to a friendship. This kid rocks... he is amazing. But you have to give a little to figure it out.

Back up and running again

It's been a long time since I posted.

Only a few of you asked,

which surprised me because of the number

of views this blog got each day.

I interpreted that to mean no one truly cared

one way or the other.

A friend finally mentioned it yesterday.

"Am I not on the privileged list for the blog?"

Well, the good news is that there WAS no privileged list.  There seems to be no way to actually shut a blog down other than to go private with no readers.

Obviously I am back, so let me explain a few

of the reasons why things have changed.

1) A picture paints a thousand words.

I ♥ to share, and photos are the best way for me to do this.  But...  Public photos of orphans are illegal in Ethiopia, and I had been getting hits to this blog from Ethiopia.  I suspect it was missionary friends, but the only information I could gather was which country they were from.  So I had stopped sharing the photos that told the stories I wanted to share. 

With a private blog, this problem is solved.

2)  Front page news??

A woman had set her facebook (with over 2,000) friends to repost each and every post I made.  Sweet that she enjoyed this enough to share, but the pressure to determine if what I wanted to say was really worthy of that size of audience... it was stressing me out, and I was resisting posting at all. 

With a private blog, this problem is solved.

3) Google Searches 

I wanted to keep this blog out of Google searches, so that not every Joe Shmoe, could find it when searching for Kolfe.  That wasn't happening. 

With a private blog, this problem is solved.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There are more, but those are the top 3 reasons...

I know doing it this way is MUCH more of a pain for all of you, but, I think it is worth the smaller following it will produce.  Expect photos and stories to start showing up soon!

What it means to have a family...

Well, trip #4 is unknown at this point, but trip #5 is pretty much set already. November 2012.

Emnatu will be graduating college a 2nd time, this time from his night classes. 

 The boys from Kolfe usually don't let their classmates and teachers know they are orphans. Orphans are looked down upon in their society, undervalued, spat upon, rocks thrown at... in general, you just don't share who you are, with 99% of the people around you.

My 2nd trip, Ayal (a driver) showed up at the airport driving a work car. It took me a while to understand just how significant this was. He had told his BOSS that his MOM was coming to town, and that he wanted to borrow a car to drive her home (guest house) from the airport. That was an admission of who he is... it was HUGE, and a great honor.

His first graduation in July 2010, I missed it by a month.

Talking with Emnatu this morning, he suggested I be there for his graduation. This confused me... who would I be? Would I be free to be who I am, his mother??? Would I be a visitor he just happened to give a ticket to? (I have not met his friends aside from former Kolfe boys...) 

I have asked this question to many of the boys, and never gotten an answer. It is a tough decision for them to make when their family shows up... but his answer today melted my heart, and made me realize just how much I need to get on that plane next November...

"i dont care about any people i proud of you"  Proud, not because I am some fabulous person...

nope, that would be PROUD, because he dreamed for 16+ years about having a mom, and now does!

 One of his friends told me a few weeks ago that Emnatu hopes to have his "unofficial" name printed on the graduation program... "Emnatu John", not Emnatu T-----  because having his Dad's name in print with his, is huge for him.  So sweet!

 ♥ Things you and I never have to think about... I am humbled, honored, and in complete awe that God would choose us to be a part of these boys lives. 
God is soooooo good!!! ♥

They will be blessed....

DONE!!!!!

Super excited to announce that we have reached the goal for the KOLFE Genna Meal!!! (Ethiopian Christmas, January 7th)  Thank you to all of you who either supported this financially, or prayed us through.  If you would still like to donate, Gladney will use any extra to pay for the Genna meal at Kechene. (The girls' orphanage.)  Directions on how to donate can be found HERE.

Long overdue thoughts on the $2 challenge...

Here's the post I started last week,  before the Christmas cards, holiday parties, and yet another fundraiser for my next trip....

The $2 challenge

$2 to feed our family of four today has been an inconvenience... it has been thought provoking, made us prayerful, honestly, it is making me very hungry... I even had us avoid a party today, because I felt it would be "too hard" to watch everyone else eat in front of us. How crazy is that?? And yet, tomorrow I will once again eat to full or even over-full, while mothers send their children to bed hungry because their $2 had to be used for the rent, clothing, transportation and other necessities as well as food... 

WE LIVE IN ABUNDANCE... OVER-ABUNDANCE...  that is what we learned.  Obviously that isn't a surprise to me.  I am however surprised at just how much time it took to think about how to stick to this budget. Not only that, but it is STRESSFUL!!!!  Families do this EVERY day!  By the way, before you begin to think that $2 goes sooo much further in places like Ethiopia.  Think again..  My friends there who did this challenge had just as much trouble (if not more) feeding their family during this challenge.  Partially because they also had to buy water and other things that we don't...

Here's how it ended up

  $ 0.50  6 eggs (breakfast)              

  $ 0.57  2 large bananas (lunch)      

          $ 0.50  10 slices of white bread (lunch)

   $ 0.32  2 packages of Top Ramen  

 $ 0.08  1/2 a carrot                        

$ 1.97 total spent on food             

Two things that almost ruined

this challenge for us...

#1  This... my pantry (excuse the mess, it wasn't expecting photos)  Not only can I afford MUCH more than $2 a day for food...  I have a large amount of surplus within arms reach.  Our Ethiopian sons do not have this luxury, money is tight! Our oldest, who lives on his own, had a few oranges, onions and tomatoes in his "pantry".  That's it.

#2  I am embarrassed to admit this, but this cake about did us in today.

You see, yesterday, my husband asked me to make this for us to eat while his parents were over for a visit.  Fresh apple, crumb cake... Instead of eating this, his parents took us out to dinner, (Let's not talk about how much we ate...) that meant that THIS CAKE sat on the stove taunting us all day.  Someone, (one of the kids?) even put a cookie sheet over it halfway through the day, so that the temptation was less.

Now, this could be just a test of our willpower... or this could be something that causes us to help fix the problem.  I like option #2. 

Here are some of our favorite organizations:

http://www.embracinghopeethiopia.com/

The Shannon Family in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

I had the immense pleasure of

meeting Christy on my 2nd trip,

and by trip 3, we had picked up a

 beautiful little baby girl as our sponsor child. 

 I believe 1000% in what they do.

I could explain it to you, but they say it so much

better, so please, check out their website!

http://www.p61.org/

A great team of people who love the locals down at Korah,
where our teenage sponsor girl lives.
They really attempt to give a hand up, not a hand out!!

http://www.rivers-of-living-water.org

An amazing family in Montana,

with hearts for the people of Gojjo, Ethiopia.

She is always running some type of project,

for fresh water, sponsorship, Christmas dinner,

or currently lambs for the kids there to raise.

The $2 challenge... Is that all we get for dinner?

$2 a day challenge... Feeding your family on $2 or less to experience just a tiny, tiny taste of what the other 1/2 of the world LIVES on each and every day...

Here's dinner from tonight:

2 packages of Top Ramen ($0.32) and 1/2 of a carrot ($0.08) split 4 ways, and clean, fresh, healthy water to drink.  We could only do 1/2 of a carrot, because the full carrot pushed us over the $2 for today.

After the bike ride, my son came home and promptly pulled out the Top Ramen and set it on the counter. 
It was 3:40pm...  but he was ready for dinner, and thought setting it on the counter would make dinner come sooner.

  We are all going to bed hungry tonight, but filled with the knowledge that for us...  this was only a one day challenge.  We don't have to eat this way tomorrow.  AND really... what we have eaten today is MORE than 1/2 of the world's population is able to eat each day.  How many families will go to bed hungry each night, all night long?

What did you have for dinner tonight?

http://2dollarday.org/

The $2 Challenge... Lunch

$2 a day challenge... Feeding your family on $2 or less to experience just a tiny, tiny taste of what the other 1/2 of the world LIVES on each and every day...

  Here's our lunch from this afternoon. 

1/2 of a banana ($0.57) and 2 1/2 pieces of white bread ($0.50) and clean, fresh, healthy water to drink.

The kids were getting pretty hungry, so I gave up my 1/2 piece for them to split. (Wow... 1/4 a piece of bread, big deal...) White bread, because anything whole grain was WAY out of the price range.

We went for a bike ride after taking a Sunday nap.   Boy, that food didn't provide us with much energy for the bike ride, so we cut it short.  I think I can speak for all of us when I say that just about A-L-L we can think about is F-O-O-D... 

As a mom, how could I survive living on less than $2 a day?  What would it feel like to be hungry all day, every day, and yet have to work, (not nap) all day, just to earn enough to put this little bit of food (or likely much less) on the table?

What did you have for lunch today?

 http://2dollarday.org/the-details/

The $2 challenge ~ Breakfast was lacking.

The $2 a day challenge... Feeding your family on $2 or less to experience just a tiny, tiny taste of what the other 1/2 of the world LIVES on each and every day...

Here's our breakfast from this morning.

1 and 1/2 eggs for each of us (6 eggs = $0.50) and water. (That would be fresh, good tasting, healthy for us... water.  Most of those living on $2 a day aren't blessed with water like this.)   John put it on festive plates... but really, nothing could distract from the fact that this was not much food to start our day off.

And as we sat down at the table to eat, we discussed women we know in Ethiopia who daily work to provide for their family on less than what we will spend today on food.   People who routinely start their day off with little or no nourishment. 

Already this morning we were able to see that we could only hope to do this for food expenses.  Living expenses?  That shot of insulin I gave when I woke up, and the antibiotic my son is on right now would have been completely out of reach for a person living on less than $2 a day. 

 

What did you have for breakfast?

$2 a day challenge

The $2 Challenge

"Today, nearly half the world’s population

 lives on just $2 per day–

something most of us can’t even imagine."

"And so we ask this simple question,

pose a simple challenge.

Will you take one day

Thursday, December 8^th

and try to eat on less than $2?"

Look, this photo isn't even correct.  The challenge to us Westerners isn't to LIVE off of $2 a day.  That would be impossible... the challenge is simply to EAT off of $2 a day...  but that is enough to cause me to shake...

Will you take one day, Thursday, December 8th and try to eat on less than $2? Will you put yourself in someone else's place... and then see what God would have you do as a result?  My hubby and I are not expecting it to be easy.  We expect that we will be hungry, but we are also willing to see what God would teach us.

Are you open to letting go of your comforts (just a bit), and letting God work in your heart and life?

Want to join us? Go to the website and tell our friends you will join in.  And if you are on faceb**k, change your profile to the top photo, and spread the challenge...