Two years!!

Well this is the youngest pic I can find on the lap top! I cant believe its been two years since we flew into Guatemala and raced into our hotel to find Mia waiting. It seems so long ago and yet its only been two years. I remember how excited I was and so scared too. I didn't know this little girl. She did not remember me at all. I had all the "what if's" of motherhood running through my brain and I was so far away from my mom!

Mia is one of Gods amazing blessings in our lives. She fills our home with joy and laughter! She is most definitely Guatemalan. I thought she would loss that and yet she loves bright colors like her culture loves. She loves the Mexican food-yet not really the spicy stuff. She is just precious! We are so blessed to be called her parents and she amazes us every day! Thank you Jesus for our little Guatemalan blessing!

May you be blessed-A

Passage of Time!

Well its no secret that I have not blogged for a while:) Life has been so crazy since I returned from Africa. We started harvest early this year. This was nice because we are now done about a month earlier than last year. But it also makes for crazy busy days. During this time we accepted two babies in Ethiopia and pulled off two fundraisers. Mia turned 3 during the craziness and we will have to have a really awesome birthday for her next year since this year was pretty boring. We are hoping to get a court date soon and praying that if its Gods will we can get those babies by Christmas!

Mia is getting so big! She is just such a blessing from the Lord! She is so sweet and I just really enjoy being a mom most days. She is in preschool one day a week and she loves it. She loves animals of all kinds and loves her kittys. We had to get a new home for Olive since she was needing a lot more attention than I had to give her. Mia has not missed her a bit, so that was better than I was expecting. We are so glad she was adopted into a really nice home where we know she will be loved. I was so sad to see her go though. I think I was the only one:)

Well I dont have a whole lot to say except we are so blessed and life is going good and oh so busy!

May you be blessed-A

Ethiopia-2nd leg of mission trip

To me this picture says Ethiopia like no other pic I have! I also love it because one of the sweet men at our guest house did an oil just like it and I bought it from him. It will be going in baby boys room:) Ethiopia was the second leg of our trip and it was quite amazing. It was beautiful. There are eucalyptus trees there and they smell awesome. That smell will always be Ethiopia to me from now on. When we got to ET we were tired, hungry and dirty. We got to the guest home and it was like going from camping to the Hilton in my mind! We could shower with warm water and sleep on a 4 inch mattress rather than 2 inches. Now the only part of this that I didnt enjoy was the endless prayer calling. Between the Muslim and the protestant-we never lacked for mournful noise. The people of ET are just beautiful. I love these people and love that they are free to show love to each other and not pervert it like we do in America. They are generous and will do anything for you. Our itinerary didnt go as planned, but that is okay. We were in the places that God wanted us to be. We spent some time a AWAA doing a mural for the orphanage. The first time we were there, I held a little girl about the whole time. She was so tiny. I thought she was probably 3 wks old. She was 3 months old. She didnt like to be swaddled like a little baby normally would. She just wasnt used to the human contact and the comforting snuggles of a mommy. It broke my heart. She cried a lot and would stop when I sang to her. I think of her every day. I prayed over her before I left and pray that she has been blessed with a loving family by now. As I think of my own two children sitting over there it just makes my heart ache for them and what they may or may not be feeling.
We spent a lot of time driving in Ethiopia. We would start out-the drivers would say "yes, yes" and act like they knew where we were to go are what was going on and then we would get to do something different:) Lots of crazy miscommunication! But one day we got to go to the dump. I believe there is around 80,000 or more that live and make a living at the dump. This area started as a leper colony. Than generations got lost in the poverty and rejection of growing up a dump child. The people here are amazing!! I know I use that word a lot but its just what fits. The love that they have for each other is such a testimony. They are going to be the Hebrews 11 people of Ethiopia! We spent the day there and it was a hard day for me. The altitude is killer and I was really suffering from low blood sugar that day. I got to walk through the dump with part of my group. Words cannot describe what our eyes saw. My heart felt as though it would burst wide open with emotion I have yet to put into words. Mountains of trash-puddles of dark yellow and black water-and more trash. Broken glass every where-I was begging God to not let me fall down. You are looking at the mountains of trash and than you start to see bodies moving on it. Its the people who are digging through all of it to find something that they can turn around and sell to make a small amount to keep on living. More flies than the old testament plague. You had to breath through your nose or you would eat flies. Maybe I should have for the protein! The children are so dirty and the women or too! Yet they hugged us and smiled like it was another day. I felt like I was in a nightmare. How do these people live here? How come they have to do this. What will happen to the tiny baby on the mothers back? This day changed my life. It opened my eyes to something I didnt know existed! When we got the referral for two babies, I asked Brett "how can we say no?". I couldnt-not after what we saw. We got to bless the children at the dump ministry with lunch of lamb and than we got out the soccer balls! We walked to a beautiful eucalyptus grove down by the river to play some soccer. So awesome! A day I will never forget. You can sponsor these children to go to school and get a education. To someday break the chains of the generations of dump living and hopelessness. If you would like more info on this ministry please leave your email and I will get you the info. This ministry just sent 250 children to boarding school. 250 children who will for the first time in their lives have 3 meals a day, a bathroom, more than one change of clothes, their own blanket, a bed and I could go on and on. I cant wait to take Brett. For him to walk the dump and see the poverty with his own eyes and see what I saw!
At the end...I was so ready to go home! It had been a long time away from my family and I was ready for some food! When I got to D.C.-I was so happy to be in the USA!! So thankful that I live here. I was so hungry though and I stunk so bad:) I found a little pizza joint at my gate, bought a huge slice and a yummy Caesar salad. I sat down and Blessed the food like no other time in my life. Than I proceeded to eat faster than ever with tears rolling down my face. I am sure the people around probably thought I was a little mental! Africa was awesome! Lord willing-I will go back to serve the people again. In the future we will go back-there are two little souls there that are waiting for mommy and daddy to come and get them!!! Thanks for your prayers and support for the most life changing summer ever!!
May you be blessed-A

More of Africa

I'll start by saying that jet lag is for real! The first week I was home I was sick and really jet lagged. So now that I have finally returned to Indiana time, I have a lot of catch-up. I wanted to tell you about each day but that is going to take way to long. I loved Uganda! The whole team did. The children in Uganda were so vivaceous and amazing at all they did. They would sing and dance for us each place they went. These little souls would praise God with all of their hearts and just put our little american faith to shame. I was so amazed at their spirit of faith in the midst of poverty and tragic circumstances of the lifestyle of an African. They have the real thing when it comes to true faith in God!! We had the priviledge of living at Canaan Childrens Home for 5 days. That was so fun. Momma Rebecca fixed the best food and Pastor Isaac was a man of God, so full of His joy. These people had needs and never once did I hear them ask for anything. All that came from the mouths of the people of Canaan was praise the thankfulness to God for all that He had done for them! What a testimony. We did not get to hear Pastor Isaac preach- but I imagine that its powerful and life changing. This man was shot and left for dead and God restored him and is using his life to change the hearts and souls of the fatherless! You can sponsor a child at Canaan. If you want to know more, just leave me your email and I will get you the info.

One thing I now think-if you are going to go on a mission trip-dont make it to short. It takes a while to get over your self and be thankful for the stuff you do have. I want to go back-Lord willing- and I would love to take Mia with me. She would have just loved all those kids and the singing and dancing!

In Uganda we went to 5 different ministries. We played with over 700 kids in 6 days. It was a little tiring. Each morning at the crack of dawn, the rooster would begin his mission of waking every thing. Than the muslim call to prayer would begin. And just when you thought that you would get to go back to sleep-the kids would be out and ready for the day to begin. Their school day began at 6 am. The kids are super smart. I was amazed at the artistic talent that so many of them had. At one ministry I spent hours coloring with the children. They liked the bright colors the best! They loved the silly bands, silly string, and the many balloon hats that were made and passed out. One thing that was hard for me- was that we were asked not to give things out to the children. The ministry leaders ask this of us so that the children will learn to respect authority and not beg. I think that is awesome that they do this. Its so fun to give and see little eyes light up with joy, but so neat that they are being taught such good principles. One of my favorite things about Uganda was the day we got to go out on the Nile River!! Such a cool experience to get to see this river and be on it. To know that the very waters that Moses floated in as a baby-I got to float in them too. It was beautiful and a little scary. The boats took on a little water and I am not hugely fond of swimming in large bodys of water. I am so glad that I got to experience all of this with my mom. I felt like we didnt spend just huge amounts of time just talking, but we got to do this together and that will always be a memory that I will never forget.

I also think its just amazing that for 20 some years I have wanted to go to Africa and now I have been! God did amazing miracles too. I never once became sick! I never once got homesick! He kept us safe and sound! My body never once fell apart! And the most amazing thing....it just clicked. You know how you go through life wondering " what is Gods purpose for me? Whats that one thing that God has called ME to do?" I think I know:) I just felt a peace in my soul. God called me to something that was huge and way out of my comfort zone. Sure I wanted to do it, but so many things have forever held me back. I then I said "yes"! I went forward in faith and God supplied the money, the good health, Mia did awesome while I was gone, and so much more. I can tell you that if time last, I will return to Africa!

The Pearl of Africa

Thank you Jesus for being us safety to Uganda! Its a long way to get here. Well I will start with day #1. I enjoyed my last hot shower and we headed off to church for the early service. We got to the airport 2.5 hours ahead of departure and that was a good thing. First round of craziness began at the ticket counter when the lady helping me asked for my paper tickets. I told her that they were e-tickets and she said she couldnt find them. That began the frantic phone calls to the agency who works with VO. Things were changing by the minute and Mia was starting to be naughty because she was so hungry. So Brett and Mia went to get lunch and I waited to find out what was going on. Well long story short-Ethiopian airlines forgot to push the tickets through and that was the cause of a lot of hassels! So my image of having a nice lunch and spending a little more time with my family fell flat. By this time my plane was going to start boarding soon. I started to cry. The gal had been so nice and was doing such a good job of figuring out my mess, but I just wanted to spend a little more time with the family. So she saw my tears and gave Brett and Mia security passes to go with me to my gate. So sweet of her! So we got to the gate and hung out for a little. By this time it was past nap time for Mia and she was in full naughtiness mode. So we said our goodbyes and they were gone. Then we began boarding. The lady scans my ticket and it flashes "already seated". I am like "I dont think so". So thus began the next round of craziness. Well the man in my seat was so kind and gave it up since he had already missed his connection in Dulles. During this time it began to storm and they grounded all planes due to lightening! Then they said I may not make it so once agian I am calling Mike to find out what to due with my flights! Lots of confusion and craziness later-we were finally all boarded and ready to depart of Dulles. This flight was originally to take 1 hour 49 min. We made it in just under 1 hour:) Got to Dulles and hit the ground running! Ran right into Kari, Randi and Dee Dee. They had been praying for me to make it. So we got all the luggage forwarded onto Entebbe and went to find mom. She was going to have to collect luggage and rebook for Entebbe. So Ernie went with us and we got that all finished in time to board the plane for the next 16 hours! Now Ethiopian air is really good at feeding you like every 2 hours! And I really think they absolutely love waking you up! They shake you awake-plop some food down and smile! We had a fuel stop in Rome and then we were on to Addis. We got there and grabbed some water. Soon we were boarded and headed for Entebbe. We got to Entebbe I think about 2am. We soon realized that most of us were missing our luggage. So we spent more time trying to cross the language barrier and get some understanding about our luggage! Soon we were off to Sophies hotel for to rest for a few hours.

That was a little shocking! We walk into this place and soon realized that the reviews we had all read online were so true:) Lizards on the walls and 3 inch cockroaches in the halls! We are in Africa! They did serve a good breakfast though. Each morning was funny. The rooster would crow, then the dogs would bark and on it went, back and forth! We would soon learn that this is normal. Well that is all for now. Gotta run. I will continue to update each day as I have time:)

May you be blessed-A

Africa-Here we come!

Well the time has come to fulfill my life long wish to go to Africa! I will get to ride a boat on the Nile, maybe learn a few new dance moves and I have heard that the Africans really know how to worship! Our dates of the trip are July 18th - August 1st. Please keep us in your prayers and I will hopefully beable to update the blog on the trip. We will see how all of this goes:)

We leave out of Dulles as a team at 8:30 pm Sunday night and we arrive in Entebbe, Uganda at 3:30 am on Monday morning. Our schedule is to go to Return Ministries Uganda, My Fathers House orphanage, Canaan's Children Home, Nile boat ride, Amazima Ministry and their feeding program for the Karamajong children. That is all in Uganda and I have a lot of fun stuff to give out thanks to so many who donated. Then we will be on to Ethiopia. Hope to update on our time there when we get to Ethiopia.

Well I cannot thank you enough for interceding before the Father on our behalf!

May you be blessed-A

Count down!

These days have just been zooming by us! We have been having lots of summer time fun though. Mia and I have been doing some swimming. This little gal is a fish! You put her arm floaties on and she will swim for the next 3 hours! She loves to doggie paddle -mostly because its called a "doggie" paddle:) We have been talking lots about Africa and all the fun things she will get to do while I am gone. I got a grab bag that is filled with fun things for each day that I am gone. We had to go do some clothes shopping due to the fact I wrecked a load of laundry:) I love Old Navy. I found some great deals which is awesome. Most of the things we got should also carry over into fall and winter. Its sad to see all the back to school stuff out in stores already:/ I am a forever summer sort of person.
Well I will try to get my itinerary posted this next week and hopefully post at least once while I am gone. We shall see. My bags are packed and I am mostly ready to. Hope you are all having a great summer too. May you be blessed-A