Ethiopia Day 4

(written on the actual 4th day of our trip)

Today was a really good day. Eramais took us to Tomoca Kaffee for some more Ethiopian coffee, and that was really fun. We invited him to join us, and he was really pleased. :) He's such a great guy and has been so helpful. If you ever come to Addis, you need to call Hope Adoption and ask for Eramais' number. I guarantee you he would love to drive you, and he'll make your experience great.

After Tomoca, he drove us up to a high point in the city so we could get some good city view pictures. It's also an area with lots of big houses (we're talking houses that cost over $3,000 USD to rent per month!). Crazy. I posted some pictures from this little excursion. The weather was so awesome up on the hill - cool breeze. Everywhere we go there are children, and they just flock to us and look up and stare. So precious. We had a really good conversation about Jesus with Eramais as well. He is an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian, which differs from the Protestant Christians here (most of the Hope staff are Protestant). He explained some of the differences - it's comparable to Catholicism, but Eramais doesn't really buy all of those parts. He said he believes only in the Jesus of the Bible. If you add anything or take anything away from that, he has no part in it.

After this, it was time to see our little Buster boy at Hope. He was still napping, but we both really enjoy the time with the office staff at Hope while we wait for him to wake up. I think we all get more and more comfortable with each other each day. The language barrier is less and less of an issue...and the bond of Jesus Christ can overcome any barrier anyway. So, we had another nice time visiting. Plus, one of Abe's little friends (Elazar or Alazar...not sure which spelling) was awake and hanging out with us in the office. He's really taken to us and we enjoy him. He is actually going home next week with his forever family. How exciting!!! I wish we could meet them. He will be a complete blessing...sweet little boy.

We had some really good time with Abe today. He recognizes us very readily now, and he reaches for us when the caretakers hand him over. He's still not saying our names or really talking much, but he's showing other signs of attachment. He wants us to hold him and be with him the entire time. He's very curious and extremely smart...he likes to use his hands. We sang "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to him today and he seemed to like that. He keeps his head really close to mine, and loves to hold on tight to Daddy. He's such a little cuddlebunny! Ugh, we love that!!! We also hummed a little "Lord of the Rings" theme music to him...I mean, hey, he's gotta learn sometime...might as well begin now, right? "Train up a child in the way he should go...." Hahaha. :)

It was harder for me to leave him today when we had to go. We stayed almost until closing. Another American family arrived today and our driver is also driving them, so we got to stay later. I can't believe we have to leave him tomorrow, and we have no idea when we're coming back. We just PRAY that he will remember us. We are leaving a picture of us with Hope, and I'm confident they'll show it to him each day and say "Mommy and Daddy." They are so great. We'll also bring back another of the same Scentsy Buddy with us the next trip so he'll hopefully associate us with the one he already has.Please pray for this time that we'll be apart...the next trip will be hard enough on all of us. We just hope that we don't have to start completely over with attaching and bonding too. But...as in everything, it's all in God's most capable and loving hands. He is so good to us.

Not sure if we'll get to write tomorrow...we're still trying to plan out our day before we leave for the airport. Our plane takes off from Addis around 2:50pm Texas time (10:50pm Addis). It's about 7 hours, then we have a 5 hour layover in Frankfurt. The 2nd flight takes off around 3:30am Texas time and will arrive in Dallas around 2:30pm. Ugh, already dreading the exhaustion....but hopefully I'll sleep A LOT on the planes. I plan to take more meds this time, not necessarily for the anxiety but to really help me sleep. It's a long trip. Please pray for our safety, for smooth flights and layover, and that I will do even better on these flights than I did on the way over. Also, pray for a good last day with Abe tomorrow. I'm about to cry thinking about leaving my precious little boy...oh, how we will miss him! But, soon we'll be united as a family forever. Cannot wait!

We love you and miss you! Cannot wait to see you soon! Selam! (peace!)