'Twas the night before travel....

Tomorrow, we leave for Ethiopia.


We are so excited and so terrified and so in awe.  God has brought about so many miracles to bring this all about.  We see His hand daily.  We covered yet another hurdle just yesterday morning.  God is so good.  I have reached a point where I no longer find it hard to believe that anything is impossible, even when He has put this weak vessel to His work.  I so hope I do it well. 


I know I am not perfect, I make more mistakes than I can even fathom.  But I hope my heart shows through and my attempts are remembered more than my failures.  God didn't ask us to be perfect, thankfully.  He asked us to just do what He asked.  I hope I am saying this in a way that makes sense, as I am so tired I really feel like I cannot see straight.  I just wanted to express myself before we leave.


It takes a lot of faith to leave your eight precious children behind, even for a few days.  This is not something we do.  But, we know they are in loving and capable hands and God is their eternal protector. 


I keep thinking that I should stay up and keep puttering.  Organizing my room, making sure each step I want done is done.  But it is time to rest for a few hours before we leave. 


So, know that we would appreciate any prayers as we travel across the globe, and for our children safely at home.  In just two days or so we will meet our little ones for the first time, and then on the 22nd, we will go to court to adopt them.  The hardest part of the trip will then be leaving them as we go home until their visas are ready.  As Aman so succinctly put it "it must feel like your heart is in two parts, one on each side of the world:.  Yes, it absolutely does.


Thanks to everyone.


On a more homey note, life is good on the farm.  We are preparing for winter - I have more projects that I want to do once this journey is over.  And Kiley's fabulous trainer has volunteered to make Thanksgiving dinner for us (as Steve and I get back in the evening of the night before).  She is thrilled to be cooking and we are so wonderfully blessed and thankful.  We had been thinking we would just do pizza and hang out with our kiddos (and maybe some friends).  To have a traditional holiday meal prepared for us was beyond belief!!! 


I hope you all have a blessed turkey day and thank God for all your blessings.  I suspect that we will come home from our journey realizing all we have to be thankful for!  Nothing like a trip to Ethiopia to shock you back into really thinking about what we "need" and what is just a frivolous "want". 


"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11