Next Saturday...a wedding

In one week from today, there will be wedding and THIS boy will be getting married!




Blake will be the best man...how can this be? Weren't you just little boys, jumping on our trampoline? Switching heads and other crazy boy stuff?




How could this kid be getting married??




But he is.

Sam and Blake have been friends since they were 3 and 4 years old! They played Legos together for countless hours. They built forts. They went to church together and lived next door to one another for many years...which made their childhood so wonderful since there was always someone to play with. They played in a band together and on worship teams.

And now Sam is getting married and Blake is the best man...in one short week.

I can't say that when they were little I ever thought about this day...Sam was always the crazy, funny, way out there kid in the group. His mom and I spent more time worrying about him breaking a bone or causing bodily injury to himself than any other kids. But now I have Mihiretu and it is like having a "Sam" all over again:)

I love you, Sam. You are like a son to me. You are all grown up now and you have found your wife. Sorry, but I'm a little emotional about this.

Many blessings to Sam and Nastassia on their upcoming wedding. May you always put each other first and love God most.

We all love you!

Little Misganaw is the ring bearer and we really can't wait to see dressed in a tux in ALL of his cuteness!

One more week.

Blessings,
Laura

This is the catch of the day! 18 fish!!!!! The kids had so much fun pulling all these fish in:) They are all bass, I think.




This is the catch of the night!! Blake caught this great walleye. Mihiretu got in for the picture. He won for biggest fish pulled in but Katie actually caught a HUGE walleye, got it up to the boat and it flipped and spit out the hook. Blaine was sick because it was close to 10# and would have been big enough to mount. So sad to miss that one:(




Misganaw caught this fish. Both the little boys LOVE to fish!




Mihiretu and Dad.




Aliya and her new found love...swimming. She's getting better all the time.


We spent the last week back up at the cabin with our friends and had a wonderful time! So restful and relaxing. God blessed us with good weather and good conversations. Blake, Katie and Zach showed everyone their pictures and video that they took in Korah. I know it was a blessing to everyone who saw them. In fact, there are several of us parents who are feeling the Lord saying, "Come to Korah." So who knows?? Maybe in a year there will be another trip with the kids AND the parents! Oh, how I would LOVE this!!!!!!!

Next June, Blaine and I will celebrate our 25th anniversary. I know....awwwwww. I asked him if he would consider spending it in Korah instead of the cruise that had been discussed (we've never been on a cruise and thought it sounded relaxing). He thought a minute and then said, "No." It is a long trip for a guy who's been through as much as he has. He has lots of pain in his back and a 23 hour travel time and flight is a killer for him. So I get it. But a year is a long way off and we will pray and see what the Lord might have for us.

Summer has been wonderful so far but so incredibly busy! I have been spending 3 hours every morning doing summer school at home with Aliya and Mihiretu. Aliya needs help with her reading and English. She can read English at about a 2nd grade level but I felt that mostly she had memorized words and didn't know how to sound them out. This would be a problem as she progresses to more complex words so we have gone back to the basics. It has benefitted her so much. Our goal is to get through the 2nd and 3rd grade books this summer. Not sure if we will quite make it but we're going to try.

One problem that I have found is that with her accent, she pronounces her vowels differently we do in America. So her "apple" is more like "opple". It's been a bit of a challenge for us to reconcile this so that she can phonetically pronounce words. But we're figuring it out. She needs lots of help sounding out vowels. I think she has always looked at a word and pronounce all the consonants and just guessed at how the vowel sounds, like she had trouble with sit, set, sat. She'd say them all the same. That took work but I think we've conquered that.

Mihiretu is also making huge progress with his reading. I'm so proud of both of them to be willing to spend so much time doing school in the summertime.

I went for a walk with my sweet sister, Pam last week. When I'd gotten home, Blaine told me the story of their evening.

Blaine and Misganaw were going to take the new puppy for a walk, but Aliya and Mihiretu wanted to come along, too. First the kids fought over who would hold the leash. Mihiretu won that one. They had walked a ways down our street when noticed Mihiretu (the competitive one) who was in the lead, with his pants down, peeing right in the middle of the road! Now let me stop here and say, "WHAT???" Yes, he was peeing in the middle of the road WITH a car coming toward him. Blaine yells for him to get over to the side. After spraying everywhere and almost hitting the puppy, he finally made it over to the side of the road where he finished his business.

Right after that, Misganaw fell down, scraping up his leg and crying (more like screaming) especially after the puppy jumped on top of his already wounded self and began biting him!

Blaine decided to cut the walk short (for obvious reasons) and turned towards home. He challenged Aliya to a race and they took off. Blaine turned around to see how the little boys were doing. Did I mention that Mihiretu was competitive?? He is not one to turn down a race so he was in a close 3rd, with the puppy in tow, flailing behind him on the leash!!

All this took place in a 20 minute time span!

My sister and I had a lovely walk.

Blaine told us the story when we got home and can I say, I was a little more than upset at the thought of my almost 8 year old peeing in the middle of our road?

I said to Mihiretu, "DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT IT IS NOT OK FOR A PERSON TO PEE THE ROAD??? IN FACT, IT IS ILLEGAL. (Then I did what any Mom would do who wants to make her point. I brought the police into it.) YOU COULD HAVE BEEN ARRESTED BY THE PO-PO!!!!!"

I know they are not going to arrest an 8 year old but I'm trying to make a point.

Immediately after I bring in the police, Misganaw (who was way, way over-tired) breaks down crying and says, "Why does Mihiretu always get to get arrested by the po-po???????!?!!!!!!!!"

Oh, my goodness did we laugh!!

If anyone has any advice on how to get little boys to use the toilet in the house instead of watering the street, bushes or in boxes in the garage (don't ask!), please, please let me know!

Many blessings,
Laura

4th of July at the cabin

Misganaw enjoying a pontoon ride.




Me and little miss Tia. This is the way I feel about the puppy most of the time...I'm growling at her if you can't tell:)




Yes, Mihiretu did catch this BIG bass by himself but he had to have help from Big Daddy to hold it for the picture!




This was a big week for Mihiretu. He learned to water ski and got up for the first time ever!

It was fun riding up to the cabin with Katie and De and hearing more of their stories from their time in Korah and Ethiopia. Katie told me that she feels like there is a hole in her heart because she misses "her" kids so much. I told her there is a danger in doing the work that God lays out before us and the danger is that we can easily get our hearts broken by what He shows us and it hurts.


Katie took some time while there and looked through the book of children in Korah who are available for sponsorship at the boarding school. She said there are so many kids who are waiting for sponsors. One of her special, sweet "boys" is in there. Each of the children in the book is either a single or double orphan, meaning they have lost one or both parents. The parents suffered or are suffering from either leprosy or AIDS...every...single...one. She prays for her kids every day, whenever she thinks of them...and that is often.

Katie spent some time lovingly editing some of the pics they took while there. Some needed flies taken off their faces, others needed snot removed. Yes, those things are reality but I know for Katie and for me, we don't see these kids with flies and snot on their faces. They are so absolutely, positively beautiful that they take your breath away. They are so vulnerable, all you want to do is whisk them away and protect them. They are starving, literally starving and all you want to do is buy them food and feed them. They are so loving and in need of love (many by a mother who has passed away) that they cling to you and want to kiss and hug you and hold your hands. They give you gifts that they cannot possibly afford because they love you so much.

All four kids without exception want to go back to Ethiopia and do more work in Korah. Blaine commented how amazing that was considering the filth and smell and the age of our kids that went. Let's face it...many young adults would not desire to spend time in a place like Korah. They'd rather be at the mall or the movies or wherever. There is just SO much more to life than that. There is a JOY in serving Jesus!

I will share some of their pics and more stories as the days go on.

I do have to share an off-topic story about Aliya that happened today. I finally took her to the gym with me to do a little working out. Thinking the treadmill would be the safest thing to start her on, that's what we did. I showed her how it worked and demonstrated how it looks to walk on it. I started her out slowly...1.1 mph-which is BARELY moving. She held on for dear life, saying "I scared! I scared!" I'm sure glad she isn't overly sensitive because I couldn't stop laughing. She was clomping along at 1.1 mph and walking like a 12 month old taking her first steps. If I only had a video!!! After a few minutes, she relaxed and got more comfortable and looked like a pro, even taking her hands off the machine! Then we worked some machines and did some free weights and I was really proud of her. She was willing to try whatever I did, just at a much lighter weight. We have lots of work to do in terms of strength training but keep it up my girl!!!! Go Aliya!!!

Blessings,
Laura

They're back!!!!!

This is a picture of De, Zach and the little girl Zach loves named China. She is darling, isn't she??




Here are Blake and Zach leading in worship. You can see Alisha in the front lending her beautiful voice to the singing. The other boy playing guitar is Biruk, the 16 year old who helped the kids all week with translating. He's the one who was attacked by the angry shop owner.




This picture is of Katie's sweet Faskia, Katie and Sammy's sister.

We are so glad to have the kids home! We watched most all of their video and saw almost 1000 photos they took!! I will post a few a day for a while to help put the stories that I've already shared into perspective. They are doing great and have lots of stories to share.

Blake has an all day new student orientation at the U tomorrow, which starts at 8am! It lasts ALL day so hoping the poor guy can stay awake tomorrow.

Thank you so much for your prayer and involvement for Korah. I had a wonderful phone call from a friend from church who wanted information on sponsoring a child for the boarding school! She said she had been reading my blog and wanted to do something to help a kid get out of the dump and send them to school! Praise God for the way He speaks to the hearts of His people!!!

Blessings,
Laura

Korah-Day 13 saying goodbyes

You have to click on this picture and blow it up. Do you see what it says? "Jesus Christ is here." It was taken in the dump. If it doesn't speak volumes, I don't know what does. Yes, Jesus IS in the dump and in the face of each person suffering there. I believe that with all my heart. If we really believed that...that Jesus is actually in that dump...would we leave Him there?


The kids went to the dump this morning for a short visit but Katie said it was long enough. She said that the pictures and videos we've seen of it don't even come close. She said she couldn't believe how tall the mounds of garbage are and that there are deep valleys between the mounds. She also couldn't believe how many dogs were there. They apparantly fight the people for the food, pulling it out of their hands...uhg. It made me wonder why they don't kill the dogs? Just too many? Don't know how? Or maybe there is just a healthy respect and if they let the dogs have what they want, the dogs won't attack the people? She said that the garbage trucks were arriving and the people scampered to get there first to see what good stuff might be coming that day. How sad.

They were not allowed to take any pics there because it seems that the 'powers that be' are not requiring Sammy to get a permit to allow people to take pics of the goings on in the dump. It really doesn't reflect well on them for the world to see how people are living there, does it??

They did get to go to Korah and say their goodbyes but Katie couldn't find Fasika or Habtamu and she is so sad about that. She told Kayla (an American girl working as a missionary) to please tell them that she tried to find them but couldn't. I thought that maybe it is for the best. It was those 2 that would have been the hardest to say goodbye to and who would take it the hardest. Maybe it was God's protection. Katie will write them and is going to sponsor Fasika. Habtamu, it turns out already has a sponsor but Katie wants to stay in contact with him anyway.

Katie said that she gave away her 2 pair of shoes, the one she brought and the one she bought there. I can't remember who she gave the ones she brought to...I think Fasika. The ones she bought while there she gave to a sweet woman who does all of the mudding of the huts, a job no one else would do because they were afraid of getting cut by the broken glass in the mud. She did the work joyfully alongside her husband. Neither spoke a word of English but the husband took his hat off to the kids every time he saw them;)

A few days ago, when the kids were working alongside her, the woman motioned that she needed some water so De went and got her a cup of water. Her hands were covered with mud as well as her face as she was working on a hut at the time. She motioned to Katie to get the pills out of her pocket and give her 4, so Katie did and put them in her mouth with De following up with a drink of water. She was thankful and continued with her work.

One of the leaders of the church told them that she was HIV+ and so was her sweet husband and these were her antiretroviral pills to keep that keep the disease at bay.

This really had a big impact on the kids and became very personal to all of them.

It seems she gets the medication from the hospital in Korah, which really surprised and thrilled me! Thank you Jesus for the ability for some of the people to get the medication they need to live. I just didn't know any people in Korah had access to such medication. Oh, Lord please provide it for the ones who don't currently get it who need it. I need to figure out how to go about donating to that fund!

Well, in an hour the kids will leave for the airport. Katie must have eaten something that didn't agree with her and was up all night, feeling like throwing up. She does feel somewhat better today but please pray that she won't feel like that on the trip home. Throwing up on an airplane...no thanks!

They are all excited to get home and I have a great dinner planned for tomorrow night...burgers topped with guacamole, potato salad (De's favorite) and lots of fresh fruit and a little lemonade!

Katie said to me, "Mom, I am really ready to come home but you don't know how much I DO NOT want to get on that airplane."

"Yes, I do honey. Yes, I do:)"

Blessings,
Laura

Korah-Day 12

I can hardly believe the kids' time in Ethiopia is coming to an end. They leave tomorrow at 10pm Ethiopian time, which is 2pm Central time. They arrive at 1pm on Tuesday. Let's do the math...yep, it is 23 hours of travel time-ugh.

The kids went to church this morning in Korah and Blake and Zach played their guitars in worship, which went well.

They are going to try to get to the dump in the morning and then to Korah to say good-bye to their wonderful friends. Katie already realizes how difficult is going to be. Friday, she told Habtamu that she'd be back on Monday to tell him good-bye and he got tears in his eyes.

She is asking for prayer for all for all of them to get everything done that they need to get done tomorrow, like going to the dump, having time to go the Korah and find all their friends, get all their packing done and get to the airport.

I asked Blake if he was ready to come home and in typical Blake style, he said, "Part of me wants to come home and part of me wants to stay."

Katie, when asked the same question, said "It is going to be REALLY hard to leave. But I really want a shower and to be clean, to breathe fresh air and to smell some puppy smell;)"

We are all anxious to see them! I'll share some of their pics here when we get them downloaded and go through them.

Blessings,
Laura

Korah-Day 11

This is the Addis Ababa city dump. It is directly adjacent to Korah. Many people live here. Not sure if these birds are actually vultures but they are the birds Katie was referring to when she said, "You can always find Korah and the dump from around Addis Ababa by the vultures flying overhead."




I think this picture speaks for itself. Click on it to enlarge.


I talked with the kids today. Blake answered and they were out at a restaurant. I asked Blake how he was and he replied, "Well, I'm kind of grossed out right now." This kid Ben (an American) was with them and eating a dish that was goat fat and what looked like fish eggs. They kept telling him to stop eating it and he just kept on. Hopefully Ben won't be up all night with a intestinal problem!

Anyway, the kids had a down day today and went shopping in the market...the Post Office for those of you who know that spot! Katie got a few things. They ran into that guy, who when they were shopping the last time hit and kicked Biruk in the head. He yelled at Biruk to "get out of here!' Then he began glaring at De. That's just one thing not to do to De. So De began staring him down. The man growled, "What are you looking at?!" De replied, "What did you say?" This is not a question of curiosity like in, "I'm sorry. I didn't hear you. What exactly did you say?" No, it's more like, "What did you just say to me?!" De's not one to back down but Katie is and so she pulled him away and they high-tailed it out of there.

Tomorrow they will attend church in Korah. I'm sure that will be a neat experience. They they are going to ask Sumer if she would take them or arrange for them to visit the dump. I really don't want them to miss that experience as they will never see anything like that again and it is a reality for hundreds who live there. We as Christians should NOT close our eyes to the suffering of others. I, for one, want it burned into the eyes and hearts (and noses) of my kids forever. I don't want them to EVER forget. I don't want them to be consumed with stuff and I always want them to "consider others more highly than themselves."

I told Katie to begin getting their things packed up so they don't have so much to do on Monday, when they want to be at Korah, saying their goodbyes. Jill, I know you have memories of me packing up the in the last minute on the last day before we were to attend the coffee ceremony and leave for the airport! I will admit...that was C-R-A-Z-Y of me to think I could do it all in 30 minutes or less. So I officially apologize for that moment of insanity! But I'm trying to get the kids *not* to repeat that day so hopefully...

Thanks again for your support and prayers!

Love,
Laura