So many people have asked what kind of items they are needing at the orphanages, so these are the items they told me. Keep in mind that some of these items cannot be brought into Ethiopia, so we would have to buy them there, and some we are still checking on exact details and prices, these are marked with an *:
{Remote} Orphanage
Formula
Clothe Diapers
Children's Blankets
Clothe Diaper Covers
Reusable Grocery Bags (Costco type would be best)
*3000 or 5000 liter water tank, to capture rain water and purify into drinking water
*Computer Printer
*Photocopier (3 way printer would work)
*4WD Car
(They also do work for HIV/AIDS education there, which is why the printer and copier are so important. We are trying to find out if there are any specific needs for the HIV/AIDS portion of their work).
Foster Home in Addis
Formula
Clothe Diapers
Clothe Diaper Covers
Slip on Shoes for women and children
Children's Blankets
Reusable Grocery Bags (Costco type would be best)
*heaters
Guest House for Foster Home
Wired Mouse for Computer
Working phone (not remote, just plug in wall type with large numbers)
Computer Printer/Copier
Ruler
Reusable Grocery Bags (Costco type would be best)
Small toys that can be sanitized with bleach and water
Color Crayons and Paper/Color Books
Now we are not 100% sure how many bags or how much room we will have to take things this time, but we will prioritize the items based on the essential needs, which are listed here. Toys will be given the lowest priority on these lists and most likely, Kevin and I will buy a few things to leave there based on the room available. If there are any specific items you have and want to check on feel free to ask.
I have made contact with a person at each of these places and right before leaving, we will get an updated list and let you know too.
Blessings.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
It's the {Not So} Small Things
While we were in Ethiopia we obviously saw some significant differences in our ways of living.
For one, they walked everywhere or took a "bus" that was a blue and white VW van from the 70's and 80's and played, how many people can you fit in this bus? It was a 11 passenger vehicle on a good day and when it was raining once, I counted over 20 in one bus!!! Yes, keep up the good work STA!!! We like your A/C comfy seated limousines aka buses!!! Definitely a {not so} small thing!
When we rode down to Ziway and back, we rode in one of these vans. The two of us, two guards and a translator/guide. All along the way people would try to get on our bus (as there was no way to mark it as charted), because it had quite a few less people than any of the other buses. I was instructed to keep my electronics (read camera) low profile and if we came to a stop or slowed down to drop it out of site so as not to encourage anyone to come near the bus. Right now, on the US State Department warnings, taxi's are seen as the biggest threat in Ethiopia. So our guards would call anyone away from the van, or if they needed to come near it, they would watch them intently. It was the same with our taxi-cab in the city. They actually left the van running while they fueled it, which I am sure is dangerous, but they didn't want to make us vulnerable. Hey, potAto, potaaato. I guess that's something I take for granted each day. When I park at the grocery store, the mall, or the open air market, I can leave my vehicle and lock it, and unless I am on a movie set, there's not going to be anything planted on my vehicle to endanger me. Yeah, someone might break in and steal something, but it's a pretty remote chance. A {not so} small blessing.
It was amazing to see how the farmers were using Ox and Bulls to plow their fields, how they were using donkeys and horses to pull carts, how children four and up were herding animals right alongside the road. It really looked like pictures I have seen of in US history books, yet they are making it work today. The Ethiopian program director of our agency explained to us, "We are a very agricultural country, and while we are moving forward, we are still building the bridges to get to a more industrialized society. We have no insulation from famine and disease, and what the people of your country are doing for these children is important for us to help build a better country and for them to live better lives." A big {not so} small thing.
During this drive, I observed the number of people using five gallon containers to carry water back and forth (on their shoulders and heads), yes the National Geographic photographer in me wishes we could have stopped and I could have switched lenses and gotten some awesome pictures, but for some reason, our escorts were more concerned about getting us there in one piece than my photographic journal of the Ethiopian people.
For any of you who have read "The Hole in Our Gospel" you might remember back to what access to clean water and what shoes can do for a person, especially women. The author of the book lives outside of Seattle and his wife decided to try to gather water from their local source of water and at the end of the day, she was exhausted and didn't have enough water to do 1/2 of what they normally do every day and hadn't even started the household chores. Providing direct water sources can help so that children and women can go to school rather than spend the time carrying water, which allows them to move their society forward and provide incomes in places that were not possible before. When we came home, I kept expecting to turn on the water and have it not work. For the record, it's worked every time I have turned it on. What a {not so} small thing.
And shoes, oh the shoes. Let me tell you, while I hate wearing shoes, I LOVE to buy them. And to think how the money I have spent on shoes go to waste in my closet. Uggs, Ahnus, Crocs, Nike's, Adidas', Merrill's, Birkenstocks, ohh how I love my shoes...But when I return, I am taking MY shoes back. My closet doesn't need the shoes as much as the people there do. I am very much in favor of what Keen and Tom's shoes are doing in Ethiopia! A pair of shoes can make a huge difference in a five-ten mile trek especially for those who are carrying heavy loads as many were. Another {not so} small thing.
In the orphanage in Ziway, the children spend a lot of time outside and wear shoes most of the time. It's close to the hottest place in the world (year round), but the weather seems to me like southern California. At the foster home in Addis Ababa, the children spend more time inside, as the weather is more like Seattle and the court yard for them to play is very small. Here, when you go in and out of their facility you take your shoes off, but since the caregivers are going in and out all day, having shoes that slip on and off easily are very helpful! A {not so} small thing I take for granted entirely too much.
Did I mention how cold it was in Addis? It was definitely Seattle winter weather, and Kevin and I had known this (in our heads and when we packed), but somehow when we were going to Africa in August, we assumed it would be warm. I cannot describe how much I love polar fleece, as they don't use A/C and heat. So it probably gets down into the 40's and 50's at night and it's cooooold. But it made me think about the children in the foster home. For the whole facility they have ONE small heater. They use it in the isolation room to keep the sick children stable, but what about the other children? They have blankets, but for those of us who like to use (non) down comforters in the summer, those blankets are very thin...So next comes what else I am taking back, blankets, clean, lightly used children's blankets...And then, what about the people living on the streets. The {not so} small things become even bigger.
Laundry baskets, yes simple laundry baskets we would buy at a dollar store, are prized possessions there and they would transport just about everything (besides laundry) in these baskets. Now, I have gone through two laundry baskets this year, and both of them were made of higher durability products, so I can't even begin to imagine how all of the things they were doing to these baskets would allow them to last long, but I will tell you, those baskets get a much bigger work out than ours. And when my handle breaks, I get very frustrated, but they used robe, and zip ties to fix theirs, no duct tape though. Yet another {not so} small thing.
Housing, ranging from teepees, to huts, to sheet metal over sticks, and for the very rich, concrete buildings, was very different. Our guest house was very simple, but it was VERY nice for there. We were right next to a huge housing district with sheet metal roofs and satellites. We didn't get to go into any of these houses, but I asked the guest house keeper and she said they are generally one room 10ft x15ft. One bed if they have one, wood stove, or fire pit in the "yard" and a TV. And usually 5-10 people live in each home to share the costs. I am right now sitting in a room two times that by myself with a "few" more amenities than that. Our house is about 20 times that size. Housing is yet another {not so} small thing.
Disease and Medical. The first day we are there, all of the families in the guest house decided to go to the open market and get some food. Kevin wanted to sleep off his motion sickness, so I went out with the group. The very first thing we encounter 10 feet from our gate was a man with gang green and the flesh literally rotting off his body. It was horrifying. I asked the guest house keeper and there are no government programs for people in these situations, additionally, you have to pre-pay at the hospitals, and most couldn't even afford or have the means to get to the hospital. I pray for that man, but as I have worked through some "serious" issues this week, and it turned out to be a reaction to the anti-Malaria meds I have been on, which they don't have even have access to that medicine, even though they are potentially exposed to it daily, I can't imagine what I would have done in his position. A painful {not so} small thing.
And the last, {not so} small thing, is the amount of hope they have. Despite all of the challenges they face, Ethiopians in general have a very happy disposition. They do not complain, and they hope that things will go well for them. Talk about not sweating the small stuff.
I attribute this hope to three things, but first off, the lack of "things." The more that we accumulate, the more we want to be like the Jones' and the more dissatisfaction we have.
Second, is their faith. According to the Ethiopians, Addis is the only place in the world where Muslims and Christians can co-exist in peace. I couldn't figure out why they feel this way and why they can co-exist here and no where else, but I can tell you that the people we met were devout to their faith and found hope from it.
And the last is their work ethic. I feel like I am a hard-worker, but after seeing the excruciating pain and difficulty the people in Ethiopia work at, I now am going to categorize myself as lazy. Their hard work builds their pride, which I believe builds their self-worth and hope.
I'm not sure that America has all of the ideas right or wrong, but I know that I have become dependent on too many comforts and am ready to break that dependance. I am going to look at the faucet each morning and thank God when it works. I am going to thank God when I go back to my truck and no one has broken into it, or done harm to it, and I will thank God for the medical advances and capabilities that are available less than three blocks from my house. In other words, I will be thankful for the {not so} small things in my life. I hope you can too!
For one, they walked everywhere or took a "bus" that was a blue and white VW van from the 70's and 80's and played, how many people can you fit in this bus? It was a 11 passenger vehicle on a good day and when it was raining once, I counted over 20 in one bus!!! Yes, keep up the good work STA!!! We like your A/C comfy seated limousines aka buses!!! Definitely a {not so} small thing!
 |
| Street Full of Buses and Houses and Shops in the Background |
When we rode down to Ziway and back, we rode in one of these vans. The two of us, two guards and a translator/guide. All along the way people would try to get on our bus (as there was no way to mark it as charted), because it had quite a few less people than any of the other buses. I was instructed to keep my electronics (read camera) low profile and if we came to a stop or slowed down to drop it out of site so as not to encourage anyone to come near the bus. Right now, on the US State Department warnings, taxi's are seen as the biggest threat in Ethiopia. So our guards would call anyone away from the van, or if they needed to come near it, they would watch them intently. It was the same with our taxi-cab in the city. They actually left the van running while they fueled it, which I am sure is dangerous, but they didn't want to make us vulnerable. Hey, potAto, potaaato. I guess that's something I take for granted each day. When I park at the grocery store, the mall, or the open air market, I can leave my vehicle and lock it, and unless I am on a movie set, there's not going to be anything planted on my vehicle to endanger me. Yeah, someone might break in and steal something, but it's a pretty remote chance. A {not so} small blessing.
It was amazing to see how the farmers were using Ox and Bulls to plow their fields, how they were using donkeys and horses to pull carts, how children four and up were herding animals right alongside the road. It really looked like pictures I have seen of in US history books, yet they are making it work today. The Ethiopian program director of our agency explained to us, "We are a very agricultural country, and while we are moving forward, we are still building the bridges to get to a more industrialized society. We have no insulation from famine and disease, and what the people of your country are doing for these children is important for us to help build a better country and for them to live better lives." A big {not so} small thing.
 |
| Men at Work...Alongside the Road on the way to Ziway. |
During this drive, I observed the number of people using five gallon containers to carry water back and forth (on their shoulders and heads), yes the National Geographic photographer in me wishes we could have stopped and I could have switched lenses and gotten some awesome pictures, but for some reason, our escorts were more concerned about getting us there in one piece than my photographic journal of the Ethiopian people.
For any of you who have read "The Hole in Our Gospel" you might remember back to what access to clean water and what shoes can do for a person, especially women. The author of the book lives outside of Seattle and his wife decided to try to gather water from their local source of water and at the end of the day, she was exhausted and didn't have enough water to do 1/2 of what they normally do every day and hadn't even started the household chores. Providing direct water sources can help so that children and women can go to school rather than spend the time carrying water, which allows them to move their society forward and provide incomes in places that were not possible before. When we came home, I kept expecting to turn on the water and have it not work. For the record, it's worked every time I have turned it on. What a {not so} small thing.
And shoes, oh the shoes. Let me tell you, while I hate wearing shoes, I LOVE to buy them. And to think how the money I have spent on shoes go to waste in my closet. Uggs, Ahnus, Crocs, Nike's, Adidas', Merrill's, Birkenstocks, ohh how I love my shoes...But when I return, I am taking MY shoes back. My closet doesn't need the shoes as much as the people there do. I am very much in favor of what Keen and Tom's shoes are doing in Ethiopia! A pair of shoes can make a huge difference in a five-ten mile trek especially for those who are carrying heavy loads as many were. Another {not so} small thing.
In the orphanage in Ziway, the children spend a lot of time outside and wear shoes most of the time. It's close to the hottest place in the world (year round), but the weather seems to me like southern California. At the foster home in Addis Ababa, the children spend more time inside, as the weather is more like Seattle and the court yard for them to play is very small. Here, when you go in and out of their facility you take your shoes off, but since the caregivers are going in and out all day, having shoes that slip on and off easily are very helpful! A {not so} small thing I take for granted entirely too much.
 |
| Kevin and Isaac's shoes (and more) outside of the foster home entrance. |
Did I mention how cold it was in Addis? It was definitely Seattle winter weather, and Kevin and I had known this (in our heads and when we packed), but somehow when we were going to Africa in August, we assumed it would be warm. I cannot describe how much I love polar fleece, as they don't use A/C and heat. So it probably gets down into the 40's and 50's at night and it's cooooold. But it made me think about the children in the foster home. For the whole facility they have ONE small heater. They use it in the isolation room to keep the sick children stable, but what about the other children? They have blankets, but for those of us who like to use (non) down comforters in the summer, those blankets are very thin...So next comes what else I am taking back, blankets, clean, lightly used children's blankets...And then, what about the people living on the streets. The {not so} small things become even bigger.
Laundry baskets, yes simple laundry baskets we would buy at a dollar store, are prized possessions there and they would transport just about everything (besides laundry) in these baskets. Now, I have gone through two laundry baskets this year, and both of them were made of higher durability products, so I can't even begin to imagine how all of the things they were doing to these baskets would allow them to last long, but I will tell you, those baskets get a much bigger work out than ours. And when my handle breaks, I get very frustrated, but they used robe, and zip ties to fix theirs, no duct tape though. Yet another {not so} small thing.
 |
| Laundry Baskets and Washing Bins |
Housing, ranging from teepees, to huts, to sheet metal over sticks, and for the very rich, concrete buildings, was very different. Our guest house was very simple, but it was VERY nice for there. We were right next to a huge housing district with sheet metal roofs and satellites. We didn't get to go into any of these houses, but I asked the guest house keeper and she said they are generally one room 10ft x15ft. One bed if they have one, wood stove, or fire pit in the "yard" and a TV. And usually 5-10 people live in each home to share the costs. I am right now sitting in a room two times that by myself with a "few" more amenities than that. Our house is about 20 times that size. Housing is yet another {not so} small thing.
 |
| Home Along Side the Road to Ziway. |
Disease and Medical. The first day we are there, all of the families in the guest house decided to go to the open market and get some food. Kevin wanted to sleep off his motion sickness, so I went out with the group. The very first thing we encounter 10 feet from our gate was a man with gang green and the flesh literally rotting off his body. It was horrifying. I asked the guest house keeper and there are no government programs for people in these situations, additionally, you have to pre-pay at the hospitals, and most couldn't even afford or have the means to get to the hospital. I pray for that man, but as I have worked through some "serious" issues this week, and it turned out to be a reaction to the anti-Malaria meds I have been on, which they don't have even have access to that medicine, even though they are potentially exposed to it daily, I can't imagine what I would have done in his position. A painful {not so} small thing.
And the last, {not so} small thing, is the amount of hope they have. Despite all of the challenges they face, Ethiopians in general have a very happy disposition. They do not complain, and they hope that things will go well for them. Talk about not sweating the small stuff.
I attribute this hope to three things, but first off, the lack of "things." The more that we accumulate, the more we want to be like the Jones' and the more dissatisfaction we have.
Second, is their faith. According to the Ethiopians, Addis is the only place in the world where Muslims and Christians can co-exist in peace. I couldn't figure out why they feel this way and why they can co-exist here and no where else, but I can tell you that the people we met were devout to their faith and found hope from it.
And the last is their work ethic. I feel like I am a hard-worker, but after seeing the excruciating pain and difficulty the people in Ethiopia work at, I now am going to categorize myself as lazy. Their hard work builds their pride, which I believe builds their self-worth and hope.
I'm not sure that America has all of the ideas right or wrong, but I know that I have become dependent on too many comforts and am ready to break that dependance. I am going to look at the faucet each morning and thank God when it works. I am going to thank God when I go back to my truck and no one has broken into it, or done harm to it, and I will thank God for the medical advances and capabilities that are available less than three blocks from my house. In other words, I will be thankful for the {not so} small things in my life. I hope you can too!
Saturday, August 6, 2011
For God so loved the World...
Some of the most powerful words in the Bible to us...
God.Love.World. which means Hendricksons.Love.World.
And in order to follow this calling, we had to have complete faith in the last year, but more specifically the last couple of weeks. At the last minute, some of our travel arrangements changed and things were not quite as tidy as we would like as we left work.
In addition, on our trip, we ran into a few things that could have been frustrating too. When we arrived in Addis Ababa, we had to wait for almost an hour for our ride, late at night after 44 hours of traveling and a surprise stop in Sudan. Then when we got in the car, the drive was supposed to be five minutes. Twenty-five minutes into it, we had to wonder what was going on. We arrived, I asked about payment and there were some language barriers and we decided to discuss in the morning.
Well, morning came at 5AM local time as a local mosque and the Orthodox Ethiopian church were singing in Arabic and Amharic and kind of competing. It was beautiful, but loud and for those on a different time table, this was not helping the change and our fear factor as to where we were really at. Then there were the rapid dogs that were fighting all night, and a misguided rooster who wasn't sure when it was supposed to wake everyone up.
Add to that finding out we were at the wrong hotel when we woke up, but it was a blessing in the end with all of the fantastic people we met (which we later found out the hotel we were supposed to stay at was still waiting for our arrival), Isaac wasn't in the city and we wouldn't see him for another day which would require eight hours of traveling in less than desirable conditions. Kevin wasn't feeling well, so I joined the group of people staying at the guest house and we went to a market and dinner without Kevin to make some lemonade out of lemons.
As the National Geographic photographer I aspire to be, I was taking pictures of this that and the other, when out of no where, I was grabbed by some local men and they tried to shove me in their van. I had read the guidebooks that warned of this and responded appropriately, and they were not able to take me, thank God. I have to also thank the people we were staying with, as they were also quick to respond. (Please note, I did not go anywhere without Kevin and a security person after this).
But after all of this, I still had an overwhelming love, and appreciation for the Ethiopian people. And I can't quite figure out how in a place I felt so out of place how I could feel this way, and it all boiled down to this...
For God so loved the world...What does it say that He did? "...that He gave his only Son, for whoever should believe in Him would have everlasting life." Basically, He put it all on the line for us. So here we are in a place, where we have left (at that time) our only son, we are feeling unprotected, resources are scare, our expectations were ruffled, we had put it all on the line, and things didn't seem to be working out.
What was our response? To whine and seclude ourselves? No...It was prayer, and I don't think we have prayed more in our lives. Our prayers of our own safety, the safety of the Guest House, the safety of the children in the orphanage, the children at the foster home, the families traveling, and those without food. Our family we had left behind and more.
It became impossible to take any action that didn't require prayer:
Pretty much, we became dependent on God, which is what we are supposed to do as Christians. This dependence brought about some revelations, of which were how spoiled we are, and how we have not been loving the World as He would. Why did it take this scare for us to turn to Him (again)?
Well, the Lord has our attention and we are praying through what he has presented us with. The orphanage that Isaac was in recently had two children die because of their lack of access to transportation to medical resources, in addition to this they have many other needs, the foster home has some needs, and quite honestly, Ethiopia still has millions of orphans. So Lord, now that you have our attention, please tell us how we can love the World the way you desire for us.
In His Name.
God.Love.World. which means Hendricksons.Love.World.
 |
| Created by StrangeFire Studios, Palouse, WA |
And in order to follow this calling, we had to have complete faith in the last year, but more specifically the last couple of weeks. At the last minute, some of our travel arrangements changed and things were not quite as tidy as we would like as we left work.
In addition, on our trip, we ran into a few things that could have been frustrating too. When we arrived in Addis Ababa, we had to wait for almost an hour for our ride, late at night after 44 hours of traveling and a surprise stop in Sudan. Then when we got in the car, the drive was supposed to be five minutes. Twenty-five minutes into it, we had to wonder what was going on. We arrived, I asked about payment and there were some language barriers and we decided to discuss in the morning.
Well, morning came at 5AM local time as a local mosque and the Orthodox Ethiopian church were singing in Arabic and Amharic and kind of competing. It was beautiful, but loud and for those on a different time table, this was not helping the change and our fear factor as to where we were really at. Then there were the rapid dogs that were fighting all night, and a misguided rooster who wasn't sure when it was supposed to wake everyone up.
Add to that finding out we were at the wrong hotel when we woke up, but it was a blessing in the end with all of the fantastic people we met (which we later found out the hotel we were supposed to stay at was still waiting for our arrival), Isaac wasn't in the city and we wouldn't see him for another day which would require eight hours of traveling in less than desirable conditions. Kevin wasn't feeling well, so I joined the group of people staying at the guest house and we went to a market and dinner without Kevin to make some lemonade out of lemons.
As the National Geographic photographer I aspire to be, I was taking pictures of this that and the other, when out of no where, I was grabbed by some local men and they tried to shove me in their van. I had read the guidebooks that warned of this and responded appropriately, and they were not able to take me, thank God. I have to also thank the people we were staying with, as they were also quick to respond. (Please note, I did not go anywhere without Kevin and a security person after this).
But after all of this, I still had an overwhelming love, and appreciation for the Ethiopian people. And I can't quite figure out how in a place I felt so out of place how I could feel this way, and it all boiled down to this...
For God so loved the world...What does it say that He did? "...that He gave his only Son, for whoever should believe in Him would have everlasting life." Basically, He put it all on the line for us. So here we are in a place, where we have left (at that time) our only son, we are feeling unprotected, resources are scare, our expectations were ruffled, we had put it all on the line, and things didn't seem to be working out.
What was our response? To whine and seclude ourselves? No...It was prayer, and I don't think we have prayed more in our lives. Our prayers of our own safety, the safety of the Guest House, the safety of the children in the orphanage, the children at the foster home, the families traveling, and those without food. Our family we had left behind and more.
It became impossible to take any action that didn't require prayer:
- Before food and drink - to ask for the food to be a blessing rather than causing food poisoning,
- Before driving - to ask for protection from all the wearies of driving in their driving conditions,
- Before meeting Isaac,
- At the orphanage,
- While traveling back to Addis with Isaac,
- When returning to the Guest House,
- While traveling to the Foster Home,
- Before we went to bed,
- When we woke up...
Pretty much, we became dependent on God, which is what we are supposed to do as Christians. This dependence brought about some revelations, of which were how spoiled we are, and how we have not been loving the World as He would. Why did it take this scare for us to turn to Him (again)?
Well, the Lord has our attention and we are praying through what he has presented us with. The orphanage that Isaac was in recently had two children die because of their lack of access to transportation to medical resources, in addition to this they have many other needs, the foster home has some needs, and quite honestly, Ethiopia still has millions of orphans. So Lord, now that you have our attention, please tell us how we can love the World the way you desire for us.
In His Name.
One Less...
August 2, 2011, Isaac became Isaac Hendrickson. There is officially one less orphan in the world, and one less in Ethiopia and Dane is officially a big brother!
Matthew West - One Less
Matthew West - One Less
Thursday, July 28, 2011
One for the Money, Two for the Show, Three to Get Ready. And Four to Go!!!
It's amazing to think that a month ago we were going about our day like a court date wasn't imminent and then now it's right around the corner!
We have been taking care of last minute details, packing lists, shopping, reservations, changing reservations, executing wills, collecting donations for the orphanage, getting house and puppy sitters, puppy health issues, changing puppy sitter plans and more.
Last Friday, Mr. Peabody passed away. It was tough, but after 13 years of being our #1 pup, he made his exit. We are thankful this happened before we left, but very sad to see him go. He was a great dog, and health declined quickly over the last few months.
Last Sunday, we took the day to go out to the lake and it was a great way to spend time together as a family!
We all had a great time inter-tubing and spending time with our Associate Pastors. They have been at the church for 20 years this year, and it's neat to get to spend time with them away from church and get to know them better!
As many of you know, this process takes two trips. The first trip is our court date. The next trip is our embassy appointment, after the court and citizenship paperwork has been issued. We won't know any of the details of timeline until after the court date has been completed and paperwork has been issued.
We aren't posting exact dates or information, but we ask that you pray for our health and safety as well as a successful trip. Also for Dane to be comforted while we are away and for Isaac to be ready to meet us and for us to be able to spend as much time as possible with him while we are there.
Thank you all of your support!
We have been taking care of last minute details, packing lists, shopping, reservations, changing reservations, executing wills, collecting donations for the orphanage, getting house and puppy sitters, puppy health issues, changing puppy sitter plans and more.
Last Friday, Mr. Peabody passed away. It was tough, but after 13 years of being our #1 pup, he made his exit. We are thankful this happened before we left, but very sad to see him go. He was a great dog, and health declined quickly over the last few months.
 |
| R.I.P Mr. Peabody |
Last Sunday, we took the day to go out to the lake and it was a great way to spend time together as a family!
We all had a great time inter-tubing and spending time with our Associate Pastors. They have been at the church for 20 years this year, and it's neat to get to spend time with them away from church and get to know them better!
As many of you know, this process takes two trips. The first trip is our court date. The next trip is our embassy appointment, after the court and citizenship paperwork has been issued. We won't know any of the details of timeline until after the court date has been completed and paperwork has been issued.
We aren't posting exact dates or information, but we ask that you pray for our health and safety as well as a successful trip. Also for Dane to be comforted while we are away and for Isaac to be ready to meet us and for us to be able to spend as much time as possible with him while we are there.
Thank you all of your support!
Friday, July 15, 2011
Vaccinations...A Painful Blessing
This week has been a long week of preparations, vaccinations, notarizing again, and hopefully by the end of the week, we will have our wills updated again and off to Portland I (Patty) go for the annual users conference for work. A few days later we depart for what will be the most exciting trip of the year and possibly our lives, meeting Isaac.
As we were looking at the "menu" of vaccinations I started to think about how blessed we are in the United States. Kevin and I are going into a country, where in order to be safe for (mostly) the first times in our lives, we are having to be vaccinated, or medicated to prevent:
With my fear of needles, this took a little more bravery than for most people, but other than weird after occurrences (loss of feeling in hands, sore arms, nauseousness, metallic taste and exhaustion), it wasn't as bad as I expected.
About 120 children recently have died in Ethiopia because of the measles, and here in the United States we have a vaccine that will prevent it. I have avoided shots at all costs since the extensive dental I had done as a child. Now I am seeing them as a blessing; albeit painful.
My first reaction to the news of the outbreak was anxiety for Isaac, but then I started thinking about the others who aren't lucky enough to be in an orphanage. All of the child-led-households without parents and started to remember how blessed we are. We believe God has blessed us in order to be a blessing to others, and we pray that God will use us while we are there to do this. We have recently learned of a few options we might have to serve while we are there, and we pray God will open the doors, make these options safe and allow us to have flexibility to see Isaac as much as possible, make our court date, as well as serve.
We found out our tickets included two checked luggage and two carry-ons each, which is way more than sufficient, so we are working to get medical supplies, formula, and a few other items to people who can use them over there. If you happen to have some unopened formula canisters that you will not be using and have expiration dates of 08/2012 or later, we would be happy to take them with us. They will be appreciated! As we confirm the list of items needed, we will post them.
So please be praying for us as we enter this few weeks of craziness, that Isaac stays healthy, that we stay healthy, and that God uses us to be a blessing to others.
As we were looking at the "menu" of vaccinations I started to think about how blessed we are in the United States. Kevin and I are going into a country, where in order to be safe for (mostly) the first times in our lives, we are having to be vaccinated, or medicated to prevent:
- Polio (endemic in Ethiopia)
- Yellow Fever (welcome to mosquitos in Africa)
- Malaria (welcome to the Malaria season.)
- Measles (outbreak in Ethiopia this week)
- Tetanus (my plan had been to wait until I stepped on a rusty nail to get this one)
- Meningitis (welcome to dorm/orphanage living)
- Typhoid (welcome to Typhoid)
- Hepatitis A
- Hepatitis B
- and more (various stomach bugs that we will take preventative antibiotics for).
With my fear of needles, this took a little more bravery than for most people, but other than weird after occurrences (loss of feeling in hands, sore arms, nauseousness, metallic taste and exhaustion), it wasn't as bad as I expected.
About 120 children recently have died in Ethiopia because of the measles, and here in the United States we have a vaccine that will prevent it. I have avoided shots at all costs since the extensive dental I had done as a child. Now I am seeing them as a blessing; albeit painful.
My first reaction to the news of the outbreak was anxiety for Isaac, but then I started thinking about the others who aren't lucky enough to be in an orphanage. All of the child-led-households without parents and started to remember how blessed we are. We believe God has blessed us in order to be a blessing to others, and we pray that God will use us while we are there to do this. We have recently learned of a few options we might have to serve while we are there, and we pray God will open the doors, make these options safe and allow us to have flexibility to see Isaac as much as possible, make our court date, as well as serve.
We found out our tickets included two checked luggage and two carry-ons each, which is way more than sufficient, so we are working to get medical supplies, formula, and a few other items to people who can use them over there. If you happen to have some unopened formula canisters that you will not be using and have expiration dates of 08/2012 or later, we would be happy to take them with us. They will be appreciated! As we confirm the list of items needed, we will post them.
So please be praying for us as we enter this few weeks of craziness, that Isaac stays healthy, that we stay healthy, and that God uses us to be a blessing to others.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Get Out the Fireworks, We Got a Court Date!!!!
So two days before we would have missed having our court date before the rainy season and we recieved an AWESOME and UNEXPECTED phone call...We have a court date, August 2nd in Addis Ababa. And now the moment we have been waiting for for over a year has come. I'm sure the fireworks on Monday were really for Isaac!!!!
It's kind of weird when you adopt. You immediately start out thinking about the moment you will meet your child, romanticize the moment along with the travel to go get them (forgetting about the long and difficult trip back home) and start thinking of all of the things you will want to take on the trip. And then you get distracted with a bunch of "busy work" home studies, learning patience, government paperwork, adoption education, agency paperwork, learning MORE patience, fundraising, government processing changes, lots of questions on how the process is going (which requires more patience) and then all of a sudden you have four weeks to get everything together for a trip half way across the world and it just seems surreal.
Our current flight plan (to be revised in the morning), will take 44 hours and 21 of those hours will be spent in Amsterdam (hoping we can see the Wernars while we are there!). The cost is about two times of what we budgeted. So we are trying to check all options a little bit more before we commit. Eeeeekkk..
Almost an emotional paralysis. A year ago, I had a list of things to take started, but now I am scouring the internet for a better checklist. I watched a couple of videos over the weekend where people had seven EXTRA LARGE bags packed. This did not include the carry-on luggage. Now I haven't done this go across the world to spend time in court, but somehow, I think this is a bit excessive. I have traveled internationally with two suitcases and feel that that is excessive so it will be interesting to see how this goes.
We won't be bringing Isaac home this time, but we will be getting to spending time with him, moving him to his new foster home (that will provide more stability, food and care for him and make room for another kiddo in his home region), and then when we come back for the Embassy appointment (we still don't know when), we will be able to see him and start caring for him ourselves immediately.
So, in other words, your prayers are working. Please keep praying for the little details to work out and for our safety in health in the travel, Isaac's continued safety and health and for those who are caring for him.
Many blessings!
 |
| Fireworks from Arrow Point, Coeur d' Alene, ID |
It's kind of weird when you adopt. You immediately start out thinking about the moment you will meet your child, romanticize the moment along with the travel to go get them (forgetting about the long and difficult trip back home) and start thinking of all of the things you will want to take on the trip. And then you get distracted with a bunch of "busy work" home studies, learning patience, government paperwork, adoption education, agency paperwork, learning MORE patience, fundraising, government processing changes, lots of questions on how the process is going (which requires more patience) and then all of a sudden you have four weeks to get everything together for a trip half way across the world and it just seems surreal.
Our current flight plan (to be revised in the morning), will take 44 hours and 21 of those hours will be spent in Amsterdam (hoping we can see the Wernars while we are there!). The cost is about two times of what we budgeted. So we are trying to check all options a little bit more before we commit. Eeeeekkk..
Almost an emotional paralysis. A year ago, I had a list of things to take started, but now I am scouring the internet for a better checklist. I watched a couple of videos over the weekend where people had seven EXTRA LARGE bags packed. This did not include the carry-on luggage. Now I haven't done this go across the world to spend time in court, but somehow, I think this is a bit excessive. I have traveled internationally with two suitcases and feel that that is excessive so it will be interesting to see how this goes.
We won't be bringing Isaac home this time, but we will be getting to spending time with him, moving him to his new foster home (that will provide more stability, food and care for him and make room for another kiddo in his home region), and then when we come back for the Embassy appointment (we still don't know when), we will be able to see him and start caring for him ourselves immediately.
So, in other words, your prayers are working. Please keep praying for the little details to work out and for our safety in health in the travel, Isaac's continued safety and health and for those who are caring for him.
Many blessings!
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