Sunday in Ethiopia

We asked Tsebay ,our hostess at the guest house if we could attend church with her on Sunday morning. We woke up to a breakfast of injera with berbere sauce, orzo, injera with meat sauce and an egg mixture. We ate this with some buttered toast! I thought it was quite yummy! Maybe it will grow on Battle! :) We showered and dressed and were on our way to The City Church with Tsebay.
It was a large open air church with over 500 worshippers giving glory to God! How fun to worship with our brothers and sisters on the other side of the world!
It was all in Amharic but we did pick up a few words...Hallelujah!......Jesus Christos ......and a frequntly repeated Amharic word for Lord.....and Amen of course! Hallelujah! Jesus Christ IS LORD!!! What else is there to understand?!!!! So for 3 hours we worshipped in another language...singing ...or humming praises, lifting our hands in praise , bowing our head in prayer and humbling our hearts as we participated in this incredible experience in the country of our daughter's birth!

We returned to the guest house where we had a cheeseburger and fries for lunch, though Battle is not sure it compares to the Golden Arches. :)

After lunch we prepared to go and make a second visit with Sifan(We are calling her this primarily now until she gets to know us more)

Soon , we were climbing the stairs again to room 3 in the Thomas Center. This time we found her sleeping.
After letting her sleep for a bit, I did something a Mama should never do and awoke a sleeping baby:). I stroked her gently to awake her and surprisingly she awoke slowly but was not fussy.
We played with her on a blanket we put on the floor.
We played with the toys from our first visit as well as added the stacking cups with the jingle bell which she enjoyed.
She stood up at a coffee table and can walk around the coffee table holding on. She can also walk with her hand held. She is not yet walking on her own, which means this mama will get to see her take her first steps!! We then decided to take her outside as the nanny said she LOVES the outdoors! We took her out behind the building where we found a courtyard with a playground of sorts. As we were looking at the playground outside the adjoining building Abebe came out and said he had been inside visiting with Pastor Abdissa(who was our Power of Attorney in all the court proceedings for the adoption) He had just moved here and he and his famiy were celebratig the baby dedication of their infant girl. They invited us in where we sat on the couch and visited. They gave us drinks and we ate roasted Barley as well as injera with lamb.
They also had cookies and Sifan took one bite and then kept stealing bites out of her mommy's hand.. yes that's my girl!!!
We also got to visit with another YWAM family who is here adopting their son. They had just passed court and are here for the summer while waiting for their embassy appointment. They live in North Carolina too!! What a small world!!!

We then made our way back to room 3 where we would have to say goodbye( or Ciao! in Amharic). Sifan cried as she did not want to go back to the Nanny .
Instead she clung to me. As much as I did not want to see her cry, I was relieved that yes...things are going to be just fine!!

So my heart is still with her in room 3 but we will return on Tuesday after our trip to Lalibela!!

We will not be able to post from Lalibela but will hope to post soon after our Tuesday visit with her if at all possible and will look for possibilities of ways to post pictures Tuesday evening.

Until then, May God hold you ALL closely in the palm of his hand.

We Love You!!!
And we are so thankful to God for calling us on this journey!!!
How we are blessed!!!