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.......she captured our trip on film

Final slideshows

Last 2 slideshows from Ethiopia Email me for link to others-alexander@integrity.com

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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Gelila Grace Alexander!

Moody here... All the girls are doing great in Ethiopia!  God is good, the giver of all good things.  He has provided abundantly beyond our needs...once again.  To see the joy on little Gigi's face, the sparkle in her eyes...such a mystery to literally see God fill the void in Gigi's heart and watch her be transformed.  Even yesterday, Emily said there were no smiles, no sparkle, fear.  But we know, that perfect love, casts out all fear.  Thank you Lord for your perfect love, a love I often times don't get, a love we often times weakly try to share.  May we, just like Gigi's smile, proclaim the mystery of Christ (Colossians 4:3) to a world in need.

Thank you for praying and walking this journey with us!  Soli Deo Gloria


Day 1 - just after they brought her from the Thomas Center






 Oh the difference a day makes!!!!!
Nanny!!

The two BEST big sisters...ever!!!

Let's get ready to rumble!!!

This is more like it!





By the way...#manweek is going great!  Lots of cheeseburgers, Mission Impossible, basketball and Xbox.  It's all good but we need our women home!!





Wednesday, December 21, 2011

4 days!


Christmas is in 4 days.  I get on a plane to bring my daughter home in 4 days!  I have discovered that either one of these would make life full with 6 kids, therapy, etc......but add the two together and it has been extra exciting around here! I will say I am loving this advent season.  As we are preparing our hearts for the coming of the Christ child, our Redeemer, we also prepare our hearts for the addition of our daughter.

This will be my last post from here and I hope to be able to update while in country!

I would really appreciate your prayers for several things:
1. For Gigi, that the Lord would knit her heart to ours.  That she would feel loved, secure and safe.  She has had multiple transitions in her short 17 months.  She has been loved and we are so thankful for the care she has received! Now she needs to learn that we are her family and this is the final stop.

2. For my boys back home.  They are excited about all of the "manly" things they will do without any females in the house.  I keep asking to just make sure Abe's monitor is ON! :)  They will have a blast and Abe and Eyasu will get great care.  I'm blessed to be able to get on the plane and not worry about home.  Moody is staying here with the boys, the girls are making the journey to bring their sister home with me.

3. Travel mercies.  Pray for easy flights.  Pray we are healthy.  Pray for sleep.  Pray this would be a special time for Team Gigi.  I am blessed beyond measure that my 12 and 10 year old girls, my mom, and 2 precious friends are headed to Addis to get my girl.  The ultimate girls trip. :)

We arrive back at DFW on January 1st!  What a way to kick off a New Year.  Moody will have the flight info for those that would like to come meet our girl.  We would love to see you there.  Once we are home we will hole up for a bit.  The boys don't go back to school until the 5th and this will allow us time to bond as a family.  Imagine what this little one is experiencing.......everything is new.  New sights, new smells, new people and it will be overwhelming.  She has also had multiple care givers over the course of her short life.  We will be her fourth transition in 17 months.  It will take time for her to realize that we are family, mom and dad, siblings, etc. rather than just caregivers.  The attachment process is just that, a process.  It takes time.  And we are committed to doing whatever we need to do to make her feel secure and safe.

Thank you to each of you that has walked this journey with us!  We are so humbled and grateful by your encouragement and prayers!  SOLI DEO GLORIA





Thursday, December 15, 2011

WE HAVE CLEARANCE!! Soli Deo Gloria

Sweet Abe was up off and on all night.  The upside of that situation is it allowed me to check my email frequently throughout the night hoping to get an email from the embassy!  At 1:36 it came.  We had cleared.  Sweet baby girl can come home.

I cried.  Woke up Moody and immediately gave praise to the Lord for this amazing gift!  She is coming home.  We leave on Christmas Day, return the 1st.  What a perfect way to kick off 2012.

Thank you to those who prayed and encouraged us along this road.  Keep praying for those still stuck in the process.  It is hard! Adoption is never easy, but He is good and faithful to fulfill all in His timing.




2And the LORD answered me:
"Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.3For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie.If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.

Habakkuk 2:2-3




Wednesday, December 7, 2011

buy a brick, build a school





Monday, November 28, 2011

Gifts that Give Back



Come bring your shopping list, and help give back as you cross names off one by one!!!! Items from the following:

147 Million Orphans


Lopa Art


Art Aids Art


Noonday Collection


Bring Love In

Several adoptive families selling jewelry and ornaments to help bring their kiddos home! 

Hosted by Rainey Webb and Emily Alexander
3413 Yellowstone,
Arlington, TX   76013

Come for cocktails and appetizers
Thursday, December 1st   6:00 - 9:00 PM

Saturday, December 2nd   10:00 - 2:00 PM

Sunday, December 4th  1:00 - 4:00

See you there!  



Sunday, November 20, 2011

Korah video- EthiopiaSmile

Another great video from Kurt Neale.  A look into our 3 days spent in Korah.





Congratulations to Amy!  You won the book.  Send me your address and I will put it in the mail. :)




Friday, November 18, 2011

everybody





Tuesday, November 15, 2011

book recommendation and giveaway

I recently read "A Chord of Three Strands" and was certainly blessed by it.  It is based on a true story of His redemptive grace as He wove the lives of several families together.  It is a story of the miracle of adoption.  It will draw you in and make you see His glorious hand at work.

I highly recommend. You can purchase one here or leave a comment and I will draw a winner on Friday.  Winner gets a free copy of the book!  :)




Saturday, November 12, 2011

great gift


My friends are raising money for their second Ethiopian adoption by selling these awesome Christmas ornaments.  Head over to their etsy site to purchase!


They are so great they are giving my blog readers a 10% discount.

The coupon code at checkout is: TEAMALEXANDER





Wednesday, November 9, 2011

dube bute- last day of trip

Where did the last two weeks go???? Still very excited about passing court and now the embassy wait begins. Praying sweet baby girl is home SOON.

I realized that I never finished up the trip.  I need to share the amazing things that have taken place in Dube Bute since the campaign ended.  It is just so difficult to put into words the emotions felt that day.  Hoping the pictures do it justice.













Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Gelila Grace Alexander "Gigi"

We passed court!  I am officially a mom to 7! 
 First time we saw her face
 10 months old
 11 months old
 You are 1!!! Thank you Robbins. :)




Thank you Avery for the video! :)
Thank you Aunt Mary!
Praying sweet baby girl is home soon.  One major step down, now on to embassy!  Prayers much appreciated. :)


Monday, October 17, 2011

40th!



Friday, October 14, 2011

Loaves and Fish- our last dental day

Our last dental day we were back in Korah.  After counting our supplies the day before, it was estimated that if we were very careful, we might be able to see just over 100 patients.





The days get busy, a non stop flow of patients coming in through the door.

Everyone is working hard!
Occasionally stopping for pics, but mostly working. :)


We anticipating finishing up before lunch but around 1:00, my friend Jessica asked me to look at the sharps container.  After the second day the container was not half way full.  I looked at it now and it was literally filled to the top.  Twice as many patients seen?? It was simply impossible.  I looked at the table again of our anesthetic and needles, well still there.  More.  More patients to see.  Unreal.  Goosebumps for everyone that was there.  Every patient seen.  Over 220 that day.  And we had to pack up a few supplies to take home.

Allow yourself to be in situations where nothing in the natural makes sense.  Where the ONLY choice is to stand in awe, humbled that you were allowed to take part in His goodness, His glory.  

With the vast majority of our supplies still sitting in Bole airport, the Lord provided exactly what we needed to see every patient that we were meant to see.  What a gift and incredible lesson to the team that HE is enough.  He works His purposes without our supplies- for our good and His glory!

I also happened to turn 40 this day! A long post on that next because, really-- if you must turn 40, by all means do it in Ethiopia.  The most fun birthday that I have ever had!  One quick b-day fact!  I got the very best gift ever that morning.  Moody and I had received a November 1st court date just as the courts were closing in August.  We had a few people praying that somehow the judge would see us while we were there.  We knew it was a long shot by a mile, especially since the judge was doing training in Addis the week we were there.  Abdissa called this morning and said that we needed to be at court by 9:00 am!!  We were packing up to head to Korah.  We quickly changed, grabbed our passports and raced to court.  We were allowed to see the judge and satisfy that portion of the court process.  It won't speed the process up for us, but it will allow us to stay home until embassy.  This was truly the best birthday gift!!  We now wait for our MOWA letter to officially pass and introduce her to you!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

day 5- back in Korah and Meskel

We went back to Hands for the Needy for our second day to treat there.
 Moody back in action!
 Crowd arrived early and kept growing

 Cute little guy getting his toothbrush after his extraction
 Cute Matt

Our very own McGyver!  Makes the perfect sterilizers for our instruments.

We were plugging along and seeing many patients.  At one point we took a quick inventory of our supplies to best determine how to proceed.  We actually had the conversation at one point if it would be better to simply work hard all day long and just blow out all of the anesthetic that we had left or come back the next day and do the best we could with what was left.  After Tanisha, Yasmin, Moody and I talked for a second, we decided to see close to 200 that day and then based on our count, we could see 130 AT BEST the next day.  It was frustrating but better than nothing considering we were running out of supplies.

We saw a little over 200 people and packed up for the day.  It was the Ethiopian holiday, Meskel.  The Meskel celebration includes the burning of a large bonfire, or Demera, based on the belief that Queen Eleni had a revelation in a dream. She was told that she shall make a bonfire and that the smoke would show her where the true cross was buried. So she ordered the people of Jerusalem to bring wood and make a huge pile. After adding frankincense to it the bonfire was lit and the smoke rose high up to the sky and returned to the ground, exactly to the spot where the Cross had been buried.[1]

The night before we got the opportunity to partake in a Meskel celebration outside of our hotel.  They do the fires the night before Meskel!  I forgot to share these in the last post. 
 Mim cutting a rug with Abiy
We went to Cloud 9 for a wonderful meal.  We got to meet up with several full time missionaries currently living in Addis.  What encouragement they were to our team! 

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emily
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from becoming polluted by the world." James 1:27
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