I am home, so happy to be reunited with my precious family, yet torn by my recent trip to Ethiopia. The people, the country, the sights, the smells-- hold so very much of my heart. I am finding it difficult to express with words all that we saw, all that we experienced. Heading 8 hours south of Addis, much of it on dirt roads, was just a journey like no other that I have traveled. The Lord was at every turn, His Presence felt, your prayers were answered and I stand in awe at what He revealed to us there.

I will try to begin processing it on the blog, sharing some of the incredible ways that He went before us, prepared the way, and protected us! The Glimmer team took excellent care of us and I will forever be grateful for all they showed us on this trip. The work that they are doing is simply hard to describe- the impact is felt by 1,000's and 1,000's of Ethiopians across the country. More to come on that for sure..........

The slideshow is long, I cut so much of it already. I wanted a permanent reminder. I won't know if you check out a few minutes in!! :) I simply can't forget all that we saw and am excited to see what the future holds.

I can't wait to see all the pics that Kristin took, it is an intimidating thing to be snapping pics on my little point and shoot next to a pro. She is enjoying time with her family in Holland and will be back later this week. I'm sure once she gets settled, she will have far better images to share!

The last days back in Addis were filled with friends from Gladney and seeing another very large water project a Glimmer of Hope is involved with. This one is only 45 minutes or so outside of Addis so it will be one we will visit again. She also spent some time preparing for October mission trip, meeting with a dear saint in charge of TOMS Ethiopia. We even had a skype/conference call with some Ethiopian friends (one of whom is a dentist), making plans for the October trip.

Without a doubt, Emily has seen God work during this trip in ways beyond what she expected. Isn't that how He always works? Her heart has been even more connected to this beautiful country and its people. Her awareness of God's call to love and care for the poor and needy has been heightened. She has seen children living in unbelievable circumstances which will no doubt change the way she mothers our kids. The question of "what are we doing about it?" has penetrated even deeper.

Thank you for praying!! These days has gone fast. Loved hanging out with my GREAT kids! Abe has been a rock star sleeper! (Em, it was three droppers of melatonin, right??)

Appreciate all the encouragements. Emily will fill in the multiple gaps over the next days as she processes it all and gets back to reality.

Emily continues to have a "trip of a lifetime" experience! Praise God. Hurts not getting to experience it with her but know she is exactly where the Lords wants her. A great surprise is that "going dark" (as much as she wanted to be like Sydney Bristow) never really happened. We have been in fairly consistent contact via text and skype.

They left Awassa and drove to Tercha (not whatever I called it last time), which became their home base. Sparse hotel, complete with mosquito nets, cocoon sleeping deal and no shower. What troopers these strong ladies are! Sunday morning they drove to Dali to see Glimmer's village restoration project. She said the views were some of the most beautiful she had ever seen. Gorgeous mountains and valleys with huts scattered throughout the hills. She said when they arrived in the village, literally 1000s of people "just appeared"; singing, dancing, welcoming them to Dali. This village is the first village selected in the Southern region for this large of a project. They saw several smaller water projects, saw the newly built schools and health clinics. She was impressed beyond words of the high quality of work being done. Of course, a beautiful coffee ceremony followed.

Another night in Tercha, followed by another day of visiting still more areas and villages where Glimmer has or has begun projects. Emily was in awe of the work and how lives were being changed because of it.

As we speak, she is waking up in a hotel in Soddo, and planning to drive back to Addis (and hot water and skype!) Simply through her texts, it is obvious that her heart is gripped more than ever for this beautiful country, especially now that she has seen another side of it.

Not to bore you, but after 4 trips in the last 2 years you would think we would figure out how the country is broken up...I think we may have it figured out now...

Ethiopia is broken into 5 regions

The Southern region is where Em has been. Awassa is the capital of the Southern region. It has 13 zones. They have mainly been in the Dawro zone. Abe is from the Wolayita zone.

The Dawro zone has many districts. Dali and Tercha are in the Dawro zone.

So for those adopted families, when your case worker tells you your child is from _____, it may take some investigating to find out exactly what and where they are referring to. Hopefully that explanation is close to being accurate!

Home update:

All is good. Cousin Annie is here with us adding to the mix. Enjoying spending time with the kids, hitting Sonic happy hour, Yo-berry and late night swims! Em, know that our moms and many of our sweet friends are filling in the gaps and keeping food on the table :-)

Text (yes crazy she can text from there!) responding to question "are you in Chucha yet?"

Can't wait to hear more about that!

Then a couple hours later, this came in:

Communications will be dark until Wednesday morning. These next days they will be traveling in the region seeing various Glimmer of Hope projects and praying through how we may partner with them.

On the home front...

all is well. Yesterday, we spent a great afternoon with other Ethiopian Gladney families! So cool!! Being with so many other families that not only look the same as we do, but more importantly share hearts. The amazing Gladney staff was there too, getting to see some of the precious families they helped unite.

Our oldest, Hill, turned 14 today!! We missed mommy, but he had a fun day. He is becoming a kind hearted, strong young man that we are very proud of. Had friends and neighbors over to celebrate with swimming and pizza. Nothing beats watching Eyasu swimming with and being loved on by a bunch of teenage boys!

Em is doing great!! Thank the Lord for traveling mercies. They arrived yesterday about noon our time. Answered prayer for how good she feels and no yuckies while traveling!

Praise God for Skype and AT&T free texting! I'm sure she saying "enough already" but it has been amazing staying in contact while we can. (another blessing is Starwood points and free nights at the killer Sheraton!)