Ethiopia First Trip Day 3- Baby B visit #2

After a great night's sleep and a good hotel buffet breakfast we were all ready to see the kids again. Abebe was excited to take us by Living Hope, the maternity center on the way to the nursery. Some of the women in this organization go to local abortion clinics and wait for a chance to talk with women who are there for abortions. The women in this ministry let the pregnant women know about Living Hope. Living Hope is a place where women can stay during their pregnancy, be cared for, are given a skill (making paper bead jewelry), and are able to have their babies, then come back to stay until they are ready to go out on their own with their children. The paper bead jewelry gives them a small business and income that will help take care of them and their daily needs. I loved hearing about this ministry. For women who wanted to keep their children, but saw no hope in that, this is a way! I think it's really hard to understand what Living Hope is or Who He is unless you have experienced Him yourself, but to see the eight women at the maternity center finding Living Hope personally just helped me turn the corner all the way from being still a little uncomfortable in a foreign land to wanting more and more of what it offers.

Abebe and the ministry staff standing in front of their inventory. It dwindled a little after the three of us moms got done shopping!

                                                A baby that has now experienced living hope.

These moms were so cute with their big smiles and their gifted fingers.

I loved hearing the name of Jesus. Until we met up with Abebe we heard some people talk about God and that was comforting, but I didn't realize how much I missed hearing the name of Christ while we were there. And here He was in the town of Nazret, in a home where widows were able to rest the remainder of their lives and where babies were cared for, waiting on families to love them. He was here in Nazret with these eight moms who were given a real choice and support in that decision. I felt at home for the first time on this trip.

We headed back to the Adama nursery and I was just as excited as I was the day before. I was thirsty for a little more of those round cheeks. When we arrived we were told B was sleeping. Well, I wasn't going to miss out on getting some pictures of THAT! What a sweetie. She was under her little mosquito netting, laying on her tummy so peacefully. I wanted to warn her that when she woke up those white people were going to want to hold her again, but I just didn't have the heart. Here is a big tease.

This is her bed...

T played a little football (soccer) with one of the boys awaiting his family. You can see where the widows sit during the day. I love this place.

The widows loved looking at their pictures. Here they are laughing at their picture on the camera.

After taking many sleeping pictures and staring at this sweet little thing we left the nursery room and chatted with Tezera and our friends some more. When she woke up they brought her out to us and I took note of the instinctual feeling I had. I was her mother. She was my child. We have some obstacles to overcome. But, we were meant to be together. She got a little fussy again so here came the baby wrap and the word, "Gombi". I obeyed and bent over and here we were again. The wrap was very comfortable, but there was a flaw. I could not see her. I am not an owl and my neck just couldn't do what I wanted it to do. So, I found a bathroom and a mirror and we had a grand time playing peek a boo and just checking each other out. Her eyes are big and she used every ounce of them to search my soul, as my mother would put it. She did so well with this that I thought maybe she was ready to get out of this wrap and just hang out like our friend's babies were doing. Nope.

So, T who was being so patient over the last two days, gave it a go again. She fussed at first, but he sang to her and stood by the widows and she just chilled in his arms. That little thing looked over at me like, "I know you think you're all that, but look at me over here all content with this guy." It was awesome. My two new girlfriends were trying to comfort me and told me that it was probably because T had dark brown eyes and my soft blue ones probably scared her a little. It was a good thought, but I really was OK. I was enjoying the peace.

T helped Tezera put some of the donations each family brought away. This was where they kept the formula. The cans in the back are all empty and she said they were starting to get low on formula. She said, "We feel rich now!" She must see God at work all the time since they live depending on Him for their needs. Some of us brought baby clothes to pack in and around our other donations and she told T that just a couple of weeks ago they gave all of their clothes away. "Look", she said, "He provided!" One of the families brought shoes for the kids. Tezera said that just the day before one of the nannies told her that they needed shoes. "Here God brought them!"

It was time for the babies to eat so knowing how B refused all of my trials the past two days the nurse, who we could tell also had a special relationship with B, sat beside me with B in her lap to feed her. She fed her for awhile some type of pasta, and then handed the spoon to me. It was such a priveledge to feed little B and have her accept it. She makes the cutest kissing face with food and also during play. I knew that we had been called to our own lunch about 10 minutes earlier, but I was trying to pretend I didn't hear that. I was hoping that they would forget me and go on so I could just keep fedding B and playing with her. She was sitting next to me at this point and playing with the picture cubes we brought her. Each of the four cubes had  pictures of her brothers, sister, mom, dad, and grandparents in them, including hers. But, Tezera looked right at me and firmly said, "Come. Lunch." As my oldest son would say, "Ah, man!"

This is the nurse of the nursery, who clearly has a special relationship with B.

Some of the most loving women in the country of Ethiopia.

But, by the time I made it up to the second floor for lunch I realized I was hungry and was grateful for the little break. I loved teasing our new friend B about her dislike of Ethiopian food. Tezera was on a mission to get B to eat the injera without throwing it up like she did two days earlier. It was also funny to watch B, who didn't think anyone was looking, sneak the enjera to her little S. What a great lunch! One of my favorite parts of Ethiopian meals was drinking Pepsi and Coke from the real glass bottles. Tezera continued putting seconds and thirds on our plates and I was so thankful for the 3 husbands who took it for the team and kept eating. She focused on them because of that and I didn't have to go to the hospital beccause of a perforated stomache wall.

We finished lunch and found the babies playing in the same spot. I stood by a wall and played peek a boo with B again. She smiled at me! I continued playing with her on the floor, with the nurse near her the rest of the afternoon. As long as I didn't try to hold her and the nurse stayed near by I could get as close as I wanted. I would wave, she would wave. I would blow a kiss, she would attempt the same. I clapped, she clapped. At one point the nurse intentionally moved away, a couple inches at a time to where she was around 2 feet away and B sat on the floor, but just about in my lap. I just kissed every part of her face, held my cheek to hers over and over. With my face on her forehead she would just look up and stare at me, tolerating every bit of it.  I love this baby, her soft skin, and her sleek curls.

Abebe said the dreaded words, "It is time to go." I tried the ignoring thing again. I could see that my two friends were shocked and began to get emotional. I just continued ignoring. I'm really good at this. Tezera made an annoucement, had B read some scripture in English, and the nannies stood up and started singing and clapping worship to our God. S began crying and so did some of the nannies. It was an incredible site. When the song was over no one made a move. I was sure that none of the moms and dads were going to make the first move to give the kids back to the nannies so I wondered what was going to happen. Tezera must have felt it wasn't time because she began another worship song in which the nannies joined in.

There was no avoiding it though. I knew in a matter of minutes I was going to say goodbye to B. I tried to ignore that fact also. The song stopped and Abebe said something in Amharic, then when no one made a move, Tezera said, "It is time. Give the children." I hugged some of the kiddos that had befriended me while there, kissed B one more time, and hugged the nurse who clung to me the way I clung to her, saying, " Amesegënallô" (pronounced Om a say ga nallo), and left this special place. No one talked for awhile in the van.

We got back in the car with Dale Earnhart and began the scary ride back to Addis. After awhile we were able to talk without crying. We stopped by Abebe's home and met his wife and children. What a great family! We got back to the wonderful Addis Guest House and asked Yonas to show us a room that would could use on our second trip with the babies. How far I had come! We went to Sishu which was suggested by my friend Becky. They had some of the best hamburgers I've ever had. Seriously. We had to go to Ethiopia to get a great burger. I loved this dinner with my new friends who had become so dear to me in such a short amount of time. I was already dreading the goodbyes that would happen the next night.

This picture is especially for my brother in law, Scott. Here are some happy cows in Ethiopia.

We stopped by this watermelon stand so Abebe could bring one home to his family that night.

Great people. Great friends.

We went to bed with prayers of a successful court appointment for the next morning and enjoyed another night of great sleep. I was even a pro at taking a shower with my mouth closed. I could get used to this.