She is loved

Last night I did some writing in the journal that I will take to Ethiopia to record my thoughts for baby S.  Last night's entry basically described everything I know about her to this point.  Someday, I know she is going to have a lot of questions about her story and I want to make sure every little detail that I know is recorded for her sake later on.  As I wrote, my feelings were all over the place.  I tried to picture her as a teenager reading my entry and explained things as best as I could knowing what some of her questions will likely be.  More than anything, I just want her to know that she is loved - by her first family, by our family, and most importantly, by her Creator who has a beautiful plan for her life.

I also wrote a letter to her relative.  We are hoping to have a meeting after our court appearance and we will bring the letter for the translator to read.  It just tells about us and our family and expresses our thanks for the gift of this precious little girl.  It is so hard to process that what we view as such a blessing to our family comes at such a high price for her birth family.  The circumstances that are faced by so many families in impoverished countries are just hard to grasp.  Can you imagine not being able to feed your child?  If a mama dies, there is no milk for the baby.  Formula is scarce - especially in the remote regions.  That is where YWAM has stepped in to provide what is deemed "liquid gold" for the babies in their care.  In the next few weeks, there will be a huge influx of formula for the orphanages because all of the traveling families will be taking as much as their luggage can hold.  One benefit of traveling twice to Ethiopia is the opportunity to take even more the second trip!  We had a bit of an issue in regard to the formula that we are taking.  Our church collected almost 50 pounds and we had another 30 donated from an organization that is working with YWAM.  Almost 35 lbs. of that formula was recalled by Similac.  I started to panic thinking we wouldn't be able to take as much as we hoped.  On Saturday, imagine my surprise when I went to the mailbox and there was a check from Abbott Labs made out to ME for over $130.00.  I had returned 12 cans to them and the turnaround time was fast.  I still have 24 more cans to return.  The real beauty of it is that since the check was made out to me, I was able to buy Target store brand formula which is almost half the price of the name brands and just as nutritious.  I love how God works things out and with plenty of time to spare!!