Tiger is nestled beside me on the couch. He is peering over my shoulder, scrubbed squeaky clean, smelling delicious and hoping the screen suddenly turns from blogger to "Sesame Street" or "Octonauts". Bless him.
Miss T hustled down the stairs in her pjs for her own nighttime blessing. It's hard to recognize her at night because she is not in gaudy heels and a cheap princess dress. "Mommy, I love you and I like to play with you". Bless her.
The Ethiopian Orthodox fasting started on Monday which means most of our neighbors are eating a vegan diet and fasting every morning until early afternoon in a lead up to Easter. To live in a cultural so intentionally religious, I've been challenged in my intentional mindfulness leading up to Easter (and Christmas in its season).
I am in such a different season now. The majority of days are within our walls. The Littles are digging the routine and have settled in. Jon travels much more than he used to, one of the reasons we made the move to a city, and I am thankful for teammate support here. The girls and I press into our new weekly preschool class at the Grace Center, I rejoice to watch J and A grow in confidence.
God has also brought some new relationships into their lives and I see another prayer being answered, as another reason for the move was for social opportunities for them and English-speaking friends.
Our big house here teems with guests, for meals, for overnights, for play dates and prayer meetings. I'm thankful at how often our guest rooms are filled. It is so starkly different from our rustic, rural life but I am reminded over and over that God is in this and providing. Layers of who I perceived myself to be are being stripped away and I return in desperation to Christ being the only place where my identity can lie.
On the very best of days, J and A can be convinced to do "preschool" with Tiger and Miss T.
The list of my wish-I-could-get-involved-ins is longer by the day. But the Spirit continues to impress me with the need for a stable, routine, discipling and slow-paced life for myself and the kids between all the times we have to travel. I don't want to move into something "big" just so I don't feel "small".
We have visitors coming this month from Indiana! Shane and Stef and kids, we are so excited to have you here! They are planning on bringing luggage for us and here's a wishlist if you would like to be involved. Have I told you how humbling it is to get visitors, to be remembered, to be prayed for? I don't know where we would be without your support. And I mean that. One day, my mom shared with me of hearing from a woman that I don't even know who prays for us everyday. I started to cry, astounded and humbled at this gift we can never repay but then frustrated with myself. I told Jon, "Can you even imagine what a mess I would be without these prayers?!?" ;)
The whole crew has to travel to Addis Ababa on March 8th for visa issues and from there, Jon has to exit the country while the kids and I can stay. He will most likely go to Kenya to do an e-visa process, and take advantage of the time to visit KIBIR partners. I asked if I could be the one with the exit visa and have to exile to Bora Bora or somewhere difficult ;)
Can you spot the hornbills? This is the tree outside our bedroom window and a pair of hornbills are frequent visitors. They are mesmerizing.
Join us as we continue in prayer for our new Bahir Dar neighbors, the Awi people and to move forward in faithfulness with however God wants to use KIBIR Consultants.
And a few resources I've loved/learned from or want to dig into!
Homeschool moms, SS teachers, Pastors, everyone, take time with this graphic. God is so amazing.
Children are naturally curious about new people. Use this family activity to cultivate a habit of welcoming those from other cultures into your home. It will help your family participate in loving others like God does. It also provides practice in asking appropriate questions that may lead to deeper conversations.
