Update 1 from Addis

May 14 -
The song that keeps playing in my head as I thought about this day is a song by Casting Crowns called "At Your Feet" - Specifically the lyrics "Here at Your feet I lay my future down All of my dreams I give to you now and I find peace. Jesus, Jesus at Your feet there is nowhere else for me."
This journey is not one I am traveling alone and I can find extreme peace in that. It doesn't change the fact that it is a nerve wracking adventure but it helps me keep my focus where it needs to be. We arrived to the Lexington airport to find that our first flight had been cancelled. Even in the chaos of trying to figure outanother route to get us where we need to go (which for tonight was Washington DC) I knew that God had this in His hands. My emotions range back and forth from extremely excited to anxious. I've overwhelmed that in a few days I'll have met my children and I'm praying that that meeting goes smoothly and they can sense the love I already have for them. I'm looking forward to court being over and being one step closer to bringing them home. I have so much support and love being directed my way and I'm so thankful. As a friend told me last night before I left - The best place to be in God's will for your life. I know that although that it is taking me on an adventure with a lot of unknowns and I'm forced to walk by faith, then is no where else I would rather be. For now I'll sing, "Here at your feet, I lay this day down not in my strength but in yours I've found all I need, You'll all I need."

May 15 -
Yesterday was a pretty hectic day - once we made it to Charlotte we knew our connection would be close and that was before the plane was 40 minutes late. Luckily our departing flight was in the same terminal as the arrival so we were able to make it. Had it been anywhere else we wouldn't have. We finally made it to DC and thought we were good to go only to find out that our baggage wasn't getting off the plane as long as there was lightening. We waited for 2 hours and the baggage still wasn't off. The last shuttle to our hotel was supposed to leave at 10:45 and we got there at 10:50 after making the decision to leave our bags at the airport and pick them up in the morning. The driver did make a final stop to pick us up and it was good to be able to get a good night's sleep and a breakfast. Upon checking in at the Ethiopean Counter I almost lost my vaccination record behind the computer which could have been disaster had I not noticed it was missing and then spotted it. Needlees to say the beginning of this adventure has been anything but smooth. I'm now on board waiting for the take off to Ethiopia. I'm optimistic that the rest of the journey will be smoother. I'm trusting in God and taking it one step at a time.

May 16-
I didn't know it this morning but today would be the day I would meet my son Mulate. The 13 hour flight to Addis was pretty uneventful. It was jammed packed of adorable children that made me smile every time I saw them. We arrived at the airport to start about a two hour trek in getting our visa, going through immigration, collecting our bags and then going through customs. We were able to meet up with our ride with relative ease and made our way to the transition home/guest house to take a nap.
We then traveled about an hour or so the orphanage where Mulatu is staying. He is absolutly perfect. He spent some time sitting in my lap, trying on my sunglasses and eating some fruit snacks. We also spent some time playing cars. I even did the motherly duty of wiping his snotty nose. There were several other children that pilled on top of me as well. It was a great first meeting and dad took some great pictures that I can't wait to share. Tomorrow we will travel to Nazaret to meet Natinael. For now I am going to try to get some rest. Although it is only 1:30 at home, it is already 8:30 at night and since the electricity is off there is not much else to do.