Court Trip, Addis Ababa, Part 1

I can't even begin to tell you what an incredible trip we had. I know it was because we had 57,893 people praying for us while we were gone. Not really, but close. We met our children, did some pretty amazing sight-seeing, met lots of great people, ate some interesting food, went to court, drank lots of coffee, and flew on an airplane for what seemed like 4 days. I think it actually was almost 4 days.

But the boys. Oh the boys! We can't wait to bring them home. One thing we learned, language barrier or not: boys are the same in Knoxville, TN as they are in Ethiopia, Africa. They run, play soccer, do cartwheels, play chase, fight, laugh, color, cry, watch cartoons, stick stickers on their noses, blow bubbles, hug...

Big Z is definitely the leader of the two. He's strong and bold, serious and hilarious. Little Z is his shadow. He's climbing on things way too big for him, running to keep up, and just sweet. Until this point, we've only seen pictures, so when we saw them, we recognized them right away. They were a little smaller than they looked in the pictures. I forget they're only 3 and 4. We had so much playtime with just them. And now they're legally and officially forever ours.

We cannot wait to go back. And I'm not sure if it's because our boys are there or because we just really loved it. I wish we could post more pictures and videos especially of the boys. Soon.

So many sights and experiences made a deep impression. I'll never forget the orphanage. The way it looked, the way it smelled, the sweet ladies that work there. They genuinely love those kids. I'll never forget all the kids that had their faces pressed up to the glass of the windows while we played in the baby room with the boys. I'll always remember Big Z giving his half-eaten sucker to his friend out the window, and the happy dance his friend did after receiving such a treasure. We passed out hundreds of stickers to the kids and watched as they stuck them on their hands, noses, shirts, and ears. We saw them fight over the plastic that the sticker sheet was packaged in and shove it in their pocket just to have something to call their own. They had one TV in the corner of the playroom. Now this playroom was not fully enclosed probably to let in the outside air, but it also doubled as a dining room, school room, and whatever else they needed it for. And the TV was only working because someone stripped and twisted the wires. The kids cheered for coloring time, when they color on already-colored-on coloring sheets with broken crayons and dried-up markers.

They have nothing.

Just like us. Until God adopted us as His children.

"For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves.

Instead, you received God's spirit when he adopted you

as His own children.

Now we call Him, 'Abba, Father.'"

Romans 8:14-15

More to come...