This Day in History

     On this day in history, one year ago to be exact, my best friend Melita and I ate Ethiopian food for the 1st time. At the time we asked the waiter what the most commonly eaten food in Ethiopia was and that is how we placed our order. Doro Wat. At the time I had NO idea how precious this dish was (the yummiest Ethiopian food of all and served only on special holidays), and I had no earthly idea what the other foods were that were sitting on my injera roll. Now I look back at what we ate the day and enjoy reminiscing over how new it was back then. Totally and completely foreign. Now, a year later, I can cook half the foods that stared back at me that day and thoroughly enjoy any invitation to eat Doro Wat with the locals.

      What a difference one year can make. It feels like so very much has happened since then. At that point I was still fundraising. Still had not been to my Global Outreach training. Still had not booked my plane ticket. Now, my time here is nearly over and I am left wondering where the time went. Thanks Melita, for being brave and trying new foods with me on this day in history. You rock! 

A Day in the Life

     As I prepare my next newsletter, church update, and continue on my blogging journey, I find it so very difficult to come up with things to write about. After nearly a year of life in Ethiopia, there is such a normalcy to the ins and outs of my day. Nothing seems "odd" now, and cultural differenes are just a part of day to day life. And yet, I stop and think that for me this is all just life, but for those of you who are connecting stateside, there is absolutely nothing normal about the life I am living. So, allow me to share a day in the life of Hannah...

     During this season, my day starts around 5am when my sweet little miss decides it is time to start the day (cannot complain too much, she is sleeping 8 or 9 hours straight at night). Time to get up and make a bottle, feed, then lay her on my chest in hopes of a few more hours of her squirmy sleep. Today was a victory... Back to sleep until 8:30am! The morning continues with baby cooing as I get ready for the day. 

     There is nothing quiet about our days... From inside the house we hear the blairing local churches that begin a call to prayer or even just start with some music. 5:45am is the key time to start, but they continue on and off throughout the day. I hear Mulu outside who comes to cut my grass for his sheep who just had triplets. The local boys play soccer and marbles not too far from my front door and their shouts and hollers surrounding the game rarely cease. The funny part is I never know which game they are playing because they get just as into both of them. There are the knocks of girls looking for housework, boys selling eggs, or friendly neighbors stopping by to chat. The birds sing, dogs bark, and donkey carts roll along the road behind my house with squeky wheels and clinking water cans. Around noon the kids return from school so their blissful conversations fill the air. There is the skitter of the creatures living upstairs, small limbs falling on my tin roof, and water leaking from my tank outside. Somehow though, these sounds have come to be a part of my day. An expeded part of routine. 

     Sometime mid morning I put little miss in the frontpack and we stroll off down the red dusty dirt road into town. Off to get our fresh bread for the day. It's about a mile stroll to the end of the dirt road and shops where we buy our fresh bread every few days. Today, as I walked passed the shops looking for the type of bread I like best a boy came up to me... "Hannah, one birr?" This is a boy I know well from my walks to and from town. He has the biggest coffee brown eyes and warm smile. I replied to his plea for money (only the thousandth I had heard that morning) with an ishy (which means "ok" in Amharic). I held out my hand, pointed to my palm, and said "One birr." He seemed to get the joke as a grin took root, and needless to say he stopped asking for money. 

     I found the shop I liked and stepped inside. Two small children sat behind the counter with their older brother. After greeting them I placed my order. Just then a giant rat scurried up a pole in the back wall and into the ceiling. ICK! Rats, in my bread suke. It's ok, I told myself... He was not actually IN the bread cabinet. And with that we had our bread, paid our birr, and were on our way home. Making a quick stop by the lady selling avocados on the side of the road, we are back on our way. Back down the rocky, dusty, dirt road. Along the way children swarm, and by the time I reach my compound I have accrued quite the mob of children. 

     The days are pretty relaxed. I make lunch, little miss takes a nap, and I usually spend that time reading or writing. Cleaning up the house. Prepping for dinner. Occasionally we go next door to our neighbors for chatting and tea. The evenings come, the sun goes down, the air catches a little extra chill, and we settle in. By 8:00pm my girl is usually ready for bed. Prayers, songs, and a story sent by a sweet friend all have become part of our nighttime routine. Then snuggles. Always snuggles! As her eyes grow heavey and she slowly falls off to sleep, my mind opens the floodgates and thoughs start racing. Thoughts of the day, thoughts of what is to come, thoughts of my past and my future. With sweet baby snores beside me, this is my time. With another day behind me, this is when I find God. And as conversations with Him lend way to heavey eyes and eventually sleep, another day is done. 

     You see my friends, for this season, this is my life. It is normal. The rats running up and down in the bread shop. The early morning baby smiles and afternoon boys outside the door. The mobs of children along our walk. The donkeys and sheep I avoid running into along the way. The dirt that stains my feet and the rocks I trip over. The ladies selling produce along the way. And the hyenias that howel announcing the start of night. This is my "normal". This is a day in the life of this white girl embracing life in the hills of Ethiopia... 

Send Me

     I have been so blessed in my time here--even more so than I deserve. But I can tell you this much... It is not because of anything I did, but rather because I serve a God of grace who accepted my willing and obedient heart. The love that I have for the children at the orphanage and along the streets is not a love that I could have created of my own doing; it was God given and came from the overflowing love that He has filled my life with. 

     In coming to Ethiopia, I had a degree of qualification for working with and loving these young children, but to a large degree I was not at all qualified for the work that was ahead of me. I never studied cross-cultural ministries, I simply fell in love with it. I had no experience with orphans or social work, and the extent of my medical capabilities reached just about as far as the closest box of bandaids and tube of Neosporin. And yet God looked down upon me and saw something He could use: He saw a willingness to serve.  

     I have learned throughout this year, as I prepped and landed on the mission field, that something magical happens when we say "Yes, Lord." God starts moving in ways we never could have dreamed of. It was as if, by simply offering myself to God He began doing things in me, through me, and around me that could only be explained by His faithfulness even in this fallen world.  

Changing Seasons

There are seasons to mission work, just like there are seasons to life. Right now, I find myself in the most enjoyable season yet. Though I have many challenging days ahead that will test both my faith and strength, this season suits me. 

Two months from now I will be stateside. The chapter in my life lived in Ethiopia will be in the past and a new chapter will begin. Two months. That is how long I have to drink up each and every moment here, that is how long I have left to be transformed by this experience, and that is how long I have left to do what God has placed before me on this side of the world. 

Each season has it's ups and downs. But now, with two months to go, I feel like I am in a constant state of reflection. I have just enough days left that it is not overwhelming. I am close enough to the end that I am not experiencing even the slightest bit of homesickness. For that I am grateful. I am also close enough to the end that I am constantly feeling more challenged than ever to appreciate the now, the moment that God has placed me in. 

When I started this journey, I thought these feeling would never come. It seemed like a year might as well have been a lifetime commitment. That's not a bad thing, but I so often found myself taking the moments for granted. Wishing parts of them away so that I could be back with my family. But as you would assume, now that each day seems to fly by faster than the last, I am willing time to slow down because what lies ahead of me does not seem nearly as impossible. I feel like that is part of what God desired to teach me in this year though. He wanted me to enter what felt like the impossible so that He could be glorified in the wonder of possibility. He wanted me to step beyond my comfort zone so I could both grow and lean on Him in new and undiscovered ways. He wanted me to leave the norm not to change the whole world, but to make a difference for Him. 

I have said time and time again, at the end of this year my one desire is to feel God say to me, "Well done my good and faithful servant." I still have a lot ahead of me, but I hope that even up until this point I have fulfilled what God has asked of me, placed before me, and entrusted me with... Because this year, this not-so-normal path I have chosen, is purely because I love Jesus and this is what He asked me to do. 

Safari at Last

Wordless Wednesday... Went on a safari over the weekend. It was the most amazing experience. Rather than try to put it into words, I will let the pictures do the talking. Enjoy! 

Only in Ethiopia

   I am just about to begin my 10th month in Ethiopia, and with that I am left thinking about how different my life here is. Often times I am simply left to laugh at the things I do here that I never expected. Enjoy a laugh along with me...

Only in Africa would I...

• Remove an acrylic nail with dentil floss
• Take baby wipe "baths" for over a week straight
• Make my own yogurt, tortillas, bagels, and hummus, among other things
• Paint my nails regularly in an effort to hide the dirt
• Go for a month without electricity...and water...with a newborn! 
• Eat mangos 3 meals a day without shame
• Pay 20 birr ($1) to have my house swept and moped
• Haul water and live in a mud house
• Be living 7 years behind people in the US, and yet remain 7 hours ahead of them
• Draw excessive attention while simply living my life--occasionally it feels like I am an animal at the zoo
• See a child and think, "Hasn't he thrown a rock at me before?" 
• Embrace a life of such simplicity and fine such pure joy and happiness in it!

   This is my life. Some days are tough. Others are purely draining. I'd be lying if I said some days weren't. However, each day brings about its own rewards and beautiful moments. From time to time I even have to pinch myself to be sure this life is real: living my dream, the one that brought me to Africa! 

Let the Children Come

This week my heart is so full! 

Yesterday, on my way to Bible study at the local hospital, I passed a little boy in town. He looked SO familiar, just like one of the toddlers from the orphanage! Though I did not know if he had a home or not since I had not been since little miss came into my life, I was still convinced this was him. The boy I saw was happy, full of life, and complete in the joy of belonging.

Today, I went with a friend to the orphanage for a bit. God has been so good! After not being there for nearly 2 months, they have totally transformed! Many more of the children have been adopted into families, and those that are still in the home look so wonderful! They have all grown, and those that were "babies" before are now crawling around quickly enough to keep up with the big kids. And the best part... They still knew my name when I walked in! 

The little boy I saw in town was indeed a boy from the orphanage placed with a forever family! My heart swelled even more knowing it really was him! God sees these children. Even though they are orphans and abandoned by the people that are supposed to love them most, He watches out for them and provides for their every need. 

Not being with the boys every day has been tough, I missed them even more than I realized. However, today as I spent time with them again, I was reminded of the gift that they are in my life--gifts from God with a purpose and a special place in this world. Their starts may not be "typical" starts to life, but I have full faith that God saved each of these children's lives for a purpose!