After taking custody
of Norah we spent only one more day in Addis before heading to Southern
Ethiopia to visit with friends. The Yates and the Simpson families are medical
missionaries from our home church and working at Soddo Christian Hospital.
Arriving in Soddo felt like a
warm hug! We were welcomed by our friends and have a very comfortable
house to stay in on the hospital grounds. Soddo is beautiful. Very lush and
green compared to Addis. The drive was long (nearly 6 hours) and the kids did
well. Norah wasn't a fan of her seat belt by the last hour but we managed to
keep her entertained. She didn't have a car seat so she bounced between a
middle seat with a lap belt and being belted in on my lap. Thankfully she slept
quite a bit too.
The drive was fascinating as we left the city and got into
rural Ethiopia. Farms everywhere for wheat, a local grain that is popular here,
and chickpeas. There are also many cattle and goat ranches. The farmers live in
traditional straw and stick huts. It's harvest season and there are no
tractors! Men and women cut the grain by hand while children run around herding
the animals. It's straight out of National Geographic!
The hospital grounds have a
park and a trampoline, and better yet our friends have young kids, so the boys
are very happy. Norah continues to be fearful of RJ (but it's only been a
couple days really; he is being patient) and is warming to me more and more.
She continues to enjoy the boys.
We are exhausted though. It's a lot to go
from being parents of 2 children to 3 in a very foreign country with number 3
being a toddler with unique needs. We continue to pray Isaiah 40 though and the
Lord gives us what we need. It felt great having friends make us dinner tonight
(Thanksgiving food!) and give us a nice place to rest and recharge.
1 comment:
I am so glad you decided to share your experience of getting Norah here on your blog. I saw what you posted on instagram, which she is a total cutie! I can't even imagine all that the five of you are processing through while you are there. It's really special that the boys were able to go with you and experience all this along side you. And how cool that you are able to visit some missionary friends while you are over there. I pray that the transition of Norah into your family go as smoothly as possible. That though she feels sorrow over loosing her caretakers, that God also fill her with peace and love when in the arms of you and RJ.
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