Again with the waiting!

We just received word that our girls have officially started their medical testing. We had been projecting travel to be mid-January based on the approximate 8 week time frame necessary to obtain results from those tests and started measuring from November 17th which was when we passed court. So, give the new information and the 8 week estimation ... that puts us a travel late January (I am a perpetual optimist!) or early February. As hard as it is to wait, we are trying keep it in perspective and use the time for things like learning more Amharic (their language) and save up a little more money to cover travel costs.

The waiting also builds longing - which we hope is true for the girls also. I really want to make up a BIG package of goodies to send to them ~ and then I remember that there are countless other children there in their orphanage that may not have a "family" yet and it would barely cover the need. So, I am looking for other ways to meet needs while I wait.

This past Thanksgiving was the second one without my Mom or Grandma (they passed away in January and February 2008) and we chose to start a new tradition with our family. My Sister and her family were going to be out of town and the traditional family gathering wasn't going to happen until Sunday after Thanksgiving, so we joined in on an event that our church has led in the past. We helped provide the full traditional Thanksgiving meal to "residents" at the Hope Lodge in Kansas City. Hope Lodge is a beautiful building provided by the American Cancer Society and located near Bartle Hall in Kansas City. Persons who live more than 50 miles outside of the city and coming into KC for Cancer treatment can stay there for free. They are required to purchase and prepare their own food. So, a group of us from our church (we took our three boys) went down to Hope Lodge on Thanksgiving Day to bring the meal. We fed more than 70 people (not counting those from our church). Some transplant patients that were not allowed to go anywhere but the Lodge and the Hospital had their families come in for the meal. It was fantastic. Meeting that small need - togetherness and thankfulness - really touched my heart. But what touched me even more was that our own children - on the way home that day - said "that was fun - we should do that every year!"

As I sit here freezing my toes off (it's near zero degrees outside) my heart is warm. We went to bless others and were blessed in doing so. One of our pastors said that to bless is to cause others to give God glory. He so deserves it!