Waiting and Change

I'm trying to learn patience. It's been two months since we first saw pictures of Neti and Meke. Besides their very basic bio and their passport photos a few weeks ago we know next to nothing about them. As the travel days come closer the fact that I'm a dad again is becoming more real. I'd just like to know more about my kids. I don't need a lot of information, just a little. Another picture might hold me over until we leave. There's a mission trip group with Visiting Orphans that happens to be in Addis Ababa as we speak. They're supposed to visit Neti and Meke's orphanage. We're hoping one of them will snap a photo or two and send it to us. Nothing yet. (This is day 10 of their 14-day trip)

A few nights ago Rhonda and I were watching a PBS program about Somali refugee families who relocated to the U.S. We know that there's going to be a huge adjustment for our girls. Watching this documentary makes us realize just how big it will be. They're walking into a world unlike anything they've experienced before. The littlest things - the things we take for granted every day - will be foreign to them. This video is just a small excerpt of the documentary called Rain in a Dry Land. Watch the looks on their faces as the teacher explains our world to these adult Somalis.



These two Somali families came to the U.S. in the winter. One of the mothers looked out of the plane as they were close to landing and asked, "Are those white rocks?" Her husband answered, "No, that's ice that falls from the sky." (Snow) I can only imagine what images went through her mind. And I can only imagine how foreign Neti and Meke's first trip to the supermarket will be. Aisles and aisles of food after receiving one meal per day in the orphanage!?!?

Countdown to major change (for all of us): 13 days.