Saturday, July 17, 2010

A whirlwind of activity...

There is more to report than I could have ever predicted within the last two weeks. We are enjoying the summer around here but our days have been filled with Music Man rehearsals for my soon to be fifth grader, yu-gi-oh card duals among the cal-de-sac kids, trips to the pool, soccer camp, donation collections, further vaccinations and an office build for my husband that requires more time and energy than we could have ever imagined. From there the list goes on... All the while we have been preparing our hearts to leave all the comforts of our family and home to travel half way around the globe to meet the daughter of our hearts. It feels like we are ready but I do wonder how much more God will give us before our travel day arrives. It is such a mixed bag of emotions but somedays I pinch myself just to make certain I am awake and all of this is really happening.

Last weekend my Grandmother passed away. She had a short health struggle and she was blessed to be surrounded by her husband of 64 years and her children when she passed. It is a very long tale but suffice it to say it was a tough week for me for many reasons related to poor decisions that adults made while I was growing up. Their decisions related to marriage and divorce made numerous family relationships challenging to say the least. So this week my three sisters had to travel home from out East to attend the funeral services. Seeing them of course was a highlight but adding more to our chaotic days was not what I had intended for this week. Funny how my plan is not always God's plan and God's timing. The service was beautiful and paid tribute to a special lady who gave so much of herself for others. She was a pillar in the community and seemed to have a quiet faith I wished I had known better. She is at peace now and will not have any further struggles with dementia and cancer. I could not have done the last few days without my sisters. I thank God for them every day and I am so glad they were able to make it home.


So this morning we are in full trip prep mode with a list to rock your socks off. In addition to clicking through the list we are spending all the time we can with our three boys, preparing them for our 8 days away. This morning I used my laptop to call them on the home computer via Skype and they were in awe. I agree boys. This technology stuff is absolutely amazing and will make staying in touch while we are in Ethiopia very easy. That is if we can stop Owen from making faces and crazy sounds into the camera. So here is a glimpse into the fun of summer. We ask for your prayers as our journey continues. We are coming to you baby girl and in just over one week we will hold you in our arms. Wow did I just say one week?



Gotta love two Dads napping at the lake



That is until a water balloon fight broke out!



Here's O-Dog loving some Noodles mac n cheese
after a morning at camp



Here's her room before...



Having bubble gum pink in our house is taking a bit of getting used to 
but her room is starting to take shape.



We had to head to scoopers with friends after the final baseball all star game.



Love the face C-man!
Our friends had a group of us out to their cottage last week and 
it was a delightful day!



This week Hayden starred in his first musical, The Music Man.
He did four shows and nearly every night the house was full.
What a delight to watch him shine!



Here's a favorite photo taken while Hayden gave me a
backstage tour after the show. Then he said, "Mom can I stay out
until 11:00 for the cast party? PLEEEEEASE!"
You are growing up way too fast.

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Into Our Arms Forever!

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welcome home ava! from melanie Strobel on Vimeo.

Meeting Ava during our first trip to Ethiopia

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Meeting Ava Ethiopia Trip July 2010 from melanie Strobel on Vimeo.

Korah- Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

During our recent visit to Ethiopia I felt very called to the village of Korah in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. There have been numerous rumblings lately about the tremendous need to help the children of Korah who are growing up in and around the local trash dump. The village was established 75 years ago as a place to send people with leprosy who were said to be cursed. Now there is a 3rd generation of people living in Korah with nearly 100,000 suffering from such things as leprosy, HIV, misc disease and of course malnutrition. There are many children of Korah who have been forced to live and work at the trash dump in hopes of finding food and possible items to sell in Korah's center of town. With the start of the Great Hope Church in Korah and the building of a shelter, along with the ministry of local Sammy Liben and Sumer Yates, there is now a feeding program and a sponsorship program in place to rescue the forgotten children of Korah and send them to boarding school where they can escape the horror of the conditions of living and working in a large trash dump. For more information please visit: www.help4korah.blogspot.com or www.p61.org where you can learn more about how you or your organization can help the people and the children of Korah. Please send me a message or email Erin Allen at erin@p61.org to request sponsorship information. I will soon be posting the photos of my day recently spent in Korah. I must tell you it was life changing and beyond anything I have ever done to stretch, change and rearrange myself. God helped me to help the people who I met. Much of what I could offer was nothing more than the snap of my camera or a warm touch or an inviting smile. The needs in Korah are beyond our wildest imagination yet God is over Korah and there is already amazing work being done. I invite you to view the following videos to learn more about the beauty and the needs of Korah's people.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN HOW TO SPONSOR A CHILD

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Hannah's Hope Orphanage- Ethiopia

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