On the way back to our Guest House, Yosef stopped by Yod Abyssinia cultural restaurant (per his suggestion, which again was a brilliant one) and he made reservations for us to have dinner later that evening. We went back to the guest house, dropped off all of our bags, freshened up a little bit, and then headed back out for dinner. Yod Abyssinia is a big tourist attraction and I could totally understand why. If you are ever in Addis Ababa you must visit this restaurant. Sweet Yosef also ordered for us a delicious and colorful sample plate that consisted of various meats, lentils, vegetables, and injera.
We were served coffee and popcorn, which sounds like an odd combination, but actually goes lovely together, and is tradition in Ethiopia.
As we ate, we also enjoyed live entertainment of singing and dancing traditional Ethiopian style. We had such a blast here! It took everything in me not to get up and dance to the wonderful shoulder shaking beat of the Ethiopian music. I LOVE to watch them dance!!!! Talk about talent! It amazes me how they move their bodies like they do! My favorite is what I like to refer to as the Ethiopian running man or Ethiopian hammer dance :) It was something else! Loved it!
As I was sitting there taking it all in, still on cloud nine, I was just overcome with a love for these amazingly beautiful, vibrant and fun people that MY SON has come from. I got a little emotional several times, and just really felt so incredibly blessed to be there and be able to experience Ethiopia and be a part of it. I loved every second!!!! My cup runneth over:) As I sat reflecting and thanking the Lord, I also felt a little bit of sadness. I felt sad that I was going to be taking our boy out of this beautiful country and culture. My heart for Ethiopia grew a thousand times greater by experiencing it first-hand. It was just overflowing!!! I started quietly sobbing, trying to suck it up before anyone noticed :) And I just felt like the Lord impressed on my heart that He has made room for our son and has plans for him in our family. He has overwhelmed our hearts for our son's country and given us His heart for his people for a reason. He had planted that love there and now He was allowing it to grow. It was even more confirmation that we were smack dab in the middle of God's plan for us. In that moment I knew it was partly because it is so important that we teach him about where he came from. That is actually a HUGE part of it. But I also knew that it was about something more than our adoption. It was the Lord's heart for Ethiopia. There will be more I am sure, for I have never felt like this before!
It was getting late so we headed back to Addis Guest House and I was sitting up front with Yosef. I told him how much I love his people and country. Yosef said that in the past Ethiopia has been known as being a poor and starving and diseased country, but he said now things are getting better. He said, "People are good, and the country is a good place to come." I couldn't agree more with Yosef. Everywhere you look, you do see poverty and children begging for money, but you also see joy, incredible hospitality, contentment and happiness. They don't seem to want for much other than what they need. I could see the stamp of God all over this place!!!! It is definitely a good place to come! Loved every second!
After getting back to the guest house, we tried to wind down for the night. This was very difficult to do, because this was the night before we finally would meet this precious boy whom we have dreamed about for a year-and-half now; this boy who the Lord chose for us and led us to; the one we have been battling in prayer for; the one we have watched grow in pictures the past 5 months; the boy who we traveled half way around the world to meet; the boy that we would forever get the pleasure of calling our son. I can't tell you what was going through our heads...our hopes, our fears, our expectations, and nonexpectations. I took a motrin pm to help me sleep through my nerves and anxiousness and as I headed off to bed I remember thinking that it was a dream. I couldn't believe we were there!
No comments:
Post a Comment