Dear friends,

It has been a glorious beautiful week, and I really thank God for blessing me.

Yesterday I brought my hammock to the home for the first time and put it up for the girls to play in. I hadn’t brought it before because there are usually so many girls, and I knew it would just create problems. Currently there are only 11 girls here so I figured it was the opportune moment, and they loved it! At first they were a little scared and didn’t trust it, but after I sat in it and swung for a few minutes Sarah akka got the guts up to try it out, and she couldn’t stop laughing, it was hilarious! One by one they started to try it out, and then they didn’t want to get out of it, and were fighting over whose turn it was. I kept the hammock up all evening and they took turns swinging, sitting, lying down and reading and rocking the whole evening. It was a really fun, relaxing, community oriented time, and I could really see God, it was glorious! Today when I went for breakfast all the girls asked if I would bring it back again this evening and I assured them that I would, they all got super excited. I’m very happy that my hammock that I love so much could be such a joy to my sisters as well.

My alarm went off at 5:15 this morning so that I could go walking with some of the older girls and Mary (one of the workers at the Home) to get some good excercise. We walked a mile or so to a hill (the same one I mentioned a few updates ago that we walked to in the evening) and caught the end of a beautiful sunrise. All over the hill people were doing yoga and meditating, it was very interesting to see, and I felt like I was in some crazy foreign land… then I realized that I am. We walked back, I took a “bath,” got ready for the day, had my morning devotions, and was drinking coffee by 7:30 am, which is about when I get up on most mornings. Getting up early and getting so much accomplished made me feel so productive, it was wonderful! I hope to do the same every morning until I leave for Kenya, because it’s really nice to start the morning off right, and I’ve finally figured out how!

I was journaling this afternoon and listening to some music on shuffle when a song came on that I had forgotten about, and my heart immediately leapt with joy! The song is “Hands Open” by Snow Patrol and it’s one of my favorites because whenever I go on drives (which is quite often when I’m in the U.S.) I always end up listening to Snow Patrol or Coldplay, so whenever I hear any of those songs my mind is flooded with great memories and with snapshots of God in my life. Hearing that song today was a little reminder from God that He is here with me and watching over me, and it made me very happy. It didn’t help that the next song that came on was “Hero” by Enrique Inglesias, either, cause that just made me laugh out loud, perfect timing God!

I was sitting eating breakfast with the staff from the villages that are currently here for a 20 day training the other day, talking to Rajurao ( a village pastor). He was asking if I had been busy lately cause he hadn’t seen me very often, I told him I wad doing work for Arun and had been very busy typing out documents and scanning and endless pile of photos. He said “Oh, you work hard! Do you ever work in your America?” When I told him that I had worked in a coffee shop and bookstore for almost four years, he was very surprised and asked why. So I explained that I have to save money for college and just living, but this confused him and he asked, “Why you have to work to get money for these thing, if you have so much money already?” When I informed him that I did not, in fact, have “so much money” and due to my upcoming college loans I will actually have virtually zero money, the look that I saw on his face was priceless! So I continued, “You think that everyone in America is rich right?” of course he said, “Yes.” So I explained that everyone in America is not rich, and in fact many people are struggling right now because of the economy. The amount of money we have may see like a lot to him, but the cost of living is so much more where we live, and so really we are not all that rich (I do of course realize that the things that we have and what we consider struggling is still very rich to them, but you get my point). He thought for a little bit and then said, “Lisby sister, why are you so much different than all the other people from your country?” I didn’t really know what to say so I asked him to explain. “Most people from your America come, but stand far away and watch us from a distance. They don’t like to eat our food or sit on the ground with us, but usually need chairs. They don’t really want to talk to us, and I have never see anyone try to learn our language. You sit on the floor with us, give us hugs, hold the girls hands, eat just like an India, talk like us, learn our songs, and you serve the food we eat. Why do you do these things? You don’t think that we are unclean and you don’t care that we are poor?” I of course let him know that I did not think they are unclean, do not care that they are poor, and see myself as completely equal to them, no questions asked. I want to learn how to do things their way and I want to learn who they are as people, just like I would want to in “my America.” I said that in the Bible it says that no matter what, everyone is equal (Galations 3:28) and your skin color or nationality has nothing to do with that. He agreed and said “Yes, yes, it is the heart that matters, we should look at heart, not color of skin.”

I do not tell you this story to try to convince you of the “good” that I am doing (because whatever I do or say I do not take credit for because it is God’s, not mine), but to give you hope. I have believed for some time now that relationships can break down cultural barriers and create peace between nations, now I believe that with no doubt. Rajarao had a steriotype of Americans before he met me, but now his opinion has been changed because of the friendship that has been created between us and the other people here. Knowing this gives me hope to not give into to what I hear all over the place that people’s opinions will never change and that there’s nothing I can do to change that. “All things are possible with God (Mark 10:27).” Amen?

Tomorrow my sister and brother in law’s case for the adoption goes to court in Ethiopia! Please be praying for the case to go through smoothly, and for my them to be prepared for whatever news comes their way (a pass, or not). If they don’t pass this time their case will be reevaluated and then go to court again, but that means that I wont be able to see them in Ethiopia and I wont be able to meet Zinabu (my nephew) in his orphanage and in his country. It’s okay if this happens and I’m trying not to look forward to the possibility of going to Ethiopia to see them, but if by some miracle it all worked out, I would be the happiest person on the planet! Whatever happens is in God’s hands and I have no doubt that it’s all part of the plan, but that doesn’t mean I can’t pray that His plan and my hopes are the same, right? : D. Please also be praying for my upcoming trip to Kenya on the 5th of May, and that my travels are safe and my time is refreshing and full of learning and immersing into yet another beautiful culture. I’m very excited for the opportunity God has given me.

Thank you for your prayers and love that is shown to me daily.