Keristianbaet' "Church"

This week we skipped out on the Keristianbaet we usually attend and went to an Ethiopian Keristianbaet instead. I actually understood what the sermon was about!!!!! Let's just say that my translation was loose, but I got it!!!! And Avery took a nice nap! :)

Seriously, going to this church is such a good taste of what it will be like for our little ones when they come to America. For two hours we're immersed in a culture that is not our own. We're the only ones who are "different." We're the only ones who don't laugh at the jokes. And we always have to look around to see what everybody else is doing first, just to make sure it's okay. The entire service is conducted in Amharic. Aside from a few Americanisms, there isn't a word of English spoken... Alright, that's not entirely true. When everybody turned around to look expectantly at our family and we did nothing, the pastor finally addressed us in English, asking us to stand up and say a few things about ourselves. I told them in Amharic about our family, where we are from, and our adoption. Evidently it was really impressive when the ferenj (what Ethiopians call foreigners, usually white people) spoke Amharic because they all clapped for me as though I had done something very wonderful! I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I felt pretty proud of myself! :)

Today is the day that our agency was supposed to check back with the government to see if they had been issued a renewed liscence to operate in Ethiopia. I'm hoping that this is what happened today and that we will quickly get our courtdate for Yosef and Mihret. The days since their first courtdate was delayed have felt very, very long to this mother's heart. And yet I can honestly say that God has still been faithful to me. In those first few days, I wondered if I'd come to the end of my energy reserve. And yet God has given me just a little bit more. He's giving me the grace to forgive the absolute lack of information that we've become accustomed to. He's put the fight back in my spirit. He's faithful.