from very very big details to just little ones

now that the time to travel is drawing near, i feel like it is right to start documenting all the emotions that surface when you are about to meet your kids. i have never figured out how i can love reading blogs so much, but never feel the need to do my own ... unless we are on an adoption journey. and that part is clear -- i need to process all the things that go on inside and putting them to paper always helps. and it helps me feel closer to home when i am away.

okay, so this week the real work began on getting an itinerary together! i love being crazy busy for a crazy busy trip :) it looks like the Lord ordered our steps to go back to rwanda! we just gave it to Him and asked that if we were to go, that He would pull all the details together and that is just what He did. sam, sarah, and i leave july 1 (greg leaves june 29 for some meetings in ethiopia) and meet smurf at the airport in addis to fly down to kigali on the second. we will be there through the fifth and fly back to addis.

but here is what i want to remember today. God had been working behind the scenes for a long time that only was made known last weds. last january, when we were thinking about adopting again, we didn't know where in africa it would be (congo? uganda? ethiopia?), we began looking for signposts along the way as God's way of leading us to the right destination. one day while at work, a guy stopped by greg's office to introduce an ethiopian pastor to him. greg took notice :) this pastor leads an ethiopian church in indpls. the trimedx foundation had began working with him to see how they might be able to help there. fast forward. i was in a conference call weds. with this pastor, and the director of the foundation, so he could share some cultural wisdom before we leave. he asked about our kids and i told him they were from a small town called 'n*z*reth'. (you know where this is going.) that is his hometown. he just returned from there. that is the town where trimedx would be helping. but nobody, except God, had connected the dots to know any of this. the chances of this happening can only be credited to a loving Father. so trimedx will be leaving a mark on the very town where our kids have grown up.

and pastor desta offered to translate our paperwork indicating he could tell by the family names if they were Christian, muslim, or something else.

and this morning i woke up to, "your children come from Christians". my cup overflows at that news.

i titled this post 'from the very very big details to just little ones' because the little ones are sometimes the Godwinks that you need. this week has been super busy with horse camp, church camp, and travel stuff :) i have lived in my car. on thursday afternoon after four days of going, we were driving through monrovia and i was hungry and remembering that we had so very few food choices at home. i was craving a big ol' salad. i knew we had croutons and dressing, but no lettuce (seriously, all this was going through my mind, it just sounded so good!). i thought i could just run in IGA, but i wanted to get home and just veg so badly that i opted to go home to peanut butter bread :) driving down baltimore road and almost home, we passed a little house with a large garden. and there was a homemade sign by the driveway saying 'free lettuce'. i thought, "are you kidding me?!!!" i turned around and pulled in and asked if they really did. the guy says, 'yes, i just picked it. do you want a big bag?". i said, "yes, i certainly do." later that night, i ran back up to IGA (not by choice :) and on the way home, there was not a sign anymore.

sometimes, i swear, i think He just delights in showing us His hand from the very very big details to just little ones. i love that about Him.