The first time ever I saw your face...

Written yesterday March 15th:
Our visit to the Widows and Orphans home in Adama today was amazing... Absolutely Holy in every way. Still trying to wrap my brain around it all. The girls did GREAT meeting us. Meron did not cry one bit!!! Saron was another story ... but she only cried for a few minutes.... once Tezera put a sucker in her hand she was good to go:) They wanted us to hold them all morning...did not want to be put down at all!!! We had the joy of feeding them their bottles, introducing them to Alex and Avery via a photo album (that Saron rarely put down for the rest of the day. We played in the floor with them for a long while. They LOVED the new toys that our friends sent with us as donations to the orphanage. Eventually we were able to rock them to sleep. I could have stayed like that forever...sitting side by side with Nick all cuddled up with Meron and sweet Saron's little head on my shoulder and her arm wrapped around my neck. They slept in our arms for a while until Zerihun (our guide and a local pastor) practically forced us into leaving the home for lunch. Zerihun was such a blessing to us. We so enjoyed getting to know him, and hearing his story of what it was like to become a Christian and be the only Evangelical Christian in his village for 5 years. All I can say about that is WOW. He shared many prayer requests and we are honored to be able to pray for him and his ministry. We have come to love him very much.

When we returned after lunch we walked in and were able to pick up right where we left off. The girls were already becoming used to us:) There were a few short tears ,but they warmed up quickly:) We sat in the floor and played with them for a long time. Tezera the director of the home came out and sat and shared her heart with us. It was absolutely unbelievable. She shared about  the girls mom, and her dealings with her. This is too much to type here but when you lay your head down tonight thank the Lord for Tezera... it is her love and effort along with the prayers of MANY of our faithful friends and loving family... that has kept their mom in this country. God bless Tezera!!!!! I love her... such eyes of compassion... such sacrifice..such devotion..oh me, I'm going to cry all over again just thinking about it. She already had to wipe my tears while we were there. If listening to her share her heart doesn't move you, you might want to make sure you still have a heart. She opened the suitcases with all the donations while we were gone for lunch. She said that the Lord sent us to bring her exactly what she needed right that very moment. She just kept saying, God bless you, God bless you, God bless you!!!! We explained about all the family and friends in our hometown who had donated and it blessed her so much.

The w&oh at Adama was absolutely beautiful... to see how they are caring for.the widows and the orphans there in that same space was just the most unreal,holy, natural thing i've ever seen in my whole life... it worked so beautifully... His very heartbeat being played out there.... when we were getting ready to leave Tezera could not stop saying what a miracle it was that the girls responded to us so well.  I shared the story of how Avery knew that she would have twin sisters long before.we did... she grabbed me by the hand and led me in to her office asking me to please write it down so she could keep the story and share it with others. As we were saying goodbye, she blessed us and gave us hugs and kisses on the cheek. When we walked out the door Meron ran to the glass door and knocked on the glass to try to get our attention .... Tezera just turned and said, "This is a miracle! This is a miracle!!" 

What some of you may not know is that we were warned before we left that this first trip was just for "observation", and not to expect to have a whole lot of interaction with the girls. You see, our sweet agency director was here in Ethiopia for the entire month of February, and when she visited the orphanage the girls were terrified of her and her traveling companion. She said that they began to cry the moment they walked through the door and were inconsolable. She was never able to get very close to them or interact with them because their fear of strangers was absolutely crippling. They were supposed to be transferring them to an orphanage closer to the city when they left that day, but the girls became so hysterical { and would NOT calm down} when they tried to place them in the car that they had to leave them where they were for fear that the police would think they were kidnapping them. So they prepared us for this type of reaction. Instead our heavenly Father saw fit to go before us and prepare their  hearts for the day they would meet their Momma and Daddy. We give Him every ounce of the Glory for the miracles we are experiencing here! Thank you Jesus, You are so good!!!! Thank you so much for your love and prayers. We are literally wrapped in them.

Love millie