People-The Most Exciting Part.

This is Moses. The Smith's adopted him from Zambia when he was a baby. The adoption story is amazing and a miracle from God. His story can be found here. He is 5 now and living it up as a curious little boy in Africa.

This is Moses' oldest sister, Hannah. She is 12.

And this is their middle child, Mia. She is holding a bird with a hurt wing that she had great compassion on. She tried to save its life, but a day later she witnessed the cat eating it. It was very tragic for everyone, especially Mia.

This is Kara. She is my age and she has been in Ethiopia through SIM for 3 months. She just extended for another 2 months. She is a nurse and was such a blessing to be around. She is eating sugar cane like a champ.

The missionary compound has a ministry that takes in babies whose mother's have died in childbirth and they nurse them to health for 6 months until they can go back to their families. This is one of those babies. SO CUTE!

On a Saturday we decided to take a donkey cart ride to a nearby village and when I say donkey cart ride it means exactly what it says! Anytime foreigners (white people) go anywhere they attract a following. This is a picture of our donkey cart being followed by all types of natives.

The next 5 pictures are just random photos of people and kids that I saw on my trip. Nobody wears underwear in the bush and most kids don't wear pants so don't be to alarmed when you see a kid pantless...it is definitely part of the African experience.

This mother is carrying her child on her back, which is how all mothers transport their babies. It is fun to watch them get it all situated.

Below is a picture of the school I went to in a local village called Dawe. This would have been an amazing chance for pictures, but I hardly got any because me being white and being there was a huge distraction in itself to the learning process, so I had to be discreet with my camera.

To the right is the missionary who runs the Langano school, Ms. Joan. Beside her is a boy joing us on the way to the school in Dawe. Once a week she walks out to this school and teaches for them. It was about an hour walk.

This is a really nice guy we met in a souvenir shop. He laughed at our attempt to speak his language.

Few people ride horses in this area, but this woman did. She had ridden her horse to the clinic that day.

Addis Ababa- Pictures of the city.

I spent the first 3 days and the last day of my trip in the capital city, Addis Ababa. Of all the countries in Africa, Ethiopia is one of the most stable, however their government is still corrupt and their infrastructure is horrible. There is no middle class, most people are very poor and jobs are scarce. The most fascinating thing about the city to me was that at any time of day, all day long, people were out everywhere. It was as if someone was continuously kicking up a human ant hill. This first picture is a house (No Really!). These are all over the city. It is basically a raised metal coffin and someone calls it a home. This is actually a nice place to sleep compared to some places and ways I saw other people sleeping. The second picture is SIM (the missionary headquarters), where we stayed in city. One of the nights Phillip Yancey and his wife were there. I didn't meet him, but I did see his name on his room door.
We were at the market that is shown in one of these pictures and this car in the picture above pulled up and it was filled with lettuce...not lettuce in boxes or bags...just door-to-door, top to bottom filled with lettuce. It was priceless.
The picture of the building that looks like it was blown up by a bomb, is in fact a building under construction. There is scaffolding from top to bottom and it is just small tree branches tied together with rope....NOT SAFE!





















































The building above with the green and red lettering is a hospital across from where we stayed. The girl in the blue glasses is the girl who went with me from Houston. We didn't actually meet until customs in Ethiopia and through a long series of events she almost missed the flight from Germany to Addis and I wasn't even sure she was on the plane. The other girl is a missionary named Jenny. She picked us up from the airport and was such a huge blessing those first days because we were on our own. She made us breakfast and dinner and took us to church. Neither of us knew what we would have done without her. That is a picture of us drinking coffee in a souvenir shop. Poor Carrie doesn't like coffee but she was a trooper.

Ethiopian Wildlife

I am back from Africa. It was such a wonderful experience. I have a lot of pictures and a lot to say about it all, but that will take some time. This is the first of many posts and it is only the pictures of wildlife I have. I am VERY disappointed in the way all of my pictures turned out. I have a very old (piece of junk) digital camera that the front slide piece falls off of. So most pictures I tried to zoom on came out very fuzzy. Oh well.
Ethiopia is not an African game country, and therefore does not have many of the well known African animals people often think about when they think of Africa. There are no Elephants, giraffes, lions or tigers. You cannot go on a safari in Ethiopia, but that does not mean there is not wildlife to be seen. There is endless population of monkeys: Baboons, Colobus and Spider Monkeys.
Langano (where I was), is a prominent bird watching region with some of the most beautifully colored birds I have ever seen. We saw Hippos, Donkeys, Cows, Goats, a random large turtle at a restaurant and snakes.

away we go.

On December 11th (tomorrow), I will be traveling overseas to Ethiopia, Africa. This is my first international trip since Europe in college, my first international trip alone and my first Christmas spent on international soil (or anywhere other than home really). It is both exciting and serile to be gone over Christmas. Traveling to Africa has always been a dream of mine and I glad it will now be a part of my story. I am looking forward to this time of learning, giving and grace. I am praying I don't run into this lady...



And I am absolutely expecting to have great stories to tell and pictures to show off when I get back. May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you and give you peace.

Africa in 5 days

I leave for Africa on Friday. It feels exciting. It feels very crazy. It feels scary. This trip has been such a last minute thing that I have had little time to really prepare for it either logistically, mentally or spiritually. I just found out about it, knew I couldn't say no because its something I have always dreamed of and said yes and here I am.

I have learned a lot about traveling to Africa and I haven' even left yet. Below is a list of my discoveries.

1. There are really no diseases known to man that you cannot get in Africa, specifically in Ethiopia.

2. It is expensive to not die of a deadly disease. Vaccinations cost a small fortune.

3. For a relatively fair price you can get medical travel insurance in case you die or are dismembered and your relatives with to have your parts back.

4. You can get into Africa without proof you have had a Yellow Fever vaccination but they will not let you leave.

5. There is only one place in Africa that you can fly to directly from the United States and other than that you have to fly to Europe first.....turning an already VERY LONG flight into 2 VERY LONG flights.

6. You can purchase 50 Malaria vaccination pills for the same price as 2 tiny passport/visa photos- about 10 bucks. Somebody's pricing is way off.

7. Women can only wear skirts in Langano (where I will be). Skirts and tennis shoes....I am sure I will feel at the height of attraction.

8. The base cost of a plane ticket into Africa is actually less than $1000.00 until they tack on the almost $400.00 tax for who knows what.

Since I will be gone over Christmas I am trying to get my Christmas fix in first. In order to do this I have been doing all of the things listed below.

*Making and eating delicious holiday treats (this serves a dual purpose...packing on some pounds before I head out to keep me from wasting away in the event of sickness or lack of edible food)

-Toffee Bark

-Christmas M&M cookies

-Ginger cookies

*Watching Christmas movies

-Elf

-Its a Wonderful Life

-Christmas Vacation

-Home Alone 1 and 2

*Going to see Christmas lights

*Listening to Christmas music in the car

*I would say Christmas shopping, but a lack of money and a lack of time is ensuring that everyone is getting some kind of African trinket.....a mask perhaps?

all we have...a gift.

This is an amazing prayer from the heart of David once provision had been made for the building of the temple. It is a reminder that we have nothing that hasn't been given to us from the hand of God.

1Chr. 29:10 Therefore David blessed the LORD in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: “Blessed are you, O LORD, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. 11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. 12 Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. 13 And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.
1Chr. 29:14 “But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. 15 For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding. 16 O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own. 17 I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you. 18 O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you. 19 Grant to Solomon my son a whole heart that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, performing all, and that he may build the palace for which I have made provision.”
1Chr. 29:20 Then David said to all the assembly, “Bless the LORD your God.” And all the assembly blessed the LORD, the God of their fathers, land bowed their heads and paid homage to the LORD and to the king. 21 And they offered sacrifices to the LORD, and on the next day offered burnt offerings to the LORD, 1,000 bulls, 1,000 rams, and 1,000 lambs, with their drink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. 22 And they ate and drank before the LORD on that day with great gladness.

Cali's 1st Birthday

Yesterday was Cali's 1st Birthday (or so we think- it is more accurately her estimated birthday since she was abandoned and I really don't know)!

here is a picture of my baby

Above is a picture of the puppies picking me up from the airport...this was the first time I saw her!

But anyway, yesterday was when we celebrated! It has been a lot of fun having a dog. I have wanted a dog for such a long time and now that I finally have one I am so thankful for her all of the time. She has a quirky and hillarious little personality that keeps me laughing and on my toes. She is my little sweetheart. When I got off work my friend (who owns her brother Henry) and I took them to Sonic and got them hamburgers, just the meat and the bun, which they quickly devoured and it was hillarious. Then that evening we made homemade peanut butter dog treats and gave them those and Frosty Paws-which is ice cream for dogs. I didn't even know they made ice cream for dogs, but apparently they do. Needless to say these puppies are spoiled rotten, but they are wonderful and they make all of life better. I have said this before, but I never want to live a day without a dog.

Below is Cali eating her Sonic Hamburger.

Below is Frosty Paws and Cali enjoying it!

heart connections.

Dr. Richard Ross is a professor of student ministry at Southwestern Seminary, where I attended grad school. I had the privilege of taking several classes with him and I enjoyed every minute of instruction under him. He is one of the most brilliant, godly men I have ever met. He is also the "founder" of the True Love Waits program that many people commit to. He came to my church today in Houston and did his Heart Connections seminar that he does with students and parents. It is one of the most amazing things I have ever watched. He spends an hour teaching parents about how to grow godly teenagers. His main thesis is that in order for true faith to get passed down from generation to generation is through a heart connection. The last verse of the Old Testament says that, "He will turn the hearts of the parents to the children and the hearts of the children to the parents." God intends for the home to be the primary place for discipleship to occur (not the church, contrary to popular belief). He walks the parents through this amazing conversation about the ways that connection is broken and the ways it remains intact.

After this he brings all the parents and teenagers in one room, sitting the parents and teens knee-to-knee and face-to-face. He walks them through a series of questions he prompts them to answer. For instance; He asks the parents to tell their teen what they remember about the first moment they laid eyes on them. He asks the parents to tell their teen about the worst, most fearful or sad day of their entire life. He asks the teen to tell their parent something about them they appreciate and he asks the teen to pray over their parent. He walks through many prompts like this, always expanding on why he this is important. It is amazing to watch. Some parents and teens seem perfectly at ease with this and you can tell that their relationship is strong, where as others seem to feel awkward about this type of conversation. The thing is, so many families lose connection along the way and most of the time they feel that there is no way to get it back. You watch something like what Dr. Ross does and you realize that it is so simple. All he has done is gotten parents and teens to talk-that's it. They aren't pulling out baggage or hashing out all the hurt and issues...they are just talking. It is so simple and yet by the end almost everyone has shed some tears, hearts have been connected and relationships mended. It is profound to watch. I wish that as a teenager I had gotten to experience something like this with my parents. I wish someone had set us down knee-to-knee and gotten us to talk to each other...what heartache would have been spared and regret been off-set and what a relationship might have been made.

Africa for Christmas.

I am going to Africa for Christmas!!! For the last several months I have been in this very strange place of where to go and what to do. My internship has long been over and I have since been hoping I suppose that a job would just materialize. If I would have known that I would basically have 3 plus months off not working I might have taken better advantage of it. While job searching I have also been wondering where I could go and what I could do at this stage in life. I have no attachments, no commitments, no debt and some money saved up-sounds like a perfect time to make some life-long dreams happen. I want to live a better story-to say yes to things-to take risks and live out dreams. Africa is one of those dreams and it is coming true. When I was in DFW I attended the Village Church and was involved in a home group at the Smith's house. The Smiths have now been in Ethiopia for over a year and before they left I told them I wanted to come one day. They are missionaries through the Village; she is a nurse in a clinic and he runs a sports camp. I had emailed them a while back about coming and they had mentioned they were pretty full until the new year, but just the other day they emailed me with an opportunity. There is a girl going there from Houston and traveling alone. She wanted a travel buddy and they thought I would be interested...and of course I was. The trip is 17 days and it is over Christmas. It will be very strange to not be home for Christmas and to instead be in the bush in Africa...it will mostly be like Christmas came and went and I was unaware. This partly makes me sad because I love the season and I think it will be somewhat strange to miss it, but on the other hand I have had 26 American Christmas' and I will have plenty more, but how many chances will I get to do this. Christmas is about Christ anyway. It is about Him leaving His home to take up residence with us in order to bring us salvation. Going to Africa may even seem more appropriate than what I would normally do during the holiday season. I am very excited-EXCEPT for the nearly dozen vaccines they recommend for entering that continent and country. Who know it cost so much not to die from a deadly disease....i really had no idea.

a weekend in Portland

I LOVE traveling and this past weekend my friend and I went to Portland, Oregon. I went to Portland for the first time when I was in college. I took a last minute trip for fall break with 2 friends and I remember thinking- Why am I going to Oregon? What is in Oregon anyway? Little did I know that it is probably the prettiest place in the U.S. (opinion of course, but my strong opinion). The state has all 4 seasons (including a brilliant color pallete of fall leaves that take your breath away, snow-capped mountains, the beach, the Columbia river, lush plant life, millions of unique businesses and places to eat, Crater Lake (most break taking natural landmark I have ever seen), and many other perks. It is just a great place! The people are laid back and most of them deeply appreciate the outdoors and a more casual atmosphere. I just love it there.
My friend is thinking of moving so we left on Friday and took a red-eye back on Monday morning. The weather wasn't the best, but that is okay because you could spend all of your time in cafes and great eating places-which we did.

This is a place called Pine State Biscuits. It was started by 3 guys who moved from North Carolina to Portland. You cannot get biscuits in the Northwest (even at fast food places) so they opened this place. It is small, with hardly anywhere to sit, but the food is amazing. They are famous for their "Reggie," which is a biscuit with a piece of hand battered, fried chicken, cheddar cheese, bacon, amazing gravy, and if you so desire, a fried egg! DELICIOUS!


Like I said, the leaves in the Fall are amazing. It makes me miss the southeast because leaves don't really change in Texas-they just die. This bush looks like its on fire.
This is the biggest leaf I have ever seen. It is bigger than my head.


On Sunday we went to Imago Dei- the church that Donald Miller attends and Rick Mckinnley pastors. It was fantastic.
After church we went to the popular Bread and Ink cafe. The breakfast and lunch there is amazing and the even have this thing called the Waffle Window in the back on the side of the building, where you walk up and order any number of creative waffles and eat outside. It was also delicious.
It was an amazing time...all except the red-eye back of course. We left Portland at midnight and arrived in Houston at 5:30 a.m. Drove straight to my church to shower super quick then drove to work. And appropriately enough Donald Miller was speaking in Houston that night at a church, so we went and saw that. Thank goodness he is so great, because I would have had a tough time staying awake.

pumpkin carving.

I really enjoy Halloween-have since I was a child. What little kid doesn't enjoy getting loads of candy for free and dressing up, pretending they are something they are not. Now that I am much older I still enjoy it. Maybe it is just the time of year. My favorite time of year has always been October-Christmas. I love the fall and everything about it. I love the leaves changing, the cool weather, college football, the fact that it was cotton picking time and we got to jump in the wagons as kids and all of the holidays that happen.
In honor of this Halloween I carved pumpkins with my roommate. I hadn't carved a pumpkin in a long time, so I had forgotten that it is not as easy as you think (this also might be because when I was a kid my parents did most of the carving for me). I think my pumpkin turned out pretty good! It is the character from The Nightmare Before Christmas.