They are coming!!!!

I found out last week that my brother, sister, Mama, and 2 aunts are all coming to Arusha in March to meet Neema!! I am so excited!! Neema cannot wait to meet Ya Ya, Simsy, and Uncle Will! J We have been so blessed by the support of friends and the prayers of so many…THANK YOU ALL!!

Through this process there have been many tears, frustrations, questions, and days of waiting. Neema and I have been excited only to be let down AGAIN on numerous occasions while trying to finalize this adoption. There have been times where I just sat before the Lord and told him “I know you are Good, but I don’t understand…”

Sometimes we never know why “bad” things happen on this side of Heaven, however, sometimes God lets us in on his Perfect Plans…and I have to say that I am humbled to bits as I am realizing that now my whole family (my dad came last May) will see this place that I love so much!! If it weren’t for all of these reschedules I wouldn’t get to show off my beloved Africa. Not only will they get to come and meet Neema, but they will see where she is from. They will meet her biological family. They will see her interact in her homeland, speaking Swahili and entertaining “her people.” J They will see Cradle of Love, the amazing place that cared for her in infancy.

They will meet the children of Takes A Whole Village. And see why God has put this ministry on my heart! I can’t think of anything more wonderful than for them to see my life here and see how ALIVE Jesus is and experience Him outside of Western Christianity. I’m simply thrilled beyond words! Especially for my brother and sister who at 22 and 16 years old have their whole lives in front of them, God willing. I pray that this will be a life changing experience for them in the way it was for me 3 years ago. My prayer is that they would all go back CHANGED and with a new perspective on what is Real and True.

While I can say that the past few months of continuous visits to the High Court of Tanzania have brought real heartbreak…I am incredibly grateful that my family will see with their own eyes this other world of mine…God’s sweet sweet redemption.

BABY NEEMA

A volunteer at Cradle of Love from 2006/2007 was sweet enough to contact me and offer me pictures she had of Neema as a wee little one. I did not have any pictures of her before she was about 18 months old so these really are extra special to me. 

Then yesterday Neema and I took a visit to Cradle of Love to see the nannies and some of the new babies. They have an all time high of like 43 babies right now. I walked into one room with over 25 cribs and 50 big ole eyes staring back at me. My heart broke as I gazed around at each child either laying or standing gripping the sides of the bed with their tiny hands. Each of them so fearfully and wonderfully made. I tell you the truth, these children were not meant to live like this. Where 40+ babies are looked after by only 5 people at a time. And this is one of the BEST orphanages in Arusha. There are over 147 million orphans in this world. And now in light of the horrific effects of the earthquake in Haiti the number has probably grown even more. These are the "least of these" and God says whatever you do for them you are doing for HIM! Why do so many people profess their love for Jesus with their Lips but not their Life? The Bible says our time on Earth is like a blink of an eye! Let us take actions that will last for eternity. A lady in my church the other day had a different spin on treasures in Heaven. She said, "Children are the only things you can take with you." How beautiful. Please don't be fooled into thinking God only calls certain people to these children. It is a LIE. "Religion that God accepts as PURE and FAULTLESS is this: to look after orphans..." James 1:27  

This is Cradle of Love today: 

These babies are just like my sweet Neema. Except they are still waiting...

First Day of School

January 13th, 2010 was a big day for Neema! Her first day ever to school! I am so excited about this little school I have found. It has children from all over the world! There are children from the UK, Australia, Guatemala, and obviously Tanzania. A British woman started this school when she was looking around for her 3 year old and did not find anything she loved. She turned her garage into a classroom and then eventually built another house in her yard for the nursery class. So there is now nursery and Early Years and the school is called "The Learning Space." I have heard such wonderful things about this little class and I was thrilled when I learned that despite there status as "full" they agreed to take Neema. :) Her teachers names are Kate and Nursera. Kate is from Australia and Nursera is Tanzanian so Neema can speak english or swahili and be understood. Being the not shy child that she is, she jumped right in and was not fazed at all when I told her I was leaving. I am thankful for that. I praise God for giving her such confidence although sometimes her fearlessness scares her mama. (stairs, pools, etc. ahhhh) Here are a couple of pictures from her first day. I wish I had taken more....First Day of school (3 years old)

Little House built for the Nursery. So cute, right?!

Jesus Loves Her

excuse her little hiccups. :)

New Year...New Boots?

Ok I broke down and bought Neema these boots...im sorry but I had to. They have princess crowns on them....how could I resist?! They just make me happy. :) She has wanted to wear them everyday. She is very in style here in Africa where the current look is dresses and boots. :) I'm so happy to have this little girl who i can dress up and be girly with. We love things like pink, chocolate, and princesses...she is like my bestie and baby doll all wrapped up into one! What did I do in life before her?! :)

Princess Crowns...not usually for rhinestones...but i mean cowgirl meets the city....perfect.

she was busy looking at the airplane!

Christmas in ZANZIBAR

Neema has been looking forward to this trip for weeks now...she could not stop talking about the airplane!! I thought maybe she would be scared but she wasn't at all! I was impressed. She did very well she sat with me and looked out the window mesmerized....

When we got there she really like the 'cool' but was not so sure about the 'lotion'.....hahaha...She was afraid of this water that perpetually lapped up against the sand. When we walked along the shore she would flap her little hands and shriek "i dont need water!!! i dont need water!!!" Ok we are going to have to work on this....loving the beach is a prerequisite!! :) But by the final day I could not drag her out of the water! (Ok good I can keep her...just kidding!!)

Christmas was really special this year. Obviously because it was our first one together but also because we kept it really simple. It was not about presents and Santa Claus, it was about being so incredibly blessed. We were together in a beautiful place celebrating the birth of our Savior. When I asked Neema "what is today?" she said "Jesus' birthday and Ill share his cake." hahaha i guess she knows when there is a birthday there is cake.....so we ordered a slice of chocolate cake that night at dinner and blew out a candle for 'Baby Jesus'. And for a country that is not known for her desserts, it was pretty good birthday cake!

Enjoy a few glimpses of our precious memories....

I have turned her into full on beach girl...mission accomplished.

Her PINK (duh) stocking until Bibi finishes her hand stitched one. :)

Christmas on the beach! Only would have been better if my family had been there.

Before Christmas dinner...

Neema keeping to her African culture...shake shake shake...

Last Day in Zanzibar...NOOOOO!

Goodbye Ocean....we will miss you.

I stand on Grace

Ok today has been a doozie.....we have had no power for over 24 hours and when we dont have power for that long we also lose water because our pump is underground and the tank runs out. So i couldnt even take a shower this morning before court. On top of that and the judge still being away my puppy died this afternoon. He had been really sick but I just thought he needed some anti-biotics. Not the best of days...

Ok so this is where my heart is...i am discovering somethings about myself that are pretty unsettling. And I'm just going to put myself out there and be honest...but the truth is im not sure how much I really trust God. Throughout this process I have seen how quickly I lose hope. Do I really believe in God's goodness? Today before court as I sat in my car hoping and praying by some slice of a chance the judge might actually be there, I started to think about Jesus. And all the things he has done before. Amazing things! Calming the wind, feeding the thousands, giving sight to the blind! In Matthew 17 the disciples want to know why they couldn't drive out the demon from the boy. Jesus says "Because you have so little faith." That was me this morning. I sat there thinking to myself I bet if I TRULY believed that God was capable of bringing this man back for court, he would be there. I wanted with all my heart to just BELIEVE he was there. I wanted to have this incredible faith that my God moves mountains and raises people from dead and that bringing this judge to court when no one said he was going to come was cake for Him. But God knows my heart. God sees my doubt. And I think it hurts his feelings. He has been so faithful to me in all my years and I look back at how he has perfectly weaved Neema and my story together in so many ways that can only be of Him, yet the second I can't see my way I realize how quick I am to step in and try to take things into my own hands. This is ugly and I want to hide this about myself but it's true.

What does having faith really mean? Right now I am learning the TRUE meaning of walking by faith and not by sight. This is a song by Ginny Owens that I think says so much about where I am now.

The pathway is broken
And The signs are unclear
And I don't know the reason why You brought me here
But just because You love me the way that You do
I'm gonna walk through the valley
If You want me to


Cause I'm not who I was
When I took my first step
And I'm clinging to the promise You're not through with me yet
so if all of these trials bring me closer to you
Then I will walk through the fire
If You want me to

It may not be the way I would have chosen
When you lead me through a world that's not my home
But You never said it would be easy
You only said I'd never go alone

I know my God has a wonderful plan for me and maybe He just needs to 'wear me down' so He can build me back up. My faith may be weak but He is strong and thanks to my Jesus Christ, I can stand on grace.