At Home Far From Home

It has been a wonderful couple of days. Our trip to Hossana on Sunday was very fruitful. We were not sure if Daniel would or could come to meet us, but we were hoping. We met with the people from our group who had spent the night in Hossana at the Heme hotel. We were waiting in the lobby to go to the drop of center, expecting to have our meeting there. The social worker who traveled with us burst in with a young man, and said this is Daniel, her brother. He fell into Matt, hugging him. Then he hugged me too, and I cried. We were able to talk about many things. I learned alot about Messa's birth mom. We received the precious gift of photos of the rest of the family that we can add to Messa's life book. He wanted to know if we would bring her back to visit, and we said we would. He wanted to know when he would get to meet his new brother, Adam. We gave him a hinged frame with a picture of him and Messa on one side, and Matt, Adam and I on the other. He kept staring at it. He said we are all one family now, and that we are his mother and father. I am of the same heart. Finally he said it was most important that we teach Messa to love Jesus, because he loves Him too.
















Yesterday (Monday) we went to the school to see Messa's preschool class. The secretary opened the door, and said her name. She saw me, and came running out whispering "Mommy, Daddy." We spent the morning with her at the school. when it was time to go back to the guest house for lunch, we had someone ask her in Amharic if she wanted to stay at school or go with us. She wanted to be with us! She sat in my lap, and ate a huge lunch.
After lunch, we had a meeting with Asnake, Tswaye, and Dr. Frehwot. I asked Tswaye to ask her if she wanted to stay with us that night, or go back to the care center. She chose us again!
That afternoon, we all napped together. More accurately, Matt and Messa napped while I stared at her, and cried. In the afternoon, we played with some of the other kids. She seemed most animated when she was alone with us. She put Mommy and Teddy to bed, and read us a book. She talks to Teddy in Hadiyaga, and I am sure he understands every word. Wre also played blocks and colored. I heard her count from 1-10 in English, sing her ABC's and sing several songs, including one about Jesus. She loves to sing, and I think the girl has some pipes, because she is perfectly in tune. She slept in the bed with me. Of course, I woke up early, and here I am at 2:30 AM writing this to you. Matt crawled in bed with her to soothe her when she whimpers.
There are many more details, but I will stop for now.