Blessings in Amharic

Last weekend we were blessed with an opportunity to re-connect with my friend Eden in Nashville. Eden is a beautiful and passionate believer from Ethiopia. On Sunday, Eden invited us to attend Ethiopian church with her and her family and to spend the day learning about their culture. The entire service was in Amharic, and even though we had no idea what was being said, we really sensed God’s presence there through the songs and in the sermon that was translated to us in bite size pieces. Everyone was extremely warm and friendly to us. At the end of the service, Eden stood up with a microphone and prayed a passionate prayer for us, our babies, and for orphans in her country. The congregation was weeping, and amen-ing, and we were just sitting there weeping and amen-ing too even though we had no idea what they were saying! It was truly an incredibly touching and humbling time for us to be surrounded by such beautiful people all bringing our family before the throne of God.

After the service, person after person came up to us and hugged us and poured out words of blessings upon us. Women dressed in beautiful traditional Ethiopian clothing shook our hands and told us how thankful they were that we were adopting from their home country. One woman gave us a huge hug and told us that she owned an Ethiopian restaurant in town and that she would teach me how to cook Ethiopian food. Can I tell you how excited that made me?! :) The same woman told us that we are now apart of their family, and that because we are adopting from their country they will always be there to support us in this endeavor.

We left the church and made our way to one of Eden’s friends’ Ethiopian restaurants. We were lavishly fed a feast of meats, stews, vegetables, and injera bread until we were positively stuffed. Eden then took us to a local Ethiopian market where she graciously purchased an array of spices, coffee, and breads for us. Afterwards she brought us to her home where she toasted Ethiopian beans and brewed the most amazing coffee. We sat for a while talking about life in Ethiopia, and hearing about God’s faithfulness to her and her family. We ended our time together on our knees in her living room in prayer for one another, for our babies, and for the church in Ethiopia. Justin and I left our time with Eden absolutely amazed at God’s kindness as we’ve considered who He has brought beside us through our adoption process. He keeps on doing infinitely more than all we could ever ask or imagine. He is just so, so good.