It is no surprise to me that I am reading through the book of Numbers in my daily devotionals at this time. God is using it to humble me. If you are not familiar with this book, the back half chronicles God’s people as they go through the wilderness wanderings. As I read through this story I can’t help but be a Christian snob at times. “Why didn’t they get it?”, I ask. “How could you see God’s hand at work so clearly and still doubt Him constantly?” Then I come to my story. Let’s just recount the worries: finances (God miraculously made it work and I still can’t figure it out), will they like us (the first day there showed He was at work before we got there), will Zach and Liz love them (they are setting their phones by their bed every night hoping that we might get internet at the orphanage and be able to Skype at 3 am their time), and I could go on from the beginning until now. And what do I do last night? Stay up worring about whether they will do well with learning English and if we will be able to communicate. And the faithful and mighty God answers again with two wonderful days where we laugh and play and begin connecting and understanding each other. It was amazing.
Yesterday and today were both awesome days. Karie and I switched up yesterday and she played with the iPad and Ubang and I got schooled in memory with Chad. She had to teach me how to play because they do it a little differently this side of the world, and she figured out pretty quickly that I am color blind as she kept saying to me, “No.. no.. no… no color!”
Today we got some great video as they gave us the grand tour. We saw where they sleep, eat and play, and it broke my heart to think about how long they have been here. Over a year, in the same small room with roomies who keep leaving ahead of you. Same courtyard, not as big as our driveway and with walls high enough that you can’t see over. They have not left, except for school which is only a few houses over. Ubang showed us his favorite spot. The balcony. He would just sit there and watch as people walked and occasionally drove by. As my heart was breaking to take him home today, a plane from Ethiopian Airlines flew over. He pointed and said, “Plane!” and stuck his arms out and made jet engine sounds. Boys are the same the world over I guess. Karie said, “Ubang go on the plane?”, he only answered with a smile. Soon, buddy very soon.
But the best was yet to come. As Chad was showing her friends over and over the video of Lizzie and her new room (they must have watched it 10 times), Ubang was drawing on the tablet PC we brought. He loves to draw. And as you can see, he is quite good. My second favorite is the one of me, and no those aren’t my ears, it is my hair. Ok, I might need a trim. My favorite was the one of the plane. When he drew it, he put the airline colors on the tail (amazing!) and even better, he put himself in the window. My heart hurts so bad to bring him home… today was hard.
We love these kids. They are so special. We are so lucky that God has blessed us by picking us for them. I can’t wait for you to meet them. We will post video and pictures as soon as we get the clear from our agency. Until then, enjoy my son’s artwork and please pray that he will be in that plane soon.
Brian
No comments:
Post a Comment