Overflowing....

It is hard to put in words to express just how faithful and amazing our God is. I would like to share a few stories of the Spirit moving in the hearts of his people.

In the last blog I sent, we challenged you by giving of yourselves, "more". (Please read it below if you haven't already). My heart overflows with the response from you. Obedience is a lovely thing, it protects, us and blesses us. Here are some examples:

Andrea, I have prayed and I know what I am selling, I am selling a dream that I have had to put a pond in my back yard, I bought the kit but it is still not installed, so it is worth $350

Andrea, I have prayed and God has told me to sell my ATV & television. I would rather bring these kids home then hang on to this stuff.

Bryan & Drea, my mom forwarded me this email, I have already listed the stuff on Craig's list, $100 of the proceeds are yours.

Bryan and Drea, I forwarded this to my son, he and his wife just sold some things on Craig's list, he handed me an envelope today and asked me to give it to you, he was touched and wanted you to have this. The envelope is sealed, but I know that it is cash. My heart just swells as a mother to watch her kids give to this cause.

Andrea, I have things to sell, I just need an address to send the money to.

Bryan and Andrea, I have prayed and I know what it is that the Lord wants me to sell, it is my a part of my inheritance. A gold coin, I have checked and it is worth $1000. I am privileged to be a part of what God is doing, thank you for including me.

Andrea, I have showed my husband the email, after praying about it he thinks that we should sell one of his riffles. He thinks we can get $300 for it. We are so excited to be a part!

Andrea, after I talked to my husband, he wants to give two - 1 ounce fine silver coins passed down from his grandfather.

Andrea, before reading your post, my husband and I thought that we should donate our weight set to you and your garage sale. Then we thought, maybe we should just sell it on Craig's list and donate the money to you. It was such a confirmation when we saw your email and challenge, we are so blessed.

My friends, there are more....this is just a few. As you can imagine, I have been in tears. I LOVE our God, he is so amazing!! I LOVE your servants hearts, you are so amazing. Thank you for your faithfulness, I almost can't stand it.

NOW FOR SOMETHING SO WONDERFUL!!!

Some of you may know that we have friends right now in Addis Ababa and they have blessed us by visiting our children. This is what she said to me, in a letter:

Hey there!Girlfriend!!! Your babies are PRECIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh My GOODNESS! I'm going to have video for you soon. Like REALLY soon.

I guess Samuel is in another orphanage outside the city. From what I could gather he wasn't happy with the accommodations at his first orphanage and complained and cried a lot. (this is from the director) He said he suspected his home was much nicer then the orphanage and he was upset about the beds, etc. Honestly between you and me. I don't blame him. :( They are doing the best that they can with what they have. They were low on formula so we gave them a whole bunch of formula and vitamins and rubber pants.

We did crafts with the other kids at the orphanage but your kids weren't there. I was perplexed that Getachew never told me they wouldn't be there so he saw I was disappointed. He arranged for the kids to come to our guest house. That's where we loaded them up with formula and spent some time loving on them.Their big brother came with them. I feel so honored that you allowed us to meet them. So here's the scoopity.

They are little. Really little. The shirt you sent for Eyob fits perfect with a little room. The sweater is big on Meskeram. Actually her and Eyob aren't too much different in size. She's a tad bigger but very very thin. She said she is 12, Eyob told me he was 10, and Samuel they said is 5. This was all what the brother said as well. He is so grateful and we have video of him talking to you as well as the kids.

Eyob is VERY smiley. VERY happy, and excited to be your son. He is so happy. His spirit is so sweet, he's a people please for sure. You couldn't hardly wipe the smile off his face. He and Meskeram told me things to write to you. I've got it all written down and will bring it home with me. I gave them all your names, all their sibling names, and where they fit in age wise in the family. Meskeram clung to this and kept the paper I wrote all of it on. That was the key to getting her to open up. She was very shy and I asked her if she was nervous. She told me yes, I hugged her and told her it was alright to be scared. She let me hug her and rub her back. Her brother was pushing her to talk and eventually she did. Such a sweet sweet spirit.

Because Samuel is not with them we didn't see him. I honestly can't figure that out except from what the director said. The older brother - who I thinks name is Makay or something like that took the things you sent him and said he'd take them to Samuel. He also gave me his personal number. He said he will meet you when you come and he will show up for court to make sure everything goes through. He asked me about you guys, about the family. We talked about church and he said the kids go to church. He wants you to know how thankful he is for taking in his siblings.

Drea it was so hard to watch him talk on the video. Everyone watching was bawling. He's so sincere and he loves those kids so so much. I took lots of pictures, video, and then the guy that is here as an orphan advocate videoed as well. I just watched it - Eyob says he's 10 and in 8th grade!!! That kid is SMART!

We gave the kids the twinkies in the van when we first picked them up - they gobbled them up in no time flat!

More when I get home.

Love you friend. Erica

Well, fiends, if that doesn't say it all, then I don't know what does. WE are BLESSED!!! Thank you Lord for all you have done.