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my brain is fried. apologizing in advance for random thoughts all spilling out :) we have ran continually. greg and tim have had more meetings than i can track. i thank God more than words can say that so far, none of us have been ill. we are most grateful for feeling so well to this point in the adventure.

drumroll.......oh my! to see in person all the precious faces that we've looked at for weeks is unbelievable! some look exactly like the website pictures. but to now have personalities just completes it. you guys, they are stinking awesome. some have completely, totally, overwhelmingly captured our hearts. ben said it best today -- 'mom, how are we going to be able to leave them?"

although this is a Christian orphanage and touted as the model for facilities to follow, it is so not family. they are well-cared for, well-behaved, and well-looked after, yet it lacks what only a mom, dad, brothers, and sisters can give. i honestly cannot get my heart around the fact that we will leave them. they deserve a home. they need a home.

yesterday, we were able to give 20 of the 27 their gifts. seven of the older ones are at a school an hour away where they live except for during school breaks. we are hoping we are able to meet them over the weekend when we go to their school and church. chantal, the owner and director, is an amazing woman. she was very gracious, welcoming, and loving. she brought each child into her office, one-by-one, and we gave them their gifts. she wanted a picture taken of each of them holding their pajamas and toys to give to those of you back home who put the love, energy, and prayers into each child. some pjs were too big or small, so we rearranged accordingly. it worked out way way better than i had hoped and prayed. i should have pictures for each of you, but i am not going to post all as the wi-fi is slow at best and taking long periods of time per picture.

the 'mamas' and 'aunties' work very, very hard. not to mention taking care of 20 little kids, consider they have no washing machine or dryer. yip, it is all done by hand. out back in tubs of water. bent over scrubbing, rinsing, wringing, and hanging on the line. every day, bedding and all the clothes. and they were smiling and laughing and joking throughout. it was a blessing to be part of their efforts . they kept giggling and speaking kinyarwandan and pointing. i don't know what i was doing wrong, but they sure did :)

and the one that ben and i don't know how we can say good-bye to is esther. she's the one. this girl is indescribable. today we gave her spelling words and ben said 'spell mom'. and do you know what she said? 'j-a-n'. i had no idea she knew my name.

this morning, i had breakfast with the 'in-country' coordinator for gladneys adoption agency out of the US. for those who have adopted, you understand completely her role. great, great lady. we hit it off. it was a blessing to spend time with another woman of faith, especially one who loves orphans. we reviewed rwanda's policies for adoption. here you work directly with the government (ministry of gender and family?) and you can use an agency as your consultant if you choose. they recently changed their program where you came and selected your child, went back to the states to complete your dossier, and returned for your court appointment and travel home with your child. now they are following the process most other countries have -- the referral is given to you based on your request for gender and age. great, except when you have already fallen in love. however, it is my understanding that there are ways around it possibly. all i know is what you know -- God is sovereign and He will accomplish His will for each child.

tomorrow we move to a different town for two days. i have no doubt, God has gone before us. i will post if internet is available. i cannot tell you how grateful we are for covering us with your prayers. thank you for choosing to come along for the ride. a special thanks to carrie, toby, connie, bri, britt, and the fredericks for taking such good care of thomas, sarah, and phoebe. i have had moments of intense homesickness. one of the blessings of being kept continually busy, is that i don't have time to get as anxious as i would if i had time alone with my thoughts :)

signing off with a heart full of love for kids on the other side of the world....

p.s. gas is $9.18. not joking.
p.s. rwanda is pronounced 'rhonda', not ruwanda.
p.s. we have two cars with two drivers that were hired for our group. their job is to get 9 people everywhere they are going from early morning until late at night. i cannot tell you how customer-focused these guys are. they are 'simba' and 'john-marie' (french names). they think of everything to make you comfortable. i mean everything. it is so refreshing to see young men be that focused and concerned about visitors' impressions of their homeland.