Day 6 - 3/2/2012

Pick Up Trip – Day 6 – 3/2/2012

We really needed a day to just sit around and let the kids play and rest.  The last three days had been tiring for us, but especially for them.  Today we decided just to stay at the home and then take the girls over to get their hair done.  We wanted t o wait until the end of the week so that their hair wouldn’t be all messed up for when we traveled home.

Brandie and Shandi took Brinley and Mighty over to the hairdresser’s place around noon.  We knew it would be an all-daylong deal since all three of the girls had such thick hair.  I kept the boys and just stayed at the home to let them play with the kids, help them with their chores, and introduce them to new games while I finished thinking through and trying to write my feelings of the preceding day’s trip to the village.

Tyson continues to crack me up.  If it weren’t for his pale white skin one would think he was a true African.  He has completely embraced this people and their culture.  He loves to hail the taxis, go to the corner for anything to buy, and talk to anyone who will give him an ear to bend.  This morning we were standing on the second story balcony of the hotel and I heard a “ssssssst” sound, which is the noise in Ghana to get someone’s attention.  I looked up at Tyson and saw him calling the man from across the street selling ice cream.  He wanted to buy ice cream but wasn’t allowed to walk across the street alone so he figured he’d get the guy to come to him.  It was funny.

There really isn’t anything that stood out too much to me today as being a ‘big’ deal.  One cool thing was when we headed to our local eating spot for lunch Tyson asked if Peter (his new best buddy) could come with us.  I didn’t see an issue with it, but I double-checked with John.  On the way to the restaurant I asked Peter if he’d ever been to eat out.  He looked at the floor and half embarrassed said, “no.”  I was happy that we could take this great boy with us.  He’s such a good boy and hasn’t had his chance to be a family’s center of attention.  Since he’d never been before some of the simple habitual we do were completely foreign to him.  He didn’t know there were choices of food to eat.  In fact, when I asked him what he would like it nearly paralyzed him.  He sat quietly thinking through his options and finally came to the decision that nearly all of these kids choose – chicken and fried rice.  He tried to hide the smile that was creeping onto his face, but it finally wiggled its way through his lips.  He was so excited!

When the food arrived he just sat there looking at it – again, not knowing what to do.  When I finally noticed he was just sitting there I told him to eat and he jumped in excitedly.  Now, this small boy could have eaten half of a cow – they have an amazing way of putting away food.  However, for some reason he only ate almost exactly half of the dish and then stopped.   When I asked him if he was full he just sat there.  I studied his face intently trying to decipher what he was doing.  Finally he said, “No I want to take it home and give to my friends.”  This NEVER ceases to completely amaze me.  Here you have a boy who probably has never had a full belly for one whole day in his entire life.  Yes, he’s fed well at the home now, but because of the budget constraints John has to work with most of the food is rice and beans – which burn off quickly.  So in my mind, it would be completely reasonable – even expected – for the boy at his first big meal to completely devour everything.  And yet, he did just the opposite.  He ate until he was satisfied and then thought of the others.  I was again humbled and amazed.  When we arrived back at the home he quickly disappeared into his room with some of his closest friends.  It was humbling to be a witness of this special form of godliness.

I will say this in closing…I started to realize that when we leave it will certainly be difficult on all of us, but I really think Tyson and Brinley will suffer the most pain.  They’ve developed a special bond with these children and love being around them.  I think it’s because anytime we’ve been in the home we’re able to catch a little glimpse of exactly how Christ feels for these kids.  It’s really strange.  No, the walls and grounds are not clean – they’re tidy for sure, especially for having 35 kids in the home – but yet the spirit never ceases to testify the love that God and Jesus Christ have for these children…of this I’m absolutely convinced.  I’ve talked with our kids about this and hope they’ll always remember the feelings they’ve had here.  I don’t know what they’ll be able to do with – but there is a reason they’ve been blessed with this experience and when the time comes to call upon what they’ve learned – I pray to God they will have the courage to rise to the occasion. 

Until tomorrow…

Day 5 - 3/2/2012

Pick Up Trip – Day 5 – 3/1/12

The ‘Honeymoon Phase’ with some of the kids is starting to wear off and the realization is setting in that they’re really going to be siblings.  Mighty’s strong personality is starting to wear on Brinley’s sensitive nature.  Brinley has always wanted a sister and in her mind she had this euphorial idea how it would be to have a sister where they’d play dolls, dress up, and put makeup on each morning.  Mighty hasn’t really fit that mold for her yet.  Mighty’s background and culture hasn’t molded her into a little ‘girly-girl’.  Her culture hasn’t allowed her the luxury of an easy life where these things are typical for little girls.  They’ve watched their mothers work from sun up to sun down in order to support their family – and they’re expected to do the same.  Additionally, the Ghanaian culture expects the woman to be a strong, non-emotional figure. Although Mighty doesn’t quite fit the ‘non-emotional’ mold just yet (she’s super moody with polar mood swings), she’s definitely figured out the strong, bold roll…and that is starting to wear on Brinley.  There is going to have to be some mommy-Brinley time where they visit about the new dynamic and how it’s going to work.  Likewise, there is going to be plenty mommy-Mighty time where the new family culture is explained and expected.  It will take months or years to figure out…I just hope we don’t have an estrogen bomb go off in our house before that happens!

Agbesi has quickly learned that nearly anything he does will garner the giggles or belly laughs from his brothers.  Of course, those of you who know Brody know that it doesn’t take much to make him laugh.  Agbesi has figured that out and has accented his silly personality ten fold.  He is such a clown and the more he does the more the boys laugh at him.  The problem is that he gets louder and more obnoxious and rough as the days go on.  I’ve told the boys it’s OK not to laugh at EVERYTHING he does because we don’t want him thinking that’s the only way he’ll be accepted…but the kid is just so dang funny it’s hard NOT to laugh at him!  For example, we were walking into the girl’s bedroom to have family prayer and as we were leaving our room he looked at Brody and said, “Brody, you have a SMAAAAAL butt!”  Try and have a strait face on that one!

We stayed the night again at the hotel in Doryumu last night.  Last night was much better than the first since we didn’t have any emotional blowups or any attacks by killer ants.  I’d gone into each room and exhausted nearly a whole can of RAID before we’d went to bed just to ensure we didn’t have the same problem.

Today when we woke we all started to notice that we’ve acclimated to the near unbearable humidity and heat.  The morning air actually felt cool even though it was only ten to twelve degrees cooler than during the mid-day heat.  I can still feel the heat – we just don’t have any spontaneous sweating fits that require a change of clothes!

We were all still pretty worn out from the long day before.  All of us slept in until just after 8:00 which was a treat.  John N. called and mentioned the driver would be picking him up around 8:30 and heading our way so we could all go out to the children’s village.  We’ve felt it important for the kids to return in order to say good-bye and to have some closure to that chapter of their life.  It’s been interesting to play in my mind what this day would be like and feel like.  I’ve had mixed emotions thinking about it and wondered if it would be an awkward meeting or it would be a neat experience.  In the end it was both.

The drive from Doryumu was nearly two and a half hours to Abadgikope.  It was a long drive but very interesting and beautiful.  We passed through miles of open country that looked what I’ve seen on the Discovery Channel.  There were enormous red clay termite mounds, grassy open plains with enormous bulky African trees scattered sporadically throughout, and little villages of twenty to two hundred little houses dotted along the main highway on which we traveled.  The closer we got to the biggest lake in the country, Lake Volta the vast plains started to transform into more of a tropical jungle with palm trees, mango trees, and undergrowth as dense as I’ve ever seen.  The soil had changed from the red thick clay to a sandy soil.  It was obvious we had entered into the cassava area as there were small placer farms of various sized cassava plants that became denser as we traveled further into the Volta Region.

John had brought three other children from the home with him to pick us up, so there were eight kids under the age of 14 in the van with us.  So after 24 pee stops along the way we finally arrived at the village. 

As we started to approach I began to notice what I was seeing was not anything like what I’d pictured in my mind’s eye.  There were carefully handmade mud huts with grass-thatched roofs littered throughout the area.  There was no developmental planning but rather a hut placed in proximity to family members or close family friends.  Of course there was no running water or indoors plumbing.  There were community outhouses and a community well placed in the center of the village.  Agbesi told me they could not drink the well water though because it was salty, so in order to get drinking water they would have to walk nearly two miles to the creek.  This area is sustained by cassava.  Nearly everyone in the village is a farmer of cassava and produces some product from it to be sold in the market.  Agbesi’s mother peels, slices, dries, and then grinds the cassava.  Then she places it into a big bowl to fry over the fire.  This type of cassava product is called garli (or something like that).  The people here use it on top of various dishes to add flavor and heartiness.

While we walk through the little huts I take special note of Brody, Brinley and Tyson.  I want to know what’s happening inside their heads and what thoughts they’re having.  I’ve been praying that they have life-lasting memories and experiences while here and I’m hoping they’re having one now.  None of them are saying much.  Of course, neither am I.  My mind is still trying to grasp the reality of what we’re witnessing and trying to still reconcile what is going through the minds of Mighty and Agbesi and their families – knowing this may be the very last time they’ll ever see each other.  My mind races with speculation on what their reunions will look like.  Will they run to each other and embrace with a big hug?  Will they harbor any ill feelings toward them for giving them up to the home? 

We approached Agbesi’s family home first.  It was a small brick built building painted white on the exterior walls.  It was simple in construction and design – it server the purpose for which it was built…to provide shelter.  In fact, it was nicer than most in the village.  To the left of the house was a work area covered by a thatch-roofed awning.  As we rounded the corner of the last house and came into eyeshot of those working it was Mighty’s auntie who noticed us first and ran to greet us.  We had the pleasure of meeting Dogbeda and Agbesi’s mother on our first trip to Ghana and Dogbeda had clearly remembered who we were – there was no way to communicate we were coming beforehand – but yet she still remembered us.  She ran to Brandie and the hugged for a brief while sharing feelings I’m sure only a mother can have.  She ran around the family taking time to hug each of us and make sure we were completely welcome.  Agbesi said something in Ewe and walked slowly toward the working area.  It was a little darker under the low grass roof.  I could see a woman busily working over a fire making something out of cassava.  As he got closer he noticed a familiar face and ran quickly over to his mother.  He gave her a big hug and then slowly stepped back as she spoke to him. 

I’ve never had such a cornucopia of emotions going through my heart as I did in this moment (and I know I speak for Brandie and well).  My stomach had little excitement butterflies as I watched a little boy’s (and girl’s with Mighty) face as he approached and hugged his mother.  It was clear he was excited and happy to see her.  At the same time, I saw the somber, sober look from the mother as she acknowledged him.  They were two very different reactions.  I couldn’t imagine what was going through this woman’s mind and how she was keeping so stoic at a time like this.  After the little hug she kept busy doing anything other than engaging with him.  She tended to her fire, went into the house and swept out the entry, then came back to the work shed.  I couldn’t gage what she was doing – either trying to not confront what was really happening OR she just didn’t have any affection for the boy.  I have to believe it was the prior and not the latter.   

Others came to visit us.  I didn’t know who any of them were but John or Richard would tell us who each was if either of them recognized the new people as they joined the group.  Later, while sitting with Delight and the older girls at the home did I learn the names of some of those people and that some of them were actually relatives of Agbesi.

Brandie had taken special care to prepare a photo book for each mother.  Each book had several pictures we’d taken of the kids on our last visit.  Brandie let the kids give the books to their respective mother – it was tender to watch them look through the book with their relatives and friends.  They’ve never had pictures of anything, let alone their selves.  You could see the pride well up inside of them as their eyes searched for similar emotions in the faces of the small group surrounding them.

Next we walked a hundred yards or so to Mighty’s family home.  There we were able to meet the rest of the family who raised her.  None of them – like most of the others in the village – spoke any English so we had to rely on Richard and/or John to help translate.  At this house Brody and Brinley started handing out rubber Ghana inscribed bracelets to all of the kids who had been congregating and following us around.  It was a huge hit and made all parties feel special.

Our time was growing short so we stood to say our good-byes.  The whole village experience was neither as climatic nor dramatic as I had thought it would be.  I was emotionally shocked at the mundane reaction of both families as these children walked away.  It was almost like they were excited to see the strangers in the village more than they were put out that their children were leaving.  It was truly a very strange situation for me.  I’ve thought quite a bit about it and still believe it was the right thing to do for the kids.  They needed the closure for that chapter of their lives so that they could move on to the next.  They had started to turn that page several weeks ago when we were here before.  It was obvious they were comfortable with us since while we were in the village we were their ‘security blanket’ – meaning: if they were embarrassed, shy or a little scared it was us they’d come to hide behind or talk to.  I’m sure this little visit was just as confusing to him as it was to us.  The only difference is that at some point we adults will be able to work through it mentally.

We were already in an emotional blender when Pastor John said he needed to go check on another family in another small village before we could go.  He said he’d heard that one of the children who had just been adopted out of the house recently just today had a little brother born.  John was very worried about the baby’s safety since the reason the older brother was taken in is because the mother is mentally unstable.  He recounted how some men in the village will sexually abuse this woman because they know she has mental disabilities and is not able to keep them away.  Because this remote village does not have basic medical care – let alone any type of birth control – the woman has been pregnant several times.  I honestly didn’t know if my heart could take any more this day.  I was getting physically tired from the long journey and now emotionally fatigued from the kid’s village – I just didn’t think I could take any more.

We pulled into the unknown-named village of a few dozen homes.  There were no established roads so the driver just drove in between the little mud huts – left here, right there, now strait ahead and then to the right…we had arrived.  Just like what had happened yesterday at the feeding there were several people who had noticed the strangely pigmented visitors in the van and began to follow.  When we arrived at that house John invited me to come, but I just couldn’t do it.  I asked him if he would like to borrow my camera – so he and Richard disappeared into the home while I stood by the van.  More and more people showed up and suddenly there was a fairly formidable crowd at the sliding side door of the van.  One of the older ladies in the crowd approached and boldly started looking into the van to see who was in there.  She was very nice and warmly welcomed us to their village.  She started talking with Brandie and asked if she wanted any more children.  I laughed out loud and told her no – since she was joking.  The only thing was that she didn’t laugh with me.  She continued to tell Brandie she needed another good, hard working girl to take back to America with her.  She looked over her shoulder and hollered something to someone – before long a young lady stood by her side…maybe 10 or 12 years old.  The mother introduced her as her daughter and told us this was the daughter that we should take.  She tried for nearly 10 minutes to ‘sell’ us on the idea of taking her daughter.  Then another mother approached me asking ME to take a little boy of maybe 6 years. I tried to explain that I could not – first, SW would not permit us to simply take children at will and second I could not afford it nor do I have space for them.  The worked and worked on us while the rest of the small crowed watched and chimed in approval every now and again.  I was starting to get REALLY uncomfortable at this point.  I noticed Pastor John come around the corner of the van with a small child maybe two years old.  When he came next to me he had a consternated look on his face.  He gently said to me, “This boy is a special needs.  He is four years old.”  I couldn’t believe what I was looking at.  This little tiny creature couldn’t have been 20 pounds and clearly had mental disabilities.  The young mother was behind us talking loudly and wildly at John.  To my untrained ears it sounded like maybe she was upset that he had her child.  John looked at me again and said with tears welling in his eyes, “They want me to put the child in the van and take him with us.”  Then and there I saw into the heart of this mountain of a man.  He was being torn in two by the two things he respects the most: the sanctity of children and the laws of his land.  John is a defender of children in the name of our Father and it literally was tearing his guts out to see this poor child not be cared for properly.  And yet…there was nothing any of us could do.  Social Welfare would have to be the ones to initiate the child coming to a home for care…so tonight – and every other night from here on out – the prayers from the rooms of my house will include a very concentrated plea that the process for this little man and those others we saw will soon begin.

This was the absolute pinnacle of all my heart and soul could bear.  I selfishly pleaded with Father that he would remove the suffering of these people so that I could relieve the pain in my soul.  I wanted to cry or yell, or fight…I didn’t know which – or maybe all of them at the same time.  I have never – EVER – felt these emotions well up inside of me before.  I didn’t even know what I was felling only that it felt like it was burning a giant hole in my chest.  I don’t even know how to explain it.  I’m not even sure if there are words in our modern language to aptly describe what I saw and felt and witnessed.  If there are – I don’t have them in my vocabulary.

When we loaded in the van and started heading for home the van was absolutely silent for nearly 25 minutes as we all just drove and tried to figure out what had just happened to us all.  I sit here a full 24 hours after the fact and still can not think about it without my eyes tearing up and the aching hole in my chest returning.  I know there should be something I/we can and should do about it, but the largest part of me just wants to quickly cover it up and put it behind me.  I have never, ever seen anything like that in my whole life – and selfishly I hope I never have to witness it with my own eyes again.  Not because I don’t want to help, but because I didn’t like the feelings I had and I don’t like feeling helpless.

Until tomorrow....

Pick Up Trip - Day 4 - 3/1/2012

Pick Up Trip – Day 4                       

For the first time on this trip I’m actually glad we didn’t have internet access last night.  I really needed the night to digest everything we saw and did yesterday…I’m still at a loss for words sufficient to explain properly everything that happened.  I pray I can document this well enough that in 20 years when the children or I look back we can relive all of the same feelings we had today…

We’re still in Doryumu staying at a little hotel in the middle of nowhere.  It’s a quaint little place with 10 rooms and a small restaurant.  I actually enjoy it quite a bit.  The only thing that could make it any better would be if it had hot water, but quite honestly it’s been so hot that at night when we shower it’s refreshing to feel the cool water.

John was to pick us up at 7:00am from the hotel so we could be back to his place to start the egg peeling and boxing of food.  The cooks were up at 4:00am starting to cook and prepare for the craze that would happen later that day.  I’d set our alarm for 6:00am figuring that would give us all plenty of time to get ready.  The night was shorter than I would have liked – mainly because I was still working out in my mind if I’d done the right thing by getting after Mighty. I had just started to get to sleep when Agbesi woke me and told me his ear was “paining” him.  I turned on the light to look and didn’t see anything wrong with it.  I figured he must have been sleeping on it weird or something.  Again we laid down and just as I started to doze off I felt something small crawling on my head.  I annoyingly brushed it off and argued with the bug how I just wanted to go to sleep!  I’d finally fallen into a pretty deep sleep when I heard a knock at my door…John.  I quickly grabbed the phone to look at the time – 7:00!!  Crap!  The alarm didn’t go off!  It was then I noticed the clock on the phone was set for pm while the alarm was set for am.

We all quickly scrambled to throw ourselves together not wanting to slow down the production that was already underway at the house.  When I woke Agbesi he rolled over and had looked like he’d been in a fistfight.  His right eye was swollen completely shut and his left ear was almost twice the size as the other one.  Still groggy and scrambling to figure out what was going on I asked if Mighty had elbowed him in the night or something.  Then it dawned on me…whatever bug was crawling on me had probably bitten him!  I got both of them out of bed, pulled back the sheets and saw a bunch of micro-sized ants crawling around.  Richard saw them and said that was definitely the culprit.  Poor kid – I could tell he was embarrassed about it and didn’t want to go into public looking like that…but he really didn’t have a choice.  When we arrived to Stacy’s house she gave us some anti-allergy pills for him.  By days end the swelling had gone down quite a bit and we could actually see the little bite marks behind his ear and in the corner of his eye.  Dang bugs!

At the house once again John and Stacey showed their incredible hospitality by having breakfast waiting for us all on the table.  We all dished up the hot oatmeal, ate it quickly, and headed out the door for the other house where the cooks were quickly working away.  This morning was abnormally cool having rained hard during the night and still sprinkling a little yet this morning.  All of us Obrunies loved the cool morning air and saw it as a break from the sweltering heat.  The darker members of our crowd shivered and complained how cold it was.  We giggled and told them how they were going to freeze at home if they thought this 70-degree weather was cold!

I walked into the kitchen where the ladies were cooking the meals and was fascinated at how they were able to cook as much as they were.  They had two enormous aluminum pots on a two burner stove heating water for the next wave of rice they’d be cooking.  Outside they had already had filled a thirty gallon trashcan with rice and another with hard-boiled eggs.  We grabbed a long skinny table and set it up immediately outside the kitchen door…this would be the production line table.  We placed several Styrofoam packages in neatly formed row.  The first gal would come along with the rice and give two generous helpings of white rice.  Next would come Richard on egg duty.  He’d place an egg in the corner of the rice.  Then the sauce person would come along and place two tablespoons of the spicy red sauce that had been cooked.  It was a meager meal, but it was more than the people we’d be feeding would have for any other meal that day.  After that row of meals was packaged we’d put a rubber band around it and put a plastic spoon with it.  We brought out a big table and started stacking the individual meals in a row and stacked them high.  As the hours went by the table started filling up.  Row by row we continued to add to the number of meals we’d be able to feed.  By 2:00 in the afternoon – nearly six hours of work for us we’d packaged 1,200 meals.  It was an incredible sight to see all of those little packages and think there would actually be that many children in the one little village where we’d be going.

At 2:30 the three taxi cars we’d hired to help us deliver the meals had arrived.  Two of them were station wagon-type and the other was a sedan.  We all formed a human conveyor belt and started filling up the cars with meals.  In the end, all three cars were filled and left little room for the human passengers.  Before we left we all headed over to the house where the house cook had prepared a generous meal of Red Red – a local dish of fried plantains and black-eyed peas.  It’s actually one of my favorite dishes here.  After all of our bellies were full it was now time to go do the same for several others.

The village we were going to help was called Tema New Town.  It’s a sleepy little fisherman village directly on the coast about an hour east of Accra.  The water is a beautiful, clear blue color with waves gently crawling up the rocky shorelines in most places.  As we continued in the cars down the main road that parralled the beach the rocks turned into a soft sand beach.  There were several very humble homes built right on the beach within a stone’s throw distance to the water line.  The homes were clearly hand built by poor fisherman simply trying to provide shelter for their family.  Many of the homes reminded me of the villas I’d walked through in Argentina as a missionary.  There was a big difference though – there were children in the streets…many, many children.  It was odd.  We’ve traveled through many different villages here and usually we’ll see a few kids here and there, but mostly young adults or adults.  This village however, had a much different feeling to it.  It was nearly all children in the street – and lots of them.  They clearly had not seen too many white people before because they all just stared as we slowly drove by.  Brinley and Tyson loved it and felt like they were the grand masters in a parade waving at everyone garnering giggles from the onlookers.  As we arrived closer to the location where we’d be doing the feeding I looked behind us and noticed a small caravan of running children chasing behind us.

The location they chose to do the feed was a compound with buildings on two sides, a long courtyard in the middle, and two big wooden gates on either end of the courtyard.  We backed the taxis tightly up to the one gate creating a wall so the kids couldn’t directly get to the food.  The idea was to make the crowd go to the far gate for entrance.  John and Brody would be there marking hands with ink to try and create some sort of checks and balances with who had received a meal.  John and Brody would allow small groups of 10 to 20 through the far gate.  The children would run through the courtyard and through our gate where we’d hand them each a meal.  At first the crowd was small and manageable and seemed to follow protocol.  As the children with their meals ran back to their homes with meal in hand the word quickly got out to the many others in the village.  Soon the small crowd had swollen into a great swarm of buzzing excitement.  People were trying to cut lines, push others out of the way, jump he car barrier to get to the food, and any other ploy possible to fill their bellies.  Some of their tricks were pretty cleaver – others were just down right comical.  At one point I heard Stacy say to one, “Nice try, but you can take those puppy dog eyes and big pouty lips up to the back of the line and try it there!”  I laughed out loud at her candor – it was great.

Richard was the great peacekeeper on our end with his big, deep, powerful voice.  The crowd would start pushing past the barrier and I could hear him barking orders in Twi.  The children would quickly react to his demands.  He was also our fearless translator since he speaks all of the lower Ghana languages: Twi, Gah, and Ewe.  If anyone tried to play the “I don’t understand” card Richard would come over and quickly make sure they understood!

We had arrived at the village at 4:30 and by 6:00 we had given out 1,200 meals.  It was a whirlwind of activity and energy.  My mind raced trying to keep up with the pandemonium and everything I had seen and experienced.  There were so many children who only had a shirt on and nothing else…no shoes, no pants, no underwear.  Others who were sick or had physical ailments…leg or arm issues, bad burns on different parts of their body, and others missing eyes or ears.  Mostly, the thing I noticed were the HUGE smiles as they ran out of the gate with their meal in hand.  Most of them would run back to their little homes to enjoy the meal or perhaps share them with others in the home.  There were others who would immediately sit down on anything they could find once out of the gate and start quickly eating.  Several of them would finish eating and then start cleverly figuring out how to remove the mark on their hand.  We saw some of them scrubbing away in the little mud pond behind the building, others scraping their hands on the brick wall, and yet others who would just simply keep the marked hand in their pocket as they came back around trying to get a second meal.  Usually, Brody and John would sniff out the imposter and send them away.  Of course, we wanted to give them as much as they could have…but we had to make sure everyone received at least one.

I couldn’t help but imagine what the Savior would do in this situation or how he would have reacted.  I could picture Him smiling as he saw some of his children administer to others who had needs.  It was a deeply humbling experience for all of us and I was grateful beyond words that my children had the opportunity to experience such a life-altering thing.  Each one of them helped in the process.  Brinley, Tyson, Mighty and Agbesi all were handing out the meals to the kids who would come through the gates.  I stood as a humbled father watching as my kids tried to replicate the Holy One if He were to be there.  They knew exactly what they were doing and they were doing it with great joy.  It was something they truly enjoyed.

Another thing I was deeply touched by was watching Mighty.  Here is a girl who has felt what most of these kids were feeling.  She would grab four or five meals and would usually not make it back to the gate before seeing someone in need and walking to them to feel that need.  She was the only one of the five who would look around while walking to the gate to actually seek one who had a need.  I saw her give a meal to an old man, crippled from the years of manual labor.  I saw her give a meal to two or three young mothers with small infants on their back.  I saw her give a couple meals to some older boys who had some sort of mental issues.  It was truly a holy experience.  Here is a girl who tries very, very hard to create an impenetrable shell so others can’t see her soft side and yet when the rubber meets the road, she shines her inner compassion through.  I didn’t say a word to her – I just admired and pressed the internal ‘record’ button in my mind’s eye…hoping to keep it forever.

Agbesi at first didn’t get out of the car.  He was embarrassed because his eye and ear were still quite swollen and he was worried the other children would tease him.  After about a half hour he slowly came out of the car and just stood by watching.  Next, he moved closer to me.  After a time he noticed that several hundred people had passed by and not one of them even mentioned anything about his eye – so he decided it was OK to come help.  He would grab two meals and disappear into the courtyard only to come running back out and grab two more.  It was fun to watch him get joy out of serving others.

Tyson was again in his element.  He was talking to everyone and trying to make new lifelong friends.  He has a unique ability to make friends with everyone, no matter where we are.  He loved helping others – that’s his M.O.

Brinley was the silent worker.  She worked and observed not saying much.  I could see in her eyes what she was thinking.  Brinley has always been our compassionate one always thinking of others.

Afterwards, on the way back to the hotel the ride was very quite.  Everyone was exhausted from the day’s work, but mostly people were pondering what we’d just experienced.  It was a deeply humbling experience – possibly bordering on the sacred…at least that was the feeling I had.  It seems that every day I say something of the same…but these are memories and feelings I hope I never forget.  More importantly, I hope my children never forget what they saw and felt today.  It is something that should change their outlook on life and hopefully will help them to be better people in life.

Tomorrow we go to the village to visit the biological families with the children.  It should be another emotional-provoking experience.  I’m sure at minimum it will be something to write about!

Until tomorrow…

Pick Up Trip - Day 3 - 2/29/2012

Pick Up Trip – Day 3

We really wore all the kids out yesterday so we decided today would be a day to just relax and be a family.  All of the kids, except for Mighty slept in until just after 8:00, which was a treat for us boys…Brandie wasn’t so thrilled!!

We packed all of the kids up and headed for First Junction to buy some breakfast and then head to the ‘circle beach’.  At the corner market I gave each of the kids a couple Cedis and told them to go buy something they liked.  It was funny to watch the exact different directions my vanilia kids ran from my chocolate kids.  BBT went for the fried dough (they call them doughnuts here…but I assure you – they’re NOTHING I’d call a doughnut!), apples and the tree ripened bananas.  MA ran for kankey, smoked fish that looked like they’ve been in the sun WAY too long, and something with blackeyed peas and cassava.  It was funny to watch both groups come back together and pick through what the other had gotten.  Talk about clash of the cultures!  Great times.

We all piled into a taxi and headed for the Ramada Beach Club.  It was a beautiful day to be at the pool…gentle breeze, not a soul in the pool, and of course the typical nearly unbearable Ghanaian heat.  All of us changed and immediately took possession of the whole pool – except for Tyson.  On the way to the pool he saw a lizard which kept him occupied for nearly 30 minutes chasing it through the hedges, sneaking around a tree like a ninja, or belly crawling through the grass trying to get the jump on the little sucker.  In the end the score was – lizard 1, Tyson 0.  I’m sure he’ll get him next time.

The pool was really fun.  I liked it because no one else was there.  It allowed us to continue to word as a family.  Agbesi and I worked on our trust together.  I put him on the edge of the deeper pool and coaxed him into jumping to me.  I consider myself a pretty good salesman – but I exhausted every trial close and sales trick in the book to get him to jump the first time.  The second time it was a little easier, the third easier yet, and by days end he was nearly jumping on my head when I wasn’t looking!  We made a great stride together today…although, I’m pretty sure I’m second on the list of favorite Oswald boys.  Agbesi has been attached to Brody’s back like a little monkey the whole week.  It’s been fun to watch Brody pack him around anywhere and everywhere he goes.

At the Ramada all of the food is really expensive.  The kids wanted to keep swimming but were getting really hungry.  Around noon I ordered three dishes we could share just to take the hunger pangs away.  My thought was we would finish up, head back to the hotel and change, and then go get another quick bite to hold us over until the evening meal.  That set Mighty off a little as she’s still trying to figure this whole “Daddy is an endless money stream but he doesn’t buy me things I want” thought of hers. We’ll get it figured out for her…just not the way she’ll like it to be!  This put her into a little bit of an emotional tailspin for the rest of the day with me.  She decided she was going to start her testing phase again (the first time this trip) where she could see how far her boundries with Dad are going to be.  I’ve learned as a parent it’s wise to pick the battles I want to win – so most of the time if she’s sulking and not talking to me I’ll just leave her alone for a while to blow off steam then at the right time I’ll move back in and remind her that I love her.  Today, with her being tired for the long day yesterday and then being tired from swimming today she was on her ‘session’ a lot longer than usual.

We returned to the hotel to pack for a couple of nights.  We decided because of the distance to City of Refuge we would go out and get a couple of rooms at Doryumu so we didn’t torture the kids with multiple two hour trips on days back to back.  The driver was to be at the hotel at 4:00 so we could leave.  At 4:30 he still wasn’t there.  The kids were really getting hungry – but I didn’t want them to eat too much as we’d been invited to eat with John and Stacey when we arrived.  By 5:00 the driver still hadn’t arrived.  Richard called and was told he was just around the corner.  By the time we loaded the van and were on the road it was nearly 5:30…right in the smack dab of rush hour.  The typical two hour trip to Doryumu took us nearly three and a half!!  The kids were exhausted and starving!  They’d eaten everything in Brandie’s purse and were giving me crazy looks like maybe they’d start chewing on my fingers or something!

We pulled into the hotel which was out of the town by a ways.  It was dark and late.  The hotel does have a small menu kitchen so we decided to ask if they had anything to eat.  The gal said she had two tilapias and banku she could put in the microwave for us.  At this point the kids were hungry enough I’m sure they would have eaten it raw.  Brinley, of course turned up her nose and didn’t want anything to do with the fish and banku.  Luckily for her John said they had some leftover jollof rice at the house and he would go and get it for her.  When he came back he had a great big bowl of rice and some egg sandwiches that Stacey had whipped up for us.  They are truly wonderful people.

As we went back into the room, we decided it would be best if we put M&A in the room with Brandie and me.  Shandi and Brinley would sleep together and then Brody, Tyson and Richard would share the other room.  It was a good solution.

Mighty was really kicked into high gear with her ‘hate on dad’ trip at this point.  The fact that she had to share dinner again – so shortly after sharing lunch – put her on high alert.  We had just gotten showers done and put them into bed when Brandie noticed that she’d broken both wrist bands that Brody had spent his money on getting for her.  She loved them, but was showing us she was mad.  Typically, I wouldn’t care – they were here things she liked and if she was going to spoil them, then that’s her bad luck.  However, she saw that wasn’t getting my goat so she went down onto the floor where Agbesi was having a little ‘moment’ and started talking Ewe in the tone where Brandie and I have learned only means one thing – she’s stirring up trouble.  I was typing the blog post and was listening intently to the tone and watching out of the corner of my eye to see if I could tell what was going on.  Agbesi suddenly slipped off his wristband Brody had bought for him and started chewing it in half.  I looked at Mighty and saw her looking at me with a huge smile on her face and a look in her eyes like “what are you going to do about THIS?”

I decided this was one of the battles I was going to choose.  I knew she was testing her bounds and as I thought through the whole situation I felt it was important for her to realize that although we’ll allow her to be angry we will not allow her to be disrespectful to us or to other members of the family.  I also felt like it was important to let her know that if she wanted to be angry at us, that’s fine, but she will not be allowed to use Agbesi and his respect for their culture (as her being the older sibling) to be used against us.  I elevated my voice and in no uncertain terms told her exactly what I was thinking about that and what I would not tolerate.  That was the very first time either of them had heard me raise my voice – I wasn’t yelling (I hardly ever do) but there was no question to anyone in the room that I meant business.  Clearly the look on both of their faces let me knew the message got across.

Agbesi recovered from the chewing quickly.  Within minutes he was back to his old playful self.  Mighty on the other hand, it pushed her over the edge.  She immediately jumped into bed with Brandie and shut us both out.  Brandie left her alone for a bit and then tried to talk with her.  She would have none of it.  She started crying vocally (making sure I knew she was crying) and rolled her face to the wall.  I let her be for quite a while.  Finally, I crawled over to her, kissed her on the cheek and told her I loved her.  Before I could get all of the words out she shoved my face off of her…she was in no mood for me!  I decided it would be best to leave her be and we could visit about it in the morning.  I’m not a good parent – I don’t have any training in psychology or the like…but one thing I know for sure is if someone pushes me away…they typically aren’t in the mood to talk!  We’ll let her sleep it off and we’ll deal with it in the morning.

Until tomorrow….

Pick Up Trip - Day 2 - 2/28/2012

Pick Up Trip – Day 2

Just like the first trip we made today was the longest day EVER!  We went to bed at normal time (around 10:00) but since my internal clock was still set on Idaho time my eyes popped abruptly open at 2:00am.  My body thought it was merely Sunday naptime.  The hotel we’re staying at didn’t have our ‘big’ room available until tomorrow night so we had to take two small rooms which each had one double bed in them.  We decided it would be best if we divided into girls and boys room.  I took the boys and Brandie took Shandi and the girls.  The hotel doesn’t have any roll away beds or mats so we had to just make due by putting all four of us in one bed.  Maybe that was the real reason I was awake at 2:00!  Or maybe it had to do with the power being out since before dinner…and with no power that means no A/C…and I REALLY don’t do well trying to sleep in 88 degree weather when I’m sweating like a rotisserie pig!

Once awake I really couldn’t do anything other than just meditate and think about how the rest of he week would go. It was peaceful to sit and watch my three boys quietly sleeping together.  If only Gage were here it would be the culmination of nearly two years of waiting.  I was so pleased to see the three of them getting along so well together.  Watching them sleep was really a payday for a dad.

Today we rented a van and driver to take us out to meet our new friends Johnbul and Stacey.  This amazing couple has done some great things near Doryumu, which is about two hours to the west and north of Accra.  They’ve been working with Feeding the Orphans on some projects where they’ve built some orphan homes, a school, and other amenities to serve some of the poorer communities of the greater Accra area.  In just two years they’ve made HUGE strides.  I was talking with Johnbul today and he told me that just last year (just their second year of operation, mind you) they were able to feed 18,000 meals to hungry children.  We were introduced to them on our last trip, but were referred to them as someone Brody could talk with about his Eagle Scout project.  Brody had reached out and worked up a plan where he could use the money they’d earned in our garage sale toward feeding several hungry kids.  His plan involved two days of work.  The first day was going to the market and buying all the food, which would be cooked for the kids and then delivered and distributed.  I’ve been looking forward to this part of the trip for my American kid’s sake.  What a wonderful lesson to learn while you’re still young.  We really do take so much for granted where we live and being here puts that front and center in your face!  I’ve been praying ever since we knew the kids were coming with us that God would grant them the blessing of seeing ‘real life’ while we’re here.  I believe that has started to happen.

This market we went to was absolutely CRAZY!  I’ve never seen anything like it…including the other ones we’d been to on our first trip.  There were literally THOUSANDS of people running around buying and selling their stuff.  John mentioned this was the largest open-air market in all of West Africa – and I could see why.  If I had to guess I’d bet there were literally 100,000 people there.  You could by anything – and I mean ANYTHING you could imagine.  It was really an amazing site.  All of the gorgeous colors, the individual kiosks each of the farmers or merchants were selling was a work of pride.  They made sure that everything was just exactly as it needed to be in order to attract the most buyers.  It was so crazy we decided it would be best if only Brody and I went with Johnbul and his people into the market.  I didn’t feel it a good idea that Brandie and the other kids went in – not because anything bad would happen to them, but I was afraid I would lose someone.  There is no ample way I can explain what the motion and commotion of this market was like.

As we walked into the entrance of the market I could tell Brody was going to be a huge hit – tall, young, blue eyes, and as we entered he immediately started turning heads and attracting the ‘hissing’ sound made by Africans when they want your attention.  Brody must have noticed as well because when I turned around and looked at him his face was bright red and he had a huge sheepish grin.  At one point when we stopped some of the more bold women merchants behind us started yelling for him to come over.  As he walked over they started talking to him – it was no doubt a ploy to see his blue eyes and hear his accent.  He only understood about three words of what they said and started feeling silly so he turned around to come back to me.  As soon as he did that the cackling in the background really ramped up.  He didn’t know what to do but I could read in his face he wanted to evaporate into the air.  He hates being the center of attention…especially when it’s a whole gaggle of 40-year-old women!  The women of the market were like a bunch of hungry piranhas – working themselves into a blue-eyed flirting frenzy.  As soon as Brody got back with Johnbul and me another lady walked up and noticed Brody’s braces.  In her heavy accent she said she liked them and wanted to know if he could get some for her simultaneously giving a huge cheesy smile showing her jacked up teeth.  Now, I love a little self-incriminating humor – and I feel that being a middle aged, slightly overweight, bald guy I’m better than most at it – but that was flat funny!  I couldn’t help but laugh…Brody just continued to nervously smile and wish he was somewhere else.  It was a great laugh for me and something I’m sure Brody won’t soon forget!

I did have one of the more tender moments I’ve had in a long, long time.  One of the things I felt very strongly about the last time we came was that God wanted to make Himself very aware to us personally while we were here.  I get the feeling that he’s doing the exact same thing this time – maybe I didn’t learn everything I was supposed to on the first trip – or maybe He’s just being extra merciful to me…either way I’m grateful beyond words to be used by Him. 

As I waited on the side of one of the major passageways at a market cross street Johnbul and I noticed a little girl – maybe 8 years old – selling her items.  To me, I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary with her being there, but Johnbul’s first thought was, “why is this child not in school?”  As he spoke with her I looked down and noticed the young girl only had on one flip-flop.  I could hear some of the questions Johnbul was asking her and could tell by her nervous demeanor that she was there selling because she HAD to be there.  She’d mentioned to him that the reason she only had on one shoe was because that was all she found on the road.  My heart broke and I said a silent prayer asking Father to help this young one.  As I finished I felt the need to turn around and look behind me.  I was astonished – although I shouldn’t have been – there, standing less than 5 feet from me was a shoe vendor with a basket of flip-flops on her head.  I immediately grabbed some change out of my pocket and asked Richard to see if she had the girl’s size.  The vendor reached up over her head and put a pair of shoes on the ground.  It was the girl’s exact size!  To some, these two ‘insignificant’ things (the vendor being in that very moment and time and then without looking pulling the exact size of child’s shoe from her basket without seeing) would be nothing but mere happenstance.  But to me – this was just another testimony to me that NOTHING escapes the Father’s eye.  He knew this little girl had needs and for whatever reason he chose us to be the ones He’d use to help her.  I’m so grateful to Him for using us because while the little girl got a pair of $1.50 flip-flops out of the deal…I got a feeling in my heart and memory in my mind that I’ll never forget.

At the end our the trip to the market we purchased just over $700 worth of food which was: 150 kilos of rice, three flats of tomato paste, some vegetables and meat for stew, 44 crates of eggs (30 eggs per crate), some spices, and some little take home boxes.  It filled the back of Johnbul’s SUV. 

We left the market and went back to Teshie.  We decided it would be fun to head to Next Door to eat for the night.  This is the fun place down by the Oceanside.  We decided it would be fun to take the kids early enough where they could play near the water for an hour or so before eating.  We had a great time chasing crabs, scavengering for items, and just playing with each other.  It was so fun to watch the kids be kids and play like they’ve been siblings their whole life.  Big Richard has been with us and fits into the family just like any of the other kids.  We love him dearly and hope to have him in our home soon as well.  He’s been a huge blessing to us having him around.

In summary, today was by far the best day we’ve had in country.  Both A and M behaved amazingly and B, B, and T were simply better than we could have imagined.  It was a great day with a great ending.  We all shared a great meal listening to the ocean break in the background while I soaked it all in and tried replaying the whole day back in my head minute by minute.  I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us tomorrow!!

Until then…

Pick Up Trip - Day 1

Pick Up Trip – Day 1

I’m not exactly sure how to even start.  Ever since we’d left Ghana six months ago I’ve been dreading the last 24 hours almost as much as I’ve been looking forward to the last 24 hours.  The thought of making that arduous flight over here with three kids was a fairly discouraging thought.  But that thought was always quickly erased by the thought of us arriving once again at the home to see bright smiling faces and the familiar sound of “Mommy” and “Daddy” by several dozen loving kids.

We left Boise around 10:00am Saturday morning and were met at the airport by Shandi and her dad, Shaun (which I’m very glad he came to see his daughter off since we required a little bit of his redneck engineering on a bag that we were told was ‘too big’ for the flight – nothing a little elbow grease and duct tape can fix!!).  You should have seen some of the looks from the other travelers and United workers when we started the assembly line of exactly-weighed bags from the Suburban to the check-in counter.  Twelve 50-pound bags littered the front of the line as we waited for the nervous old lady behind the counter to check us in, weigh our bags, and issue our tickets.  I’m pretty sure after she was done with us she needed a couple of smoke breaks!!

We went through security surprisingly quick.  It wasn’t until afterwards that I realized that some of that efficiency was surly caused by the security boss looking at us with our pack train of kids in tote and had sympathetic soul. 

While I was sitting in the waiting area for boarding I looked at our tickets to make sure we were sitting somewhat close to one another.  I wanted to make sure that at least Tyson and Brinley were next to Brandie and me for the fact that neither of them have flown before and were both a little apprehensive.  Imagine my surprise when I started checking the tickets – Jason Oswald 13D, Brandie Oswald 12D, Jason Oswald 13D, Shandi Gneiting 12C, Brody Oswald 13A, and Jason Oswald 13D…wait a minute – something’s off here.  Suddenly I was COMPLETELY convinced that the ‘sympathy’ of the TSA agent was more fear of the pack train than sympathy! 

We managed to board our plane and head to Denver from there catch our connecting flight to Chicago for a two-hour layover.  Brandie had talked with our dear friends the Livingstons who live in Chicago and mentioned to them our layover.  We were super thrilled when we landed to receive a text that Monica, Nestine, and Grace were at the airport waiting to see us.  We had a great visit with them for a little bit, but by this time the kids were starting their “I’m hungry” game so I took them all back through security while Brandie and Monica visited.

Out next stop was DC where we again had short one-hour layover.  We were pleasantly surprised when we saw our friend Kristi O’Leary and her kids sitting in the terminal.  Her flight on Delta had been canceled earlier that morning.  She was able to make a couple of changes and found herself on the same flight as us.  We were glad to see them and grateful for the chance to personally thank her for all the help she’s been to Brody on planning his Eagle Project.

As we landed in Accra and got off the plane I couldn’t help but to laugh out loud as I watched Brody, Shandi, Tyson, and Brinley – almost in exact order and time – contort their faces and breathe out an exasperated breath as the first wave of humid African heat slapped them in the face.  You can tell a person about this feeling, but it really doesn’t mean anything until they experience it for themselves.  Brody looked at me and said, “Oh my GOSH!”

We were grateful that all 12 of our bags arrived safely to Ghana and that we had no issues getting through immigration and customs.  We were even more grateful as we turned the last corner to see Pastor John and his army of young men waiting for us with smiling faces and open arms.  What a happy reunion we had with some dear friends.  I was so glad John was there and had taken care to arrange three cars to get us and all of our crap back to Teshie.  It would have been nearly a perfect trip if Kristi’s bags had arrived as safely as ours.  Luckily she’s a seasoned African traveler so the only thing they were really missing was some snacks for the kids.

It was interesting to see the immediate bond between big Richard and Tyson.  We waited outside in front of the airport for Kristi to figure out what was going on with her bags.  As we waited Tyson and Richard sat on the chairs and struck up a great conversation.  As we all went with the boys to try and arrange all the bags into the cars I had a little panic as we couldn’t find Tyson.  He’s our adventurous one so I was sure he’d walked over to check something out and we’d walked off without him.  Not so, I turned to see him and Richard walking across the street hand in hand.  Richard was guarding him like a hawk.  After we loaded all the cars we made seating arrangements but Tyson had already walked off with the boys.  He was going with them.  He – by himself – jumped into the third car alone with Richard, Job, and Marvin.  I was more than a little shocked.  Here we are in a new country around new people he had never met other than through a computer screen and yet he was immediately adopted as ‘little brother’.

We checked into our hotel and started the walk to the home to see the children.  I had thought through this moment a thousand times over the last couple of weeks.  Who would be the first one through the gate and who would be waiting?  How would the ‘white kids’ react to what they were seeing and the onrush of swarming children?  Would my timid Brinley freak out and hide?  Would all of the younger kids tackle the ever-kid-famous Brody to the ground and wrestle with him?  I wasn’t quite sure what to expect – I had my thoughts how it would play out, but just didn’t know.  I was almost giddy with anticipation for these new siblings to finally be able to see into the eyes of each other and reach the long awaited pinnacle of their nearly two years of waiting, praying, and hoping.

As we made our way around the final corner I was so tickled to see two of the older boys standing on the second story balcony.  They were like well-trained hawks looking for prey.  When they saw us make our way around the corner they started yelling to notify the troops of our arrival.  So much for making a sneak attack!  Brandie and Brinley took off running for the gate to hid in wait for the first kids through the gate.  I was trailing in the back – trying to wrestle with my bag that was NOT wanting to give me my camera…in the end I won, but not without the sacrifice of seeing Brandie and Brinley engulfed in the crowd.  I wish I had been able to catch that on film.  I made it though the gate just in time to see Brinley run toward Agbesi and scoop him off the ground in a great big bear hug.  I spun around to see Tyson hugging Mighty and Brody being lovingly groped by several of the other little kids.  My heart nearly jumped through my throat as I witnessed yet another reason why the Savior has commanded us to be like little children…unconditional love.

Brinley and Mighty were instantaneously joined at the hip…giggling, holding hands, chasing each other around the courtyard, and sharing Brin’s iPod to see pictures she’d taken and listen to her music.  Tyson, with his ‘not scared’ attitude was an instant hit.  He took off playing and making friends with all the boys.  At one point of the afternoon I turned around to see just him and Peter sitting under the tree talking quietly about something – the jump up and chase each other around giggling.  My heart swelled with emotion as I watched these three kids (B, B, and T) immerse themselves in the moment.  No judgment, no fear, no pre-conceived ideas – just jump in and start loving.  Honestly, I’ve never been more proud as a father than for the couple hours watching these kids just be kids and love other kids.  I was taught sermon after sermon as I sat and watched the closest glimpse of heaven I’ve ever seen personally.

At one point Agbesi brought me a neatly folded note.  I asked him if he’d written it for me – he said, “No, Peter did.”  I opened the note to the opening, “Daddy Jason, I love you.  I’m glad you came back.”  All of the same feelings and love I’d had for this special boy on the first trip came charging back to me.  I folded the letter up and safely placed it in my pocket.  I looked over my shoulder to see Peter sheepishly looking at the ground and then at me from the corner of his eye.  As I smiled he came running over.  My next mission in life is to find this sweet boy a home!!  He only wants a family and fully deserves one.

At the start of the day I had in my mind that Brody would be the biggest hit at the home.  He’s always been a favorite of little kids and has no problems getting down on their level to play with them.  It’s one of the things I admire most about him – that even though he’s now a big ‘tough’ teenager – he hasn’t lost his love for making kids smile.  After the first day I was completely wrong.  Brody was more of the wall flower – I think because he didn’t sleep much on the flight since his daddy-long-legs were jammed into the back of the guy in front of him the whole flight!  It was Brin and Tyson who were the most involved.  I was shocked at Brin as she walked from kid to kid asking their name and wanting to learn something about them. 

As the kids played I found myself thinking about a different thought than I ever have before.  I thought about how difficult for Mighty and Agbesi it will be to leave these friends.  I thought about some of the new kids in the home who still don’t understand English and walk around with a lost look in their eyes.  I’m sure trying to still reconcile in their minds, why?  Why they’re in this place and not with their familiar family.

Next, we had to get something to eat.  I couldn’t wait for this!  I was finally going to have a little bit of morbid fun watching some of the kids with the new cuisine…but no, of course, 7 of the 9 people of the tame ordered “chicken and fried rice” – the safe ‘scaredy-cat route”.  Richard and I ordered banku with tilapia.  Oh my, was it tasty!  Tyson was sitting next to his new favorite friend Richard and in usual Tyson form was peppering poor Richard with a litany of rapid-fire questions.  Do you eat the bones?  What about pepe – is it really hot?  Do you like it?  Does it burn?  Do you even eat the eyeballs?  What is that water in the bowl for?  Honestly, despite giggling a little – I really did feel bad for Richard…but he took it all in stride.

At the end of the meal I had eaten to nearly overflowing.  All that remained on my plate was the fish head and bones.  Tyson kept asking – Dad, you gonna eat the eye? – to which I kept answering – No.  I finally said, “Why don’t you eat it Tyson?”  Imagine my shock when he said, “OK, I’ll try it.”  WHAT??  This is the kid that I can’t get to eat mushrooms or onions and he’s going to eat a flipping fish eyeball?  No way…I couldn’t believe it…but I wasn’t about to be the one to deflate his ego, so I dug out the eye and handed it to him.  I will never, EVER forget the look on his face as he chewed up the slimy little sucker and worked like a rented mule to coax it down his throat.  In the end, the little turkey ate it and I’ll forever have something to replay and have a good giggle.  I call that a win-win!

I almost forgot - we experienced our first blackout as we were on our way to the resturant.  It’s one of the most eerie feelings in the world to be in complete darkness in a busy metro area.

I have so, so much more I could write about.  I sit here and can almost play step by step the day through my mind.  So many neat things happened, so many prayers of gratitude flowed through my mind, and in the end – it was another amazing day in this journey that our Father in heaven has chosen us for.  However, since it’s exactly 4:09am (I’ve been typing and pondering for over an hour) and I can feel the onset of carpal tunnel setting in – I’m going to call it a night…wait, morning….whatever!  All in all – we arrived safely, had no major injuries, and no emotional meltdowns (until just before bed) so I’m chalking it up to a good day.

Oh, and by the way – I’m usually never at a lack of words when typing…but as I sit here in the dimly lit room (boys only – the girls are in the next room) I can not conjure up the words to describe what I’m thinking, feeling, and seeing as I sit here watching these three boys sleeping next to each other.  God really does have a tender way of sharing His love at the most unexpected times.

Until tomorrow…

It's going to happen this time!!

Ya know - after 780 days of waiting you'd think we were 100% prepared to leave tomorrow - but funny how things pop up at the last minute. Our flight leaves tomorrow (Saturday, February 25th) at 10am from Boise, Idaho and we'll arrive on Sunday at 2:00pm. 

I really don't know which I'm more excited about - seeing the kids again, watching Brody, Brinley, and Tyson with their first international experience, helping Brody with his Eagle Project while we're there, or seeing all my Ghanaian friends again.  This really could be/should be the greatest trip we've ever had.

Stay tuned...I can't wait to share it with you.

Until Sunday night....