Last year I asked you all to pray for baby James. I thought you might like to know the rest of his story.
Read more »

I am so thrilled that so many of you are interested in the blanket project! I wanted to answer your question about whether people could send actual blankets. Each of my family members will be able to pack two 50-lb suitcases for Ethiopia (along with one carry-on bag, of course). I would love, love,...
Read more »

This summer several of my family have plans for a great adventure. My ‘baby’ sister Sophie is going to spend 2-1/2 months in the Wollaitta area of Ethiopia, where two of my daughters were born. Sophie is a nurse who has volunteered in Ethiopia twice before. This time she will be volunteering at the...
Read more »

My girls are featured in about 10 places in this gorgeous book, The Faces of Layla. The pictures were taken at Layla House in Ethiopia just one year ago by a professional photographer, before we even knew that the girls would be coming to us. The book is just lovely– and not only the...
Read more »

In Psalm 37:25 David says “I was young, and now I’m old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken, or their children begging bread.” There is an American doctor named Mary to whom I will always be grateful. You see, she works in Wollaitta, a poverty-ridden town in Ethiopia, where both my little...
Read more »

The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the LORD will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. Isaiah 41:17 Soddo, Ethiopia (the birthplace of two of my daughters)
Read more »

(written by my much-beloved Eldest) Eleven thousand people, spread on a hill. Close-your-eyes-lay-on-the-grass-and-don’t-move heat. Bass beats melding to my bones. Friends greeting, hugging, bouncing away to the next attraction, small pebbles, tumbling in a stream. Overpriced snack kiosks, trying to replace our stolen-at-the-gate water bottles. Crowd walking: forward, back, wait, twist, dive, through, safe,...
Read more »

This morning I read a post from Rachel describing a kind of restlessness she feels. (Go read, then come back, OK?) I could really relate to what she wrote. John and I have similar discussions about Ethiopia, wondering if there is something we could do there that would be truly meaningful, and in a...
Read more »

Last night I saw a story about some guy suing a dry cleaner for millions of dollars for losing a pair of pants. To be fair, it was an $800 pair of pants. But unless they also tied him to a rack in the back room and pulled out his toenails, I personally think...
Read more »

Proverbs 25:25 One of the neatest things about our agency is the support families give each other. I just got an email from another mom currently in Addis adopting a baby. She SAW our girls and delivered a letter to them– and then took time to write me a note from Addis. She says:...
Read more »