First Birthday

The courts gave Miss K a birthday of April 20, so we've been celebrating her turning one year old this week. We had a birthday party last Saturday:



We served an Ethiopian meal (catered by our friend Seble who owns the Queen of Sheba), consisting of doro wot, beef tibs, gomen, Ethiopian green salad, Ethiopian chickpea salad a/k/a "Ethiopian hummus", lots of injera, lots of berbere sauce, and chicken nuggets for the children and picky eaters. Ethiopian food was new to most of our guests so before we prayed over the meal, we gave them a little orientation, describing each dish and explaining some Ethiopian mealtime traditions and customs. We expected everyone to indulge us by sampling little spoonfuls and we were pretty much looking forward to feasting on the leftovers all week. Well, while not everyone ate with their hands, the meal got rave reviews, several people asked for directions to the restaurant and said they wanted to try more, and we only had enough leftovers for a light supper on Sunday! Dessert included birthday cake, ice cream, raspberry punch, mints and nuts and of course, Ethiopian coffee: One of my mother's sweet friends created this masterpiece of a cake (which was as yummy as it was pretty): All of the little animals were created out of fondant! We were all entertained by watching Miss K eat her slice: What a memorable day of celebrating Miss K with close friends and family who supported us throughout our journey to her. Our baby girl just ate up all of the activity in our home and being the center of attention!

There has been a bittersweet aspect to Miss K's birthday. Her birth family has been on our hearts and at the forefront of our minds this month. One year ago, they welcomed our precious girl into this world. We don't know who they are or anything about them. We have no names, no pictures, no information about their lives or Miss K's time them. But there are some things that we do know with certainty. We pray that God will give her birth family comfort and peace with their decision to relinquish her. We pray that God will give them supernatural assurances of her well-being. We pray that, if they aren't believers, they will be ministered to and come to know the Lord. If we are never able to meet them on earth, how wonderful it would be to meet them in heaven! We wish they could see how much their little girl is loved and absolutely adored. And how incredibly blessed we feel to have her in our lives.