Pure & Lasting

Rwanda & Alain {Part 6}

Jenn — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:16:27 +0000

The next couple of days from our trip, I have limited photos. I was trying to live my time there, not photograph it :) We spent a day with the adorable, Tara, her boy, Inn, and her mom, who arrived the day before. It was wonderful. Shopping, swimming for the boys, talking and lots of walking. Tara is currently living at Noel Orphanage. She was such a big part of Alain’s story, our lifeline to Rwanda. I absolutely love this girl and we were so blessed to get to spend time with her. She has much in the works for the near future and I can’t wait to see what God has planned for her. You should totally check out her blog, she is hilarious (www.tarajill.blogspot.com).
-Jenn

Alain’s first time swimming in a pool. Chris and I wanted to let him swim a couple of days before, but he didn’t have swim trunks and we didn’t think that underwear would fly at the fancy hotel :) A quick trip to the market and the problem was solved. He LOVED it. The summer in SA is gonna be good!!The audience :) Tara’s mom, Kerry, the super awesome Clever, Tara and Chris. A quick photo before Alain left Noel forever. :) Alain with Madame director, she is in charge of Noel. These rest of these images were taken from the car on our drive back to Kigali. Rwanda is so beautiful.

Rwanda & Alain {Part 5}

Jenn — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:17:32 +0000

The following day, Chris, Alain and I headed to Noel. It was the first time we had been there without a big team. When we arrived, the children were spread out all over the orphanage, but it didn’t take long for the news to spread that we were there. Soon, we had our little posse back. I really enjoyed having a day there with no time restraints. Plenty of time to just hang out and be with the children.
I wish I could take every one of you with me to Noel. It is impossible to describe with words. There are hundreds of children, like Alain, living at Noel. Many of them do not remember living anywhere else. They have never had someone to run to them when they fall. Hundreds of hearts needing love, hundreds of hands wanting to be held, hundreds of feet wanting to be chased after. Since Alain has been home with us, I have noticed scars on his arms and legs. Nothing major, but there are so many. All I can think is that each of those represents a time when he needed someone to comfort him, to bandage him up and tell him that he is loved. I wonder how often that happened in his life.
While it may not God’s plan for every family to adopt, we can all do something. Taking care of orphans, widows, the poor is not a Biblical suggestion, it is a command. Adoption should be a last resort for children who cannot be care for by their families. If you want to get involved in orphan care, the best place to start (in my opinion) is sponsorship. Through sponsorship, you not only help a child, but a family and that trickles out into a community. You keep a family together and give them hope. Our friends Doug and Cristie Martine are partnering with Children’s Hope Chest to find sponsors for children in a specific area of Ethiopia. In Cristie’s words, “We have the joy of speaking up on behalf of 300 children in Warancha who are looking for the Hope of a sponsor family who can provide them the opportunity for an education, medical care, dental care, two meals a day, and discipleship. We have had the first 150 children’s profiles completed and are now working to get each of these children sponsored through a family who is ready to sacrifice $34/month ($1/day) for them.” If you are interested in becoming a child sponsor, click here or contact me and I will get you in contact with Cristie. .
-Jenn

We brought along a game of ring toss. It was so fun to watch the children’s faces light up. (Left) The boys playing on the new basketball court. Alain is known around Noel as “Kobe.” I love it!!!
(Right) Alain and Clever. We LOVE Clever. Translator and teacher. He grew up at Noel and now works there. One of my favorite littles, John Claude.Showing off my new hairdo with my stylists!!!“Keep your toes behind the line…”(Left) Probably my favorite picture of my sweet husband to date.
(Right) Alain and his good friend Andrew. Me and Tar’s Inn. Dreaming of his future. God has some big plans for this boy. Ahh!!! Missing these boys!!!Sweet Oliver. Emmanuel. Alain and the boys wanted a photos of them eating?!?! This is their lunchroom. This was Alain’s bed, when he had one. He shared it with another boy. Justen, Chris and PascalAnd then…I found my Clementine!!! Oh the joy!!! My sweet baby girl. She is bigger and just as cute as before. Justen!!!Me and Kazuba!!! Love this beautiful girl. Clever, Alain and Chris. Me and the boys.

Happy 3rd Anniversary To Us!

Jenn — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:30:47 +0000

Three years ago today, I married the love of my life. In the last three years, we have traveled all over the world, grown our small businesses, made our house a home, loved on children in Africa, and heard God calling us to more, all while falling more in love with each other. Chris is truly my partner and my friend. When I stop to think about this life we are living, I am overwhelmed with just how blessed I am. I have a feeling it is only going to get better.
-Jenn

In New Orleans with my Mom for her cancer treatment. She is our miracle. Love you Momma!!!With our furbabies. London. Paris. Austria. Venice. Florence. Corfu, Greece. In Austin for our 2nd Anniversary.My 30th Birthday.Noel Orphanage, Rwanda.Chris’ 30th Birthday.Our family. And one more on the way!!!!

Rwanda & Alain {Part 4}

Jenn — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:30:44 +0000

The Visiting Orphans team was only at Noel for two days, so the next day we were on our own. It had been a busy couple of days with little time for us to just be together. We decided to spend the entire day just the three of us. In the morning, we played Jenga and games on the iPad, ate breakfast at the hotel, all while listening to Justin Bieber. Yes, lots and lots of Justin Bieber. Alain is obsessed and now we know all the words! Then our tour guide (aka Alain), took us on a walk to Lake Kivu. We had lunch at another hotel. After lunch, Alain swam in the lake. It was an amazing day.
Before we arrived in Rwanda, we were not sure how well we would be able to communicate with Alain. On our first trip, we didn’t actually talk to him much. Crazy, I know. Although he has a lot of English to learn, we had no problem communicating. There were some dramatic hand motions. Sometimes I was sure that he thought I was absolutely insane. We have been home for over two weeks and every day he learns something new. He is constantly surprising us. It is a crazy good life.
-Jenn

Photo by the wonderful Wynne Elder on their last night in Rwanda. Teaching Alain Cut the Rope on the iPad. The beautiful walk to Lake Kivu. Rwanda is quite a modern country. The main roads are all perfectly paved. Getting a photo of him swimming proved to be difficult. He is there, on the deck with the basketball. Jenga was a hit. A great way to interact without much vocabulary and lots of laughs when it all came crashing down.

Rwanda & Alain {Part 3}

Jenn — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:46:03 +0000

The following day we hitched a ride with the Visiting Orphans group and returned to Noel to hang out with the children. I am so glad that we decided to spend some time at Noel, to give Alain a chance to be with his friends again and for us to reconnect with the children from our first trip. Emotionally, it was difficult. Many of the children remembered us and knew that we would be taking Alain with us. They seemed to understand that would could not take them all, but that did not stop several of them from asking us to. It is heartbreaking. I believe that every child deserves a family, someone to give them personal attention. For many of these children, that will never happen.
At this time, the Rwandan government is working to “reunify” the children of Noel with any living family members that they may have. You can read Tara’s post about the reunification here. There is another article about the reunification here. In a nutshell (in my opinion), they are trying to make it appear as though Rwanda has fewer orphans by manipulating family members who either do not want these children or absolutely cannot care for these children to take them out of Noel so that they can use the Noel Orphanage grounds for other purposes. Not cool, not cool at all. Say some big prayers for our friends at Noel. No child should be traded for a cow. Seriously infuriates me. Children being pawns in politics is absolutely crazy. I could go on and on. We are blessed to have one, here with us and safe, but there are so many others. It seems like there is nothing that can be done to stop it. Tara is working on opportunities for the older children so that they will have job skills to support themselves when they are no longer allowed to live at Noel. I will keep you updated on how you can help :)
-JennOn the right, Wynne’s sister, Rachel. Chris’ buddy Immanuel. Alain with his friend, Gato (on the left) and Pascal (on the right).My sweet Mohoza and I making crazy faces at the little one to make her giggle. I love this photo!!Innocent and Alain on the drums. They are really good. Video to come :) Tara and her boy, Inn. Love this girl. Oh my goodness!!! Could he be any cuter?! I think not. Wynne, with her boys and my boy. My girls, Evone and Mohoza, in their new dresses that I brought for them. Kazuba.

Rwanda & Alain {Part 2}

Jenn — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 17:16:02 +0000

I really am trying to blog all of the photos and stories before I forget them!! After two full days of airplane travel and one night’s stay in Kigali, we headed to Noel Orphanage. Alain had not been to the orphanage in a couple of months. He had been staying with family in Kigali so that he was close to our attorney and to all of the government agencies to get a passport, ID, and eventually a visa. I didn’t know what to expect when we returned to Noel. How would Alain react? How would the other children react to him and to us? How would I feel being there again? I was excited to see some of my friends from the first trip and my friend Wynne would be at Noel when we arrived!! As soon as we got out of the car, I was looking for Wynne. I could hear drumming coming from one of the buildings, so I made my way towards the sound. I didn’t see her until she was running towards me. The second best hug I’ve had in a long time. It was just so good to be with her in Africa. God really is too good to me! You can read Wynne’s account of her first day at Noel on her blog (click here).
The rest of the day was spent playing, holding children’s hands and wondering where in the world is Alain. He ran off to be with his friends, play basketball and reconnect. It was good for him to see them and for them to see him so happy. I was worried that the other children would not welcome him knowing that he was leaving. But they did, with open arms. His joy was their joy. Such beautiful children with hearts so big to love their friend in such a selfless way. It was a good day. Here are some photos from our first day back at Noel.
-Jenn

Alain with a group of his friends soon after we arrived. WYNNE!Alain and Innocent, he is Tara boy. Hoping and praying that there will be more of his story soon. I was so excited to see my girls again. Evone and Muhosa. Katherine was on our first trip to Rwanda/Ethiopia. It was amazing to see her again. I loved the timing of our trip. Perfect!Painting toenails :)I LOVE this photo. We were both so happy. I love this girl, truly a friend of my heart. We were even wearing the same cardigan :) Too funny!Chris and Immanual, reunited. (on the left) Tara and Innocent. (on the right)My Africa girls. Jane, our guide, me, Wynne and Tara. Giving Immanuel his new shoes.

Rwanda & Alain {Part 1}

Jenn — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 03:37:35 +0000

We’re home and busy, busy, busy, but doing great!! I am a bit overwhelmed with all we need to do to get Alain set up for school and life in the US, but I want to write down the stories from our trip before I forget. First there will be a few posts about the day to day goings on. I’m expecting a few about the emotions, motivations and changes in our life to surface a little later :)
It is my intention to honestly document our journey. It is a beautiful journey, but it is and will be hard work. It is not a fairy tale. It would be irresponsible for me to give you the idea that it is. We are blessed beyond measure to be a part of Alain’s life, but not only because it is fun and exciting, but because we are a part of the work (work!) God is doing in his life. We get a front row seat to watch God’s plan for his life and for ours unfold. To go into an adoption or a whatever-it-is-that-you-call-what-we-are-doing with unrealistic expectations is not fair to the child who is involved in the situation. The adults in the situation have to be in it for the long haul. To love through the healing of broken hearts and stay when the new wears off. If there is one thing I have learned through Maya’s adoption process and Alain’s visa process, it is that this stuff is complicated. Worth it, so very worth it, but complicated. I’m sure there will be more about this later :)
On December 28th, Chris and I boarded our first plane on our way to Rwanda. Throughout the many hours of traveling, we had conversations about how we were feeling. At 30 years old, both owners of businesses, we pretty much do what we want, when we want to. Adding a 16 year old child who would need quite a bit of attention, teaching, directing and loving was beyond our imagination. Literally, we did not know what to expect at all. We wondered if we had any earthy idea what we had gotten ourselves into. Was Alain as sweet and smart as we remembered him to be? Would we be able to communicate with him at all? Could we actually do what we said we were going to do? How the heck did this even happen? I know I was there throughout the whole process. I filled out the forms, paid the fees and said the prayers, but oh my goodness, it actually happened! I was excited and scared to death, but some how unusually calm most of the way to Rwanda.
While waiting on our last flight, we were told that it had been delayed…for 6 hours. That was when I almost lost it. I knew Alain would be waiting with our attorney at the airport and we would have a difficult time getting a hold of them. But when you are in Africa, just wait a bit and everything changes. Somehow they found another plane and had us on our way with a 2 hour delay. We get off the plane in Rwanda, go to collect our bags and find that the bag with all of Alain’s we clothes is missing. We wait and wait and still nothing. All this time we know that he is waiting just on the other side of the doors to greet us. Finally we gave up, report the bag missing and head out of the terminal. A few steps into the room and there he is, bounding towards me arms wide open, he hugs my neck saying “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” and doesn’t let go. It was a great moment and a picture that I will have in my mind forever :) He was just as beautiful and sweet as I remembered. He was so excited to see us!!
After the big greeting, he returned to his somewhat reserved self. We discussed our plans with our attorney and driver and decided it was best not to drive 3 hours after dark. We would wait until the next morning to leave and hope to collect our missing bag before we left. It worked out perfectly, we got a good nights rest, collected bag easily at the airport the next morning and we off to the orphanage. We wanted to give Alain a chance to say goodbye to all of his friends and my dear friend Wynne was at Noel with a Visiting Orphans team. Such perfectly great God-timing. Here are a few photos of our traveling days :) Next up, Noel Orphanage.
-Jenn

Waiting to board the loooooong flight from Washington D.C. to Ethiopia.The beauty that is Rwanda.

Dream big. Do something.

Jenn — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 17:03:51 +0000

Our life is turning into quite an adventure, but somehow, for the first time in months, I am not anxious. I’m overwhelmed, but peaceful. Scared and excited. It is a strange combination. I’ve always dreamed of living a big life. I think the only way to do that is to be scared out of your mind and take that step anyway. I’ve been saving some quotes on Pinterest for a few months, you may see a trend (Click here for my board).

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I can almost pinpoint the moment that I realized that when you want to do something, you should make it happen. I was about 21 years old, sitting in my best friend/business partner, Kaylinn’s bedroom and we were dreaming of going to Europe. We had talked about it many times before, but this time one of us said, “Let’s just do it.” It was at that moment, I decided that I wanted to be someone who did what I said I wanted to do. A dreamer and a doer. We made the call, booked the trip, shut down our business for a month and went to Europe. It happened. We said we would go and we went. It is a great feeling to make a dream come true, to live your dreams in reality.

Here we are in London, living it up!

After that I was addicted. When I dreamed something enough to say it out loud, I wanted to do it. When Chris and I started dating, we read a book called Just Do Something: How to Make a Decision Without Dreams, Visions, Fleeces, Open Doors, Random Bible Verses, Casting Lots, Liver Shivers, Writing in the Sky, Etc. It basically said that we need to stop waiting, even if we say we are waiting on God and DO SOMETHING. God has given us direction in His word. He has given us talents and opportunities. We should compare our desires to God’s heart and start moving.
That morning when I woke Chris up to tell him about my dream to go to Africa with Visiting Orphans, I’m pretty sure his response was, “Let’s do it.” God gave us the desire, the time and the resources to go, so we went. When we came home, we couldn’t stop thinking about Alain, we wanted to do something about it. We prayed, we researched and we said that as long as God was opening doors we were going to walk through them. There were no signs from heaven or prolific dreams. All we had was a love for a child, who we knew God loved too. We know that God has not forgotten Alain. God’s way of telling Alain was to give this crazy couple in Texas a love for him too. I am so glad we didn’t wait, ponder and worry. I’m so happy that we did something. Our lives will not wait for us to make a decision. They continue to pass us by. If you have a dream, even a BIG dream, don’t wait. Do something!
-Jenn

Thirteen months waiting

Jenn — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 03:34:25 +0000

We got the news about Alain’s visa on our DTE (Dossier to Ethiopia) anniversary. We have officially been waiting 13 months to be matched with our daughter. I am posting this a couple of days late, but this photo was taken on the 19th, out in our driveway refinishing some super cool lockers that will be Alain’s dresser. To our sweet Ethiopian princess, we are coming for you. We love you!!!
-Jenn

What can you do? {Operation: Love Noel}

Jenn — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:00:54 +0000

That last post was written eeeeeearly in the morning after pulling an all-nighter praying for Alain’s visa appointment. I left out so many details that I hope to fill in as we continue on this journey.
While rearranging the house to make a bedroom for Alain (I plan on a future blog post of our nesting), we are also preparing to go to Rwanda. Chris and I will be going together. We plan on spending time at Noel, meeting Alain’s family, and visiting the friends that we have made in Rwanda. This where a couple of amazing God details come in. Remember that friend I said I wanted to go on our first trip with? Her name is Wynne. We met through my blog, she is a fellow Ethiopian adoptive mom and photographer. She has been a HUGE part of Alain’s story. She will be in Rwanda, at Noel, with Visiting Orphans at the same time that we are going to pick up Alain. This summer when I was disappointed that I would not be in Africa with her, God knew that I only needed to be patient. I just love how He loves us! On top of that, the leader of her trip is bringing with him the funds that we raised earlier this year to buy beds for the children at Noel!!! Chris and I will be there when the bed purchasing begins (Click here for a post about that campaign). Such sweet details have come together for our trip.
We are allowed two suitcases each and we plan to fill them to the brim with donations. We would also love to take cash donations to spend while we are in country. Flying to Africa to bring Alain home, setting up a bedroom and adding a child to our family is leaving us with less cash than we would like to be able donate. Noel is home to over 600 children and there is always a need for food, clothing, school supplies, etc. Tara, who I mentioned in the last post, is beginning to teach the older girls how to sew so that they will have a skill to sustain them. You can read more about her plan HERE. I would love to support her and these sweet girls by bringing sewing supplies (scissors, pins, books, measuring tools, etc.). We are heading out soon, so we have to do this quick. If you would like to be a part of loving on these wonderful children, click here to donate. I think I’ll call it Operation: Love Noel. You have my personal promise that every dollar will bless a child. YAY!!!!! We are going to Rwanda!!!!!!
-Jenn