I will be 37 next Wednesday.  Yes, it is true.   Good bye 40’s here come the 30’s again.  I am thrilled.

So you ask how this is possible?  Next Wednesday I will be landing in Ethiopia where they use something similar to the Coptic calendar.  The year is 2003 in Ethiopia.   Even the way they calculate time is different.  7am is called “one” and 6 pm is “twelve”.  Between changing time zones and recalculating my entire thought process on telling time, I may need to brush up on my 5^th grade math skills.  This could get embarrassing.

I am very pleased with my new age. Did I say that?  37 rocks!

It doesn’t seem possible to be leaving in less than a week for Ethiopia.  After all, I still have two itchy bug bites from the Amazon.

I had a dream the other night that I lost my passport in Germany so I could not get to Ethiopia and I could not get home, so I went to this little café and bought chocolate.  I am a smart girl, even if I am only 37. Chocolate solves a lot of problems.  This dream was way better than having snake dreams like I did before I went to the Amazon.

I am taking six people from Tri-Lakes Church in Monument, CO to visit Compassion project ET104.  Their church congregation sponsors over 70 kids from this project and several Ethiopian kids from outside this project.  We are going to be having a FUN DAY where the 7 of us will meet all the sponsored children from Tri Lakes Church and we will have a party and possibly have a little goat BBQ (baaaaah).  It really is a dream trip for me to see all this go down!

Leaving my family continues to be tough part about traveling, but my family is supportive and excited.  Isabel has shoes coming out of her ears (for real), and we need to move a lot of shoes.  I will be taking a ton of shoes with me. My husband will be leaving for Brazil later in the month and he requested a BIG bag of shoes to accompany him too.  Can’t wait to see a bunch of kids get some nice shoes on their feet from www.shoesforkids.me.

My heart is starting to prepare for this big trip across the world to a place known for their hunger, poverty, orphans and AIDS.  I talked to my friend, Brian Seay, who adopted two kids from Ethiopia, and he told me just how unique and wonderful Ethiopia is.  He told me stories about the food, the people, the culture and his amazing experiences in Ethiopia.  He told me to prepare for coffee ceremonies (which rocks!) and to prepare to see beautiful people.

I am getting all my things in order, I am psyching my self up for the 25-hour plane ride (and 25 hours home), I am praying.   What my eyes have seen and what my heart has experienced this year is overwhelming.  This is my last international trip for 2010 and I must say it has been quite a ride to see the glorious work of our Creator.  I look forward to celebrating on this trip and having a party with 85 children who have had their lives changed because of generous people who sponsored them.  What a fun way to end this travel year.