Ethiopia and the Zoo

What an amazing morning at the zoo. We live close to the zoo, so our family goes quite often. Today the big focus for me and the kids was to see the new polar bears, but God had more planned. See we have been in contact with other families in the adoption process from around the U.S., but we have really been hoping to find a local support group. I have only been able to find one local group that meets to support interracial adoption families; it does not focus on Ethiopia. Well, as we were walking to the polar bear exhibit I saw a lady with her three children posing for a picture. Two of the younger children looked as though they might be Ethiopian, so I ask and sure enough they were. I then told her about my families’ story and how we were adopting from Ethiopia as well. She then told me about the support group that her family attends that is just for Ethiopian adopted families. She took out a pen and piece of paper wrote down her name and e-mail address so that she can get us connected with the group. That was so awesome! Then as we were leaving I saw another woman with a young child (under 2) who also appeared to be Ethiopian and so I thought I would ask. Well it was a grandmother with her adopted Ethiopian grandson. She was so proud of her grandson and went on and on about the incredible blessing he has been to their family. She said she couldn’t imagine life without him. She encouraged us on our journey and said that there is nothing for anyone in my family to fear. She also told me that her daughter and son in-law attend the same support group that I had just gotten information about. How super exciting is that? In all the trips we have taken over the years to the zoo I don’t ever remember seeing any families that looked as though they had adopted from Africa and today I meet two that adopted not only from Africa but from Ethiopia. That is so COOL. The polar bears were pretty sweet too.
Tony