I met a boy...

Currently: listening to Ben Rector

It all started last December. I was in Pennsylvania, having breakfast with my fabulous friend Megan, and she told me about one of her friends who was moving to Addis Ababa to work at the CURE Hospital there. I vaguely remembered her mentioning this particular friend when Megan and I were in college together, but she was fairly annoyed with him at that point, so the comments were not all positive. Needless to say, I was a bit more excited about him this time, since it would be another guy to hang out with in our group of mostly single women here at Bingham. I gave Megan my Ethiopian number and told her to have him call me when he got to Addis- he would be more than welcome to come hang out with the group, play soccer on Thursday nights, etc.

Fast forward six weeks, to February 15 (strategically, the day after Valentine’s Day), and as I was sitting on my couch, procrastinating on doing school work, I heard my phone ring. In Ethiopia, we tend to get a lot of wrong numbers, so I generally don’t pick up numbers that I don’t know. But I was very grateful I picked up this one; turns out it was Andrew on the other end of the line, calling like he told Megan he would.

We chatted for about 20 minutes and the number of connections that we made in the initial conversation was pretty impressive. We both went to Messiah and had a number of mutual friends there, we had both worked in SIM, he in Burkina Faso and I in Ethiopia, and we had both lived in Pennsylvania for a number of years. I remember hanging up the phone and thinking “how in the world can I have so many things in common with someone I just met in Ethiopia?!”

Over the next few weeks, I invited him to a number of social events that we were having- maybe even planned one or two, so that he would specifically come. About a month and a half later, we started dating, and now ten and a half months after that, we’re engaged!

It’s been an exciting ride so far- we have visited four countries together, gone on a number of trips within Ethiopia, ridden a motorcycle all over Addis, been to a lot of different restaurants (eating out is really cheap here), met each other’s families with love all around, challenged each other in our walk with the Lord, shared lots of joy and some tears, and fallen in love. I am so blessed and excited to spend the rest of my life with this man and discover many new adventures together. 

A new knee...

Currently listening: Adele. Love the new album!!

Sadly, I've neglected the blog for a few months now, but with a little bit more time on my hands (explained below), I'm hoping to have a few updates over the next few weeks and months.

First, I am home right now. It's been wonderful to have a chance to catch up with a number of you already, but for those I haven't seen...

Back in November, I was enjoying a typical Thursday night playing soccer at Bingham, when I lost my balance and felt something in my knee pop. I hobbled to the side of the court and sadly, didn't get to finish the game. After a number of doctor's appts over the next few days, and an MRI from the only decent MRI machine in Addis, and a long weekend on crutches, it was determined that I have torn my ACL.

After learning all about the ACL and how it's injured from my brilliant sister-in-law, I decided to come back to the States to have it repaired. I will be here for about six weeks total, and while it's not a fun reason to be home, it has been nice to hang with family and friends for a bit.

I've had the chance to chat with a number of you, but for those I haven't seen I wanted to answer some FAQs (frequently asked questions)...

Are you in pain?
Thankfully, no. It hurt when it initially happened, but not so much since then, unless I've stupidly twisted it or something of the sort.
Fun fact I've learned: you can actually live without an ACL- walking, even running, is ok, but if you like to play soccer or (water) ski (two of my favorites) then you run a huge risk of really messing up your knee without an ACL. So I've decided to get it repaired in order to enjoy those activities again :)

Where and when  are you having surgery?
Thanks to recommendations from some Messiah connections, I am having surgery in York, PA at OSS on Jan 15. I appreciate your prayers for the surgery and ensuing recuperation time!

When do you head back to Ethiopia?
I head back to Ethiopia on February 13. Thanks to some amazing people at Bingham, I have subs until that time, which gives me the appropriate amount of time here to do some physical therapy and heal a bit before I head back on the long plane ride.

Who is covering your classes while you are gone?
This is the biggest answer to prayer out of the whole situation and I continue to praise God over and over for his provision! A dear friend, Alyssa, has been my mentor teacher at Bingham for the last number of years. She moved back to the US with her family this last summer, but when this all happened, she graciously agreed to come and cover my classes (all classes and students she has taught before!). She truly is the best person to do the job and I am so grateful she agreed- thanks Alyssa!!
The last two weeks are the mock exam period for our students, so the only class that I teach, who is not taking those exams, is my 9th grade class. A lovely missionary mom, Kara, also a former teacher at Bingham, is covering that class for me during that time.
Thank you ladies for your amazing commitment during this time! Thank you Lord for providing them!

Thanks for your interest and prayers during this time!