This is Issacc and he is our friends' little boy. They brought him home from Columbia a few weeks after we brought Ash and Mekie home. The kids had off Martin Luther King day so my friend, Natalie, brought her kids out so we could offically meet our adopted children. It was so good to catch up and see how God is moving in their lives to advocate for adoption!
These are their 3 boys and our 4 kids. So it was a fun afternoon with 7 kids!

These pictures came about today after Mekie found a picture in a book of a dog wearing glasses and playing on a computer. The kids thought it was so funny. So the 4 kids worked together to plan how dress Molly in glasses and play on the computer. So below is the final picture with Molly in glasses working on the computer! Good job working together kids!

Question of the Day

Why..? Why are there over 1 billion starving people in the world? That's roughly 1 in 6 people on the face of the planet that is starving... I'm not talking about missing a meal every now and then, I'm talking about literaly starving. How can it be that the Lord has given us a planet that produces enough food for each of it's inhabitants to consume over 3,000 calories a day and yet 1 in 6 can't even get 1 basic meal a day? How can it be that there are people intelligent enough to put a man on the moon, and yet we can't figure out how to put food in the hands of those who need it the most..? Is it because we don't care? Please tell me it's not that... It must be more complicated than that..? Is it because we are (by in large) ignorant to the realities of the world around us? Hopefully that's closer to the truth. At least in ignorance we have an excuse, right?. Unfortunately, our ignorance / excuse is being removed as our eyes are opened and focused more clearly. What would Jesus say to us (his followers) if he were walking the earth right now? Would he say "well done faithful servant" or would he be ashamed to see the greed and selfishness that even his followers seem to fall in to? Don't get me wrong, I'm as guilty as anyone... I know many people who are extremely generous with what God has blessed them with. But is it enough? Could we do something more... something bigger? It's my belief that we must. The clock is ticking and time is running out for many people. Sadder still is that many of these people will never have heard the name of Jesus Christ proclaimed before their death.

Let's do something about it! As mentioned Wendy and I are advocating for the children of Tullo carepoint in Awassa, Ethiopia. These kids are beautiful and desperately in need of food, medical care, education, and spiritual nurturing. You have the opportunity to help them on a very personal level. Sponsorship of a child costs $34 / month and provides for their basic needs. It also allows you the opportunity to share letters with them and let them know they are loved by someone. What better way to let them experience the love of Christ. This money, although it doesn't seem like much, goes so much farther than you would expect. For some families this small amount would more than double their entire family income! Would you please be the difference for one of these children?

Dagim Daniel DOB: 3/14/2003



Aklilu Ledamo DOB: 1/25/2004



Samuel Egu DOB: 9/2/2004



Please post a comment on this blog or send us an email at wjwalz@hotmail.com if you would
be willing to change the life of one of these 3 children today!

Praise be to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ,

Derek & Wendy

When I first read about Little Goody 2 Shoes and the eleven year old girl with a mission to buy shoes for children in Ethiopia, I immediately purchased two of her adorable $6 necklaces, one for me and Mekie.So I wanted to let everyone know about the amazing work this little girl has gotten done!

So far she's sold 314 necklaces. She has raised $1870 and has purchased 103 pair of brand new shoes!



To order a necklace and read her blog click here:
http://littlegoody2-shoes.blogspot.com/

Continued...It's a Snow Day

Well, it is coming to an end of the day and just wanted to let you know that I'm still singing and dancing because it's a snow day. The kids were awesome today. There was no fighting or screaming at all today. That is an amazing day!!

We didn't have any where to go so we just stayed in. The kids played most of the day inside and then this afternoon we headed outside to play. I played pictureka with Garrett and Ash, played puzzles with Mekie and Ethan, and even got to do computer games with the older 3. As a stay at home mom, you think you would have so much more time to play with your kids and get things done with the house and then you will be bored but you're not. I have been missing playing with my kids so much because we have been so busy. But today I put work aside and was flexible with the day and did what the kids wanted to do! I am so thankful for days like this.

YEAH!! SNOW DAY

Well I'm a little behind on pictures so I wanted to show you what fun we had on New Years.

These are some pictures from New Years Eve. We had such a great time. Derek's brother and wife came out with their daughter and my brother and his wife came out. The kids were so excited to show their aunts and uncles their new toys from Christmas. We also played the new Wii Dancing for kids game. And as you can tell the adults enjoyed it too. The picture above is of Kari, Derek's brother's wife that is 20 weeks pregnant, and me. And the picture below is Derek and his brother.
And then we decided to go ice skating. I had only went skating once and Derek had never gone. So we were about to take 4 kids with us having no experience on how to skate. Sounds like fun! Well we had enough help that day so we tried it! It was actually a really fun time. The other nice thing about having family there was that Derek and I got to skate a couple rounds together!

Uncle Doug and Ash. Ash was pretty unsure of himself. But he was doing much better by the end. He was even trying it by himself.

Aunt Elissa and Mekie. Mekie is so light that it was easy to skate with her. She was also unsure but found her skating legs pretty fast.

Garrett- he amazed me. His first time skating and he took off with no help. Yes, he fell quite a bit and was soaked by the end but he didn't complain once. He had a great time. Oh, to be a kid again!!

And then my little baby- he had to stay with Uncle Tyler and he wasn't too happy. He wanted to skate so bad. Maybe next year, Ethan!

So I hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Well today school is closed and I'm actually singing and dancing that my kids are home with me today! I might not be singing and dancing by the end of the day but for now we are excited. We had a busy day planned today but now we are going to be playing in the snow and doing things around the house. I'm ready for a day with my kiddos!!! Get ready...set...and we're off to enjoy a day home!!

Our little Girl from Awassa, Ethiopia

This is the little girl we sponsor through Starved 4 Hope. Her name is Birtukan and $34 a month gives her food, basic medical needs, an education, and most importantly discipleship. As a family we are so excited to be committed to pray and correspondence with her, she will witness the love of Christ in a way she wouldn't otherwise. Her picture is on our fridge and we have explained to the kids what sponsorship is about. I think the older ones understand but the younger ones don't quite get it. Mekie keeps asking when they are coming home. And Garrett says it's like we have 6 kids!!(We have another child through Compassion) In addition, through sponsorship, we are also able to provide an opportunity for our children to be a part of a global mission. What a wonderful way to teach them to care for others as God instructs us; through this outreach program, we are able to teach our children to be aware of the issues that effect people throughout the world. But, not only are we raising our children's awareness, they are actually helping to make a difference.

The thing I love about Starved 4 Hope and Hope Chest is that you are able to go on annual mission trips and visit your child or children. Since Derek and I were wanting to go back to Ethiopia on a regular basis, this really was exctting to us. So when we travel back we can actually take packages to our child.

To tell you a little more, Starved 4 Hope is a Christian, non-profit organization that has partnered with Children’s Hope Chest to be coordinators and advocates for the Tullo Kebele School in Awassa, Ethiopia. Currently, all funds for projects, mission trips, and sponsorship are paid through Children’s Hope Chest as they have already established their 501©3 status (which S4H is in the process of filing for).

So, please, contact Derek or I as soon as possible so this children can experience the love of God! There are still 128 kids still needing a sponsor! Please look at the post below for links to Starved 4 Hope and Hope Chest.

Our Gotcha Day video!!!

We finally got our gotcha day video up! I am pretty excited to finally have it up for you to see it. Our worship pastor at our church put it together, so thank you Nirup! I can't tell you how many times I have watched it but every time I cry. It was such an amazing and emotional week in Ethiopia it is so hard to explain but the video says it all!