Ok, I hate coffee. However, for years I have wanted to like it. Mostly I have wanted to like it because it is (unless you go to some fancy, over priced place) relatively cheap. Often, such as at every pastors' meeting I go to, it is there for free. So I have wanted to like coffee because I'm generally a cheap person. Unfortunately the taste of burnt water has always over-ridden my desire to drink this stuff.
Then we adopted these two boys from Ethiopia where drinking coffee is second nature. I thought as a good Father I should have coffee in the house because the boys would like it. I figured if I was ever going to buy and make the stuff I should at least be able to drink it. Unfortunately, even the desire to be a hero Daddy who makes coffee simply could not bring me to even tolerate the stuff.
Then the other day I saw a bag of fair trade coffee from Ethiopia. I thought about this for a while and began to consider that if I can help my fellow Ethiopians (yes, I consider myself part of the Ethiopian family) simply by drinking coffee, well, then that my just be worth it. To take it a step further there is a good chance that where our Compassion child (that is the child we sponsor through Compassion International - compassion.com) lives, her mother could possibly be employed by a coffee farm. Now, we are dealing with something on a much larger scale. This is no longer about being cheap, or even being a "cool" Dad, this is about helping out the widows, the orphans, those who without the ability to produce and sell their coffee would be in poverty. I have also found a fair trade coffee in which the proceeds go toward orphan projects.
So now here is my plan: I am going to drink at least 1 cup of coffee a day for 21 days (it is said that it takes 21 days to form a new habit). It is my hope that at the end of the experiment I will actually enjoy coffee. Coffee that I can drink and know that in doing so I am helping the people of Ethiopia and the orphans of the world.
Going now to make me a cup. Let's pray I can swallow the stuff.
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"Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west." Isaiah 43:5 (NIV)
AWAA
About Us
- The Raymers.
- We are John and Dottie. We have 5 kids: Hannah, Abel, Joshua, Feromsa, and Bereket. This is our blog about our lives.
Timeline and Cost
- Here you can find a posted a listing of all of our adoption expenses that are paid and are yet to be paid.
- *Note* AWAA program fees are reduced because John is an associate for AWAA.
- 1-13-10 AWAA Application Fee $250.00- PAID
- 2-3-10 First program fee* $250- PAID
- 3-8-10 Fingerprinting $830- PAID
- Birth Certificates, etc. $70- PAID
- Fingerprints for NC $10.00 PAID
- NC SBI Background Check $30.00 - PAID
- Physicals for everyone $150.00 - PAID
- Homestudy $1800 PAID
- Authentication of out of state documents $40.00 - PAID
- Post-placement fees $1050 - PAID
- 4-13-10 Fingerprint appointment with USCIS
- 4-21-10 Home study complete and in hand
- 4-22-10 Referral!
- 4-28-10 I-171 arrived!
- 4-28-10 Program fee ($250), 1/2 International Program fee ($3,750), Post-placement admin. fee ($385) Total of $4385 PAID
- ????- Agency mid-payment fee ($2000), Translation/Authentication fee ($800), Post-placement deposit ($1,000), Courier fee ($150), 1/2 International fee ($3750) Total $7700
Ethiopia
Addis Ababa |