Today is one of those days that I'll never forget in our journey to bring home Baby Roth. A day filled with a bounty of blessings beyond what we could have even imagined. As a Family and Consumer Science Education teacher, I'm also an adviser for the student leadership organization of FCCLA. The last few weeks have been incredibly busy preparing for today's district meeting. We have the district chairperson/state officer this year, we had a candidate for state office, we had kids giving presentations, we had chapter responsibilities....I had lots on my mind. So, this morning during the opening general session I'm looking for a certificate when suddenly I hear... "Mrs. Roth, will you please come up to the stage"...(I'm not supposed to be on the stage, what is going on??)
Since the district officers have now stopped talking and everyone is looking at me, I scoot on up to the stage wondering just what exactly is going on. As I walk onto the stage I hear... "Mrs. Roth and her husband are currently in the process of adopting a child from Ethiopia......they are currently collecting shoes to be donated the orphans of Ethiopia when they travel to adopt their child".
By this time, my whole body just went all tingly and my heart just couldn't keep it all in. You see, its a very surreal thing to hear someone else give voice to your heart's mission and our heart desire to become a family. My journey to becoming a mom. Ah, so no matter how hard I tried well... my throat was tightening and I could just barely, barely hold myself together.
Then I heard...(or something like this as I was a mess at the time)
".... we have collected these shoes for you to be given to the children of Ethiopia." And suddenly, 1/2 of the room stood and began walking on to the stage. A basket appeared out of somewhere and landed in my hands.
And, one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one by one one by one by one by one...
they each placed a pair of shoes into the basket. And I lost it. The tears started, (and I am NOT a crier) the shoes piled up and soon we were piling them on the floor too. I was blessed beyond words. Beautiful blessings I didn't even know of which had been asked for on our behalf. 50 Pairs. 50 children will be protected from disease, fungi, raw sewage, cuts and the hard muddy earth below their feet. If you're following the tally...this brings us to 162 pairs of shoes! WOW!! We are so very, very grateful and honored to haul these across the ocean and literally half way around the world. I promise we do and will count it all joy to bring these blessings to all those little Ethiopian kiddos!! To my fellow FCCLA advisers, their chapter members, parents and whoever else contributed to this 'little' scheme to bless us beyond words- thank you. Thank you to some true Family, Career and Community Leaders of America. As I rode the bus home tonight, I couldn't help but realize that this little shoe project is the perfect example of what the core of FCCLA is all about. We're all about strengthening families and communities. Today I've never felt more loved by my District 9 FCCLA community. In these quiet days of waiting for our referral, oh what a blessing to have a day of good news to share. A day of affirmation in our journey. You all will never know how much good you did my heart today. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Special thanks to Brigitte and Emma for making this possible- you're both wonderful and thanks again!
Oh, ya...the kids did great. And, we've got next year's state officer so we're going to Disney Land!! :) As Wes would say...our cup overfloweth!
That story is so cool, Kim. God works in mysterious ways!
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