94%

That’s right, back in May/June of 2012, we posted the top 100 things that we looked forward to doing during our 6-month stay in the States. And now, having arrived back in Ethiopia we surprised even ourselves in that we accomplished 94 of 100 items on that list. Now, some of them were easy, like “using a microwave” and “using cruise control” but other required a bit more effort and planning, some of which was done by you! We appreciate those who took our list as ideas for blessing us, as surely we have experienced enough intentional acts of kindness toward us to last us for years to come! Thank you.

Here are some of the highlights as we look back:

100 – Running through a sprinkler - the sprinkler snake was pretty fun until Doug the dog showed up and bit a hole in its head!

98 – Thanksgiving at the Bluebird Ranch was a treat! Good food, great friends, and challenging conversation.

97 – Apple orchard – thanks Josh and Jen for joining us and making that day fun as families!

96 – Seeing Santa – Yep, we saw him. Grace had no problem, Micah knew better. Micah did tell Santa that he wanted chickens for Christmas and the dud of a Santa had absolutely no reaction. Weird.

90 – Drinking fountains – I remember the first, at the DMV where Andrea was renewing her driver’s license. Micah left that place with the front of his shirt completely soaked. He has since learned how to drink from them much better.

86 – A wedding – congrats Shana and Jay! We are proud of you two and privileged to have been a part of your wedding!

85 – Venison – thanks Elfes, the venison pasta bake was great!

78 – Contributing to finishing the Arkansas house – yes, I gave a token contribution as I helped nail in some finished steps down to the basement. My parent’s retirement house is shaping up nicely!

74 – Riding a train – definitely a highlight for Micah. First the EL in Chicago, then the Amtrack from Jackson, MI to Chicago, and finally Metra from Chicago to Libertyville. It’s a little boys dream come true!

73 – Hiking sandals – Keens are simply amazing!

69 – Go-karting – a lot of fun both times I went. I couldn’t help but think how much fun the Gmz people would have on go-karts.

66 –Hanging out with old roommates – As expected, no matter how many years pass by, we still pick up life where we left off. Always a meaningful time with lifelong friends like Nate, Paul, Kenny and Emily.

65 – Dinner and a movie double date – special thanks to Bob and Cindy for babysitting to make this enjoyable!

61 – The Christmas spirit – it wasn’t as overwhelming as we were warned about. Maybe, like most thing, it simply lives up to our expectations.

58 – Thai restaurant – the Thai place in downtown Dallas made us once again question our calling why we are NOT serving to Thailand! Wow!

57 – Zoo – First we were awestruck at the Tapir exhibit at the Madison zoo and then feeding the giraffes in Dallas was another highlight – thanks Style, Kacy, Log and Tan!

55 – Visiting places we had worked – visiting the Grand Prairie Airport where Andrea worked was especially encouraging to us as we were greeted with open arms by people who had been faithfully following our updates.

54 – Snowman – We made an absolutely enormous snowman – over 8 feet tall. But less than a half hour after going in the house, it fell flat on its face! Lesson learned: don’t build a snowman on a hill!

53 – Boating – Micah still talks about going kayaking.

51 – Eating fish that we caught – Thanks to JC for hooking us up on a Lake Michigan fishing trip. That was a first for me and something I had wanted to do for a long time. Oh yea, and we love salmon!

50 – Nandoburgers! We were spoiled multiple times with these delicious burgers! Thanks Nando!

49 -  Hiking in a State Park – Yea, with Suey and Jeff.

48 – Debit Card –the cashless society is wonderfully easy!

46 – Living on a Prayer on Guitar Hero: Rock Band - We got the band back together but got booed off the stage due to faulty controllers. But it was still fun. Thanks Derek.

45 – Browsing every aisle at Walmart – This was loads of fun as there was SO much to look at. It took us three date nights to get through one store – thanks grandma and papa for babysitting!

44 – Steakhouses – I can’t count the number of times I had BBQ ribs: Texas Roadhouse (x2), Ruby Tuesdays, Colters, etc. They are hard to pass up on the menu.

43  - Dutch apple pie with cinnamon ice cream for breakfast – Checked off that one twice – my first morning in the US and my last – both compliments of Grant and Nancy! Thanks!

41 – PB Fudge Ice Cream – thanks for the treat Jeff. Of all the ice creams I ate in the last six months, PB fudge is probably #1.

40 – Hockey game – Micah still occasionally says what the guys behind us at the Milwaukee Admirals game were yelling almost the whole time – “Hit him in the face!”

38 – Shooting pool – Great times both at home with family and with Kenny at Baileys.

36 – Camping – Micah was so excited to sleep in a tent in grandma and papa’s backyard, he talked pretty much nonstop from 8:30pm to 10pm, eventually drifting off to sleep.

34 – Cello – I was able to play several times, including at both of my grandparents’ funerals.

33 – Waterpark – we enjoyed two waterpark hotels and Micah had an absolute blast! A great time spent with family and friends.

32 – Riding bikes – you know after several years not riding bikes, it felt quite awkward at first. Riding around Mackinac Island is always a family highlight!

28 – Fresh garden grown veggies – Special thanks to Calvary Baptist in PA for their gift here! Yum yum!

27 – Microwaves – after nothing of the sort for three years, something just doesn’t feel right about the microwave. It seems too Sci-fi to not somehow be frying our brains. Just a hunch.

25 – Football game – One college game and one 7-grade game. In terms of sloppiness, there wasn’t much difference at times.

24 – You-tube – to have high speed internet at my fingertips on the I-phone we were borrowing, that is revolutionizing life in the US.

22 – Adopted Ethiopian child – we got to see one of our favorite little guys – Justin Bereket, along with Jonah and Elijah pictured here with their family.

21 – Blueberry picking – Despite the late frost killing Michigan apple crops, we were thankful that the blueberries came through just fine!

19 – Inspecting Micah’s Halloween candy – read the blog from early December on this one.

10 – Brats on a charcoal grill – Thanks to Kyle for this one!

9 –Singing How Great Thou Art with multiple congregations - Once at my grandpa’s funeral, and once in a “family church” with Andrea’s family on the morning we left to return to Ethiopia.

8 – Travis gaining 10 pounds, Andrea losing it – I persevered in eating the junkiest food I could and manage to tip the scales 13 pounds heavier. Andrea went through a lot of pain and pushing and managed to shed her weight all in one day (10/11/12).

6 -  Drinking 20 different kinds of root beer – I did it! And saw several others I could have tried. What was my favorite? I really liked the Sioux City Sarsaparilla.

5 – Baseball game – great fun with all the Williamson cousins. The Brewers were bad enough this year that we got tickets for under two dollars a piece. 

4 – Playgrounds – We made good use of playgrounds wherever possible – especially when traveling. And Micah’s cousins, especially Peyton and Ellie are GREAT with him, keeping him entertained for hours without a problem! Thanks Peyton and Ellie, Micah misses you very much!

Those are some of the highlights. What did we miss?

16. Visiting the Botanical Gardens with my cousin (Andrea)

59. Attending a family/couples retreat

60. Attending a live soccer game

75. Going snow skiing

77. Riding a rollercoaster

83. Water skiing

Lesson Learned: Entertainment is not BAD. The wish list was not a distraction but rather an incentive to allow ourselves to enjoy special times and introduce Micah to a much broader world than he had seen in Ethiopia. And that it did. Entertainment in all its forms, however, is like a fun size Snickers bar. It tastes really, really good for a short while, but that taste quickly fades. “Snickers Satisfies” is what the marketers want you to believe and in a sense they are correct. It satisfies hunger by filling an empty space in the stomach and quickly raising the blood sugar level. It doesn’t, however, give any sort of long term satisfaction. The taste buds crave more. The body craves real food. And we soon find our satisfaction level right back where we started. Entertainment for Micah meant playing with new toys. When we were traveling around and eating at various people’s houses, Micah would sometimes walk right into a new house and boldly ask the hosts, “Where’s the toys?” New toys are great, but new toys quickly lose their newness. If our real lives are wrapped up in toys, or Snickers, or much of the fun stuff represented in our top 100 list, then we will only be locking ourselves into the constant pursuit of temporary satisfaction. Deeper satisfaction and true joy, I believe, comes from a meaningful relationship with our Creator and with his Creation –including, of course, the family and friends he has surrounded us with. What made the highlights into highlights? Most often it was the fact that we shared them with people we love. And that, is what we will miss most in the coming 2-3 years. Thank you again to all who made our time in the States a HUGE blessing!