"Mommy, I do not want to talk Amharic."

Yesterday we went to a wonderful Ethiopian restaurant! Yabby was so happy! I really had to watch how much she ate because I learned from a previous experience that Yabby plus a lot of Ethiopian food equals puking girly in the car! The smells and food were so familiar. The cook (I'm not sure if he was the owner?) was so sweet, his hospitality made me long for Ethiopia. He sat and talked with us and came out a few times to see if everything was OK. He walked us down the street to our car carrying our left overs!(I can't believe we had left overs!)
Despite our wonderful time,Every time the cook would come out Yabsira would hide under the table. When he would leave she would come back out and she told me "Mommy, I do not want to talk Amharic." I told her that was fine. It was up to her.

Lately she hasn't wanted anyone to know she is Ethiopian. Her sister mentioned it to a waitress at dinner last week. Yabby pulled me aside and asked me to tell her sister not to tell people she is Ethiopian. She isn't crazy about her hair right now either. She wants straight hair like Mommy. And I tell her I want curly hair like Yabby!(I was a teenager in the 80's, It is in my blood to want big hair!) We tease that we should switch hair. So we put my hair on her head and look in the mirror and laugh.

Honestly, I knew this was coming. We look different and she is very aware of it. I know she loves Ethiopia, WE love Ethiopia. But that isn't the issue. Our genetics are different. And she wants so badly to look like us. So this is one of the many discussions we have had on the subject. We tell her how beautiful God made her and how creative He is. Yes, in some things we look different but in some ways we look the same. Like you have the same eye color as Daddy, Joel and I, And the shape of your eyes are like mine and Belle's. And I can only imagine how beautiful your Ethiopia Mommy was, I bet you look like her. Both of those things are helping. Bringing together her past and her present.
Our next discussion will be on how our insides are more important than our outsides. But right now the outsides matter to her. I praise God that He always meets us right where we are at.