The morning of our flight home started well. We were in the lobby just before 7am waiting for our driver. We kind of knew whom we were looking for
We waited
And we waited.
It got to be 7:30 and we decided that by 8:00 we would try calling Holt to see what was up. At about 7:35, an airport Limo/Taxi pulled up in front of our Hotel. We thought he was there for some other gentlemen who were waiting with their luggage. I said to John, "He's gonna have to talk long and hard to get me into that Cab, cause that is NOT the Holt Driver."
When the cab driver came in, He said (in broken English), "Are you waiting for a ride? I said, "yes, but we have a driver coming" and pointed to the other men who were waiting. He said, "no, baby?"
I was thinking, I am not paying this guy to drive us that far when our Holt driver is coming. I said, "yes, baby" He could see Alyvia and John in the foyer. Then he said, "Holt?" I said, "Yes" and asked John, if he thought we should go with this guy. He knew we had a baby and were with Holt and by this time--even if the Holt driver was still coming--we needed to get to the airport.
So, we let this Cabbie load our things and we headed for the airport, Still unsure if we were with the correct driver. His Cab said he took Visa, so we figured even if we needed to pay, we could and we would be at the airport. Sooner than later. When we got to the airport, he didn't ask us to pay, so we assume that the Holt driver could not come and that this man and his cab was Plan B.
We got into the airport and the line for Korean Air flights was HUGE. Like mega HUGE and we were only 2 hours from our departure time. About the time I started to get concerned (read panic) that we wouldn't even get to the front of the line before our flight left for Dallas, A nice young woman said "Family Line?" And pointed us to a very very short line for families with children or grandparents. WHEW. That line took 45 minutes to get to the front but we finally got to the desk. We asked the kind woman if we could perhaps be seated in the front of coach with the bulkhead or if there may at least be an extra seat (which is typical for Korean Air), She punched a ton of buttons and said she was sorry but the flight was completely full and the bulkhead areas were full (of other families with small children). BOO, BOO. She did manage to get us one aisle seat which was helpful because we were gonna be getting up A.LOT.
We had about 45 Minutes to get through security before our flight boarded. We stopped at a bookstore and bought Alyvia a Hangul Bible; We went through security, grabbed a bite to eat and we were on our way. We were seated next to a young woman from China. When she saw us with our toddler, she appeared to ask the flight attendant if she could be moved. Of course, that was not possible. The flight was full. She was not extremely happy and I was nervous. =/
The flight was slated to be 13 hours. O BOY. Many of our AP friends had had flights from Sheol on the trip home and others have had not too bad of flights. Who knew how ours would go? God did.
To sum it up, it was better than it could have been.
Alyvia did not cry very much.
But she was so very busy. Always squirming. . . Always moving. She really doesn't like TV, so Pororo on the Ipad was not so much of a help. She did enjoy the occasional viewing of the 3 bears song on the Ipad. That bought us about 20 minutes of tranquility on our 13 hour flight.
I titled this post "Walking home . . . From Korea?" for a good reason. We walked most of the way across the ocean. Moving was what kept Lyv somewhat peaceful. I had her in the carrier for her 2 hour and a half naps (3 hours of stillness) but I had to keep walking to help her stay asleep. I would guess, one of us was out of our seat with her for at least 10 of the 13 hour flight. Crazy. But it worked for us, for Lyv. Our flight was totally full and loaded with little ones. I don't really remember a time when someone's baby was not crying. =(
We encountered plenty of turbulence (sp?). And let me say, whenever the "fasten seatbelt" sign lit up, my heart would start to race. We needed to be able to move around. Lyv needed to be moving. And our seat mate (who had bubble sticky and baby snacks slopped her way a few too many times)
needed us to be up and moving. =)
I sang to Lyv a.lot while she was sleeping. . . Trying to keep myself awake and trying to cover the LOUD sounds by the wing where we stood for our sleep dance. Songs like Great Is Thy Faithfulness, God of the Ages, Meant to Be, When Love Takes You In and Holy, Holy, Holy poured from my lips into the heart of my daughter and the ears of my God. These moments were somewhat emotional for me. This was a big ole parenting mission God had us on and I was grateful to be coming home but also nervous about the immediate future transition with our new girl.
John and I took turns pacing the aisles. We added in 20 minutes of playing in the water in the Lav. And 20 minutes of bubbles in the Lav. Hey, you do what you have to do.
God sent a Brother to encourage us on our flight home. He was a Korean Biochemist (i think) who had just finished his PHD in the US. He was excited to tie up some loose ends in America and get home permanently to his wife and two daughters in Korea. He had attended a sister church of ours on the East coast and knew of another smaller set of like-minded believers, too. It was crazy to meet him. It was God, showing Himself to be in the details of our journey. This kind man gave us his encouragement and blessing on our family and on our adoption of our beautiful, Korean daughter.
I will never forget how God crossed our path on that flight through our new friend.
We counted down the minutes (not even kidding) until the flight would touch down in Dallas. We could not wait.
AHHH DALLAS!! You were so good to us!!! We were pretty much the last ones from our flight in the immigration line. The "new immigrant" line wasn't open on this Saturday, so we hopped into the long line of citizens. It really only took about 30 minutes to plow through the line to the friendly man at the counter. He said he'd go home and talk to his wife about adopting. He was caucasian and his wife was Asian. He said, he'd love to adopt an orphan from China. We told him there were unfortunately thousands (actually more) of children in China who could use a loving family. I would love to think he was serious and talked with his wife about this huge need.
The acutal immigration guys were super nice. We were second in their line. They barely gave our stuff a look and sent us on our way. . . To get our luggage.
We had to get our luggage . . . claim our purchases . . . have it searched . . . then reship it to Omaha. Lovely.
Acutally, it all went so smoothly. They were careful and thorough but kind and relatively quick. If ya'll ever need to travel internationally, I highly recommend the Dallas airport.
We noticed our boarding passes had us sitting in different rows so we went to the AA desk and the nice lady put us together and with an extra seat for spreading out a bit. Thank You, God.
WE WERE EXHAUSTED. By the time we got to Omaha, we had been awake for 24 hours. That was so hard. Both John and me had a couple of 20 minute naps on our flight from Seoul, but nothing to consider sleep. We were so very very tired. Our flight ended up delayed 3 or 4 times backing us up about an hour. It felt like a lot longer because we were just done. Exhausted and done.
The AA flight was also full and they boarded several standby passengers, but somehow with every other seat full, they left our extra seat empty. Bless God. We were in the back of this smaller plane, right by the engines so it was really loud. But we had an extra seat so we could spread out a bit for our last leg home.
The flight attendants were inquisitive about our adoption. They asked some good questions and basically talked John's ear off while I dozed with Lyv for most of this hour and 15 minute flight.
As we left the plane and headed toward our beautiful family and beloved friends who awaited us, our hearts were pounding. John said, "I think I'm just gonna cry." We were so tired and happy and overwhelmed in this moment.
Then we saw them . . . our other kids. We missed them so much. Never had we been gone from them this long. Never.
They embraced us
We hugged them
We hugged and held and were just so relieved to be home.
As we looked around we saw the faces of our other loved ones--friends from our church who are like family to us. They came to welcome us
to welome Alyvia to the USA and to her new home
We felt so loved
We were so grateful they came.
An adoptive friend and her daughter also came that day. Having Katie and Zinny at our Airport homecoming just made it that much more special. Katie and I had met on an online adoption support board and I was pleased to finally lay eyes and arms on her and her beautiful Korean American daughter.
After an exchange of kindnesses and simple stories of God's activity on our behalf the past week,
we located all of our luggage and headed for home.
Home--A small word that meant so much more that day than it had just one week before.
Welcome home Alyvia Huimang!!! Welcome home!
Simply grateful . . . that our 15 months of waiting to bring you home was finally over!
Hoping to add pics to this post soon. None from the flights of course, why??? But some from our airport homecoming. It was a very special time.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
First 36 hours . . .
Our first 36 hours with our little Huimanga were better than we expected in most ways.
When we got back to our hotel, we saw some friends in the lobby. They were leaving with their daughter. Heading home to the East Coast. Great news for them, their family would finally be together.
We went to our room and started getting to know our new daughter. She was small and so brave.
She still did not cry. We shared mini m&ms; she would feed us and we would feed her. We had sent them to her in her care packages and she seemed to remember and like them. We kept Pororo playing on Grandma Harts IPad; though she didn't stop to watch it much, it was comforting background noise.
Alyvia let daddy read "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" to her and she took the book and "read" her version to him. That was a very adorable moment that first late afternoon.
Alyvia was willing to eat some Jook from us. A friend had recommended it from the the local quick mart and she ate enough to keep us from fearing an empty tummy for her. She would eat some puffs and seaweed. She also enjoyed the snacks her foster mom sent for her including grape yogurt.
Our beautiful new daughter has a.mazing fine motor skills. She colored with us the first night and held her crayon the way teachers insist with both hands. Impressive.
Alyvia LOVES shoes. She loves to wear non-matching shoes. That will be fun.
We stayed close to our hotel the first night. We went to the roof top and walked and talked for about an hour. It was tranquil and empty and beautiful. Alyvia rode in the carrier on my front. She stayed pretty alert. For us . . . this night was a million prayers answered and a dream come true. For Hui-mang, it was a night of grief and confusion. Adoption is beautiful restoration but it is born of much heartache and loss.
Alyvia slept well (though tossing and turning) between us the first night. She didn't cry out. She continued to be her brave little self.
We hadn't intended to take Alyvia to the dining room for breakfast as the crowds there tended to be busy and louder than we thought would be best for her. But she was trooping right along, so to breakfast we went. Again, she ate--Korean rice and apples. Yay for a girl who eats even when she is very sad.
We stopped at the playroom to Skype with the bigs. The loved, loved, loved seeing their new sister.
And she was happy to show her cute self to them.
We hadn't planned to do anything outside of the hotel on Friday, but Lyv's foster mom said she loves to be on the go and she loves people. And since she continued to be calm, we were able to hit Insadong to pick up a few last minute purchases on Friday morning. Alyvia rode well on my back in the carrier for the two hour shopping stroll. We were able to get the last few things we needed from Korea + one last cup of Korean Starbucks. =) It was a very enjoyable morning with our new wonderful daughter.
Alyvia napped well on the couch in the afternoon. She cried silently while she slept and woke up with tear-stained cheeks and a tear-soaked spot beneath her eyes. Our poor baby was missing her foster family. We were glad she was grieving (it needed to be done) but sad for her broken heart. We prayed again (as we had for months in advance) that God would heal her broken heart and that His Spirit would comfort her as only He could.
Alyvia's outward grieving in Korea took the form of hyperactivity. Her Foster Omma had said she was "busy" but this crazy, hyper activity went WAY beyond "busy". Our girl's life had just been turned upside down and she displayed her confusion and sadness by acting pretty wild. We saw this extreme hyperactivity many times in Korea and on our trip home but not ever after that. She has grieved in other ways but this was the most extreme grief and loss behavior we have seen from our brave girliekins. Just sharing that in case it helps someone else prepare for their time of transition. Grief can take many forms and all of them are sad to see. =.(
Our friends, Merilee and Mylinda, went beyond the call of duty and hand-delivered our Family Day photos on disc to us. They had such a busy day with work but came out of their way to be sure we had our pictures before we left for America. They really wanted to see Lyv, too. And we were glad she was well enough to receive her first American visitors in Seoul even. =)
We grabbed a sandwich at subway for dinner. Alyvia sat on my back for most of the time. It was at this meal that we learned ALYVIA LOVES CHIPS. =) How fun is that????
It was dark by now but we took advantage of the lovely evening and took one last relaxing stroll down Insadong. It was busy, bustling as much as ever in the daylight. But we walked slowly, knowing that this would be Lyv's last walk in Sweet Seoul for a very long time. We took in the smell of traditional foods being sold in the countless restaurants and by vendors on the street. We awed again at the beauty of the Korean people, the familial love and variety of features represented in each stunning face.
It was a lover's stroll of sorts, surreal emotions running through. But tonight--Friday night, September 14, 2012-- this love was not simply the love of a man and a woman . . . a husband and wife . . . it was the fresh, young love of a man and a woman . . . a father and mother . . . for their long awaited daughter. And it was good. very good.
We got back to our room and braved a first tub bath which went pretty well as Lyv's foster omma said it usually did. Then we finished the last of the packing. Alyvia was not ready to sleep yet so we went atop Somerset one last time and enjoyed a peaceful walk.
Eventually, our girl fell asleep and we had our wake up call set to come at 5AM.
We prayed for a good (albeit short) night's sleep and hit the hay. Tomorrow was slated to be a huge day and we needed all the rest we could get.
Simply grateful for the gift of another beautiful daughter and for being amazingly graced during our first hours together.
When we got back to our hotel, we saw some friends in the lobby. They were leaving with their daughter. Heading home to the East Coast. Great news for them, their family would finally be together.
We went to our room and started getting to know our new daughter. She was small and so brave.
She still did not cry. We shared mini m&ms; she would feed us and we would feed her. We had sent them to her in her care packages and she seemed to remember and like them. We kept Pororo playing on Grandma Harts IPad; though she didn't stop to watch it much, it was comforting background noise.
Alyvia let daddy read "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" to her and she took the book and "read" her version to him. That was a very adorable moment that first late afternoon.
Alyvia was willing to eat some Jook from us. A friend had recommended it from the the local quick mart and she ate enough to keep us from fearing an empty tummy for her. She would eat some puffs and seaweed. She also enjoyed the snacks her foster mom sent for her including grape yogurt.
Our beautiful new daughter has a.mazing fine motor skills. She colored with us the first night and held her crayon the way teachers insist with both hands. Impressive.
Alyvia LOVES shoes. She loves to wear non-matching shoes. That will be fun.
We stayed close to our hotel the first night. We went to the roof top and walked and talked for about an hour. It was tranquil and empty and beautiful. Alyvia rode in the carrier on my front. She stayed pretty alert. For us . . . this night was a million prayers answered and a dream come true. For Hui-mang, it was a night of grief and confusion. Adoption is beautiful restoration but it is born of much heartache and loss.
Alyvia slept well (though tossing and turning) between us the first night. She didn't cry out. She continued to be her brave little self.
We stopped at the playroom to Skype with the bigs. The loved, loved, loved seeing their new sister.
And she was happy to show her cute self to them.
We hadn't planned to do anything outside of the hotel on Friday, but Lyv's foster mom said she loves to be on the go and she loves people. And since she continued to be calm, we were able to hit Insadong to pick up a few last minute purchases on Friday morning. Alyvia rode well on my back in the carrier for the two hour shopping stroll. We were able to get the last few things we needed from Korea + one last cup of Korean Starbucks. =) It was a very enjoyable morning with our new wonderful daughter.
Alyvia napped well on the couch in the afternoon. She cried silently while she slept and woke up with tear-stained cheeks and a tear-soaked spot beneath her eyes. Our poor baby was missing her foster family. We were glad she was grieving (it needed to be done) but sad for her broken heart. We prayed again (as we had for months in advance) that God would heal her broken heart and that His Spirit would comfort her as only He could.
Alyvia's outward grieving in Korea took the form of hyperactivity. Her Foster Omma had said she was "busy" but this crazy, hyper activity went WAY beyond "busy". Our girl's life had just been turned upside down and she displayed her confusion and sadness by acting pretty wild. We saw this extreme hyperactivity many times in Korea and on our trip home but not ever after that. She has grieved in other ways but this was the most extreme grief and loss behavior we have seen from our brave girliekins. Just sharing that in case it helps someone else prepare for their time of transition. Grief can take many forms and all of them are sad to see. =.(
Our friends, Merilee and Mylinda, went beyond the call of duty and hand-delivered our Family Day photos on disc to us. They had such a busy day with work but came out of their way to be sure we had our pictures before we left for America. They really wanted to see Lyv, too. And we were glad she was well enough to receive her first American visitors in Seoul even. =)
We grabbed a sandwich at subway for dinner. Alyvia sat on my back for most of the time. It was at this meal that we learned ALYVIA LOVES CHIPS. =) How fun is that????
It was dark by now but we took advantage of the lovely evening and took one last relaxing stroll down Insadong. It was busy, bustling as much as ever in the daylight. But we walked slowly, knowing that this would be Lyv's last walk in Sweet Seoul for a very long time. We took in the smell of traditional foods being sold in the countless restaurants and by vendors on the street. We awed again at the beauty of the Korean people, the familial love and variety of features represented in each stunning face.
It was a lover's stroll of sorts, surreal emotions running through. But tonight--Friday night, September 14, 2012-- this love was not simply the love of a man and a woman . . . a husband and wife . . . it was the fresh, young love of a man and a woman . . . a father and mother . . . for their long awaited daughter. And it was good. very good.
We got back to our room and braved a first tub bath which went pretty well as Lyv's foster omma said it usually did. Then we finished the last of the packing. Alyvia was not ready to sleep yet so we went atop Somerset one last time and enjoyed a peaceful walk.
Eventually, our girl fell asleep and we had our wake up call set to come at 5AM.
We prayed for a good (albeit short) night's sleep and hit the hay. Tomorrow was slated to be a huge day and we needed all the rest we could get.
Simply grateful for the gift of another beautiful daughter and for being amazingly graced during our first hours together.
Monday, October 1, 2012
15 Months . . . Part two.
The half hour cab ride to Holt was filled with a lot of praying and deep breathing. . . You know the kind, cleansing (holy moly this is about to get crazy) breaths. We looked around a lot and talked only a little. That's how I remember it, anyway.
When we got to Holt, we took one more deep breath and up to the big glass building we went. We were joined quickly in the lobby by our new friend, now photographer, Mylinda. Just having someone there that we "knew" made it a little easier somehow. And I was grateful for that. Also, grateful that our friend, Merilee, covered both her and Mylinda's school classes that afternoon so that Mylinda could be our family day photographer.
DJ, Our social worker, came to meet us next in the lobby. We greeted with hugs, grateful for the labor of love that DJ accomplishes everyday. . . Matching children with forever families, handling heart-wrenching family day meetings and pulling off all the crazy paperwork in between. She truly is an amazing woman.
We took the elevator to the second floor where the family day meetings take place and as we got off the elevator, DJ said, "Your daughter is already here. She was early." Before we could even process that, She called into the little meeting room, "Hui-manga!" and out she came. Our tiny, perfect, momentarily-quiet, beloved daughter shyly strutted out. DJ picked her up and handed her quickly but gently to me saying "Omma" which is mommy in Korean. Alyvia looked and looked. She did not cry but she looked. I could tell she was uncomfy, if not even afraid, in my arms, so we quickly entered the meeting room and I set her down toward her beautiful, foster Omma.
Seconds after we sat down, Omma had Alyvia offering us her snacks. She seemed fearful but willing to share and come nearer to us. Alyvia spent the rest of our meeting time sitting near and being doted on by her foster Omma. I loved seeing them interact and did not fear that Alyvia was not warming up enough to us. In this moment, I wanted them to have their last moments together to play, talk and touch. It really was about them. We would have forever with Alyvia and this was foster Ommas last moment with her beloved (foster) daughter. Hopefully, we can bring Alyvia back to Korea someday but for now this was their time and we were enjoying seeing them together.
With permission, we set up our video camera on the chalk board (the tripod broke as John was putting it together in the room). Mylinda was click, click, clicking away.
DJ asked if we had questions and off we went. . . Thanks to AP friends who have gone before us, we had 3 pages of questions for our foster mom. DJ (who was our interpreter) was kind about the length of the question sheet; I think she knew that the questions (however many) would benefit not only Alyvia's transition but also her future. This really was our only chance for information from Alyvia's current foster family and we made the time count as best we could. We found out so many neat things, i.e Alyvia loves to draw, she eats anything and she loves to be outside. She is busy, social and hardly ever cries.
After the questions, it was time to exchange our gifts. Our foster mom was most touched by the chalk sketch we had done of Alyvia for their family and by the necklace of Alyvia's Korean name that we had made for her. We had a letter of thanks translated for their family which she did not read in our presence as she recalled crying her way through the last letter we sent. This woman (Alyvia's foster mom) truly is a special lady. Alyvia was only their second foster child and she said that they may not foster again as they were having such a hard time emotionally letting Alyvia go to her forever family. Heart wrenching. . . Sad and beautiful. We are so grateful for the way this family embraced Alyvia as their own until we could get to Korea and bring her home. . . forever.
We were thrilled to receive thoughtful gifts of clothing and food for Alyvia. I will remember especially the numerous containers of seaweed (her favorite) and snacks, including grape yogurt.
Also, included in the clothing was an adorable blue skirt and the Hanbok Alyvia wore for her first birthday/Tol. We had not received any photos from the foster family during our wait (some families do and most don't), So our most treasured gifts for Alyvia from her foster family were the three little photo albums of her with her foster family. TREASURES for certain. I didn't want to spend every second looking at every photo but I'm glad we started looking through them because there were pictures of Alyvia with numerous family members. I was so glad to see them and be able to ask who each person was. Alyvia's foster Halmoney (grandma) was her favorite and her two older foster siblings. The pictures speak volumes of love that these people shared with our daughter and we are super, simply, forever grateful.
Our hour in the meeting room ended with us chit chatting with DJ about her family and her spiritual interests. As she apologized for our twice as long as projected wait, we assured her that we knew it was not in her control and that we were grateful for her hard work to bring our family together.
A friend of ours who had adopted from Korea last year had posted a mega progress video clip of her son on FB the day before, and with my friend's permission, I asked DJ if they would want to see the video. She was eager to see it and called the other office worker over to see Greer's video. They were so very impressed with Greer and his skills. The smiles on their faces made that 5 minute detour very very worth it. They also got to see a Sophie (Greer's twin) clip and would have sat all afternoon looking at their Holt babies who are on my FB list. But we had a daughter to attend to and
with questions answered and gifts exchanged, it was time to go downstairs to have Alyvia's very brief travel physical.
On our way to the doctor's office we got to stop and pay our Hotel bill--worth every penny. And give the flowers (see earlier post) to the doctor who spent the most time caring for Alyvia during her time in Holt's foster care family. We only saw 4 other babies in the building that day and did not recognize any of them. boo. But we did get to see Holt's newest set of twin boys. They were only a few days old and so perfect. My heart broke for their birthmom and her needs. I pray these beautiful boys become beloved sons in the perfect forever family.
On our way toward Dr. Park's office for Alyvia's Physical, Nurse Lee stopped us and gave us a back pack for Alyvia. It seems it is a tradition for them to share these little backpacks with the kids who are leaving to their forever families. I've seen photos of them on the backs of several of the toddlers coming home this summer. But I still knew it a special gift from a kind nurse who truly cared for our little Huimanga.
Off we went to Dr. Park. On her foster Omma's lap for the last time, Dr. Park gave Alyvia the quick once over. Ears, Heart, Lungs. Before we knew it, we were headed down the hallway toward the door. I was so broken for Alyvia and her foster mom. I asked foster Omma to hold Alyvia's hand down the hallway, this was her daughter. You can use the word "foster" if you want, and yes, the relationship between this woman and our daughter was always intended to be temporary, But Alyvia was loved by her more than words could convey. For 15 months theirs was the love of a mother and daughter and their parting was the second sacred moment of our trip to Korea.
I had asked our photographer the day before to honor the fostermom by not taking photos of her grief and oh what grief it was . . . more than we all could bear it seemed. Foster Omma crouched down and spoke private words with Huimanga . . . words of comfort and love and encouragement, no doubt. Foster Omma sobbed and hugged our girl and we all cried too. At some point, during this moment, DJ had gone outside to grab us a cab. She put our gifts in the trunk and gave the cab driver directions to our hotel. We came outside on what had been a rainy but now simply overcast day, foster Omma was holding Alyvia and asked her for a kiss. Then she asked Alyvia to kiss me which she did. Then she handed Alyvia to me and backed away toward the building. I had hoped to embrace the woman who had loved our Alyvia all these months, but it was not meant to be, not on this day at least.
DJ helped us into the cab and told us that the cab driver knew where to go so not to worry. Our sweet Mylinda got a few photos of us in the cab and with that we were seven. Our family of six in that moment filled with emotion and sadness and loss and gain became seven.
When we got to Holt, we took one more deep breath and up to the big glass building we went. We were joined quickly in the lobby by our new friend, now photographer, Mylinda. Just having someone there that we "knew" made it a little easier somehow. And I was grateful for that. Also, grateful that our friend, Merilee, covered both her and Mylinda's school classes that afternoon so that Mylinda could be our family day photographer.
DJ, Our social worker, came to meet us next in the lobby. We greeted with hugs, grateful for the labor of love that DJ accomplishes everyday. . . Matching children with forever families, handling heart-wrenching family day meetings and pulling off all the crazy paperwork in between. She truly is an amazing woman.
We took the elevator to the second floor where the family day meetings take place and as we got off the elevator, DJ said, "Your daughter is already here. She was early." Before we could even process that, She called into the little meeting room, "Hui-manga!" and out she came. Our tiny, perfect, momentarily-quiet, beloved daughter shyly strutted out. DJ picked her up and handed her quickly but gently to me saying "Omma" which is mommy in Korean. Alyvia looked and looked. She did not cry but she looked. I could tell she was uncomfy, if not even afraid, in my arms, so we quickly entered the meeting room and I set her down toward her beautiful, foster Omma.
Seconds after we sat down, Omma had Alyvia offering us her snacks. She seemed fearful but willing to share and come nearer to us. Alyvia spent the rest of our meeting time sitting near and being doted on by her foster Omma. I loved seeing them interact and did not fear that Alyvia was not warming up enough to us. In this moment, I wanted them to have their last moments together to play, talk and touch. It really was about them. We would have forever with Alyvia and this was foster Ommas last moment with her beloved (foster) daughter. Hopefully, we can bring Alyvia back to Korea someday but for now this was their time and we were enjoying seeing them together.
With permission, we set up our video camera on the chalk board (the tripod broke as John was putting it together in the room). Mylinda was click, click, clicking away.
DJ asked if we had questions and off we went. . . Thanks to AP friends who have gone before us, we had 3 pages of questions for our foster mom. DJ (who was our interpreter) was kind about the length of the question sheet; I think she knew that the questions (however many) would benefit not only Alyvia's transition but also her future. This really was our only chance for information from Alyvia's current foster family and we made the time count as best we could. We found out so many neat things, i.e Alyvia loves to draw, she eats anything and she loves to be outside. She is busy, social and hardly ever cries.
After the questions, it was time to exchange our gifts. Our foster mom was most touched by the chalk sketch we had done of Alyvia for their family and by the necklace of Alyvia's Korean name that we had made for her. We had a letter of thanks translated for their family which she did not read in our presence as she recalled crying her way through the last letter we sent. This woman (Alyvia's foster mom) truly is a special lady. Alyvia was only their second foster child and she said that they may not foster again as they were having such a hard time emotionally letting Alyvia go to her forever family. Heart wrenching. . . Sad and beautiful. We are so grateful for the way this family embraced Alyvia as their own until we could get to Korea and bring her home. . . forever.
We were thrilled to receive thoughtful gifts of clothing and food for Alyvia. I will remember especially the numerous containers of seaweed (her favorite) and snacks, including grape yogurt.
Also, included in the clothing was an adorable blue skirt and the Hanbok Alyvia wore for her first birthday/Tol. We had not received any photos from the foster family during our wait (some families do and most don't), So our most treasured gifts for Alyvia from her foster family were the three little photo albums of her with her foster family. TREASURES for certain. I didn't want to spend every second looking at every photo but I'm glad we started looking through them because there were pictures of Alyvia with numerous family members. I was so glad to see them and be able to ask who each person was. Alyvia's foster Halmoney (grandma) was her favorite and her two older foster siblings. The pictures speak volumes of love that these people shared with our daughter and we are super, simply, forever grateful.
Our hour in the meeting room ended with us chit chatting with DJ about her family and her spiritual interests. As she apologized for our twice as long as projected wait, we assured her that we knew it was not in her control and that we were grateful for her hard work to bring our family together.
A friend of ours who had adopted from Korea last year had posted a mega progress video clip of her son on FB the day before, and with my friend's permission, I asked DJ if they would want to see the video. She was eager to see it and called the other office worker over to see Greer's video. They were so very impressed with Greer and his skills. The smiles on their faces made that 5 minute detour very very worth it. They also got to see a Sophie (Greer's twin) clip and would have sat all afternoon looking at their Holt babies who are on my FB list. But we had a daughter to attend to and
with questions answered and gifts exchanged, it was time to go downstairs to have Alyvia's very brief travel physical.
On our way to the doctor's office we got to stop and pay our Hotel bill--worth every penny. And give the flowers (see earlier post) to the doctor who spent the most time caring for Alyvia during her time in Holt's foster care family. We only saw 4 other babies in the building that day and did not recognize any of them. boo. But we did get to see Holt's newest set of twin boys. They were only a few days old and so perfect. My heart broke for their birthmom and her needs. I pray these beautiful boys become beloved sons in the perfect forever family.
On our way toward Dr. Park's office for Alyvia's Physical, Nurse Lee stopped us and gave us a back pack for Alyvia. It seems it is a tradition for them to share these little backpacks with the kids who are leaving to their forever families. I've seen photos of them on the backs of several of the toddlers coming home this summer. But I still knew it a special gift from a kind nurse who truly cared for our little Huimanga.
Off we went to Dr. Park. On her foster Omma's lap for the last time, Dr. Park gave Alyvia the quick once over. Ears, Heart, Lungs. Before we knew it, we were headed down the hallway toward the door. I was so broken for Alyvia and her foster mom. I asked foster Omma to hold Alyvia's hand down the hallway, this was her daughter. You can use the word "foster" if you want, and yes, the relationship between this woman and our daughter was always intended to be temporary, But Alyvia was loved by her more than words could convey. For 15 months theirs was the love of a mother and daughter and their parting was the second sacred moment of our trip to Korea.
I had asked our photographer the day before to honor the fostermom by not taking photos of her grief and oh what grief it was . . . more than we all could bear it seemed. Foster Omma crouched down and spoke private words with Huimanga . . . words of comfort and love and encouragement, no doubt. Foster Omma sobbed and hugged our girl and we all cried too. At some point, during this moment, DJ had gone outside to grab us a cab. She put our gifts in the trunk and gave the cab driver directions to our hotel. We came outside on what had been a rainy but now simply overcast day, foster Omma was holding Alyvia and asked her for a kiss. Then she asked Alyvia to kiss me which she did. Then she handed Alyvia to me and backed away toward the building. I had hoped to embrace the woman who had loved our Alyvia all these months, but it was not meant to be, not on this day at least.
DJ helped us into the cab and told us that the cab driver knew where to go so not to worry. Our sweet Mylinda got a few photos of us in the cab and with that we were seven. Our family of six in that moment filled with emotion and sadness and loss and gain became seven.
BRAVE. . . that was the word that came to mind first at the commencement of our drive to the Somerset. This little 21 pound 2 year old was so very very brave. She was overwhelmed and afraid but still present. At first her little body moved as if she were holding in the biggest cry of her life but she did not cry. She did not shed one tear in the cab--Part of me wishes she had. She leaned against me and played with my necklace and sat in a silent but not still sort of shock.
John spoke kind words of comfort to her then he started to sing.
God of the Ages, History's Maker,
Planning our pathway holding us fast.
Shaping in mercy all that concerns us.
Father, we praise You. Lord of our past.
God of this morning,
Gladly Your children worship before You trustingly bow.
Teach us to know You, Always among us.
Quietly Sovereign, God of our now.
God of tomorrow, Strong Overcomer,
princes of darkness own Your command.
What then can harm us? We are Your people.
Now and forever, kept by Your hand.
God of past ages, God of this morning,
God of our future, Help us, we pray.
Teach us to trust You, love and obey You.
Crown You each moment, Lord of today.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
15 months after we first saw your face . . . Part One
We truly "saw" your face.
Let me back up a minute . . .
After a full and enjoyable day, we slept well on Wednesday night. Praise the Lord!
We woke up Thursday morning knowing that this was THE day. The day we had been waiting for since first we had seen Lyv's face almost 15 months before. The day we would meet our beautiful daughter and finally claim her as our own forever.
We got cleaned up, ate and skyped with the bigs. Then we spent the rest of our morning getting our hearts and our minds prepared for the enormity of what we were about to experience. I am always amazed and grateful for the Holy Spirit's use of God's powerful Word in my heart. God has been so faithful to me.
*********************************************************************************
This week in Korea and this day in particular were a real test for my frail kind of heart. I KNOW my heart and life belong to the God of the universe and I am a member of His worry-free, already victorious Kingdom through faith in His Son's death alone BUT my self-focused heart screams an allegiance to the kingdom of this world to what is temporary to what I think I can control.
SO . . . I struggle with anxiety at times. I fear things and worry about things that do not deserve my fear or my sinful worry. BUT GOD . . . always answers me when I humbly lay my weak, sinful self at His gracious and merciful feet. He always forgives. He always strengthens. He always provides for my spirit when I ask (read beg) for His sustanence. For me it really is a daily, even hourly, discipline to surrender my weakness to His strength. . . My pseudo control to His sovereign control. . . My worry to His almighty, trustworthy plan.
And this day, this moment and the weeks since have provided non-stop opportunities to either fear and worry or trust and rest.
I posted this section here for a couple of reasons.
1. Keeping it real folks. Sometimes people think that someone else certainly has it all together. No one really has it all together. I think, The people who have it together the most are those who realize how untogether they really have it and rest on the Grace of God to sustain and grow them today and over their spiritual journey that takes a lifetime.
2. Maybe worry and fear are battles you face, too. The two Bible-based books that have been the most helpful to me in this area are Running Scared by Ed Welch and Overcoming Fear, Worry and Anxiety by Elyse Fitzpatrick.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled "Family Day" post.
*********************************************************************************
In Korea, gift-giving is a treasured tradition. Our agency encourages its families to give gifts to the foster family, the social worker and the medical and office staff at Holt Korea. It was a daunting task to consider and buy meaningful gifts for the people in Korea who have done so much to help our daughter become our daughter. But we did it, over time, mind you. We did it.
We had planned to buy flowers for our social worker and for the doctor who had done Alyvia's bi-monthly well baby checkups. We found a flower shop around the corner from our hotel and it seemed to be open all the time. So, we had just planned to go to that shop on the morning of our family day and buy the flowers we needed for these two special ladies.
As luck would have it =), we went to that flowershop a little before noon and IT WAS CLOSED!!! Ugh! We even knocked on the window. I have no idea the cultural implications of knocking on the window of a closed business, but we were desperate. Still no one came.
We decided to go get our chocolate milk treat for our first meeting with Alyvia then come back and hope the shop was open by then. We prayed on our way that God would please let the flowershop be open when we came back. We verbally yielded to His will in this matter.
15 minutes later with chocolate milk (which she hated BTW) in hand, we returned to the flowershop. And it was OPEN. Whew and WAAAAAAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOO!
We lost a little in translation, but ended up with some beautiful flowers for two beautiful women. =)
We needed to leave for Holt by 12:45 and when we got back with the flowers it was 12:35. No time to worry now. We needed to grab our stuff and head to Holt.
And guess what?? I'm out of blogging time. . . I guess this will be a two parter.
Let me back up a minute . . .
After a full and enjoyable day, we slept well on Wednesday night. Praise the Lord!
We woke up Thursday morning knowing that this was THE day. The day we had been waiting for since first we had seen Lyv's face almost 15 months before. The day we would meet our beautiful daughter and finally claim her as our own forever.
We got cleaned up, ate and skyped with the bigs. Then we spent the rest of our morning getting our hearts and our minds prepared for the enormity of what we were about to experience. I am always amazed and grateful for the Holy Spirit's use of God's powerful Word in my heart. God has been so faithful to me.
*********************************************************************************
This week in Korea and this day in particular were a real test for my frail kind of heart. I KNOW my heart and life belong to the God of the universe and I am a member of His worry-free, already victorious Kingdom through faith in His Son's death alone BUT my self-focused heart screams an allegiance to the kingdom of this world to what is temporary to what I think I can control.
SO . . . I struggle with anxiety at times. I fear things and worry about things that do not deserve my fear or my sinful worry. BUT GOD . . . always answers me when I humbly lay my weak, sinful self at His gracious and merciful feet. He always forgives. He always strengthens. He always provides for my spirit when I ask (read beg) for His sustanence. For me it really is a daily, even hourly, discipline to surrender my weakness to His strength. . . My pseudo control to His sovereign control. . . My worry to His almighty, trustworthy plan.
And this day, this moment and the weeks since have provided non-stop opportunities to either fear and worry or trust and rest.
I posted this section here for a couple of reasons.
1. Keeping it real folks. Sometimes people think that someone else certainly has it all together. No one really has it all together. I think, The people who have it together the most are those who realize how untogether they really have it and rest on the Grace of God to sustain and grow them today and over their spiritual journey that takes a lifetime.
2. Maybe worry and fear are battles you face, too. The two Bible-based books that have been the most helpful to me in this area are Running Scared by Ed Welch and Overcoming Fear, Worry and Anxiety by Elyse Fitzpatrick.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled "Family Day" post.
*********************************************************************************
In Korea, gift-giving is a treasured tradition. Our agency encourages its families to give gifts to the foster family, the social worker and the medical and office staff at Holt Korea. It was a daunting task to consider and buy meaningful gifts for the people in Korea who have done so much to help our daughter become our daughter. But we did it, over time, mind you. We did it.
We had planned to buy flowers for our social worker and for the doctor who had done Alyvia's bi-monthly well baby checkups. We found a flower shop around the corner from our hotel and it seemed to be open all the time. So, we had just planned to go to that shop on the morning of our family day and buy the flowers we needed for these two special ladies.
As luck would have it =), we went to that flowershop a little before noon and IT WAS CLOSED!!! Ugh! We even knocked on the window. I have no idea the cultural implications of knocking on the window of a closed business, but we were desperate. Still no one came.
We decided to go get our chocolate milk treat for our first meeting with Alyvia then come back and hope the shop was open by then. We prayed on our way that God would please let the flowershop be open when we came back. We verbally yielded to His will in this matter.
15 minutes later with chocolate milk (which she hated BTW) in hand, we returned to the flowershop. And it was OPEN. Whew and WAAAAAAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOO!
We lost a little in translation, but ended up with some beautiful flowers for two beautiful women. =)
We needed to leave for Holt by 12:45 and when we got back with the flowers it was 12:35. No time to worry now. We needed to grab our stuff and head to Holt.
And guess what?? I'm out of blogging time. . . I guess this will be a two parter.
Happy Saturday, All!
I hope you spend your Sunday with your church family corporately worshiping the Great God of the Bible, being equipped for every good work and as always simply grateful for the adoption as first born sons He offered to you through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Breath-Taking!
Ok, so where did I leave off? Ahh, yes, Wednesday evening . . . Post RC sock fiasco.
We got back to our hotel and waited only a short moment to meet two new friends. YAY. Please, see God's loving hand of provision in the people we met in Korea. We met some A.Mazing peeps there and He was in it all.
We met our friends at our hotel lobby (thanks, ladies). We took a 3 minute walk to the all-American Subway restaurant. Man, they get it right every.time. AND they had a bread choice we do not have in the US. Uh huh. I'd like to say we heard a lot from our new friends about their lives and ministries in Korea, But when it was time to leave Subway, I was the one carrying my sandwich out the door. Apparently I was doing most of the talking. =) Actually, I remember talking some but I was mostly asking Merilee and Mylinda lots of questions. Really. You gotta believe me. =)
We grabbed a cab. Actually, they grabbed a cab. We don't grab cabs in the heartland. =)
And we were off to an adventure of breath-taking proportions. It was dark and we were headed straight to the Seoul Tower. YAY!
The North Seoul Tower is as you would guess, A tower in Seoul. I really have no idea how tall it is. Ya'll could google it.
Anyway, There are two special things about the Tower.
One the view is truly amazing. I am so glad we went at night. The lights of the city were so beautiful. Really, nothing can describe it. So, you'll just have to go yourself someday.
Please, note two OTHER things.
1. Our new friends were so much fun to be with. We GOT to ride in a much too full swinging cable car to the base of the tower (YIKES). Then we GOT to hike some serious steps to the tower itself. Neither of our friends LOL when I nearly needed an inhaler to make it to the top. Kindness came flowing out of them in many ways that night. We really enjoyed our time with them.
2. Oh and do you remember the film crew we met at our traditional Korean meal on Monday? Did I even blog about that?? Anyway, We saw them again at the top of the Seoul Tower. How unlikely is that? In a city of 10 million. Funny and unlikely.
Ok, 2 paragraphs ago I mentioned the two special things about the Seoul Tower. One is the view. The second is the "Locks of Love" that lovers and more recently adoptive families Lock to the tower signifying their never ending love for each other. We bought a lock for Alyvia and locked it to the second tree on the tower path. We picked the second tree because she was turning two one week from that day we locked our lock of love to the tree.
We grabbed the next swinging, not quite as packed, cable car down from the tower. And the girls grabbed us a cab and dropped us off safely back at our hotel. Are we totally spoiled or what???
Our Wednesday in Korea did not include our desired trip to Ilsan but God did give us the perfect Wednesday in Seoul. In fact, EVERY DAY in Seoul, we would end our day thanking God and saying outloud, "could this day have been any better?" We were then and continue to be simply grateful for our life-changing trip to Sweet Seoul, South Korea.
We got back to our hotel and waited only a short moment to meet two new friends. YAY. Please, see God's loving hand of provision in the people we met in Korea. We met some A.Mazing peeps there and He was in it all.
We met our friends at our hotel lobby (thanks, ladies). We took a 3 minute walk to the all-American Subway restaurant. Man, they get it right every.time. AND they had a bread choice we do not have in the US. Uh huh. I'd like to say we heard a lot from our new friends about their lives and ministries in Korea, But when it was time to leave Subway, I was the one carrying my sandwich out the door. Apparently I was doing most of the talking. =) Actually, I remember talking some but I was mostly asking Merilee and Mylinda lots of questions. Really. You gotta believe me. =)
We grabbed a cab. Actually, they grabbed a cab. We don't grab cabs in the heartland. =)
And we were off to an adventure of breath-taking proportions. It was dark and we were headed straight to the Seoul Tower. YAY!
The North Seoul Tower is as you would guess, A tower in Seoul. I really have no idea how tall it is. Ya'll could google it.
Anyway, There are two special things about the Tower.
One the view is truly amazing. I am so glad we went at night. The lights of the city were so beautiful. Really, nothing can describe it. So, you'll just have to go yourself someday.
Please, note two OTHER things.
1. Our new friends were so much fun to be with. We GOT to ride in a much too full swinging cable car to the base of the tower (YIKES). Then we GOT to hike some serious steps to the tower itself. Neither of our friends LOL when I nearly needed an inhaler to make it to the top. Kindness came flowing out of them in many ways that night. We really enjoyed our time with them.
2. Oh and do you remember the film crew we met at our traditional Korean meal on Monday? Did I even blog about that?? Anyway, We saw them again at the top of the Seoul Tower. How unlikely is that? In a city of 10 million. Funny and unlikely.
Ok, 2 paragraphs ago I mentioned the two special things about the Seoul Tower. One is the view. The second is the "Locks of Love" that lovers and more recently adoptive families Lock to the tower signifying their never ending love for each other. We bought a lock for Alyvia and locked it to the second tree on the tower path. We picked the second tree because she was turning two one week from that day we locked our lock of love to the tree.
We grabbed the next swinging, not quite as packed, cable car down from the tower. And the girls grabbed us a cab and dropped us off safely back at our hotel. Are we totally spoiled or what???
We interrupt our Korea Blog Posts . . .
To bring you 14 things we know about our Alyvia Huimanga after 14 days.
1. She is very, very smart.
2. When she is relaxed, she talks (in Hangul) a lot. I wish we knew what she was saying.
3. She likes to sing and dance. The three bears song is her fave.
4. She is extremely cute. She knows how to flash her million dollar smile at just the right time.
5. She adores her siblings and is extremely fond of her Appa (daddy), too.
6. She may eventually make friends with our family pet. Right now they are kind of scared of each other. As it should be, I suppose.
7. She already signs "more" and "please" at appropriate times. I told you she was smart. =)
8. She will try any food you ask her too and while she eats almost anything, Rice, seaweed and hard boiled eggs are her faves. She also really likes candy corn. =)
9. She is great on the steps. Praise be!
10. She is sleeping like a champ. She has slept from Midnight to 10AM for 3 or 4 nights in a row. MORE Praise be!
12. She loves legos, drawing and coloring.
13. She is very very brave.
14. She is a huge blessing to our family. We will love her as our cherished daughter forever.
Simply grateful to God for the gift of another daughter . . .
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Wednesday . . . sweet Wednesday
No Ilsan . . .
Let me say first that our hopes for our Wednesday in Korea included a trip to Holt's Facility in Ilsan. It is a combination Care facility, School and Vocational center for perfect Image-bearers (most of whom have developmental and/or physical disabilities). There is also a museum there detailing the Holt family's pioneering work in international adoption and the Holts are buried on the property.If you know me well, you know that I have a huge spot in my heart for people with disabilities. And in my heart, I really wanted to meet and love on some of the special people at Ilsan. We had purchased some donations for the kids and adults that live there and were pretty sad when our agency said our trip there could not be worked out for our Wednesday in Korea or anyday for that matter. =(
But God . . .
He knew that our Wednesday in Korea would be the perfect day for us. . .Our morning started our with breakfast and skyping with the Bigs. We were blessed to be at a hotel with a WONDERFUL buffet breakfast included daily and We were blessed to be able to Skype with the Bigs almost daily. So great to see them and talk with them and air hug them while we were gone.
After breakfast we headed back to Insadong to continue knocking out our shopping list. Thanks to our many cyber adoptive friends and their advice, we had a well established list of special things we wanted to bring home from Korea. We did well to stick to our list and find the things we wanted at a decent price. Having this extra morning to shop really did make our time in Korea more relaxing. Who would complain about an extra morning to shop????? Please, note the shopping also included Starbucks which tends to make everything a little sweeter.
We got an email from our US agency that we would get to do one of the 3 special things we hoped to do in Korea. . . Visit the Holt Reception Center in Seoul. The Reception Center is a group home for Babies for whom there is no foster home available or who need a little extra medical care. There are usually 10 babies at the RC and usually 6 caregivers for the babies on each shift. These babies get tons of loving. They are extra well- fed, clean, loved and developing well for their age. AND THEY ARE VERY VERY CUTE. More about that in a minute.
We needed to be at the Holt office at 5PM on Wednesday so we spent our early afternoon organizing our donations and gifts and chilling (just a little).
Our first glimpse of Holt and the RC . . .
Around 4:15 we grabbed a cab and headed to the brand new Holt office. We must have looked the part because when we got in the cab with our bags of donations and gifts, the cab driver said "Holt?".Apparently, we Holtees have a unique look and often come from a certain hotel. In a city of 10 million people, it was odd (funny actually) to be accurately identified as adoptive parents.
Anyway, the address we had with us was to the old Holt office which is where our cab driver took us. Fortunately, the new building is in sight of the old office so we just pointed and said, "new Holt." He smiled and took us the extra block and a half. =)
We got to the Holt office thinking we were waiting for our social worker. We were told she would meet us in the lobby so we waited about 10 minutes then went looking for her. She actually was unable to take us to the RC at 5PM as she had another meeting come up. We went upstairs and finally found the very helpful man who explained DJ's absence and that he would gladly guide us to the RC and give us the tour of that building. (DJ asked the next day how we liked her boss, the man that took us to the RC. We did not know he was her boss.) He was a kind and humble, helpful man and we were glad to have met him.
Anyway, he offered us H2O in the Holt office and thanked us for the things we brought as donations for Holt, Ilsan and our daughter's first foster family in Daegu. Then we walked a very short walk maybe two blocks or less to the Holt building that includes the RC. This building also includes a floor for education, counseling and family preservation ministries and another floor that is the Holt Guesthouse.
If the details are too much, forgive please. I'm writing this for Alyvia trying to remember every little thing I can about our incredible trip to her Korea.
Anyway, as we arrived at the RC we were greeted with slippers for inside the building--that's when it dawned on me--every day in Korea I had worn socks. Every single day . . . except today. I was mortified. I knew that I would need socks to go into the baby rooms. ugh. . .
That being said, we had purchased "thank you" gifts for the RC staff women that were on that day. The gifts were my favorite chapstick and soft socks. I seriously considered grabbing a pair out of our gift bag and putting them on, But I knew I only had 6 . . . just enough for the day's workers. boo.
We went first (barefooted, mega ugh) to the older baby room. These babies (all beautiful boys) were between the ages of 9-15 months. They were so cute. I melted at the sight of them. We had brought them one new toy. That stackable donut one, you know it, I'm sure. They were surrounded by toys in their stimulating environment, but when that new toy came out, ALL FIVE of them went straight for it. Each one grabbed a piece of it and they were in heaven. I loved that sight. One simple toy made them all so happy. We were permitted to take photos of the boys. We hugged them all and kissed them all. And squeezed their chubby little thighs. Oy vey. I love chubby baby thighs. =)
Anyway, I asked if any of the boys had been matched with forever families. The staff said two of the five. So I went to both of those little boys and told them their mamas loved them and that their mamas would come as soon as they possibly could. Now, I have NO IDEA who their mamas are, mind you. I just know that their mamas love them and that their mamas will move heaven and earth to get to Korea ASAP to bring their boys home. It's what mamas do.
The staff was so kind to us. We asked questions, translated through our guide, and they answered helpfully and demonstrated a great concern for the babies in their care.
We went then to the littler baby room and met the other 5 guys currently residing at the RC. There were four 6 week old babies, two of whom were special needs and two of whom were developing typically for their age. Two of the littles were sleeping in their cribs and the other three babies were being tended to, held and or cuddled by the three staff members in the room.
The 5th baby was an adorable 7 month old baby that I learned later that night is the son of one of my "cyber" acquaintences. He was so very lovable, he was strong and appeared bright and healthy. As is often my custom, I leaned over him and whispered, "Jesus loves you, little man." Boy does He love you. Can't wait to see this little guy home with his forever family.
Without taking a picture in this room, we left it. It seemed to quiet and sacred for photos. I'm not even sure what I mean by that exactly . . . but thats how I felt in that moment.
We finished our Tour of the RC and made the quick walk back to the new Holt office. Our host used that time to tell us how Holt came to have the new office building and how God provided it debt free for Holt. It really is a story of God's provision and blessing on this incredible organization. We thanked our host and grabbed a cab headed back to our hotel.
You'd think our Wednesday would have been complete but as fast as we got back to our hotel, we connected with two more sisters in Christ (now friends) and had quite an adventurous Wednesday evening. Unfortunately for our eager blog readers, It's 1AM on Wednesday night two weeks later and I need to get to bed. If you want to know the details that made our Wednesday night in Seoul Sweet and Memorable, you'll have to ck back (hopefully soon, but no promises) and find out.
Until then . . . I hope you find your heart simply grateful for the strength God gave you to make it through today and the Hui-mang (bright Hope) He always promises on the morrow.
Night . . . from the Heartland!
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