A Short, Sweet Trip...But An Incredible Amount of Gratitude!

Our trip to Korea…. I do not even know where to begin.  My mind keeps trying to process everything we experienced but my heart keeps coming back to this incredible, overflowing feeling of joy and gratitude for everybody in our lives who helped make this trip possible.  

Five years ago Jeremy and I embraced a simple conversation about adoption,  three years ago we submitted our application, and this week we returned home from the trip of a lifetime meeting our new son.  

Our first visit with Nathan was everything we could have imagined and then some…and then some more.  I could go on and on, but the entire story boils down to this: we are completely smitten for our little boy and couldn’t be more in LOVE!  The trip was everything we have dreamed of for the past 2 years!  

Adoption…isn’t it beautiful?!  The most wonderful thing of all is the fact that we are adopted as God’s precious children.  I cannot imagine the excitement He must get when another person says “yes” to Him because it is at that moment we become sons and daughters to the King!  Daughter to the King...I cherish the sound of that!  The intense love I feel for Nathan is crazy and I am a sinful, mess of a human.  I can only imagine the deep, unconditional, perfect love God has for us. 

Oh how God has completely flipped our lives upside down with this entire process and stretched us immensely.   We hope and pray God continues to wreck our lives for whatever He has planned for us next.  Yes, dear Lord, we are ready and waiting for instructions on how to move mountains for your Kingdom!  (p.s.-We would like a short little rest after we bring Nathan home...if it be Your will. ;) 

If you are reading this, you have probably partnered with us on this journey and I cannot even begin to tell you how grateful we are for you.  God has this sweet way of using community to accomplish His things of the world and it couldn’t be more evident to us than it is right now.  Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!

EXCITING Adoption Update:

We are completely excited to say we have officially been approved by the Ministry in South Korea and are now only waiting on a court date!  As soon as we have a court date, we will make travel arrangements to go meet sweet little Nathan for the first time.  It honestly seems like a dream!  We have talked about this moment for years now and it is finally right around the corner. 

On our first trip to South Korea, we will be allowed 2 visits with Nathan for approximately 1 hour each at the orphanage.  We will attend court hearings, meet our foster family, have lunch with the President of our orphanage, and sight see.  We plan to spend a lot of time on this trip trying to piece together the details of the first 2 years of Nathan’s life.  We will travel to the hospital Nathan was born in (approximately 2 hours away from Seoul) and take photos of his birth room, the first orphanage he was placed in, and the hometown of his birth parents.  We plan to stay at our orphanage’s guest home while we are there the first trip and love on the current kids in care!  Once we get home from the first trip, we will wait on court approval (estimated to be approximately 4 weeks) and travel again to South Korea to bring Nathan home.  Carter will travel with us the 2^nd trip to finally meet his brother he has so patiently waited on for 2 years!  Typing that sentence brings tears to my eyes because I cannot wait for these 2 amazing boys to meet for the first time!       

We are still not certain on the timing of our first trip.  It could be as soon as 2 months and then again could be in early 2015.  We are hopeful and PRAYERFUL it will be in 2 months!  Please join us in prayer for quick timing and for a smooth transition for Nathan into our family.  This has been quite an amazing chapter in our lives but we are excited and expectant for the wonderful things God will bring next!  Adoption is a journey we are honored God invited us to be a part of!

Adoption Update

We received new pictures of sweet little Nathan and a new video last night!  God is good! 

Update:  We don't really have a lot to update you on at this point.  We still have not been submitted for EP and once we are submitted it is estimated to take another 6-8 months (without delays) before we bring Nathan home.  So for now, we keep praying and putting our trust in the Lord that He is taking care of him until he comes home.  By the looks of these photos, he seems to be pretty happy to us!

   

Adoption Update

Happy Monday to you!  We thought we would give an adoption update since it has been a few months.  Our adoption journey has been slightly crazy lately.  While there has been turmoil with the Korean adoption program (we would rather not go into details), we are still extremely hopeful sweet little Nathan will be coming home this year!  We have had a few set backs recently that could delay the process a short while longer, but we are getting closer! 

Right now, our paperwork is in Korea waiting to be submitted for EP (Emigration Permit).  We are in queue!  We are told at this point it is estimated to take 6-8+ months once we are submitted until we will have Nathan home.  Of course, anything can change and it could go faster or slower, but these estimates are what we have to work with now.  Although this journey has been one of the most amazing adventure of our lives, we are approaching the 2 year mark this month and to say we are ready is a huge understatement!  We are beyond ready!  This entire process has stretched us in ways we never thought possible.  Although this has not always been easy and the set backs are discouraging, we are still completely confident we are doing exactly what God called our family to do and ultimately this is what gets us through each day. 

When people have asked me lately when Nathan is coming home or if he is here yet and I share with them it could be another 6-8+ months, they are always shocked and ask how I am still smiling and how we are "ok" with this.  I will be completely honest and say we do not want to be "ok" with it, but we have to be and it's part of the journey.  The only reason I can give people we are still able to walk around with a smile on our face is because of the Lord's amazing grace.  If the good Lord were not surrounding us with grace to get through this long wait and continually holding our hands, we would not be smiling and can understand how people could ask that question.  I would be asking that question too if I weren't in the situation!  Please don't get me wrong, we have moments of doubt, fear, sadness, frustration.....but praise the Lord they are just moments.  God has been so good and faithful to us throughout this process!  I laughed out loud the other day when I saw a shirt that read "Adoption is not for sissies!"  Part of this statement is true and part of it is not because at the end of the day, adoption is for anybody (weak or strong) who feels a calling to do so.  I firmly believe God does not "call the equipped", he "equips the called".  If you are willing to take the first step towards what God is calling you to do, He will equip you to complete it (even if you are a "sissy" :)!    Thank you for reading and being a part of our journey! 

Have a blessed day!  It's going to be a great week!