If Only the Throne Room
What they saw as injustice, God saw as mercy.
Immediately Sam’s thinning face and big toothy smile flashed across my mind. I suddenly felt the full weight of the injustice I had carried for so long – the whole injustice of this wait, with the pandemic and the spy balloons and the orphanage running out of food. I suddenly felt the weight of my belief – or was it resentment? – that I knew God could fix it and He hadn’t. He could intervene, but He hadn’t. He could bring my boy home, but He hadn’t. It just felt so wrong and unfair.
But maybe, just maybe, if what Dr. M said was true, then maybe what I was seeing as injustice, God was intending for mercy.
Not Here Says the Ocean
What if we heard God right and chose not to heed His voice?
What if God wants to bring healing to our family through Sam? What if he wants to bring healing just like he did through Gideon, even when we couldn't see it?
What if when Jesus talked about going to the blind and the lame and the disabled, what if when He talked about going to the people the world overlooks, what if He meant that literally?
What if He literally meant we’d have to lose our life to find it?
We Have a Little Surprise...
We have a little surprise…WE’RE ADOPTING AGAIN!
Four years ago, in early 2017, Brian and I saw a photo of a little boy we couldn’t forget. He was with a foster care organization in China we had recently connected with, so we began seeing updates about him every few months. And every time we saw him, we prayed again that a family would come. Though we didn’t know it yet on that day in early 2017, we were just a few weeks away from seeing our Giddy’s face for the very first time. We would travel to Korea, bring our son home, and be absolutely smitten by our little boy’s big joy as we learned to be a family! And another few years would pass, years spent praying every chance we got that God would raise up a family for this other little boy we couldn’t forget.
Books for You and Your Littles
Over the years – and especially in light of recent events – I have received lots of messages and questions about what books and resources Brian and I recommend in the adoption world. At the same time – and also especially in light of recent events – we have worked hard to grow our library of books for Gideon to include characters of different cultures, skin colors, and abilities. It is important to us that he grows up seeing a world that is beautiful, not just in spite of our differences, but because of them.
Giddy Makes Kimchi!
Earlier this week I realized we were running low on kimchi (not sure you are supposed to leave the same jar in the fridge for a year, but it’s still kicking!), and since we are cooking an authentic Korean meal with friends from church tomorrow, I decided to introduce Gideon to kimchi-making too!
Michele’s recipe below (scroll down to the very bottom for JUST the recipe) works with both napa cabbage, which is the traditional Korean way, and green cabbage. I like my kimchi crunchy, so we choose to make yangbaechu (green cabbage) kimchi around our home. If you’re feeling intimidated, don’t be. If I can make kimchi, you can too! Promise.
Families Like Yours
And so long as our world is full of kids who need someone to love them, we need all kinds of families willing to say YES. We need all kinds of families willing to fight for these kids and their families, willing to love them even if loving them means laying down our own demands and desires and dreams of what our family could or should look like. We need families willing – whether for a season or a lifetime – to step into the messy, broken, ugly parts of our world because right in the middle is a kid who is worth it. Right in the middle is a beautiful, precious, amazing kid who will likely change our lives a whole heck of a lot more than we will change theirs.
We need families willing to see the world like Christ does. And Christ sees all of our kids like he sees each of us – wanted, loved, and cherished. American, Korean, South African, Columbian, white, brown, black, those with birth parents and those without, those with special needs and those without…all of them.
We need all kinds of families. We need families like yours and families like mine.
USCIS Surprise + Our First "Giddy Day" Home!
While we were still waiting for Gideon to come home, another mama mentioned a form called G-884 that we could file with the United States Center for Immigration Service (USCIS) once we got home. We were encouraged not to expect much, as about half of the families in the post-adoption circles I’ve talked to only received copies of paperwork they already had.
To be honest, between the low probability of learning something new and it not being required, I forgot all about Form G-884 for the longest time. But finally, about 9 months after we got home, something jogged my memory, and I decided to fill out the form. Just in case.
Kentucky Post-Adoption Process (AKA More Paperwork)
We genuinely thought the adoption paperwork was over once we got home. Now we’ve learned to laugh at paperwork, because I’m pretty sure it never truly ends, haha.
We came home from Korea to find we not only had one final mountain of documents to work through, but also that most of the agencies and offices we had to interact with had no idea what they were doing. The post-adoption process varies by state, and Kentucky’s “process” is confusing and inconsistent at best.
Giddy at Disney World!
We were SO excited when my Orlando-based company announced they would be flying all employees and their families to Orlando to celebrate our BIG year at the company with a trip to Disney! For one, we had seen the prices at Disney and had pretty much decided Gideon was going to be on his own for that one, haha. And two, Brian and Gideon had never met my coworkers or seen our corporate office (I work remotely), so I couldn’t WAIT for them to meet everyone! Plus, as a fun bonus, it would be Gideon’s 13th state visited in his first 9 months home. We eagerly packed our bags and counted down the days till Disney World!
December Update
December flew by as we prepared for our first Christmas as a family of three, Gideon’s first birthday home, and for our trip to Disney World! Gideon’s receptive English has absolutely exploded this month, and he’s gone from understanding some of what we say to most of what we say. The difference has been nothing short of incredible, and we’ve really loved hearing him babble and babble and babble, especially in response to what we say!
Korea Packing List
Packing was seriously one of the most stressful parts of traveling to Seoul, and it’s still one of the most asked questions we get via our blog! Especially as first-time parents, we really had no idea what to pack, and as super light packers (Brian and I literally shared a carry-on for 2 weeks in Indonesia last year), it just about killed us to think about checking two suitcases, plus managing a stroller, 2 backpacks, and a diaper bag.
Sending Love: Care Packages and Gifts
It is customary to give gifts to the important people in your adoption process, and for us, it was also a tangible way to show the family who loved our son for the first 27 months of his life just how grateful we were for them. They had clothed him (in nicer clothes than he has here, by the way), fed him, and bathed him, but they also spent hours and hours helping him learn to walk, kissed him and snuggled him, and loved him so well they were willing to show him our photo album and video every single day in order to prepare him to love us too.
Seoul Itinerary
It was really important to both Brian and me that we soaked up as much of the Korean culture as possible, so much of our trip revolved around palaces, museums, and markets. That also means we walked whenever possible so we could experience the little side streets and alleys that make Seoul even more lovely. Our days were filled from the time jetlag woke us up at 5:30 a.m. until the time the night markets and shops started to close for the day. Even still, we wished we had even more time in Seoul!
Korean Culture 101
We absolutely fell in love with the Korean culture during our adoption process, and Seoul is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. That said, we certainly had a steep learning curve at times as we immersed ourselves in the culture, and we’re so thankful for all the friends and families who shared their knowledge of Korea with us before we ever stepped off the plane. We hope we can return the favor just a little bit!
