Care Package

A few weeks ago we got to send the first care package to our little boy in Korea! Kyle and Haley has so much fun helping me pick out some things to send him. The Dillion staff hand-carried his package to Seoul so it had to fit in a gallon-size ziplock bag. That was quite a challenge! There are SO many things we want to send to him, but we settled on a few fun things. We will have the opportunity to send more  later. We did a baby photo album with pictures of all of us, a soft blankie, monkey outfit that Kyle picked out, and a cute bag of soft sports balls. We also included a small gift to his foster mother. It was almost surreal packing it all up and knowing that in a few short weeks (or less) he would have these things in his little hands! The waiting is hard and we have a long way to go!

I saw this verse on a Facebook status today.
Isaiah 43:5
" Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west."

This verse popped up as the daily verse on the phone version of my Bible. What a great reminder to be patient and wait for His timing, even though it is hard!
Psalm 27:14
"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."

It's a BOY!

A lot has happened since I wrote our last adoption update - a WHOLE LOT! Some of you may know this story already, but I wanted to share it with those of you that we don't get to see on a regular basis. In the last few months we have accepted a referral for a sweet baby boy! He is currently 11 months old and completely adorable. As most of you know, I have a hard time keeping up with anything on a regular basis - laundry, dishes, exercise, etc. and blogging is one of those. It tends to be the one thing I can push off until tomorrow since I am exhausted at the end of every day.

The last few months have been a whirlwind of paperwork. Lots of hurry, hurry, and wait. We got an e-mail about this precious little baby boy around the middle of January and decided we wanted more information about him. After much praying and getting lots of medical advice we decided to say yes! He is considered a waiting child, which is a child with special needs or possible special needs. He was on this list because of a minor cosmetic issue with his chest which we are not concerned about at all. This all happened in a very unusual way. I am looking forward to telling him this story when he gets older - we really chose him specifically and want him to know how special he is!

At this point we didn't even have our formal application turned in! So, we rushed to finish that up, then completed our home study and in April we mailed another 2 lbs of paperwork to complete the assignment process. Our paperwork is now in Korea and we have officially begun our waiting period. The bad news is that the current wait is 11-16 months.We have been getting regular updates once a month and he is growing and thriving in the care of a wonderful foster family. We haven't decided on his American name yet, but we're working on it! I can't post any pictures of him, but as soon as we get him home I promise to post plenty!

Here are some very specific things you can pray for:
1. Speed - We are praying for the whole process to go faster than usual. I know this will require a miracle, but we know God can do anything if it is His timing!
2. Patience - Especially for me. The waiting is hard already and we have a LONG way to go.
3. His health and safety while he is not in our care
4. Continued good growth and development

The Next Step!

It has taken us a while, but we are FINALLY finished with our Formal Application - Step 2. It only took us 5 months! Ha! Any of you that know us well know that we don't do anything quickly - especially paperwork. Korea does not require a dossier, so this application included all the paperwork that will be sent to Korea. I finally mailed the entire pile of papers (about 1 1/2 inches!) and it felt wonderful! Once this part of the application process is approved, we will begin our home study process.Thank you for your prayers!


Here is the picture we sent with our paperwork. A sweet friend from church took this picture for us! Her name is Janice and her family is also in the adoption process for Korea! She takes beautiful pictures! Check out her website at adorationsphoto.com.