God has been gracious to us and has been with us through our journey of love and life. He has carried us through some of the most difficult times and has given us joy in the midst of sorrow. He has also been loving and given us abundant blessings. Most importantly, He has provided us with faith. May we share that faith with others.

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
"God's gifts put man's best dreams to shame".
Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Saturday, September 7, 2019

Going Home

So, funny thing... on Tuesday of this trip we learned that Typhoon Lingling was set to make landfall in South Korea at the same time as our flight home.  We watched it all week, praying we could get home as planned.  Lingling actually did move a little westward and made landfall in North Korea.  However, the effects of the typhoon still impacted South Korea, primarily Incheon, which is where the airport is located.  Delta pushed up our flight in hopes of getting us off the ground before the major winds hit.  The airport was a flurry of activity.  Everyone was rushing around like crazy trying to get as many flights out as possible.  We loaded the plane and made our way to the runway.  We were third in line for take-off when the pilot came over the speaker and said that we would have to wait as the wind was beginning to gust up to 80 miles per hour.  It felt like we were on a boat with all the swaying.  Finally, we were cleared to take-off.  It was a bit of a bumpy take-off.  I just kept praying, "Get us up to cruising altitude!"  We had to take a slightly different route home to avoid Northern Korea, Typhoon Lingling and the typhoon that was over Japan.  The rest of the trip was pretty good - occasional turbulence.  I was just relieved to be getting home on time!  As hard as it was to leave Luke behind, we were so excited to see Liam and Lilly.  I only cried twice on the way home thinking of that precious little boy - missing him already.
On a positive note... the Incheon airport has so many orchids.  They are breathtaking.  They line all the halls.  Also, humorous note... I had to take this picture in the bathroom stall.  This is how you can tell you are in Korea and not China.  Those who have been to China will understand.





Friday, September 6, 2019

Family Court

The primary reason for this trip was to go to Family Court.  We met our group at the Holt office and took a bus together to the court house.  We waited our turn.  When we went to meet the judge she asked us...
Why have we decided to adopt?
How do our older kids feel about this adoption?
How will we help him with his identity as he grows?
Now that we've met him, do we still want to adopt him?
Then, she closed with - please give him a loving home.
The whole meeting took less than 5 minutes.  Dave and I both had to answer each question.

After going to court, we went to lunch with other couples that traveled as well.  We met for coffee the day before.  It was nice to laugh and celebrate this milestone.  They all truly appreciate and understand the waiting and hurdles we've jumped to get to this moment.  We hope to see them again on the return trip.




Song Meesoo is the Social Worker from Holt that works with Bethany families.  We've seen her name on paper, so it was great to meet her in person.



Thursday, September 5, 2019

Second Meeting with Luke

Today was another great meeting with Luke.  We loved his outfit today.  We sent him the pants and shirt, but the suspenders were a good touch!




Luke thought it was funny to feed Dave the snack.




more fun with bubbles






























big eyes!

time to go home - Luke seems to love riding like this





The rain stopped long enough for us to walk around.