Saturday, June 20, 2015

"It's night time in Korea." This phrase was said or thought many times in our adoption processes. Those five words meant that work at the agency and work at the Korean government would not be taking place anymore that day. Nothing was being done to bring our babies home. During the week we would also know that after a certain time we would not be hearing any news from our agency in MI and we knew once the mailman came we would no longer be stalking him or our mailbox. There would be a few hours a day that we would just let the worry go because we knew nothing beneficial for our adoption would be going on. Then night time in the USA would fall and every adoptive parent is up through the night praying that as business opens for the day that their babies paperwork will move to the top of the pile or that the approval we are waiting on will finally be approved or we think more about the milestones and every day activity that we are missing. The end of business day comes on Friday and we are heartsick that we still did not get any news, but we know that for the weekend we can relax and rest up for Monday.

These days of waiting have a very familiar feel to them. All day we wait and pray for news, but when evening comes we know we will not be hearing anything. When the weekend comes we take our mind off the situation and rest up for Monday. I cannot share too many details, but I do want to ask you to pray very specifically concerning Jeremy's job situation. There is a principal that wants to hire him and anticipates that he will be a part of that school next year, but the budget for next school year has not been given yet and there is a great concern that budget cuts will interfere with him being hired at this school. We are believing and trusting that the God of this universe will provide the money and we ask that you pray that with us. I do not know if my friend Trudie reads my blog, but when there is money issues I always think back to something she said in college. It was a choir performance or some other music group she was a part of and she mentioned the verse about God owning the cattle on a thousand hills and He could just sell one of those cows to meet our needs. I think we all laughed, but oh how true! I do not know the going rate for cows these days, but we are asking that God sell a few of those cows and provide the money to this specific school. :)

Well tomorrow is Father's day and I just would like to take a minute and wish my dad a very happy father's day. I am so very thankful for my dad. He loves us unconditionally and even as adults is our biggest fan and prayer warrior. He taught us how to pray and to work hard and there is no better blessing than  committing our life to the Lord. There is so much I could share about my dad, but I have really been thinking about the wonderful adventures we experienced as kids. Just last weekend we were driving through Kalamazoo, MI and I mentioned to Jeremy that we stopped one time and toured the General Mills plant. I loved that my dad always wanted us to do things that we would always remember and have those life experiences. This past summer on our road trip to Texas we stopped on the way back home at the farm of George Washington Carver in MO. It was awesome for my kids to say this year at school when they talked about  his work  that they could say , "We visited his farm this summer." A few weeks ago Samuel said he wanted to visit somewhere and he then said, "I bet Grandpa would take me there. He is always  telling me if I stick with him I would go places." He then asked me what my favorite place had been that Grandpa took me to as a kid. There are so many wonderful places like the Disney World, the Grand Canyon, Washington D.C, Gettysburg, and the list could go on, but the memory that popped into my head was a memory of early in the morning one Saturday every year when dad and I would head out to the Kankakee State Park to hold the picnic site for the church picnic that would be taking place later that day. We would stop by Dunkin Doughnuts and get some breakfast to take with us. We would head to the park and park our car at the spot that was always the best spot and most accommodating for the churches that would be coming. We would sit in the car and just talk about life. I was young , maybe my girl's age now, but I treasured that time with my dad. We would also get out and swing on the swings and he would tell me he was reliving his childhood through us kids. I am thankful for all of those big adventures we took as a family, but I am so thankful that he took the time to create small adventures that I still treasure today. It was in those small adventures that the stories of our lives were being shaped and written.  It's nice to say that I have been to such and such place, but it is even better to say I had a dad that wanted to take us to those places! Thanks dad! I love you!