Hello, We are your parents

Well, we made it! The flight was long but not unbearable and really very short considering how long we have been waiting to go.  We were exhausted after getting to our hotel around 8:30 pm. We unloaded our stuff and then got dinner in the hotel restaurant, it was very good. I was worried that I would not sleep well but we slept great! We got 7-8 hours in so that really helped us be ready for today.

I woke up pretty calm and read Jesus Calling devotion and had some quiet time (Ron was down at the lobby figuring a few things out) I got ready for the day and we headed to breakfast. About halfway through breakfast I started to get very nervous. I told myself to eat or I would get a headache and I needed the energy for the day. After breakfast we headed to the subway, it took us a few minutes but we got it figured out and soon we were on route to SWS, our agency in Korea. We didn't know how long it would take us so we left two hours early and got there and hour early so we just sat across the street at a coffee shop until it was time to meet with our caseworker.

We headed in and met our caseworker and after a few minutes we loaded into a van that drove us to Charlie. My nerves actually calmed down on the ride over and my excitement took over. It is a very surreal thing to meet your child in this way. Our driver parked the van and our caseworker who also acted as our translator started walking around, looking for his home. She was a little confused but then we heard yelling and saw his foster mom waving towards another street. We followed her to a home like building where she lived. I was expecting a high rise complex as most people reside in an apartment but she lives in a home. We went up a winding staircase scattered with tons of pots that are filled with various plants, really not a lot of room to walk because of all the pots but up we went.

Suddenly, there he was!  He was a little apprehensive at first and just kinda stared at us. I really wanted to just walk over and pick him up but I resisted.  We both waved and talked to him for a few seconds and then got pulled into his toy room. It did not take long and he was making noises and looking at the light and sound puzzle we brought, I thought he would love that and the bubbles that we blew but his favorite thing was the container for  snacks I had brought. He didn't want to eat the snacks just take them in and out. Eventually, he moved closer to us and near the end he sat on both our laps and got cozy.  It was close to his nap time and so he was sleepy and just let me hold him. WOW! Just so thankful at how well it went. I said to Ron a bit later after we left that this is what answered prayers look like, a little boy who has never met us ended up feeding me his strawberries, giggling and clapping like crazy when I would crash the tower of toys and sitting and snuggling with us both. His foster mother said she could tell he liked us as he does not usually sit with strangers. God is good!

We got to know a few things about him by asking lots of questions, he is very active according to his foster mom and loves to climb up on the furniture. He stacks toys and trucks up and then climbs on them to get up (OH BOY!) . She said he was very smart and played well with other children. He eats "anything and everything" She also took a bunch of pictures for us on the disposable camera I had sent in a package and I can't wait to get them developed. She gave us the hangbok that he wore to his first birthday party and a photo album with tons of pictures from when she first got him up until now.  He has a special blanket that he will go and find and drag around when he is tired. His foster mom said that we may keep that as well. We also learned that his birth mother had bought him an outfit and we will be getting that on our next visit. What treasures!!

Much too soon it was time to say goodbye. I tried really hard not to cry but it wasn't possible. I held it together pretty well and only let a few tears out. He let me hold him close for a minute and give him a kiss on the cheek and then after a few tries he went to Ron and let him hug him as well. In fact he didn't really want to go back to his foster mom and she said "Oh, that's so good, he really likes you". 

We are just so pleased with how it all went, he is darling little guy with some really crazy hair and I so wish we were allowed to post the video and pictures of him. We are completely in love and we know he will fit into our family perfectly. We will get to be with him one more time this Friday. I cried today already thinking of that being our last visit until we come again. It is very hard to be so close and not be able to hang out with him. Our court date is next Tuesday and then we fly out the next day. Tomorrow we hope to see some sites and learn more about the Korean culture.

Today was a very big day that went so well. We give God the Glory and Praise Him for Charlie!