Joy in the Journey

Update and Prayer Request!

2012-02-27T18:15:00.001-05:00

UPDATE:

Today has been two years since we started this journey! Two years ago, Bryan and I took a huge leap of faith and sent in our application to our agency to adopt a child from South Korea. Little did we know that God had our little Jack (soon to be conceived) in mind for us when we sent it in.
Other big news today was that we received our I-600! It states, "The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services has provisionally approved your Form 1-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as an immediate relative, that you filed on behalf of Dohyun Kwon." :) So, I like that! ;)
Approval means everything is sent to Korea now and we are basically waiting for a travel call.
Everyone wants to know when that will be and, to tell you the truth, so would we! ;) Our original estimate for travel was to be 3 to 4 months after receiving our referral. It has been two months tomorrow that we have received ours. Unfortunately though, there are some complications that might interrupt this process.

PRAYER REQUEST:

Which brings me to my prayer request. Back in June, I posted this update and briefly mentioned how our agency (and all agencies working with Korea) had run out of EPs for the year. EPs are "exit permits" and only a certain amount are released by the Korean government each year. Once a child is issued an EP, that means they are officially approved to leave to country and the adoptive parents will get their travel call to come get their baby. The complication is that there is now a huge backlog of people waiting to receive an EP since June of last year. Usually the Korean government issues them at the beginning of the year, but so far, there has been no movement! It went from we should hear something at the beginning of the year, then February, then middle February, and the latest is middle March now. We also do not know how the government will choose to distribute the EPs. If they divide it up between all the agencies, we have a good chance that our wait won't be that long because our agency has no backlog of waiting families. However, if the Korean govt. decides to issue them to only the ones that have been waiting, we might have an even longer wait on our hands. No one is really sure what the hold up is and there are hundreds of moms and dads anxiously waiting to get their babies and can do NOTHING about it. These children are getting older and older (hence why Jack was so old at his referral), making transitioning and grieving very difficult for the child and foster family. Not to mention the ache the adoptive families have as they wait, missing milestone after milestone of their precious babies. The adoption agencies in Korea are running out of space and are having to turn women down that wish to put their child up for adoption. It's just a big big mess over there and they desperately need our prayers. I am trying very hard not to get caught up with all of this, because I know that I can do nothing about it. I know that the orphan is very close to the Lord's heart and I'm positive that He has already been and will continue to be at work in this situation. I also know that our travel call will come when the Lord wants it to come. So, in the mean time, I have been keeping myself busy and praying continuously. Praying for all us waiting parents, that the Korean government hearts will be softened for these orphans that need to be home with their families and that EPs will finally be submitted! Please consider joining us in prayer for this situation. Other adoptive moms and I plan to pray every evening at 7pm until we hear something. You can join us or just pray for it when you remember. Again, I am thankful as always for your prayers.

Getting Closer and Lifesong Fundraiser!!!

2012-02-16T11:22:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Bryan and I had a travel meeting via conference call with our agency. It was an hour and a half conversation, and once we got off the phone we were pretty much overwhelmed, but excited at the same time! There is so much to know and be prepared for, and while we are thankful we are getting so close to traveling, we feel like we don't have a lot of time to get ready for it. We are expecting our I-600 approval any day now and then everything will be in the hands of the Korean government. At that point, we will just be waiting on a travel call!

All of sudden, this has gotten very real! ;)

Since our travel is approaching so quickly, Bryan and I wanted to remind everyone about our last fundraiser we are doing with the help of Lifesong for Orphans (www.lifesongfororphans.org). They set up an account for us so that we may raise the rest of our adoption expenses. Any donations made to them (on our behalf) will go toward our travel costs and will be tax deductible for you! We have been so blessed already by such amazing donors and we just want to take the time again to thank you for your generosity, love, and support! We are less than 2 weeks away from our deadline and we are getting so close to our goal!!!

If you have prayerfully considered supporting our adoption of Jack with a donation, but haven't been able to yet, now would be a great opportunity to give through our Lifesong account.

You can send your tax-deductible gift between now and February 29th, 2012 to the address below or give online.

If you feelled to give, please remember to include the following steps:

If you would like to send a Check:

Checksshould be made payable to: Lifesongfor Orphans
Indicatehow the donation might be used by writing, “Preference Getty #1808 Adoption” in the memo section of yourcheck.
Mail checks to:

Lifesong for Orphans

PO Box 40 / 202 N. Ford St

Gridley, IL 61744

If you would like to Donate Online:

Goto http://www.lifesongfororphans.org/donation.html,and click the “DONATE” button.
Indicatehow the donation might be used by typing, “Preference Getty #1808 Adoption” in the “Purpose” box.

**Please note that PayPal does charge an administrative fee (1.9% to 2.9% + $0.30 USD per transaction). The donation will be decreased by the amount of this fee.)**

Again, words cannot express thegratitude we have for your continued prayers and support for us during thistime. Thank you for investing in the Kingdom through prayer and finances – itwill be an investment with an eternal return (Matt 6:20)!

BEST Update So Far!

2012-02-10T20:07:00.000-05:00

Today was such a wonderful day, I just had to share our JOY! Bryan and I received an update of our little man today. I got word yesterday that it would be coming this afternoon, so I was so excited! I kept myself busy all day and then when I heard the Fed Ex truck pull up, I ran downstairs and met him at the door before he even got there. ;) He just smiled and handed me the package. I immediately called Bryan and told him we got it, and he said that he was on his way home. Once he got there we opened up the package and saw his sweet face and read the letter which opened with:

"Dohyun is getting very well care under the foster family's love and affection. He had his first birthday party on January 16, 2012..."

He had what they call a dol ceremony with the other babies at our agency that had January birthdays. This is a traditional celebration for one year old babies in Korea. You can read more about dols here. It is a very big deal in Korea when your baby turns one year old and they have a big party to celebrate! The children wear a colorful ceremonial garment called a hanbok during their dol (they also wear it during certain holidays). Here's Jack in his hanbok! ;)

I make pink look good!

I can't believe how big he has already gotten in two months! No official word on his weight, but it looks like they are feeding him well. :)

The highlight of the party is a ritual they do where the child is placed in front of a table of foods and objects such as string, books, paint brush, money, etc. The child is urged to pick up an object and it is believed that the object picked will foretell the child’s future. For example, if the child picks up a book, he is destined to be a scholar. If he picks up money, he will be wealthy. If the baby picks up a paint brush, he will be an artist. So on and so forth. Wanna guess what our little man picked??

That's right, he picked the golf ball! They said he will be a golfer! Can I tell you how happy his daddy got when he read this?! ;) He's going to be a daddy's boy for sure.

Not only did we get to see his pictures, but we also got video! Of course, this mama cried at this clip. I cannot express the joy I had in my heart to see him smile. I am so in love!!

Here's Jack!!!

2012-02-04T23:21:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited to let people know that our legals are in!!!! Which means we do not have to do a homestudy update! Praise the Lord! This is such a relief to Bryan and I! Thank you all for your prayers in this matter. The next step is that we are waiting for our I-600 and then we will be waiting for our travel call!!! So, to celebrate, I wanted to tell you a little bit about our son and finally show him off!

A few weeks ago, we sent out an announcement of Jack to our family and friends and in the letter we stated the following, and wanted to post it again, because I feel it is so important to include in why we rejoice so much in him!

"After years of waiting and praying, we are soexcited to announce our son, John “Jack” Dohyun Getty, born to us through themiracle of adoption! On January 21, 2011, our prayers were answered, as ourJack was born and handpicked by our Father to be our own. I have said this before, but I must say itagain: we are so happy that God chose adoption for us as a means of growing ourfamily. Once we saw Jack’s face, we could not deny how much we loved him. Nowmore than ever, we could understand the parallel of when we were alone andneeded someone, God loved us and adopted us as His sons and daughters (Romans8:14-16). What an amazing testimony our son already is to his momma and daddy! "

So, without further ado, here's Jack...

"I sure am full of it!"

"Check out my cool sweater vest, Mom!"

"Like my mohawk?"

I'm over the moon for this little guy!!

As you can see we named him John. I mentioned before, we picked this name because it means, "Gift from God." And that he is! His middle name is Dohyun, which means, "Kindhearted Way." The name Dohyun was given to him by his birthmother, so we kept it to honor her. He was born on January 21, 2011 (The year of the Rabbit). At birth, Jack weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces and measured 20.1 inches in length. On November 14, 2011, he weighed 22 pounds and measured 29.7 inches in length.

Here are some fun facts about him that were written in his report
(at his 10 month checkup):

- He can't bear hunger.

-He loves baths very much.

-Has taken one to two steps recently.

-He says, ''Umma" and ''Appa" (Mom and Dad)

-When told "No!" he asks "No?"

- He opens drawers and likes to "take out the stuffs in there." ;)

-He is shy of strangers.

-He likes his foster father best.

-He "rather sweats a lot" :) This one was one of my favorites!

-He is gentle, curious, and smiles often.

- He doesn't stay still for a moment.

-He is short tempered and stubborn. :) Just like Mommy!

-And his social worker says, "He looks like a naughty boy." :)

So, it seems we will soon have our hands full! :) And we just can't wait! We are so happy to know that Jack is being loved and well taken care of in his foster family. What wonderful people they are to make such a sacrifice for a child. We will forever be grateful to them for being there for our son, when we couldn't.

Thank you for letting me share my son with you!

Registering!

2012-01-29T19:52:00.000-05:00

So, when you are expecting a baby, whether by adoption or not, you just look forward to the day you get to do the nursery and the day you get to register! And when you have been waiting as long as Bryan and I have, you definitely look forward to it! It's not that we want to get all these gifts, it's more about that you finally reached a point where you realize that This Is Going To Happen!!! I would go by the baby aisle for years, just wishing and wondering when that special day will be and what kind of things I would want to get for my baby. Also, after many years of being a nanny, I felt like I knew exactly what things were good to have and what things weren't necessary. So, I have been "busting at the seams" to do this, and when some friends of mine offered to throw me a shower (almost right after we got our referral!), Bryan and I finally decided to do it last week! So, we made a plan to go up to Target one day during the week (yeah, we couldn't wait until the weekend). ;) Before we left I starting making a list of stuff we needed. Because Jack is older, we don't necessarily need a lot of that "baby" stuff you typically register for, but I was surprised how much stuff we still needed. So, with my list in hand, we were off to Target. We got there and with a big smile on our face, we said we were there to register! Of course, after a little while of being there, I thought I had to explain that we were adopting, so they didn't think we were making it up. I definitely felt there were questions running through their heads since I was lacking a "baby-bump!" ;) So, we signed up and with my list in hand, I handed Bryan his "gun" and we were off! Well, within 20 minutes we were already done! I was so disappointed! I don't know if it was just our Target, but they didn't have ANYTHING! And then once I got home, I pulled up our registry and there were no pictures or prices of the things we put on it! Then I just decided that I was going to just delete it and put everything on a Amazon.com Baby Registry. I liked them better anyway, because I can put anything from any site (places like Etsy or even Walmart) on it and I'm not just stuck with whatever one store has to offer. Plus you can also look up an item and find which store has it cheapest and put it on there! I know I sound like I'm advertising for them or something, but I'm not. I just really like them and I don't think a lot of people know about it! ;) It took me a few days, but I think we finally have it done! You can see it here: http://www.amazon.com/registry/baby/2U5BWJRLJC7KA. You can also see a little peek of my color theme for the nursery too! ;) Also, let me know if I'm forgetting something that is a must-have for an 18-month-old! :) Some things I left off on purpose because I think I will be able to buy it off of craigslist. So anyway, registering wasn't the experience I imagined it being, but we are ultimately just glad we got to do it! I can't believe the day has come that we are finally expecting Jack to be home VERY SOON!!! I'm just so excited!

Surprise Birthday Party!

2012-01-21T18:08:00.000-05:00

Have I mentioned that we have some of the BESTEST friends ever?! Well, we truly do, and here is just one of the reasons why..

Bryan and I planned on having a little celebration for Jack on his birthday. I considered inviting people over, but our sunday school class was supposed to be having a girl's night that night, so I figured we better just keep it between Bryan and I. So that was the plan until we were approached by our friend, Marie, and she offered for Bryan and I to come over to their house and we can just celebrate it there with her hubby, Will and son, Walt (Jack's future best buddy). I really didn't think anything of it and just thought it was so nice of her to offer that, just to make it a little more special. So, we made plans and decided we would just come over, have some cake, and try to cook some Korean food. Well, turns out, our sweet friends had other plans. When we showed up at the house, we walked in to see this...

Our friends decided to throw a surprise birthday party for our Jack! The whole girl's night get together was to throw us off! And they had been planning this since we got our referral!!! I was blown away! They sang Happy Birthday to Jack and of course I had to cry...

There was cake and decorations...

Some Korean food...

Some American food...

Helping blow out Jack's candle...

Pinata for the kids...

Jack even got gifts!

Jack, your mommy and daddy, and all of these wonderful people have prayed for you for such a long time and even though you aren't home yet, they already love you so much!

It never ceases to amaze me how great our friends are and how we couldn't have made it through this process without them! We are beyond blessed! Thank you all who made this special day possible! It will be a memory we will never forget!

Happy Birthday Jack Dohyun!

2012-01-20T10:00:00.000-05:00

Well, it's January 20th here, but it's already January 21st in Korea, so that makes it officially Jack's birthday! We are planning to have a celebration tomorrow, but I wanted to do something special for the little guy tonight. I decided to make him a cake. I have always had an interest in making cakes, but never had the initiative to make them. I just always thought I would wait until I had kids. Well, now I do! And even though he isn't here, I wanted to try to do something special for him. So, I made him a little cake and Bryan and I prayed a special birthday prayer for him. I am sad we couldn't be together to celebrate his first birthday, but I'm sure he is being loved on greatly by his foster family!

Characters say Jack in Korean.

We also sent "Jack-Jack" our care package last week for his birthday. We sent him his first Yankees hat (a must have) :), a little red fleece jacket, a star wars onesie (yes, he will be a nerd like daddy) ;) , an Alabama football (from Grandpa), and a lovie that Bryan and I have been sleeping with for a month so it will have our scent. We also found this really cool picture album that you can put pictures in and record a message for each one. So we had a couple photos of us, one of each of us, one of each set of grandparents, and of course, one of Sam and Rosie. We also sent the foster mother a bag, coffee, Almond Rocca (heard it was really expensive in Korea), and a thank you card. Hope to get a picture of him receiving it, but I will try not to get my hopes up. Love you Jack Dohyun! Happy Birthday Little Man!

I'm a Busy Bee!

2012-01-14T22:23:00.000-05:00

I'm so sorry I haven't posted much since our referral! I honestly still can't believe we are PARENTS! We were so blessed to get our call during the Christmas break so we could really enjoy the news with our family and friends, and not be too distracted with things. Well, now that we are back to work, we are definitely busy! And I suspect this will continue for the next few months! :) It has been difficult to get things done, but we are doing it, one thing at a time. We went to go apply for our passports recently, but that wasn't as easy as I hoped (but really, what is during this process?) ;) Bryan was fine, but they didn't accept my birth certificate, so I had to wait, order another one, and then come back and apply once I got my new one in the mail. I finally got that done last Friday. I'm praying I get our passport before we get our travel call! We've also been working on a care package for the little guy. We are allowed to send over one care package, so I'm really trying to make it count. I'm almost done getting that together, just have to write the foster mother a thank you and have someone translate it for me. Hopefully that will be ready to go in the next day or two. Of course, I'll post pictures when I'm done with that. We are also working on our next fundraiser and getting an account opened with the help of Lifesong for Orphans, to accept tax deductible donations for the remainder of our adoption funds! More information will be coming on this as well. Our acceptance paperwork took up the most time, but it has recently been sent and was in Korea by January 9th! We are just waiting for our legal documents to be sent back to our agency, and then the next step is to apply for I-600. I know it doesn't make much sense, but just know we are busy with paperwork and getting ready for our little Jack! ;) I can't wait to share more about the little man, and his picture with you, but we are waiting just a little longer until we have our legals in. Hopefully that will be VERY soon! Pray those legals come in FAST too so we don't have to do a homestudy update! By the way, I updated the post, Referral Day, to include more about the day we got the referral call. I was so over the moon, I didn't know what to say at first. :) Thank you all for being so happy for us! We have been overwhelmed and so so thankful for all your kind words!

Referral Day!!!!

2011-12-28T16:29:00.002-05:00

December 27th was the day! The day God knew all along would be the day our waiting would come to an end! WE GOT OUR REFERRAL AND IT'S A BOY!

I decided to stay home that Tuesday, because I knew that if a referral came in to our agency, they would let our director know that day. And I knew that we were next in line, so our chances were pretty high that we would hear something, but even though my hopes were high, I definitely didn't expect anything. I was upstairs at my parents house watching "The Chew," and chatting with my dad. Bryan went downstairs to take a shower. It was about 1:15 in the afternoon and I heard my phone ring. At first, I didn't think anything of it, because I set my phone to ring a special ring tone when my agency called, so I knew it wasn't them when I went to get it. But when I picked up the phone it had a weird area code on it, and my heart stopped. I held my breath and said "Hello?" It was our director from our agency! She greeted me and asked how my Christmas was. I don't know why at this point, I didn't realize that this was THE call. I mean, our agency wasn't even open this week because of Christmas, so there would be no other reason I would be getting this call. But I just chatted with her like it was just a normal conversation. It wasn't until she said, "Well, I just received a referral for you!" , that I just lost it and started bawling. My dad went in my mom's room to let her know, "I think Monica just got her baby." Everyone was crying, and then I realized I had to pull myself together and tell my husband! I told her, "I have to tell Bryan!" So, I ran downstairs and opened the door and Bryan was there just about to come up. He saw me crying on the phone and said, "Is that it?" I just nodded my head and we hugged each other in the stairwell. We went into our bedroom and I put our director on speaker phone. She said,"I think Monica has some news to share with you, Bryan." To which I said, "I think he already knows!" ;) She laughed and told us it was a boy and his birth date was January 21, 2011! I thought immediately about how cool that was because that was Bryan's number! :) His basketball number was # 21 in high school, so he has kinda kept it since then. She told us a bunch of stuff about what our next steps would be, and that she was going to send us the official referral and pictures in the morning. We were going to have a hard time sleeping knowing that we would see our baby's face for the first time in the morning! Before we got off the phone, I asked her if we could have his name, and she said it was "Dohyun," meaning "Kind Hearted Way." Once we got off the phone, we looked at each other and just started crying! We immediately began to pray and thank God for answering our long awaited prayer! It was such a special moment that I will never forget!

Can't wait to tell you all about him! Pictures and more details to come once our acceptance is official, but just wanted to share our happy happy news!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for your prayers! We are absolutely filled with joy!

"Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. How awesome is the Lord Most High, the great King over all the earth!" Psalm 47:1-2

Hard Times...But Worth The Wait!

2011-12-03T10:16:00.001-05:00

I've been so busy lately now that I'm working full time, and haven't had much time to keep up with my blog, but I know that people have been wondering what's been going on, so I thought I would do another update.

Well, we are STILL waiting for a referral. I didn't think we would still be waiting at this point, but there are a lot of things that have happened in our adoption that we didn't expect, and probably still more to come. For those of you who don't know, there has been some movement in our agency. They have had two referrals so far, but nothing at all last week. Referrals are definitely not coming in order (this was no surprise, but we secretly hoped they would anyway). ;) The children are cute (of course) and seem to be a bit older now (around 12 months). Seems like they are referring the ones that have been waiting the longest because of the EP delay, so that's what we are kind of expecting at this point, but you never know with Korea. ;) We don't care about having an older child. There are some concerns about attachment, language, and other issues associated with adopting an older child, but we know that God has handpicked this child for us and we can rest in His decision!

The past few weeks have been up and down for us. One day we are encouraged by movement, the next day, we wonder if will hear anything at all. We also have been hit hard by some financial issues too. We had been told that it would be in our best interest to go ahead with the homestudy update. We are too close for comfort now and if something goes wrong it could cause us some major delays in accepting our referral. Our update is another $1000 we didn't expect to pay! We also were recently reminded that we will likely need to hire an attorney to finalize our adoption. I had known we needed this, but just forgot about adding it to our final adoption expenses. In the midst of all of this, we also found out our dog, Rosie, needs to have surgery to remove her bladder stones. Again, we know the Lord will provide. It's the timing that is hard for us right now.

We thought we would be celebrating a referral during Thanksgiving, but now we aren't even sure we will have one for Christmas. We also aren't really sure how to pray lately. Should we believe that God will give us a referral soon, or should we be praying for continued faith to trust in His timing? We know that God is capable and wants to provide the desires of our hearts, but our past has shown that God often has other plans for us. We would love it if you all would pray for us and help fill in the gap during this time. This waiting is really getting to us!

Throughout this whole journey, I have always heard adoptive parents say,

"Adoption is hard...but it's WORTH THE WAIT!"

I'm VERY much looking forward to the day when I can know this truth! Thank you all for thinking of us during this time. Don't know how we could get through this without you!

What's NEW?

2011-11-19T11:11:00.001-05:00

So, I thought I should send a little update to let people know the latest. As much as we hoped we would have a referral in November, the chances are pretty slim now. Referrals are still being held off until the last of the families have traveled to Korea to pick up their babies. From my knowledge, it looks like the last family is there now. We were told referrals should resume at the end of November, but I'm assuming that for us it will probably be sometime in December. I would be lying if I said I'm not disappointed in this news. I thought November was going to be the month! I would often pull up the calender on my computer and just stare at each day and wonder which day I would hear this wonderful news. I know it's silly, but that's what adoption does to you! ;) I wanted so badly not to celebrate another holiday without a baby! I thought how wonderful it would be to rejoice with my family this year on Thanksgiving that our journey of becoming parents has finally come to an end! Again I thought, "surely this is God's plan!" But looks like He has something else in store.

Along with that, we have also been told that our home study will expire soon. We (well, mostly Bryan) have been making calls to try to figure out what the next steps will be for us regarding this update. Right now, it looks like it stands that it is possible that we may not have to do an update, BUT we would have to receive a referral and send in the acceptance paperwork in a very quick manner in order to prevent this from happening! If we do not receive a referral soon, we will have to begin the process of updating our homestudy, and that would cost another $1000!! So, there is now a monetary reason we need this referral to happen SOON!

I admit that some days I am on pins and needles waiting for this referral. Seems like the longer we have to wait, the more chance there is for something to change. My sweet friend asked me the other day, "How do you do it? How do you manage this disappointment every day?" And I told her that I guess I'm just used to it. But really, now that I think about it, I know that it's God that gets me through it. If I didn't know God or rely on Him for His strength, I know this would have me beaten! I am reminded once again, that when I am weak, God is strong for me! :)

Patience Please!

2011-11-11T20:51:00.001-05:00

I have to admit, I haven't been the most patient person lately. Even though I know that there is a chance we could still be waiting a while for our referral, I can't help but think every day, that this could be the day! This has really been keeping me on edge all week! At the same time, I've thought that I just can't imagine it happening at all. I can't imagine getting that phone call! How can I go over 5 years wanting and praying for something so much, and just like that, I'm a momma?!
So, needless to say, this week has been tough. But I'm just trying to go day by day, remembering that faith in God includes faith in His timing too! Thank you all for your prayers.

Orphan Sunday

2011-11-06T16:30:00.000-05:00

On Orphan Sunday, Christians stand for the orphan. We are a people called to defend the fatherless...to care for the child that has no family...to visit orphans in their distress. Please take time today to remember to pray for and see what our part would be to help the 147+ million orphans around the world.

November is Here!

2011-11-04T10:38:00.002-04:00

Well, in case you didn't know, the countdown has begun! It's November, so that means referrals are coming!! Wonder when that happy day will be? I'm guessing we will start hearing something in the next few weeks. Whether or not that means us, I can't know for sure, but we have high hopes for it!! :)
I'm praying that day is just around the corner! And I'm praying for my friends, Christy and Kelly, number 1 and number 2 on our agency's list! So thankful for you girls and the others in our adoption group that have offered so much needed love and support during this difficult wait. Couldn't make it without yall!
May this month be a blessing to the many who wait!
So, any guesses on when that happy day might be for us? You won't win a prize or anything (you'll have to go to Kelly's blog for that.) ;) But it might be fun to guess! :) Here is a hint, referrals usually come in on Monday or Tuesday of each week with our agency, so that may help.

Blessings in Disguise

2011-10-30T22:00:00.003-04:00

Today was supposed to be our baby's due date. Once we were pregnant, I was anticipating the fall season because it was to bring our little miracle into the world, but since our miscarriage I have dreaded this day. Bryan hugged me this morning, once he realized what the day was, and asked me if I was okay. I told him that it hadn't felt much different yet. I have to admit too, that I was a bit distracted because we had Bryan's sister staying with us this weekend, but I didn't mind the distraction. Even though I wanted to acknowledge this day, I didn't want to make a big deal about it by announcing it to everyone. But then we went to church, and God did something very special for us that I felt I just had to share.
So, just a little background information first. One of the best ways, for me personally, to get through trials is worshiping God through music. Christian music always changes my perspective and I find much needed comfort through it. Whenever I had anxiety about something, Bryan would put Christian music on because he knew the Lord would speak to me and change my heart. God had done this so many times through my trials, and my miscarriage was no different. Around the time we lost our baby, a song called "Blessings," by Laura Story came out. I cannot say enough how much comfort I found in this song! I felt it was written just for me! And because it was new, it got played a lot on the Christian radio station. Every time I would hear it, it would make me cry, but it also brought me the right perspective on our situation. And because I heard it so much while I was healing, I always associate it with our angel baby in heaven. Time went by, and through the summer I would hear the song less and less. And recently had actually forgotten about it because I hadn't heard it in so long.
Then we went to church this morning. And just as worship was winding down and we took our seats, the singers came out and in a few notes, I knew what song it would be. It was the song that always reminded me of my baby. They were singing Laura Story's "Blessings," and they were singing it on my baby's estimated due date! While I listened, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. We have never heard them sing it before. Bryan grabbed my hand as we fought back tears. We thought we were the only ones who knew of this significant date, but God quickly reminded us that He too remembered! I know that this may not seem like a big deal to some, but for us, it was so special. A special little moment between us and God just letting us know once again that He cares! And once again, that these trials in this life, can be blessings in disguise.

If you have never heard this song, please take a few moments to listen. I pray it may encourage you through your trials as well...

Number 1 Celebration!

2011-10-28T10:55:00.000-04:00

I noticed on my ticker today it was a very special day! :) We have been waiting 1 year, 1 month, 1 week, and 1 day for our referral! What better way to celebrate than with some Korean food! :)

Bryan waiting for our food at the new Rice B's Korean Restaurant!


Checking out some Korean snacks!


Beautiful artwork with verse Mark 9:23, "Jesus said to him, "All things are possible to him who believes."

Beef Bulgogi with veggies, Kimchi and Mandu! Yum!

Really need to get better at these chopsticks! :)

Thankful Thursday: Good Deals and God's Provision

2011-10-20T22:37:00.001-04:00

It's no secret I like good deals! It's not easy living off one income around here and save for our adoption. When I was working full time as a nanny, not only did God place a huge desire in my heart to be a mom, but a stay at home mom at that. Bryan felt the same way too, but we knew it would be a huge challenge to afford (especially on his salary). But just like when we decided to trust God with our adoption, we also wanted trust Him with this too. So, at the time the family that I was a nanny for moved away, and we decided to pursue our adoption, we also decided to try and see if we could make living off one income work. I have had to learn to be very thrifty. We weren't big spenders anyway, so this was going to be some task. Well, it didn't take long, and I discovered couponing. I'm sure everyone knows now about couponing because of the TLC show, but 2 years ago, couponing was actually not as known as it is now. I really felt that it was a miracle that I stumbled across a website one night and listened to a online seminar about it. So, once I started couponing, and got good at it, I was actually able to cut our grocery budget by 60% and often times even more! As much as it saved us though, it didn't save quite enough. We had to reevaluate our budget. We cut our cable, we didn't eat out, we didn't buy clothes, and we continue to drive our paid for, 14 year old cars, all to make this dream of mine of being home with our children come true. And let me just say, this has NOT been easy. It's so hard to say no sometimes to friends or family when they want to go out to eat and do something fun. It's hard to have to figure out another outfit to wear to church when you have so few options. It's hard to drive around a beat up car with no air conditioning. But when I think about why I'm doing this, I know I wouldn't trade it for the world. We have been able to pay all our bills, tithe, and even give occasionally. Sometimes it doesn't make sense to us where money comes from, but we know that God has been providing for us. Not only has He provided for me to be at home, but also for our $30,000+ adoption along the way! Even when it looked like there was no way we could do it, God managed to make it work and continues to make it work! So, this Thankful Thursday, I am thankful for good deals, yes, but more importantly I am thankful for the One who provides them!

And just for fun, here are some of the good deals God has provided via craigslist for our soon to come little one. ;)

Our 360 Degree Clip On High Chair- $30!

Our Dutailier Glider- $15!

Our Radio Flyer Wagon- $10!

Thankful Thursday: Surprises!

2011-10-13T11:36:00.001-04:00

This Thankful Thursday I would like to honor my sweet hubby for his incredible effort in making my 30th Birthday such a wonderful one! Bryan has known for years that I was NOT looking forward to my 30th! I had always had a goal that I would have all my children by the time I was 30! As it got closer, my goal changed to that I just wanted to at least be a momma by 30. It was obvious that that goal would not be met in time, and my wonderful husband wanted to somehow make my birthday special anyway. So he surprised me! Not just once, but THREE times! Let me also say, Bryan is not a big fan of surprises. He doesn't like the risk in it. Too many things have to go right so everything will fall into place, and he doesn't like to chance things. So, the fact that he did this, caught me way off guard!
Surprise One
Bry had been planning this for months! In September he told me he was going to take me to Myrtle Beach for a weekend getaway for my early birthday present! I was so excited, because we never got a chance to have a vacation because our miscarriage happened right before we were going to leave. He knew how much I wished we could have got away and just relax with my family, so he went ahead and planned this for me early, so that we would have nice weather. And it was a perfect weekend! It was only a few days, but it was way more than I ever expected. He got a great Groupon deal for the resort we stayed at and we used restaurants.com coupons to eat out, so we didn't really have to spend too much money! My hunny knows how much I appreciate a bargain! ;) It was by far the most perfect birthday present I have ever gotten. It was much needed and much appreciated!
Surprise Two
So, now we have reached the end of September, and I had made plans with my parents to come up to Georgia and stay with them for a few weeks. We were going to meet them in Columbia since we were already there visiting Bryan's family, but when I called my dad, he said he wouldn't be able to do it because of work and he would try to meet us another time. But little did I know Bryan had be scheming for months for another surprise. After visiting with Bryan's family in Columbia, we made our way back home to Charleston instead of me going to Georgia like I had originally planned. It was late and I walked in the house first. When I opened the door I noticed immediately that it was cold. I thought it was weird that Bry left the air conditioning running. And then just as I was about to come in and turn on the lights, I heard a baby laughing. Terrified, I immediately turned around and ran back outside and told Bry that there was someone in the house. My heart was racing and was so scared. Bryan took my hand and walked me back in. I was so confused, but trusted Bryan knew what he was doing to take me back in that house! We came around the corner and then all of the sudden, I saw Cooper, my nephew holding a happy birthday balloon! The source of those baby noises! Then I heard people shout "Surprise!" and out came the rest of my family! I was so shocked and wanted to cry, but I was still so confused! At first I didn't even think Bryan knew about it, but later I found out he was the mastermind of this plan to get my family down to Charleston. It had been a long time before I had my whole family visit us, and he knew that it would make me so happy to have them here to visit for a long weekend and celebrate my birthday! Later that night, I found out all the planning that he had to do to keep this all a secret for so long. He created a secret email account called surprisingmonica@g mail.com, so I would not be able to read the exchanges he had back and forth with my family. Things would change, complications would arise, but he ended up pulling off a great surprise. One that I will never forget!
Surprise Three
Once the weekend was over, the plan was for me to go back up to GA with my family and spend two weeks with them. I knew that I was going to miss Bryan! After all, that was a long time to be a part from your spouse! I always love going "home" to the Georgia mountains. It was such a beautiful place to grow up. The sites and smells all bring back fond memories for me, so I definitely was looking forward to my visit. But after about a week, I trully missed my husband and was counting down the days I would be able to see him again. So, finally, my actual birthday comes on October 5th, and I'm sitting at the bar of the kitchen working on one of my paintings and getting ready to have dinner with my family, when the door opened and in comes a sight for sore eyes...my Bryan!! Three days earlier than expected!! I immediately exclaimed "Bryan!" followed by lots of clapping! (I know, I'm a dork!) ;) Again I wanted to cry, but was still so confused! He got me again! He told me he wanted to be with my on my actual birthday! Man, what a guy! What a joy to be married to such a selfless and thoughtful soul mate!
So after all that, Bryan actually was able to get me to forget how much I was dreading turning 30, and instead remember how much I am blessed to get to spend the rest of my birthdays with him!

Thank you hunny for my much needed surprises!! I love you!!

Good News!

2011-09-28T11:14:00.000-04:00

Soooo happy to report good news from Barker (our agency)! I spoke with them this morning and she wanted to cut right to the chase. She said she just wanted me to know that Bry and I (and a few other families that have been waiting the longest) were highly advocated for in Korea. She wasn't able to give me 100% confirmation that were still at the top of the list according to SWS (Korean agency) but she said that in every case that they have had communication with them and they reported back saying they would consider it, they followed through with that consideration. She told me she is not worried about it at all, and she even told us that we only had two other families waiting in front of us, making us 3rd on the list!! Just to reiterate, though, even though we are on the the top of the list (as far as waiting the longest), doesn't necessarily mean that they match in chronological order. They consider the needs of the children available first and match with families according to how they feel will best meet these needs. Or, if you are a believer, it happens how God orchestrates the matches ;)

She did say that the month of October would solely focus on getting 5 babies they already have matched approved for travel. So there will probably be no referrals in October, but should start coming in November and December. She didn't know an exact number of referrals, but she did say that we should expect to be in that group of referrals!

There were other questions I had, like about the rumors of a price increase, and the age of the children being referred now, but truly I didn't care! I was just so happy to hear good news! Plus, I knew that she would be bombarded with phone calls today and didn't want to keep her. She will follow up with more details about the trip and other information next week through email. So, I will keep you updated with that as well. :)

Thank you so much for everyone's sweet messages of support. Bryan and I thank the Lord for you!

"Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting!" -1 Chronicles 16:34

One Year Waiting...

2011-09-20T09:51:00.001-04:00

Well, it's our Anniversary! Don't know if it is much cause for celebrating, but it's been One Year Today since our dossier left for Korea. At that time, we thought we would have a four to six month wait for referral. Funny how things change. Please keep praying for us and South Korea. Two of the ladies from our agency are in Korea RIGHT NOW, and they are finding out critical information about the Korean adoption program and specific information about us. We hope to know something by next week! In the mean time, I'll just be

Thankful Thursday: Summer Memories!

2011-09-15T12:24:00.003-04:00

Summer is almost coming to an end. So, for this Thankful Thursday I wanted to reflect on this Summer! As you know, our Spring was not so wonderful (made up of morning sickness and experiencing a miscarriage). But when Summer arrived, our spirits were lifted. God was so good to us this summer. We were officially back waiting for our referral and we took lots of opportunities to pass the time!

I'm so thankful for our Summer 2011 memories!


Celebrating with Friends!

Fun at Tuck A Way!

Family Get-Togethers!


		Rejoicing Over Miracles!

A Thrifty Concert! :)

A Belated Anniversary Date!

A Much Needed Weekend Getaway!

"The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with JOY!"

-Psalm 126:3

Thankful Thursday: Prayers of a Getty Man!

2011-09-01T17:04:00.000-04:00

Thankful Thursdays are something I have been wanting to do for a while now. In light of my last post and all that has been going on lately with South Korea, Bryan and I have felt led to pray even more now for our adoption. I have also felt that I should stop getting so caught up in the negativity around me, and start looking at all the blessings I have! I know that sometimes we can't see them, but often times we can. So, Thankful Thursdays is for that purpose. To encourage me to look at God's abundant blessings on a weekly basis and hopefully encourage you to do the same! ;)

Prayers of a Getty Man

I had several things happen this week that I wanted to write about, but today I wanted my first Thankful Thursday post to be on my nephew, Getty Page (Bryan's sister's oldest son, named for her maiden name.) I love all my nieces and nephews very much, but Getty has always had a very special place in my heart. For one, Getty was the reason Bryan and I wanted to start a family. Before I even became a nanny and fell in love with wanting to be a mom, it was Getty Man (his nickname) that really started it all! It was a camping trip, 5 long years ago, that we took with his parents, Gretchen and Brock, and his sister, Jordan. It was cold and miserable weather that weekend, but I will always remember it as the weekend God inspired us to have children! Below is a picture of us on that trip. It is of me feeding Getty while his sister, Jordan (or Jo Jo) was helping. He was only 10 months old then!

Today, Getty is a very sweet and tenderhearted 6 year old little boy! Getty became aware of our infertility a little while back and since then he and Jo Jo have been praying for us to have a baby. Because we aren't around them on a daily basis, we were told by Gretchen that Getty had started praying this on his own when they would have family prayer time. It was so sweet to know that something in his heart was touched by our "situation" and he felt the need to continue to pray for us.
Back in February, when we discovered that we were pregnant, we wanted to surprise Bryan's family by announcing it as we took this photo. Most people reacted afterwards, but you can see Getty in the front row looking up at us. :)

Later, after all the excitement, Getty came up to me and confirmed, "You are having a baby?" and I hugged him and said, "Yes I am, and thank you for praying for me." That afternoon when we ate lunch, Getty prayed and with no prompting from anyone, thanked God for giving us a baby! It was such a special moment.

Since then, as you are aware, things have changed, and our baby is in heaven now. But Getty man still continues to pray. Yesterday, Gretchen called and told us that Getty has been having problems getting sad and would cry when they drop him off at school. They have been praying with him over this situation for several days, and just yesterday he came home to announce that he didn't cry today! Gretchen told him, "That's great Getty, God answered your prayer!" To which his reply was, "But I've been praying for Aunt Monica and Uncle Bryan to have a baby, and why hasn't that happened yet?" My heart sunk when I heard this! Gretchen explained to him that God would give us a baby when it was the right time. How hard it must be to explain such things to children, especially when sometimes we don't understand it ourselves! Since yesterday I have just been thinking about this and although it made me sad, I realized what a wonderful blessing this is! Even though it is very difficult to explain our "situation", Gretchen and Brock took on this challenge with their children. It is very easy for people to ignore, and I wouldn't find fault in them if that is how they felt they should handle it. But I'm so glad they did decide to share our struggle with them! Because now, when God gives us this child, not only will our prayers be answered, but Getty's will be too! What a wonderful way God is at work using our testimony to impact the faith of this little 6 year old boy! He will know that he can always pray for something and God will hear it. And that the answer to his prayers may not always come at the time we want it, but it can in God's perfect timing. It just makes me smile to think about that and see more of the joy in this journey of ours! I love you Getty Man! I am thankful for you today!

One of THOSE days!

2011-08-28T14:29:00.010-04:00

Most days I do really good with this waiting game. Really, I do! I put it out of my mind and can often find myself looking on the bright side of things. I do enjoy my time with just my hubby and the freedom we have. Most days that works, but there are days it's still hard. This is one of THOSE days.

It's hard to know what's going to happen with our adoption. Our agency tries to assure us, and give us an idea of what we can expect, but, so far, nothing has been predictable. Rules, fees, and especially time lines, have all changed since we started this process! Yes, we knew getting into this, it was going to be tough and unpredictable, but some days it just gets to you! If you don't mind, we could really use some prayer over the next few months. They are crucial in us finding out some very important things about our adoption.

These are two things we would love it if you could pray for...

1. South Korean Government

From what I understand, right now, the Korean government is desperately trying to eliminate international adoption. Ideally this would be great if there was no need for it, but because most of South Korea is still not open to adopting these children domestically, that still leaves MANY orphan children without families and would have to grow up in orphanages if there is no longer an international program! There is so much more I could go on about what is going on over there, but instead of venting, I feel the best thing would be for me to do is just ask for prayer. Please pray that their efforts and priority would change and be more focused on these children finding lifelong loving homes (no matter what country)!

2. Trip to Korea

On September 17th, two ladies from our agency will be going for a week to Korea for updates. This opportunity will help everyone better understand these new changes that will be taking place regarding international adoption, and they will be able to give us waiting families a better idea of what we can expect. They will also be able to specifically ask about where Bryan and I are in the process. As of right now, we are still unsure about that, due to our being put on hold when we got pregnant. So, please pray that this trip would be successful in finding out as much as possible and for the news to be good (Specifically, our desire is that we find out that we can expect a referral this Fall)!

Please, please, please join us not only in prayer, but believing that God will do this for us!!! We so desperately want this wait to come to an end and have our baby in our arms! Sometimes it seems like it's never going to happen.

Thanks everyone, for your much needed prayerful support!

SO Ready for Fall!

2011-08-15T12:23:00.012-04:00

I don't know about y'all, but I'm ready for fall! It's not because of the heat. Although it's been a scorcher, you will never find me complaining of the heat. In fact, Summer is my favorite time of the year! I'm probably the only person in the world you know that likes summer as much as I do. I actually went about 6 weeks with no air conditioning in my car this summer! I'm not sure why I am this way, but I do know these sunny warm days make me smile!

So, why am I ready for fall?

Could it be the leaves changing?

Pumpkin carving?

Thanksgiving turkey?

Cozy sweaters and scarves?

Yes! All these things are great! But what I'm really ready for is...

A Phone Call!!!

A phone call announcing we have a child!

Hoping and praying that this fall brings the referral of our long awaited little one!

New Blog

2011-08-08T20:56:00.001-04:00

As you can see, I have a new blog! I have been wanting to separate my business from my personal life into two separate blogs for a while now, so I finally did it! Well, kind of. I'm still in the process of transferring all my old entries over and reorganizing my Getty Art Studio blog, but it should be done soon. :)

I called this blog Joy in the Journey because I want it to reflect my personal life journey and an awareness of the joy in the midst of it. Right now, my hubby and I are experiencing our journey to parenthood, and it has definitely had it's difficulties, but it has also had it's share of blessings. I have been inspired by this recent journey and felt God convicting me to be more observant of His abundant blessings and the joy available to me.
I am fully aware that life can be hard, and I don't doubt I will still have many days ahead of me and blog posts to reflect that, but my faith tells me that all things work together for good for those who love the Lord (Romans 8:28), so I believe there can always be Joy in the Journey, if you are looking for it! ;)

Adoption Update

2011-06-28T17:44:00.000-04:00

I wanted to give everyone an update of what the latest is with our adoption. I was hoping to wait and get more clarity on things, but I thought it would be best to share what we know so far… Once we were no longer pregnant, we wanted to make sure that we could pick back up on our adoption. So, many phones calls and emails to our agency later, we were back to active status as of June 13th! We actually weren’t officially put on hold until April 19th, so we really were only on hold for less than 2 months. However, according to our agency, this does not necessarily mean that we get to be placed right back where we were in line, so to speak. It is the agency in Korea that decides these things. Barker, our agency here, explained our situation in email to them and had requested that they would honor where we were in our wait, (which had been 7 months at the time they put us on hold). They quickly received a reply from SWS (our South Korean agency), that they would consider that request. Barker thought that sounded very promising and was encouraged by their response. I, on the other hand, didn’t 100% see it that way. It wasn’t like a guarantee or anything. It was more like a “we will think about it” type of response. But to help ease our pain a little, we were told that two of the ladies from Barker will be traveling to Korea in September and they would specifically ask about us and where we were in the wait. Hopefully by end of September, we will know whether or not we got put back where we were or if we are starting over in our waiting. So, right now, there is no way to know for sure where we are in the process. There have also been other recent changes (surprise, surprise) to the Korean program. This is kind of a complicated thing to explain, but I will try to keep it as simple as possible. There are only a certain amount of international adoptions the Korean government allows each year. They issue what they call, EPs (exit permits), which basically gives the adoptive parents permission to come to Korea, get your child, and bring them into the United States. Well, apparently our agency has already run out of EPs for this year, which means no more referrals until the fall. Travel will then happen at the beginning of next year (February-ish) when the Korean government issues a new batch of EPs. There is a lot more involved than this, but I didn't want to overwhelm you too much. I know it is tough to understand this adoption lingo. ;) So, basically, at the earliest, we might be able to receive a referral this fall and travel at the beginning of the year. But like I said, that is the earliest. At worse, we could be waiting another few years. I am hopeful that we will get a referral soon, but at the same time, with all the changes that have been happening lately, I can’t help but be a little guarded. I am praying for God’s will and that I will be content in whatever that may be. On a brighter note, we received another grant! It was from a great organization called, Katelyn’s Fund. I submitted the application back in December and didn’t expect to hear anything at this point. We actually got the call soon after our miscarriage, and felt like it was such an encouragement during that time. We had an interview with a panel on speaker phone and each one of them prayed over us and our adoption. They were so kind to us and I felt so honored that they would give us a $3000 grant! It was such a blessing because my surgery after I miscarried cost us almost $3000. This money was going to be taken from our savings we set aside for our adoption, so God provided the same amount to cover it and keep us back on track for our adoption! So, as far as our adoption expenses go, we have enough to accept our referral and pay the rest of our agency fees, which was, by far, our biggest hurdle! The only amount we have left is basically our travel costs and expenses (around $6000)! If you haven’t realized by now, God is so good!

Trusting Him

2011-06-15T17:40:00.000-04:00

To be honest, I have been kinda delaying in writing this post. Because, for one, I struggled with how much I should share; and two, I didn’t look forward to painfully replaying things in my head again when I just wanted to move on. But I knew when I started this blog, I wanted it to be a shared, ongoing testimony of our journey of becoming parents, complete with struggles and miracles. When God first inspired us to adopt, I knew this was going to be a BIG thing, and I wanted to document how He was going to make this happen. I’m probably the most extremely inadequate person to ever write a blog, as I have a hard time explaining things, my grammar and spelling are atrocious, and sometimes I don’t feel sufficient enough in my walk with God to be able to express how truly amazing He really is. But I feel led to do this, and believe, even in all my inadequacies, the Lord can still use me in some way to bring Him glory. So, after much prayer, this is what I felt led to share… It’s been almost a month now since we found out we lost our baby. On May 19th, we had made an appointment to determine the sex at a 3D ultrasound facility. Bryan’s mother and sister joined us to share with us what we believed would be some of the happiest news of our lives. Instead, it was the saddest moment of our lives. Our technician told us we needed to see my doctor because something was wrong. We eventually discovered our baby had passed at about 16 weeks. We were devastated, to say the least, and mourned the loss of our miracle baby that had taken 4 and ½ years to conceive. I experienced a lot of different emotions at first, but mostly I just felt sad. I don’t think I have ever felt that utterly sad before. I will hold off on much of the details, because it isn’t my goal to make you all feel sorry for me or Bryan. Instead, if possible, I would like to encourage you with what God has taught us through this storm. Yes, we were sad. Our hearts ached. We were confused and just didn’t understand. But for the first time, we chose to look at this situation differently. You see, Bryan and I have been here before. I don’t mean that we have had a miscarriage before or experienced even close to a loss like this, but we have experienced the deep heartache of infertility. I would have to say that although this miscarriage was the saddest moment of my life, our struggle with infertility was the hardest. Throughout our first few years of infertility, I struggled with my relationship with God. I was very angry with Him that He chose this life for me. He gave me a heart to be a mother and yet not a womb to carry children! I have cried out to Him with my face in the ground and felt abandoned by Him. My heart ached so much it physically hurt and I begged Him to take my life if I could never be pregnant. Fast forward (about one year and four months ago), God revealed something better to me, His plan for our lives...adoption. You have heard me say this before, but God suddenly opened our eyes to the world of adoption and we couldn’t look back. He revealed to us that adoption was not second best to biologically building a family; it was just as amazing, but in a different way. Believe it or not, we actually grew thankful for our infertility and considered it a blessing. If not for that, we would have NEVER considered adoption. So, you see, even though we were sad when we lost our baby, we could not fall into that pattern of self-pity and anger with God. Before we had ever become pregnant, we had already experienced firsthand that our plans are not His plans, and that His plans are definitely better than what we could ever imagine. We had to choose to exercise our faith and trust that God has a reason for this too. Yes, we miss our baby. More than I ever thought possible. Along with this adoption, we truly experienced a love for a child that we haven’t even met, and it’s heartbreaking to be separated. But I am comforted in knowing he or she is dwelling in the Lord’s glory and cannot ever be hurt by the pain and sin here on earth. I cannot forget the miracle He gave us in that baby we never thought we could conceive, and will forever be grateful that, if I never become pregnant again, I got to at least carry this angel for 4 months. We know we will, one day, get to hold our baby in our arms and spend the rest of eternity together in heaven. There is no doubt that life is hard and we all experience storms. But God is able to comfort you and can bring you peace when you never thought it was possible. The Bible says in Proverbs 3:5 for us to, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding…” We are so limited in our view here on earth. We can’t see the purpose in all things and what lies ahead, but God can. He promises us that His plans are good for those who love Him (Romans 8:28). So knowing all this, it is way easier for me to trust Him, than it is for me to suffer and wonder why. This is just my story, but I pray that God will use it to inspire you to trust Him as well. To all of you who follow our journey and are prayer warriors for us, thank you. I plan to keep sharing our updates with you as He continues to expand our testimony of parenthood.

At A Loss For Words

2011-05-19T17:39:00.002-04:00

Today Bryan and I found out our baby went to heaven. We are devastated and heartbroken. Please pray for us.

An UNEXPECTED Miracle!

2011-03-27T17:26:00.000-04:00

Bryan and I have quite the news to share with you all.

As most of you know, we have desired to have children for almost four and half years now, but we've struggled with infertility for that length of time. Through those years, we would pray for God to bless us with a child, but with every passing month, we would always be disappointed. We went through several failed infertility treatments and our faith was tested through it all, but these difficult times eventually helped us grow closer to our Father.

Just last year, the Lord led us to adoption, and it was the answer to all our prayers! Our eyes were open to the great need in our world for adoption and we quickly became consumed with our calling to adopt. We were finally filled with hope, and we were thrilled to finally be expecting our child from Korea, but mostly felt so blessed that the Lord brought us down this path of infertility in order to complete His plan He had for us to adopt.

After our dossier was sent to Korea, Bry and I decided to prevent the possibility of becoming pregnant, because we knew if we got pregnant we would have to put our adoption on hold and we didn't want anything to interfere with our desire and call to adopt! After 5 months waiting for our referral from Korea, the Lord revealed to us a different plan… Bryan and I recently discovered that we are, in fact, pregnant! After 4 years of actively trying to get pregnant, it took only 5 months of not trying to get pregnant for it to work!! We were blown away by this news!

To be honest, it has been very difficult to wrap our heads around. We felt so strongly that God wanted our first child, at least, to be adopted. Everything had gone so smoothly as we hit no roadblocks, and God provided the amazing amount of money we needed to accept our referral (which could have been weeks away). Through this whole process, we were constantly assured that this was meant to be, so we have definitely struggled for several weeks with our feelings about all of this. We had to call our agency, as we signed an agreement that if we were to ever become pregnant; we were to let them know immediately. Korea requires waiting adoptive parents to put their adoption on hold if they become pregnant, and in the next few weeks, that is what our status will be. We are to assess where we are and get put back on the waiting list once our child is born. Bry and I are convinced that we are STILL called to adopt, even if we are pregnant. We may lose our grant (still haven't found out yet), and know that we will have to pay a little more now to have our homestudy updated (among other things), but we know that God has been faithful thus far and He will continue to be! Even though our adoption will be delayed now, Bry and I cannot forget the miracle He has giving us through this pregnancy! We are so excited to know that God held off pregnancy for us, so that this specific child could be born at this specific time and circumstances, and that He used this past year to inspire us to expand our family through adoption too. There was a time that having a family was something we just believed wasn't possible for us, and now we are expecting two children in the next few years!! Praise God!

Bryan and I cannot thank you all enough for your unwavering support and prayers throughout this journey. It has meant everything to us! We hope that you will continue to stay updated with the progress of our upcoming pregnancy and adoption.

**Bryan and I also wanted to address our donations. We know that many of you have generously donated to support this adoption, and we wanted you to know that all of that money is still accounted for in a savings account. The money has not been spent and will only be used for our adoption, but we would understand and are willing to return it to you if need be; so please don’t hesitate to let us know.

Some Fun Stuff…

Below is how we told our families. The first is a picture of when Bryan’s family got together down here in Charleston a few weeks ago. Bry set up the camera and told them to say “Cheese!” for the first set of pictures, then he went back to set it up again and that time he came back and said, “Now everyone say, “Monica’s Pregnant!!!” We got a few reactions, but most people we confused until it was verified after the pictures were taken, that we were in fact, pregnant! Morgan and Mom's faces were the best! ;)

This is a link to our video we took when we came home to tell my parents the news this past weekend. I had wrapped a framed picture of our ultrasound and handed it to my mom as an early mother’s day gift. My family had been expecting that we would receive our referral soon, so even though they didn’t say anything, that is what they thought it was. They were definitely surprised!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsNoC_R3qPA

By the way, we are now 9 weeks along and due October 30!

I didn't even know these things did that!

6 Weeks Ultrasound!

SIX MONTHS!

2011-03-20T17:24:00.000-04:00

We are six months, today, waiting for our referral. Today also marks the 11 year anniversary of when Bryan and I officially started dating! ;) Happy first day of Spring!

Happy Anniversary!

2011-02-26T17:22:00.000-05:00

I can't believe, one year ago today, my hubby and I sent in our application to our agency. We had decided to take a leap of faith and pursue God's leading in adopting from South Korea! As I reflect on this year, there is no doubt that God has blessed us. He has given us wonderful and supportive family and friends, provided an opportunity for me to do something I love through my Getty Art Studio business, and met our financial needs all along the way. But most importantly, God has opened our eyes to adoption, and what an amazing miracle it is! Adoption has consumed our hearts and our thoughts, and now we can't imagine not building our family through adoption! Thank you, Lord, for this year and for Your many blessings.

I Heart Korean Food!

2011-02-23T17:16:00.000-05:00

For the last two weekends, we have had the pleasure of hosting my husband's cousin, Annie, and her family from Maryland. They were stopping here in Charleston on their way to Disney World and then again on their way home. We were so excited to get to spend time with them, since we live so far away and don't get a chance to see them much. Annie's husband, Man, is Korean, so he was a great source of information for us, as we hounded him with questions about Korea. :) He was also our guide in trying Korean food for the first time. I was so excited to get to try Korean food but was also nervous. I was nervous because I really wanted to like it, because it is a part of my child's culture and want to make sure we implement it in our child's life, and that would be hard to do if we hated it! Well, it turns out, I had nothing to worry about. It was awesome! I am really looking forward to going to Korea even more now! Thanks to the Kim's for stopping through and giving us some awesome memories. Love you guys!

FIVE MONTHS!

2011-02-20T17:14:00.000-05:00

We have been waiting for referral five months today! Getting closer! :)

GOT QUESTIONS?

2011-02-11T17:11:00.000-05:00

Lately, it seems, we have been getting a lot of questions regarding our adoption. We feel so blessed that people are genuinely interested in our journey and have been there for us through prayer and support, so we are more than happy to give updates when we can. I thought it might be a good idea to include some of the common questions we have been asked lately, and do an updated post. So here you go...

Question #1: When are you getting your baby?

Good question! I wish I knew! The adoption process is always changing, so there are never any guarantees. Only estimates. Our agency, apparently one of the most conservative, currently estimates that we could receive our referral anytime between now and the fall. Things moved VERY quickly last month with referrals and travel calls, so we are hoping this trend continues. The recent time lines with my Korean blog friends is that they are receiving their referrals around the 6 to 8 month range after their dossier is submitted. Our dossier was submitted September 20, so that would put us around March to May. Our agency continues to insist that even though things are looking good right now, that it may not stay this way. They have it on very good authority that things will start slowing down. They aren't exactly the most positive people I know. ;) So, I hope for a spring referral, but expect a summer one just so I don't get my hopes up. I can't even think about it being in the fall, but you never know. Once we get the referral, we still have to wait 2 to 4 more months to travel to Korea to get our baby. So, in short, we still have a while. Oh, the joys of waiting! :)

Question #2: How's the wait going?

We are actually doing pretty well. Don't get me wrong, I am so excited to think about the day we get that phone call about our child, but I truly am enjoying this time right now. I don't know if it is because I have worked with kids before and I know how much work it is to take care of them, or the fact that this is REALLY going to happen for us soon, but I am just VERY aware right now of our freedom! Lazy Saturdays, Sunday afternoon naps, spontaneous trips, sick days, just don't happen much when you're a parent. I'm taking it all in! I'm enjoying my time with my hubby and appreciating the extra time God gave us to be with each other alone. So, so far so good! Of course, ask me this 6 months from now and you might get a different answer. ;)

Question #3: What is the situation over in Korea regarding international adoption?

I have blogged about this briefly before, but here is some more information I found recently that helps explain it a little more. Korean traditional society places significant weight on paternal family ties, bloodlines, and purity of ‘race’. This way of thinking has created a stigma of domestic adoption. Many families would rather go through excessive and expensive procedures such as surrogacy or in vitro fertilization to ensure that their offspring are related to them than to accept a child of a complete stranger into their family. The few Korean families who do adopt choose babies less than a month old so that they can pass them off as their natural born offspring. Unwed pregnant woman, children of mixed race, or those without fathers are not easily accepted in Korean society. Therefore, in most cases, Korean birth mothers who choose adoption, know that they are choosing a better life for their babies. There has been recent efforts to change this way of thinking, and things are beginning to improve, but international adoption is still very much in need there.

Questions #4 and #5: How old will your child be? Will it be a boy or girl?

I have answered this before as well. But I'm sure everyone could use a refresher. ;) Our child will be around 5 to 6 months at referral and then about 8 to 10 months once we go to pick him/her up. Regarding the sex...Korean orphans are available for domestic adoption until they are 5 months old and then they are released to international adoption. When domestic adoptions happen in Korea, they usually chose a girl, leaving mostly boys available for international adoption. We are open to either sex, but it is most likely we will get a boy. :)

Question #6: How much money do you have left to raise?

After our recent grant from Show Hope and extremely generous donation from a family member, we have a little over $7000 left to raise! Still a BIG number, but not as BIG as $33,000! The breakdown is about $2100 left to accept our referral and then an estimated $5000 for travel expenses! We still have about 3 other grants out there that we have applied for and we are supposed to hear from one of them any day now. I'll keep you updated if we hear anything. ;)

Question #7: What are your plans with Getty Art Studio after the adoption is finalized?

I initially created Getty Art Studio solely to help us fund raise for our adoption. Now that we are getting closer and closer to our goal, I have to decide if I will continue it as a personal business. I have loved creating these paintings for everyone and would love to keep doing it. So, if I continue to have enough interest, I would love to make Getty Art Studio a business. Along with that, I have decided, inspired by the generosity I have seen, that I would really like to contribute a portion of my proceeds toward some sort of adoption cause. Either a Christian grant organization or a specific family adopting. But this is all something I am still praying about and letting God lead me to how he wants it to go. So, we will see. ;)

Question #8: Do you have names picked out?

Yes, we do! We have had names picked out for a little over a year now. For the longest time, we've had an issue with names. The first 10 years we were together, we could NEVER agree on a name! Good thing we had years of infertility to figure that out! ;) Bry likes names that weren't trendy, and he doesn't want a name that can easily be misspelled because his name is misspelled so often. I like common names, and I always considered the meaning of the name. We both agreed we liked names that could have several nicknames associated with them, as we are pretty crazy (especially me) with our nicknames. :) So, after years of discussing our options, and both compromising in some areas, we finally decided our little boy's name would be John and our little girl would be Charlotte. Since we like nicknames, we like the idea of calling them Jack and Charlie. We loved Charlotte as it wasn't a very common name, but it was classic and I always liked boy names for girls, so Charlie was a good nickname. The meaning is "little and womanly" which I thought was just sweet and I could easily envision our little womanly Charlie! Since most likely we are to get a boy for our referral, I really wanted his name to mean something special. We chose Jack, not for it's popularity, but for it's meaning, "God is Gracious." Bryan is actually starting to get upset that he is seeing more and more kids named Jack and has talked about changing it, but it took us WAY too long to agree, so I'm making him keep it! ;) As they get older, they could choose to go by their nicknames, or their more grown ups names. We are looking forward to meeting our little Jack or Charlie soon! ;)

THANKS FOR ASKIN! ;)

FOUR MONTHS!

2011-01-20T17:10:00.000-05:00

We've been waiting for our referral 4 months today!!!

Can't believe how time is flying! Hope it continues to do so!

God is So Good!

2011-01-19T17:05:00.000-05:00

Despite dealing with our longer wait for referral, God has blessed us tremendously and continues to show favor on this adoption! A couple days ago, I had let myself get down by some negativity that was shown regarding our adoption. For a moment, I let that negativity affect me and I questioned if we were doing the right thing. Were we acting responsible by taking on such a HUGE financial risk? Were we were truly called to adopt? Soon I was distracted by the responsibilities of the day, and put these doubts aside. The next day (yesterday), I went to check the mail, and I saw this letter…

It was from Show Hope, a grant that we had applied for around the end of October. In December, Show Hope sent us an email wanting some updated financial information and told us they would be considering our application for review, and to expect to hear something in about four months. I assumed this letter was to state the same thing. Show Hope, in case you didn’t know, is the grant organization that Steven Curtis Chapman started and has been very successful in providing aid for orphans and adoptive families. They are probably one of the most widely known grant organizations in the Christian adoption world. And because they are so popular, everyone who is or will ever be in the process of adopting, applies to them. They only allow you to apply one time because there are so many people that do apply! I actually thought about not applying to them, because of the competition, and the fact that I have never heard of anyone actually receiving one of their grants. I would read blogs about people saying that applying for grants is a waste of time unless you are adopting special needs children or sibling groups, or if you are financially destitute (whatever that means). Since we are applying to adopt a healthy child, our financial need was truly our only hope to receive their grant. So, back to the letter, I opened it first, out to of the huge stack of mail, just out of curiosity. And to my surprise, it read…

“Dear Bryan and Monica,

On behalf of Show Hope and the donors who make our grants possible, we rejoice with your family as you step out in faith to experience the miracle of adoption. Thank you for allowing us to be a small part of your adoption process. We are pleased to inform you that you have been award an adoption assistance grant in the amount of $3000.”

Apparently we are financially destitute! ;) I immediately started to cry and couldn’t contain myself to read any further. Bryan was home and just put in a work call as I started crying. I could see the look of confusion on his face as he was leaving a message to one of his clients. When he got off the phone, I just handed him the letter and said, “We got a grant!” He calmly read through the letter, as I balled, then he just smiled and hugged me. From my reaction, he thought that we had received our referral or something! I clarified to him, that we don’t get notified by mail of our referral, we will get a call, and even if that was our referral, I would have been crying a whole lot more than that!! ;) We immediately prayed together and thanked God, once again, for His provision in our adoption. I couldn’t believe that I actually read those words. In my life so far, I have made several plans, plans that I thought God wanted me to do, but I would constantly hit roadblock after roadblock. I wanted to marry Bryan as soon as I fell in love with him (in high school), I wanted to become an art teacher, and most recently, I wanted to get pregnant. All of which, happened at a later time than I wanted, or did not happen at all. I was used to constantly being rejected and hearing, “No.” or “Not Now.” But, fast forward to our decision to adopt, the whole process has been nothing but assuring that God’s hand is on it. I wouldn’t say things have been easy, but it has definitely gone much smoother, by far, than any of my other plans. There have been more moments of rest and assurance than I have ever experienced. On the days I have my doubts; God is always quick to assure me that He is with us in this! Praise God for His goodness! And thank you all for your prayers!

**UPDATE!**

Some of you may have noticed, our ticker on the front page has shown more money. Well, on Saturday, since this posting, we received a substantial donation from a family member! They generously matched our grant from Show Hope! As you can imagine, we just stared at each other, speechless, and cried, of course! I feel so undeserving of all this generosity. The Lord has really been teaching me so much through everyone's giving, and inspired me to be more giving myself! Thank you all again for giving! Big or small, every gift is a blessing that Bryan and I, and our little one to be, will NEVER forget! Thank you Lord for your provision!