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Traveleing and Arriving

Traveling: 
One of the many blessings about this adoption journey we can count is how much we love traveling.  We just love it.  Life can be busy, you know, so these moments to us are like gold–lifting us out of the constant ‘have-to’s’ and letting us rest in the incredible, together.

Yippee!

 I’m not sure, maybe only other parents of toddlers may appreciate this as much as we do, maybe others will as well, but our flight to Seoul was wonderful; sitting down, next to Andrew, long conversations, and movies, real, recent movies, as many as you want!  Oh my, it’s the little things 😉
I watched Brave: Pretty good, not for little kids, but I love an adventurous princess.  What to Expect: Super funny, and I love that one of the families was adopting from Ethiopia!  Snow White and the Huntsman:  Dark and creepy, but the second half got really good and I ended up really liking it.  Dark Shadows: very boring.  Andrew and I never go out to see movies, so this was a real treat for us.  Plus, the food on Korean air is superb, everything they do is good.   I got Bibimbap with seaweed soup for my first meal, always a treat.

You see last time, we didn’t want a long layover in Korea, so we opted for a longer flight so we could sleep in the plane and arrive without layover–that was until we saw the Korean airport, and tried sleeping all night on a longer plane ride, we learned.  This time, we nailed it.

Delightful flight, then a 16 hour layover.  We walked though the gorgeous airport, then checked into the commuters hotel, curled up into bed and slept, in a real bed! (A perfect and pristine room, of course)  We woke up, showered and had a breakfast date.  A real breakfast date, it was so sweet.  (That green tea doughnut was incredible)

Goodness, sometimes when you decide to do something you think it’s going to be so hard, but there are such rich blessings wedged into every corner.  Like an adventure with your husband, and a peaceful date for two.  Maybe when God asks you to sacrifice, it’s so that He can pour out blessing.

Mmm, and an egg sandwich

(On IG I mentioned Always take candy from Bears.  Well, I take it back.  It was gross–so gross I found that bear again and asked him what flavor that could possibly be.  He just pointed where I could buys some.  “NO WAY!”)

Charlie Brown Cafe

Goodbye Korea!  Boarding our 2 hour flight to R feeling good.

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Arriving:

When we walked out of customs, and around the corner we turned our head, looking for Dasha and Sveta, and we saw them!  They were waving and running to us–there are no two people I would rather see in this moment, I couldn’t believe we were here!  We ran to them and they grabbed us and hugged us, I couldn’t be happier.   We probably made all the countrymen feel so strange at this display of affection 😉

“DASH!  SVET!”  We are so happy to see you!”

“We are so happy to see you!  You’re here!!!”  They said as they helped us with our bags.  We chatted and laughed as we caught up while walking to the big windowed doors, light pouring through.  It was a perfect fall day.  Dasha looked carefully at us, “You look good,” she said, suprised.  We laughed, “Haha, we feel great,” we told her about Korea, the bed, the shower.

“Ohhh.”

They looked at our 4 bags, “Uh oh,” they said, “We have a smaller car this time.”

“Sorry, mostly donations–but don’t worry, we can make it fit!”  we said.  “You didn’t need to bring so much donations since you brought some last time,” she told us, feeling sorry for us maybe mistaken at what was required of us.  “Oh, no way!  That’s not how we like to live, there is amazing stuff in here from people all over the world that will bless these orphans so much, just wait till you see!” we told her.

“Wow!  Ok!”

 In the car we thanked Sveta for making our miracle happen with paper work and getting us here now.  “Yes, she is amazing,” said Dash.  “Oh, es no problem,” said Sveta.

Dasha’s new Hello Kitty phone case!

“Sveta said she went to visit Masha at her new school, she brought the picture you sent us to give her.  Masha was very happy to see Sveta and showed some of her friends.” the photo. ” Masha’s teacher said that she would sometimes cry at night, wondering if her mama and papa were going to come back for her, or not.”

“She was crying?” we asked, our hearts a little broken, starting to remember some feelings we had last time we were here.

“Yes.”

“Well, she will see tomorrow that mama and papa never forgot, and that we will never leave her.”

“Did you miss us?” Dasha asked smiling.

“Of course we did!  We missed you so much!  Did you miss us?”

“Yes, we did!  We are so happy you are here.”

“Have you been busy helping other families adopt children the past couple months?” we asked them.

“No.  You were the last family we helped, and first to see again.  There are no new families adopting,” she told us.

“None? No new families adopting the children?” I asked.

“No.”

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Andrew and I are so, so happy to be here.  We can’t believe we are actually here again, our hearts are soaring.  There is absolutely no place in the entire world we would rather be, no streets of Paris, no beaches of our honeymoon in Kauai, no distant villa.  Just right here, thank you God.

What is different this time around in R?

SUN!  Yes, sun, so much sunlight in the month of October here.  It is beautiful, and warm, yet the leaves are turning beautiful fall colors.

We are here!  We are back!  Our lovely hotel.  JOY!

 We took a walk to the sea, and it was much busier than the last time we were here with people and children.   Laughter and chatting.

Beautiful fall.

The sea was bright and beautiful.  As we walked to edge, waves lapped up on the shore as we gazed into the distance off over the water’s edge.

We walked home to our hotel which was busy with a banquet.  

We had dinner outside on the wooden patio under big pine trees.  I ordered Borscht, just because, and Andrew had pasta.  “Oh wait–you adoption couple?  I didn’t realize when I rang you up, you look so young.  Let me re-do the bill with the 25% off…”  our waitress said.

We prayed, we held hands, we feel so much joy and so much peace.  God is serious when he says he came to bring life, and to bring life abundant.  Oh God, there is nothing we could ever do to repay you for bringing us here, we love you so much.

Tomorrow is the day.  We see the kids.  We will wipe away our daughter’s tears and tell her the truth: mommy and daddy love you and we will do everything it takes to bring you home to your family where you belong.

Maybe some people think of us as foolish to travel so far, and pay such cost to adopt these children, these orphans, but you see, that is the example we have been given. It is the example of adoption at great cost, great price, great distance, that has forever made us whole.

My friends, adoption is redemption. It’s costly, exhausting, expensive, and outrageous. Buying back lives costs so much. When God set out to redeem us, it killed Him.   And when He redeems us, we can’t even really appreciate or comprehend it, just like (Maria and Elijah) will never comprehend or fully appreciate what is about to happen to (them) … but … they will live in the fruit of it. As (their) Parents, I will never expect (them) to understand all of this or even to thank me. I just want to watch (them) live in the benefits of my love and experience the joys of being an heir in my family. This is how our heavenly “Papa” feels towards us.  –Derek Loux

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  • Kelly October 7, 2012, 2:40 pm

    I am so excited!!!!! Thank you again for sharing each step. I’ve been checking every day knowing you were on your way. I usually don’t check email/blogs on Sunday mornings so that we are not late for church but I just had to in case you posted an update. Thinking of you, and Maria!!! I am so giddy knowing she will get to see you soon!!!!

  • Kimberly October 7, 2012, 6:30 pm

    I just so love the way you write and thank you for sharing this experience. Wow…I LOVE hearing how God is so intimately in every step. So excited for Maria tomorrow…she is going to be so excited. Can’t wait to hear more! ~Kimberly in Indiana (a faithful blog reader 😉 )

  • Caitlin October 7, 2012, 7:31 pm

    So happy to hear that you two are there safe and sound and in the best hands. Those two girls sound like God-sends for SURE! Can’t wait to hear how your little angels are doing and for Maria to see you. What a happy day it will be for her!
    -Caitlin from Oregon

  • laura! October 7, 2012, 7:54 pm

    So glad you arrived safely. Thank you for the update and all the beautiful pictures. I will be praying for you and your family as you are reunited. God bless.
    ~Laura in BC, Canada

  • Kate October 7, 2012, 11:50 pm

    glad to see you are already there! teared up thinking of M waiting & wondering & crying…..I am sure she is SO happy to see you two! I love watching your journey =-)

  • Lou October 8, 2012, 3:20 am

    Amy & Andrew
    So happy that you have arrived safely and refreshed from your layover in Korea. I am so looking forward to your posts and to seeing more photos of the gorgeous Maria and Elijah. Hopefully it will not be long after this trip before you are returning to R to bring your babies home at last.

    Love & Hugs
    xxx

  • The Whites October 8, 2012, 3:28 am

    Yipee!! You made it!! We are praying everyday and we cant wait to hear all about your adventures with your two treasures. We love you guys!!

  • Laura Marino October 8, 2012, 4:18 am

    Wonderful to hear that your flight went well and that you had a great layover! That is a suprise that it is nice and warm there. I was expecting it to be cooler. That’s great to know the seasons are similar to ours. I’m anxious for your visit and with the kids tomorrow! Sending my love and prayers to you 🙂

  • Ashley Brooke October 8, 2012, 7:31 am

    Wow! That is so, so, so incredible that you’re adopting! So happy I found your blog 🙂