It's all about Seoul

I don't know what these are, but they are DELICIOUS!

Happy birthday to me!!!!


Street venders are everywhere

Apartments ~ I have not seen a house.
Squatty potty
Seoul Tower

• There are people everywhere!
• Everybody has black hair! (I'm not being smart ~ it's just weird seeing ALL black hair!)
• This is the 10th foreign country I've been in, and the first time I look like a minority!
• The Korean's seem content.
• There are seas of people. Everybody bumps into each other, and nobody minds.
• Most of the women wear high heels.
• Most people dress in black / dark colors.
• It's clean.
• The children are not whiny.
• I have not seen a Wal-Mart
• A lot of the women / girls walk arm in arm.
• Green means go, red means stop ~ sort of.
• People ignore Tim, but they look twice at me, especially children.
• You really have to search for a garbage can on the street.
• Kids giggle and love the yell, "HEY!" when they see me!
• If I yell, "HEY!" back, they are thrilled and brag to their friends!

SHE SMILES!!!!!

Oh my goodness!!! What can words say?! It has been an incredible morning! So, I had never seen a picture of Kate smiling and I often wondered if she did! Well, you can clearly see that she does ~ often!!!! We got to meet Kate and her foster mother this morning, and I just have to say, it was all so natural! I got a little teary when we met for the first time, but was soon so distracted by everything going on. Tim and I both really, really, really liked the foster mother. She is just a wonderful lady. She truly loves Kate. The case manager was there as well, so we were able to ask the foster mother all sorts of details about Kate. The foster mother said she loves to smile, alot, and does so for all the neighbors. Kate did not seem shy around us one bit. She came to us very easily and played and smiled constantly. The foster mother broke out some fresh strawberries and began feeding them to her. She LOVES to eat, the foster mother reported! Can you tell?! After a while, the case worker and the foster mother left the room so we could be alone with her. Again Kate did not cry, she just kept playing with us. After a while she began to get a teeny bit fussy, everybody returned and the foster mother reported it was close to her nap time. We will meet Kate again along with her foster mother and foster father on Monday. I presented the foster mother with some gifts that we had brought. After we explained about the presents she began to cry, and then really started to cry! Ohhhh, I felt so bad for her. The case worker ushered us out to let her be alone for a while, and that was the end of our meeting! Kate is the first baby for this foster mother and I'm sure parting is going to be very difficult for her. I'm already praying for her comfort.....

The journey over

As we are headed out the door ~ last photo as a family of four!

Our jet plane!
Waiting to board
Yummy lunch!
First views of Korea
Eastern Social Welfare Society (our Korean agency) Our room
View from our room

Good night, my big girls!

Just sending sweet kisses to my big girls as you prepare for bed tonight!!! I love you bunches! We are preparing to meet Kate in less than an hour! Mommy is a little nervous! Hopefully, we will have a story and pictures for you when you wake up! Sweet, sweet dreams!


Mommy, if you need to send me a message, posting a reply on the blog is the best way.... Thank you for all your doing! Love you!

Seoul arrival!

The second day that the sun never set! As we embraced the girls good-bye early this morning, Callie had big tears on her sweet cheeks. Witnessing her emotion brought on my own, full force, as I crawled into the shuttle van taking us to the airport. All the hectic packing, phone calls, planning and arrangements finally done and the good-bye's said, now I could feel the magnitude of the moment. It would have been easy to melt into a puddle of tears, but a short dialog developed with the passengers aroujnd me. The man sitting behind me was amazingly also on his way to Seoul. He was a soldier from Chattanooga fulfilling his last deployment assignment as a mechanic on apache helicopters at the US Army base in S. Korea. He was to be gone an entire year, and I could tell he was having a hard time leaving his wife and newly purchased home. Suddenly a week away from my home, family and girls didn't seem quite so hard.

Our plane was awesome! A giant 747 packed with lots of people (mostly Asian). The stewardesses were all so beautiful ~ like in a magazine (and they stayed that way the WHOLE flight!) Our seats had a pillow, blanket, and bottle of water waiting for us. Each seat back had it's own movie / computer screen so you could watch any number of movies, listen to music, play games, or my personal favorite, follow along on the flight path! The screen would tell you your current location, altitude, distance, speed, distance, etc. I had fun tracking the little airplane icon across the satellite map throughout our journey. I thought we would fly due west, but, we went north instead, over Tennessee, Ohio, Michigan, Ontario, the Hudson Bay, vast amounts of frozen white stuff, and then down into Seoul. We literally followed the sun! It never set until after we reached Korea! Shortly after take off we were given a little courtesy pack with socks, sleeping mask and a little toothbrush and toothpaste. So cute! Tim and I opted for the Korean lunch, Bibimbap. It was delicious! I passed on the seaweed soup, though. It tasted like warm ocean water ~ no real surprise there!

We arrived in Seoul about 3am your time, and after we cleared customs we found our driver that the agency had sent us. So nice! He took us on the 30-40 minute drive to ESWS, the agency we are working with here. We are staying in the guest house at ESWS and have already met up with another parent here. I am very, very tired and am headed to bed for the night (but it's now 7 am your time, so I hope I can sleep!). We will be meeting Kate and her foster mother in the morning (Friday) at 10 am ~ that's my time, and I'm too tired at the moment to figure out when that would be for you..... I have pictures, too, but haven't figured out all the computer components over here yet. I'm actually typing now in an office downstairs. Hopefully I can get those posted soon.

Thank you for praying! I had absolutely NO motion sickness. None on ascent, descent, in between, or even in the van here! TOTALLY INCREDIBLE! Thank you, Lord! Can I get you to now pray for my arthritis.... It's incredibly bad in my hands and feet ~ I'm suspecting being inactive in the plane for so long really aggravated it!

Girls, I love you so much, and miss you already!!!!
More as soon as I can! I'm off to sleep......

Leavin' on a jet plane!!!

This time tomorrow, Lord willing (and I think He is!), we will be well on our way to the land of my husband and daughter's birth. Oh, what an incredible journey this is! No matter how prepared I thought I was to "get the call", things have suddenly gone crazy around our house! It's such an exciting time ~ truly it has yet to sink in for me! Probably once I get on the plane I will realize this is all really happening!!! For now, my mind is going in ten different directions as I'm trying to sum up last minute preparations and packing!!!!


Our girls will be staying with my mother while we are away. They are soooo excited about all the special things they have planned! I told Callie yesterday one of the hardest things for me was to leave she and Claire. She assured me, in truest Callie fashion, it was going to be harder for me than for her!!! I am so thankful for my mother!!!! Buckets and buckets of blessings and grace to you, Mommy!

Interesting trip tid-bits:

• We got our travel call one year and one day after we mailed in our initial application


• Our travel call came 2 days shy of 3 months after our referral


• We will be flying on a Boeing 747


• We are leaving at 12 noon on Wednesday and will arrive in Korea 5:10 pm on Thursday!


• We will leave Korea next Wednesday at 10:05 am and arrive in Atlanta at 10:45 am the same morning!


• Our flight over is 15 hours and 5 minutes


• Our flight back is 13 hours and 40 minutes

Prayer requests

• Traveling safety / mercies


• That Tim will walk in grace and peace as he returns to his homeland


• That I will NOT get motion sick!


• That we will not "pick up" anything undesirable ~ in any area!


• That Kate will be prepared for us!

Thanks to everyone for all your prayers for us. Us going, and us staying! Stay tuned for our next post, FROM SEOUL!!!!

OH, WOW!!!

TRAVEL CALL!!!!

Wahoooo!!! WE'RE GOING TO GET OUR BABY!!!! Our case worker called us this morning while the girls and I were on our way to a field trip near Atlanta! Kate is ready to come home!!!! Oh, happy day!!! We are going to leave Wednesday morning!!!! Things have suddenly gone NUTS around here! I'll post more details after a while!

What's your opinion....

Do you think Kate will feel "left out" because her name doesn't start with a "C"?????

I like spelling it with a "K" because I think it's pretty, it's classic, and it's simple (no explanations necessary). I certainly don't want to give her something else to work through, but, I wasn't necessarily thinking to continue the "C" trend anyway...... Tell me what you think!

Psalm 42:5a

Why are you downcast, O my soul?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

for I will yet praise Him,

my Savior and my God.

Each step closer to Kate, makes it emotionally harder and harder to wait. Sometimes I wonder if this is really for real!? I feel like I'm losing it..... I just want to move on already!!! This endless waiting and forever expecting is tough on the nerves! We are now "in the clear". My phone just needs to ring.... Every day that passes, we say, "maybe tomorrow......".

We have Visa Interview!!!!

Kate is scheduled for her visa interview tomorrow at 1pm at the Embassy in Seoul. (that's today already in "Korean time")!!! The Embassy should grant her a visa within 24 hours of that appointment, and once our agency has that in hand, we can go!!! Wahoooo!

Sweet dreams....

So last week I was real discouraged about waiting longer than we thought to travel to Korea. It was a real struggle for about 3 days. I just couldn't shake the dissapointment off. Then, I had a dream, and I woke up thinking it was a present from my God! I dreamed I was with a group of women and we were being taken into the labor room at the hospital. We were all in various stages of labor. One got taken almost immediately back to the delivery room (someone from our agency that had just welcomed their daughter home days before). It was a happy time for all of us there, because every one in the labor room knew delivery was IMMINENT! The dream was so incredibly "real" to me, and after a 3 day discouragement battle, I was so encouraged that God indeed knows and understands our hearts! After that dream, I woke up with NO discouragement and all hope was amazingly restored! What a great God we have!

I need an EPIDURAL!!!! NOW!

There comes a point in every birthing process when you would rather be knocked in the head and wake up blissfully as they are placing your baby in your arms. TODAY is MY day! After waiting expectantly for many days, anticipating EVERY phone call to be our agency saying we are free to travel, I learned this morning we might be waiting a couple MORE weeks.... Uggghhhh! How many times have we thought, "just a couple more weeks". Apparently Kate still has not been scheduled for her visa interview at the embassy in Seoul (which is the FINAL step in the process).

I was overwhelmed with saddness and disapointment this morning. A family in our agency that received their referral AFTER us, is welcoming their baby home TODAY. There never seems to be a "rhyme or reason" to anything in this paper pregnancy process. I'm estatic happy for them, but battling a pity party for me. The ONLY way I made it to cell group at church this morning was deliberately taking my saddness and laying it at the feet of my Lord. (I had to do it many times, and am having to continue to determine not to go back and pick it up through out my day). He is a good God. He is in control.

Pressing on....

The real St. Valentine

Valentine, along with Marius and his family helped and served the Christians who were imprisoned and martyred under the persecution of Claudius 11.

Eventually he stirred up the wrath of Claudius and Valentine himself was arrested and sent by the Emperor to the Prefect of Rome.

The Prefect tried to make him recant of his faith by promising all kinds of favors. When these had no effect on Valentine and he insisted that Christ was the only way and continued to condemn the idols, he commanded him to be beaten with clubs, and beheaded on the Flaminian Way on February 14th 270AD. A Roman officer, Asterius, was converted together with his wife and family.

He refused to retract his praise of Christ when he was beaten and went gladly to prison. It was said that during his stay in prison he prayed for the jailer’s daughter, who was blind. She was healed and when Valentine went to the executioner for execution, he left her a farewell note of encouragement - "From Valentine."

His name is celebrated as that of a godly servant and martyr in many martyrologies.
Julius is said to have built a church in Valentine’s honor near Ponte Mole and gave name to the gate now called, Porta Del Popolo, formerly Porta Valentini. His remains are now in the church of St. Praxedes.

from:www.goodnews.netministries.org

Oh, happy day!

Sweet baby Kate is 8 months old today! Perhaps this time next month, you'll be here with us!

He's got the whole world in His hands

New President-Elect of South Korea is an Outspoken, Committed Christian
Teresa Neumann (February 7, 2008)

"God must have been so pleased with Lee's outspoken endorsement of Him because the divine entity blessed Lee in his running for the presidency. Otherwise, how else can Lee—a person who attributes all matters of life to God's divine providence—explain his victory?" (Beijing)—

The new president-elect of South Korea, Lee Myungbak, is a committed Christian. As mayor of Seoul in 2004, Myungbak declared: "I declare that the City of Seoul is a holy place governed by God; the citizens in Seoul are God's people; the churches and Christians in Seoul are spiritual guards that protect the city...I now dedicate Seoul to the Lord." (Photo: Wikipedia)

Reporter Sunny Lee noted that Myungbak was born into a devout Christian family and later became an elder in his church. He also noted that upon winning the nomination from the Grand National Party as its presidential candidate, Lee visited the Christian Council of Korea (CCK), where Reverend Lee Yong-kyu, head of CCK, greeted him saying, "I congratulate you on being nominated as the party's presidential candidate, which was possible because of God's power and authority that was behind you in your going through this difficult time. I trust that God will lead you to the eventual victory."

Said Sunny of Lee: "His unconcealed self-identifying with Christianity [could have] undermined his presidential candidacy because South Korea historically has a huge Buddhist population, in spite of the very aggressive evangelism outreach of Christians, seen in its recent history...but, apparently, God must have been so pleased with Lee's outspoken endorsement of Him because the divine entity blessed Lee in his running for the presidency. Otherwise, how else can Lee—a person who attributes all matters of life to God's divine providence—explain his victory?"

Referring to the history of Christianity in Korea, Sunny said that among other things, Koreans had a positive image of Christianity, "particularly after the Korean War in the 1950s when American church groups and missionaries helped the poverty-stricken nation by providing food, setting up hospitals and schools. During the dictatorship period under President Park Chung-hee, church leaders fought for the nation's democracy. And many Christians volunteered to hand in their gold and other jewelry in a mass effort to bail out the bankrupt nation during the Asian financial crisis in 1997-98.

"The president-elect attends the Somang Presbyterian church. Some non-Christian detractors are already complaining, saying that the new government should be called the "Somang government" after the name of the church, but ironically, the word somang means "hope" in Korean. South Korea is a religiously divided country, possibly on the verge of a tipping point for a sweeping revival. Pray that this new president will allow God to use him to achieve His purposes.
Source: Sunny Lee - Asia Times

In the meantime...

We are in the final stages of our wait to bring home baby Kate. We expect to receive a call within the next 2-3 weeks letting us know that we are cleared for travel.... It's a heart-pounding, extremely exciting time in our house! In the meantime, would you pray for SMOOTH TRANSITIONS for us all! That Tim and I would be submerged in grace and mercy, that Callie and Claire would quickly and happily adjust to another sibling, and mostly for Kate ~ who will be facing the greatest changes of all. Everything she knows is about to change: familiar places and smells, the sound of the Korean language, a major time change, her formula, her foods, her surroundings, sleeping in a crib, new faces, riding in a car seat for the first time.... the list is endless! It is to be expected that Kate will most likely have a period of grieving. Mainly for the loss of her foster mother. Grief is a good thing. Please pray that her grief be healthy, and hopefully short-lived, and that she will then bond and attatch to Tim and I quickly and in a healthy way. Pray with me that the Holy Spirit will groom her heart for these changes, and that she may embrace us readily!

Bet your Wal-Mart doesn't have one of these!!!

OK, so when we went to Ohio a couple of weeks ago we had to stop in Wal-Mart because I had forgotten to pack the children's toothpaste! No, they can't use mine. The whines, groans, and drama of it just being "too hot" is totally over the top. So, I was glad to run in, not once, but twice. (Who knew "Burstin' Bubble Gum" flavor is "hot" too???!!) Yeah, well, the cool thing is this Wal-Mart is smack in the middle of Amish country. Oxymoron? Probably. But, over beside the "Tire & Lube" center they have this cool parking lot for Amish buggys! The sign in the middle says, "Buggy Parking Only"! Statistically, their parking spaces were just as full as the ones for cars!

Can't wait to hold you!!!

Our agency director went to Seoul on business two weeks ago and graciously brought us back new pictures!!!!! We just received these tonight! Look at those yummy cheeks!!!!

Kate, we are getting so close!!!!

OK, we have incredible news... When we returned from OH we had a message that Kate has gotten her passport (this is hurdle 2 of 3 - see previous post). Very exciting.

Well, it get's better... I then emailed the Atlanta immigration office to let them know that she was "clear" on the Korean side. ATL emailed me back the next day (miracle in itself), and just told me, moments ago, that her orphan petition was approved TODAY! This is absolutely HUGE! THIS is what you have been praying for! THIS is essentially unheard of in the ATL office. I KNOW there is another family still waiting on ATL, and their paperwork has been there 6 weeks already. I've heard quotes of 8-10 weeks. Kate was approved in LESS THAN THREE!!! I'm ashamed at my unbelief....

All major hurdles are clear. Washington and Seoul have to communicate and we will be given a green light to travel.... Hopefully Tim's work schedule will cooperate with this accelerated time frame! Small potatoes, right!!! My palms are clammy...

Lighter moments from our OH trip...

In loving memory

PARKMAN — Mardean Lynn ‘‘Mardy’’ Regal, 56, died Sunday, Jan. 13, 2008, at University Hospital in Cleveland of natural causes.She was born June 22, 1951, in Chardon, a daughter of Marilyn I. Crislip and Philip P. Petersen.Mrs. Regal was the CEO of Reactive Material and was a member of the First Assembly of God Church in Warren.She is survived by her husband, Thomas; her parents, Marylin and Samuel Mullett of Parkman; six sons, Timothy C. of Rocky Face, Ga., Jeffrey B. of Akron, Daniel L. of Parkman, Thomas J. of Akron, William L. of Parkman and Michael P.G. of Parkman; four daughters, Heather S. Sullivan of Southington, Melissa R. Regal of Parkman, Teresa M. Robinson of Columbia, S.C., and Amy Regal of Georgia; 10 grandchildren; two brothers, Jim Petersen of Chardon and Nels Petersen of Claridon; and a sister, Dee Lehmann of Crofton, Md.Calling hours will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Carl W. Hall Funeral Home. Services will be 11 a.m. Thursday at First Assembly of God Church. Burial will be at Overlook Cemetery.

Walking hand in hand with grief, again

Not even 2 months since my Daddy went to be with Jesus, Tim's mother has suddenly passed away at age 56. A couple weeks before Christmas she was nauseated and couldn't keep anything down. Thinking it was a stomach flu, she went to the doctor and they found a stomach tumor during an endoscopy. The biopsies of the tumor came back postivie for a rare and aggresive form of cancer. The doctors were thinking they could remove the tumor; however, last Thursday during surgery they saw that the cancer had spread beyond surgical repair. She has lived with a heart condition for over 30 years, and apparently the stress of the surgery and the illness was too much strain for her weakend heart. She passed away unexpectedly Sunday afternoon while still at the hospital recovering from surgery.

We would so appreciate your prayers as we travel to Ohio this week. For traveling mercies as we go, for Tim, and especially extra grace for Callie as she walks through the death of another grandparent (mercifully, Claire still doesn't fully grasp what's happened). Tim's parents have 10 children. Many are not walking with Jesus. You can also pray that this occasion will be a catalyst to their salvation.

The morning of Mardy's surgery I heard this popular song on the radio, and for the first time I really heard the words:



My heart is to praise Him, no matter what storms come.
He's worthy of it!

And her name shall be called...

Martin Luther is one of my all time heros. Not to be confused with the, "I have a dream...." Martin Luther King; no, go further back to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany where Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses ~ an act that sparked the Protestant Reformation.


Living in a time when the edicts of the Catholic church were law, when there was no Bible in the common language, when church services were all in Latin, when the common people paid for the privilege of viewing "relics", and were frightened into purchasing "indulgences" for the pardon of sins, Martin Luther "challenged the authority of the papacy by teaching that salvation comes through faith, that Scripture is the sole source of religious authority, and that baptized Christians are a part of a gerneral priesthood". These concepts are widely embraced in today's church, however, in the 1500's they were viewed as heresy, punishable by death ~ most commonly, burning at the stake.



Did you know Martin Luther had a wife???? Yeah, so this renegade monk married a runaway nun! After becoming dissatisfied in their "religion", 12 nuns contacted Martin Luther and asked for his assistance to flee their convent (an offense also punishable by death). Martin Luther had it arranged so that they were smuggled out in herring barrels. Martin later married one of those nuns! She "is often considered one of the most important participants of the Reformation because of her role in helping to define Protestant family life and setting the tone for clergy marriages". She was an incredible woman, standing by Martin Luther's side, risking her own life, in support of his Biblical convictions.


I believe the church today is on the verge of yet another reformation. I believe the Holy Spirit is about to turn Christendom on it's head! So many are already becoming dissatisfied in their "religion", and looking for something MORE. In 1983, Mike Bickle, head of the International House of Prayer, heard the Holy Spirit say that in one generation the definition of church would be changed!!! WOW! That will be the generation of my children. My heart's desire is for them not to be "satisfied" in their Christian walk, but to have an insatiable thirst for more of the heart of the Father through the Holy Spirit.

So, we have decided to name our daughter Kate. In the tradition of Katherina von Bora, the wife of Martin Luther, who left all that was comfortable to her (the abby), to persue more of Christ.

Kate, soon you will be leaving all that is familiar and comfortable to you; but, our prayer is that you will follow hard after God all the days of your life. And, just as Katherina, may you support every reformation birthed through the Holy Spirit!

Kate Ha Mee, we welcome you!!!