First Meeting!

It finally happened! Yesterday we met Jacob! We were so nervous. At breakfast we both were both extremely anxious. We came back to our room and I felt like I needed to read my devotional. So Rob and I read. It is a day-by-day devotional, and has a set devotion for every day in a year. I kid you not, July 26 devotional was made just for us. The devotional take scripture and makes it into a note from God to us. And the first sentence of the day was: "Relax and let Me lead you through this day." It continued, "You tend to peer anxiously into the day that is before you, trying to figure out what to do, and when.... As you look to Me, I show you what to do now and next.... When you let Me direct your steps, you are set free to enjoy Me and to find what I have prepared for you this day." Wow. We spent some time in prayer and felt MUCH better. God is so good.

We got to the agency a little early and hung out in the cafe. Finally we decided we couldn't wait anymore, so we found our social worker and she brought us into a room. We got a "pre-flight" report that gave us a whole lot of information on Jacob and what he likes and doesn't like. We got his passport and the mysterious sealed envelope for immigration (those of you who have been here know what I mean). Another social worker told us that it just has all our information that we sent them. We filled out another form, and then she said, "He is here to meet you!" We went up to one of the meeting rooms. The rooms are filled with toys. We walked in, and there he was! Real. Not a picture. The pre-flight report said that he looked at the book that we sent him with pictures in it and our voice reading a story. And if asked, he can point to the pictures and point out "Mommy" and "Daddy". !!! So when we first saw him, I saw a look in his eyes that was like, "Hey! I know you guys!" He got shy and smiled. Then continued playing. His foster mom told him that it is Mommy and Daddy, and he seemed fine with that. He let us play with him and interact. And touch him. It was so fun! He was playing and laughing. And as the time went on, he was talking and interacting with us. I got a chance to talk to his foster mother and ask questions. It was wonderful. I can tell how much she loves him. She has taken such good care of him. I can't imagine what she is going through right now. When she talked about him, her face lit up. At the end she gave us hugs and said to "take good care of him." I think she was holding back tears. She really does love him. She gave us a huge bag filled with his favorite toys, clothes, music CDs, his hanbok, his lotions, and pictures on a thumb drive and some disposable cameras to develop. And guess what? He loves Thomas and Friends! Which is GREAT news, because Elijah loves Thomas as well. Which means we already have a ton of Thomas toys. And we brought 3 Thomas DVDs. Today we take custody of him.

After our meeting, we had lunch with the head of Eastern, Dr. Kim. There were about 7 other couples there adopting this week as well. Then we had lunch at the agency. Then we went and volunteered at the baby house. It was overwhelming. There were 77 babies there!! And almost all of them were only a couple weeks old. We calmed crying babies and fed crying babies. There was a baby that was a little older (6 months old) who was there for respite for his foster parents. He had been there only 2 days and wasn't supposed to be there for long. So I took him for a while and helped him try to sit and stand and walk holding my hands. Then he gave me a big yawn. I rocked him and within seconds he was out. I went to put him down in his crib, and without opening his eyes, he screamed and kicked. I picked him up and he settled down immediately. I tried again with the same result. I tried putting him on his stomach, his side, his back. I tried rubbing his back. He just screamed with closed eyes. So I picked him up again, and he quieted down again. So I carried him around while I helped feed some other babies. Then I went into a quiet room, put him on my chest, like I used to do with Elijah, and he just slept. Then they came in with his bottle. After he ate, he was super happy and was ready to play in his crib. Rob was handed a beautiful baby girl, and after he fed her, she feel fast asleep. And for the next like 2 hours, Rob stared at her while she slept in his arms. It was the sweetest thing. I didn't think he was going to be able to let her go! Looking at all those babies broke my heart. I couldn't help but cry. All of these babies are waiting. And hoping that they will be adopted. They have to wait until the child is 5 months old before they are available for international adoption. I hope they all find families very soon. They need families.

When we left, we were emotionally, mentally, and physically drained. That is why I am not writing until now. We leave soon to take custody, so I will leave you with these photos: