No travel news yet…

We are still waiting on travel arrangements.  Again, we have asked our agency AIAA for information and they are not helpful in getting to the bottom of this delay.  They frustrate me to no end!  At this point we are not sure if they are keeping Minjoo until her endocrinologist appointment on 3/19, then the results will not be in until 4/19 (yes I know!) or if it is an issue with finding someone to escort her to Detroit.  If we had an advocate for us, we would know.  If we knew, we could act. Shame on you AIAA!!!

We are almost there!

MRI results showed a cyst on Minjoo’s pituitary gland, our pediatrician says there is nothing that she is concerned about.  What a wonderful praise!  Thank you all who have been praying.

Our agency in Detroit will let the orphanage know that we accept Minjoo as she is.  Sad isn’t it?  Does our society really put that little emphasis on human life?  To know that families would deny just because a baby who is an orphan is not perfect!  Amazing, God has formed us all wonderfully; she is perfect in our sight!  Yes, I digress again… Okay, so on Thursday (which it is now in Korea) they will begin booking airline and an escort to bring Minjoo to Detroit.  Once both are booked, she will arrive in 5-7 days.  We are praying that they book both tomorrow, or today, you know what I mean!

We are almost there.  I just cannot wait for that call!!!  Happy evening to all, tiff

For you did form my inward parts; You did knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I will praise thee;  for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works. Psalms 139:13-14.

We hopefully will have the results of Minjoo’s brain MRI on Wednesday morning.  The orphanage will have them on the 10th, this is really the 9th here, because they are 14 hours ahead of us.  I wonder if they participate in Daylight Savings Time?  HHMMM…I digress…Story of my life for those who know me well :).  Okay, back on task.  We REALLY hope that we have our travel itinerary this week; so keep praying that Minjoo will be released as soon as we get the test results.  At this point we are waiting on nothing beyond the results so we are hoping Minjoo will be here next week. 

I wanted to share something so amazing that God showed me yesterday morning.  I prayed before going to church that God would speak to me.  I am SOOOO “ADD”,  and I have a hard time focusing on things, especially at church.  I have to really concentrate to stay on task and pay attention.  We have a huge cross hanging in the front, center of the sanctuary.  I looked up and I saw this beautiful picture of Jesus standing and holding Minjoo.  He had her cradled on his shoulder and He was caressing her, patting her on her back ever so gently.  I had this awesome feeling of comfort and love come over me.  I felt Jesus was comforting Minjoo also.  Ohhh, what a beautiful sight!  Right now, God is preparing Minjoo’s heart to leave her foster family; I think this is where the comforting came into play.  She has been with them since we accepted our referral.  She has come to love and depend on them as her family.  This separation is going to be extremely difficult for her.  We have tried explaining this to the boys and it seems so sad when we talk about what she is about to experience.  I am sure that having everything that you know taken from you is traumatic.  God is also preparing our hearts to help Minjoo cope with the loss that she is about to experience.  God’s timing is absolutely perfect, He has been with us this entire journey.  Minjoo’s homecoming will be one full of happiness and tears.  We are ready, with God’s help to help her grieve for the loss that she is about to encounter.

We need all of the prayers that we can get right now.  Please pray for us this week, especially on Wednesday morning.

tiffany

Minjoo’s arrival will be after March 10.  The orphanage says that they will need to have all results of the MRI before they allow Minjoo to travel.  This is especially important because we have chosen to have Minjoo escorted to Detroit.  Please pray that they will give us a travel itinerary after the procedure on March 4 and they do not wait until March 10 to make travel plans.  Also, please pray that Minjoo remains healthy so that she is able to travel.  A simple last-minute cold will delay her travel.  We are almost to the finish line, I can see it in sight!

You need to watch this video!

I was reading the O’Leary blog today, www.fromGodtoGhana.blogspot.com, these are some good friends of ours who are adopting from Ghana.  I thought that their sweet daughter Sydney had posted a video of their siblings that they are currently waiting for.  Sydney directs on the blog to go to youtube and view the video of Sam and Esther.  I did and I was overwhelmed with emotion for the children that I saw.  When you have about 7 minutes of time to spare, please go to www.youtube.com and view Sam and Esther story.  It WILL change you!

If it does not, let me know, we need to talk 🙂

“I will not leave you as orphans (comfortless); I will come to you.” John 14:18

Got the visa…

I just received an email from the US Embassy in Seoul and they said that they issued Minjoo’s visa on February 16.  This is the last step before travel.  So now, we are simply waiting on the MRI scheduled for March 4.  Pray that they will release Minjoo for travel on March 5 and that they DO NOT wait for results.  We have had differing information on if they will allow her to travel after the MRI or after they receive the results. 

This is exciting news for us, however, it is a little bittersweet.  We know that if it were not for the MRI, she would be home with us right now.  Anyway, this is encouraging to know that we have completed everything and the only thing we are waiting for is an appointment, and we have the date for that!

We got word from the orphanage that they will not honor our medical waiver for the Brian MRI.  We will not have any travel until after March 10.  So many ups and downs in this adoption process, I am ready for an up!

Still waiting, story of our lives these days!  We did get a little news this week, but nothing earth shattering.  We were told that is our medical waiver is not honored then Minjoo will not arrive until after the results are reviewed, this is March 10.  A little disheartening, but I know there is a greater purpose in this waiting game.  We should hopefully know something tomorrow about our waiver.  The social worker faxed our request again today.

I called the National Visa Center today and found out that we were logged in on 12/15/09 and logged out on 12/16/09.  The operator promptly told me “you need to call the US Embassy in Seoul, that was over 2 months ago.”   I emailed the US Embassy in Seoul to see if there has been a visa appointment.  However, in between those two steps is a package of paperwork that has to trade hands, starting with the Korean government and ending at the orphanage.  So, step 1 is checked off, step 2 is the Korean paperwork, step 3 is Minjoo’s visa, step 4  is travel.  Hopefully soon we will hear that the Embassy has already seen Minjoo and her visa has been approved.   Since our agency has not been helpful at all in this stage of the process, I had to be my own detective and take matters into my own hands.  I feel good about myself, yeah!  If you need any private investigation services, I am here to help.

We are so excited to meet our baby girl.  We love her so very much.  I cannot wait to kiss her and hug her.  I cannot wait to see my boys love on their baby sister and most of all I cannot wait to see my husband fall in love with another woman.  We are in the home stretch and the waiting is tough, but I know we will see her soon.  

tiffany

It seems that everyday we are reminded of how much God is in control, not us.  We received a phone call today from our social worker, we thought that it was the travel call that we have waited for.  Not so much.  We got an update on Minjoo and her medical status.  She has some mild to moderate hearing loss in both ears, we only have  a number to go off at this point, so we will again wait until her arrival to see where to go from there.  The second issue, the physician in Korea  seems to think that Minjoo is developmentally delayed.  They have her scheduled for a brain MRI on March 4.  We have asked that the MRI be waived if travel is allowed before March 4.  We would like to have the MRI completed ourselves anyway. 

God is so good and he keeps reminding me that Minjoo is safe and that she will be here soon; and most importantly that He is in control.  We have so many things to be thankful for.  This adoption process, though it has been difficult these last 6 weeks or so, has God’s hand all over it.  I know that He has a plan for Minjoo and He has a plan for us.  We are so excited for our baby to arrive, to hold her, to kiss her and to have her be a part of her family.

Until next time….

tiffany

new video is posted on youtube under Isabella Minjoo #4….