Random posting

During the week I usually think of things that are blog-worthy. However, they are usually a little thought or story that is not long enough for a full post. So, this post is going to be a compilation of various things.

First of all, Caleb went on his first friend sleepover last night! This was a very big deal for me and I was nervous. Caleb was not worried at all. I think it helped that his friend had already spent the night at our house last month. Nate and I had to be in Grand Rapids very early this morning to get fingerprinted for the adoption. We wouldn't have been able to bring Caleb to school, so he spent the night with his friend and went to school with them. It sounds like he had a great time. The only issue was that they boys took a long time going to sleep b/c they were laughing so much. That kind of problem I can handle.:) When I dropped Caleb off last night I was talking to my friend. Caleb ran by, saw me and said, "Mom, why are you still here?" I laughed. It's starting already!

I think I witnessed one of the most boring jobs ever today. We had to go to a special citizenship and immigration office to get fingerprinted. The work environment there is so depressing! There are tons of chairs lined up in a big room with little work stations along the wall and no decorations or background music. The employees stand there taking fingerprints ALL DAY LONG. Nate and I agreed we would go crazy working there. I know someone has to do that job, thankfully it's not us!

Another random thought, clothing stores should only sell little boy pants with REINFORCED KNEES! Caleb has gotten holes in so many pairs of pants this year. He received a brand new pair of cargo pants for Christmas and had holes in the knees by January. Yes, Mom DeMaster, it was the pants you gave him.:( Thankfully my mother and mother-in-law have been kind enough to patch all of his pants. He recently got holes in a pair of jeans that had already been patched. He informed me the patches needed to be fixed. I said, nope we are not patching patches.:) Now we need patches for the cargo pants.:) I bought a pair of jeans with reinforced knees, we'll see how long they last....

I just finished a very interesting book. It's called Seed from the East. It was written in the 1950's about the Holt family. They felt called by the Lord to help children in Korea after the Korean War. They were 50 year old farmers who had 6 mostly grown children and they felt God calling them to adopt. They adopted 8 children under the age of 4 at one time! They then continued helping children in Korea and eventually the Holt Christian adoption agency was started in Korea. This agency has been around for 40+ years and is big in South Korea. Bethany does all of their Korean adoptions thru Holt. Anyways, the writing in the book isn't great but the story deeply impressed me. It's so amazing to see how God worked thru an ordinary couple to change the lives of so many Korean orphans and how their faithfulness has trickled down over 50 years. Because of the steps of faith they took, we can have our own adoption story. God is amazing.

Another book I just read is called I Wish for You a Beautiful Life. It is a compilation of letters written by Korean birth mothers to children they gave up for adoption. The book is informative and heart-wrenching. It explains the Korean culture more and why having a baby out of wedlock is so shameful. Reading the letters also gives us a glimpse into how our baby's birth mom may be feeling. It will not be an easy decision for the birth mom and we pray that she feels God's presence and has people supporting her. It's exciting to think our baby could be born in March or April, but we feel for the birth mom as well. The baby's birth will be a bittersweet day that she will never forget.