Letter to my son's foster mother

Dear Ms. Kwon,

Today, we saw you for the first time in over six years.  Last time we met, you had tears in your eyes.  You had just placed a squirming toddler into my lap inside a van that soon sped away from the adoption agency and in turn, out of your life.

Adoption Day, 2011

It's hard to find the words to say thank you for your care of our son.  He came to you as a tiny  infant, and you poured into him for over a year.  You rocked him.  You sang to him.  You nursed him when he was ill, and you celebrated his first birthday and his first steps.  And, you did these things knowing all along he would leave you and join a family far away in the United States.  What a sacrifice.

I love this quote by Warren Buffet.

Though I imagine Mr. Buffett was likely referring to financial investments, I feel the same is true of relationships.  You see, Mrs. Kwon, our son came to us happy, healthy and well adjusted. He knew how to receive love because you had loved him well.  He readily gave hugs and kisses because 

you had welcomed and encouraged his affections.  You planted the seeds, but we are the ones enjoying the fruit.  We are living under the "shade" of parenting a bright, confident, loving, and energetic son, and I have to say....the shade feels so good!  

What a blessing it was to see you united again today with our son! You held his hand and rubbed his back.  You took delight in hearing him sing, and you reminisced about your memories of his early 

years.  This mama's heart is full! I pray the Lord blesses you tremendously and abundantly for your gift of service to our family.  

With much love, 

A grateful mama 

2009

2017

Clap your hands, all you nations!

This morning, our family worshipped at Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, the largest mega church in the world.  Sadly, like so many churches, Yoido has been plagued by controversy, corruption, and  fallen leaders who allowed the lure of money to damage their testimony to Christ.  Such a good reminder to pray continually for those in church leadership.

For us, though, we wanted Levi to experience worshipping alongside thousands of other Koreans who love the Lord just like he does.  And, the experience was definitely powerful!  We sat in a special section in the sanctuary equipped with headphones that translated the service, and one of the ushers doted on the kids and kept bringing them candy and treats during the service (what??) 😄

As the music portion began, the pastor read these verses from Psalm 47 as a call to worship.

1 Clap your hands, all you nations;
    shout to God with cries of joy.

2 For the Lord Most High is awesome,
    the great King over all the earth.

And then, the entire sanctuary began clapping in unison and singing a familiar hymn, Power in the
 Blood.  Their voices rang out, and we happily sang along in English.  The prayer time was also powerful as the pastor encouraged the congregation to plead to the Heavenly Father on behalf of the people of North Korea.  Adam and I were moved to tears multiple times during the service as we were reminded that the Holy Spirit unites the body of Christ in a way that transcends language, race, and nationality.

We are so thankful for this opportunity to worship in the country of our firstborn, and we praise the Lord for his kindness to our family.  Clap your hands, all you nations.  Shout to God with cries of joy!

Real men wear florals

Despite being completely exhausted, we were all wide awake at 3 am this morning.  Oh jet lag, how you torment me! We knew we would need a mid day nap so we made the decision to stick close to the hotel today.  Instead of sightseeing, we decided to try out the hotel pool.

In Korea, swim caps are required at most pools so I came prepared.  Now, anyone who knows me knows I love to shop for a good deal.  There's something about purchasing a $10 item for $2 that's invigorating!  So, when I went to order swim caps off Amazon, I couldn't pass up the Assorted Pack for $6.99.  What a steal!   It was a gamble, yes, because you couldn't chose the colors, but honestly, when are we going to ever use swim caps again??

When the caps came in, I knew we had a problem.  Only 2 of the 5 were even close to a masculine print, and Zeke and Levi claimed those immediately.

But Adam?  Well, I told him REAL men wear floral prints, and you know what?  He didn't even flinch, and he rocked those pink roses all the way to the pool!  We had a good laugh at all the stares our family received at the hotel pool, and in a sea of boring black caps, my man stole the show! Love him so much!  ❤️

We made it!

International travel is not for the faint of heart.  Add three little ones to the mix, and it really gets challenging.  Fourteen hours.  Fourteen hours of cramped spaces, bad food, and endless Netflix.  There were several times during the journey that Adam and I would exchange a look as if to say, "What were we thinking??"

But, WE MADE IT!  And, the kids did amazingly well.  They were such troopers even with the fatigue.   

As we were making our descent into Seoul, I heard Levi say, "Aww...Korea. Back to my homeland. It's  just like I remembered it."  Adam and I smiled and exchanged another look that said, "Oh yeah, THAT'S what we were thinking".  So thankful for our son to have this opportunity to connect with his roots, and the journey is just beginning....

Ready or not!

It's getting close now!  In fact, in 18 hours we will be on a plane headed to Seoul, South Korea. We plan to spend one week in Korea sightseeing and connecting with Levi's foster family. 

And then, it's off to Harbin to meet our new daughter! Here's a few things that have been happening on the home front.  

After a very tense week, our paperwork has fallen into place.  Thank you Lord!  Adam received his travel visa just in time.  China gave him 18 days in country, and he will use 15 of those 18 days.  So close, but we are so thankful!  

Zekie Boy has a hard time sticking close to Mommy so we have resorted to a backpack (leash) to make sure we don't lose him in China.  :) 

This morning, I took the kids for a special breakfast of kolaches, donuts, and chocolate milk.  

And, in case that wasn't enough junk food, we have packed snacks to feed a small army! 

READY OR NOT, let's do this! 

Care package for Abigail

We were given the opportunity to send a care package to Abigail and her orphanage nanny.  A representative from our agency is traveling to China soon, and she promised to hand deliver the package to Harbin for us.  

I could think of SO many things to send!  Clothes, dolls, treats, oh my!  But, then I remembered it all had to fit into a gallon zip lock bag.  Yikes!  So, in the end, I settled on an adorable strawberry outfit, a few toys, bubbles, and a picture book of our family.  For her nanny, I figured you can never go wrong with chocolate so candy it is.  

A week later, we received these pictures and a video to let us know our sweet girl got our package!  

BIG News!

BIG News in the Williams Family, and that means its time to fire up the ole blog!

We would like to introduce the newest member to our family, Abigail Li Williams.  She is 15 months old living in the city of Harbin in northern China, and we think she is absolutely adorable!  We plan to travel as a family in August to bring her home, and I cannot wait to kiss those rosy cheeks. :)

I plan to blog along the journey as I have for our previous adoption trips.....that is, as much as I can blog while trying to keep 5 (soon to be 6) of us alive as we go globe trotting to the other side of the world!

Here's a few more pics just for fun!