She's here!

 [Part 3 of a series on the experience we had as foster parents.]

6 May 1997

Kyung-Yeon is here! She is cute as a button, if you're into buttons. So far she seems cheerful, flexible, inquisitive, and outgoing. Min-Ok (our first Korean foster child) used to walk around our house picking things up to look at them; Kyung-Yeon does the same. 

We drove out to Sharon's house in Snohomish to pick her up. We pulled into the driveway just as they did. The interpreter didn't arrive for an hour after that, but we all got along fine without her. Kyung-Yeon understands some English, which is going to help a great deal. 

She is indeed turning blue, although it just looks like she is cold around the edges, the tip of her nose, the line of her lips, the ends of her fingers. She is a stocky-built child, just shorter than Amanda, but probably weighs 10 pounds more. 

She is fearful of the heart surgery - who wouldn't be? - but not resistant. 

Nicole and Amanda are playing with her - playdough, Legos, dolls, swinging. Amanda seems to be more attached to her than Nicole. Both girls admit that their fears are completely gone. 

Nervous Preparations

 

5 May 1997

It has been a difficult but rewarding day.

After I sent the girls off to school this morning, I went to work on the house. I thoroughly cleaned, with special focus on Amanda's room Mid-morning, as I was typing Garry's notes, the school called saying that Nicole wasn't feeling well.  No temp, but an upset tummy.

I picked her up from school and brought her home, and then we talked. She was fretting over Kyung Yeon's arrival, as I anticipated. 

Healing the Children called with the news that the media won't be at the airport. That was a relief. They still want to cover the story, so we will probably hear from them later. 

I worked on getting translators lined up for Wednesday's doctor appointments, but wasn't successful. Pray that someone will be able to interpret for the dental appointment in particular. It is the most vital one. 

Amanda came home from school and showed her usual signs of stress, too, so the three of us sat down together and talked seriously, working through the whole situation. We prayed for Kyung Yeon and her family, and Nicole cried a long time, in sympathy for her leaving her parents. 

By the time Garry got home, we were all doing better. Shortly after that, our friends the Herringtons drove up. Dave has had some chairs that were given to us, attempting to fix them. He said at the door that the chairs weren't repairable. We weren't concerned about them. Dave and Judy said they had some replacement chairs for us! 

When we went out to their van to get the chairs, they were still in boxes! Yes, these sweet people had bought chairs for us. As we unpacked them, Dave asked Garry to come to the van again. This time they brought in the matching table! They are beautiful, made of a light wood that looks like oak. The table barely fits in our dining area, but we aren't complaining! 

We begged for the story, but they told us to give God the glory. It was perfect timing, as I was beginning to doubt that we should be taking another HTC child, doubting that we really knew what God wanted us to do. 

A day to remember. Tomorrow is likely to be another one.

[2021 NOTE: We still have and love that table and chairs, 24 years later!]

Kyung Yeon

 [Here begins a series about Kyung Yeon in 1997.]

1 May 1997

We are foster parents with Healing the Children. This coming Tuesday we will get our second HTC child. She is an 8-year-old Korean who needs heart surgery, and is scheduled to stay two months. I am not much of a babysitter, but Garry and I both have felt this is something we must do. It relates to all those ads one sees of starving children in far-away places, but you wonder how much actually reaches the child if you donate. This way we know that the child is the main beneficiary. 

The last experience was difficult, but also a growing time for our whle family. This time we anticipate being shorter, but perhaps more intense. 

It has been exciting preparing for Kyung-Yeon to arrive. I bought a garage sale bed for her that exactly fit the space we had available in Amanda's room. That led to a connection with a Christian school teacher in nearby Everett, who is having her class prepare a welcome basket for Kyung-Yeon. One of my tasks has been lining up Korean translators (my least favorite task) and God has been faithful to bring several willing women my way. Two go to our church and another one lives here in Arlington. 

Yesterday we went as a family to get teh first of the new hepatitis shot series, protecting ourselves. Afterward we had dinner at the Olive Garden, comforting one another! 

Nicole and Amanda were quite enthusiastic about having another foster sister initially, but now are growing nervous, understandably. Sharing your living space with a stranger is a frightening concept. I anticipate that this girl will be quiet, at least initially. My understanding is that she is lethargic and her hands are turning blue because of the malfunctioning heart. I hope that will give my daughters a chance to get accustomed to her before she is energetic after the surgery! 

"What if" Amanda

 What if my parents moved, the bus was late that day, they got impatient, and left me? 

What if a spider under my bed ate all the bedbugs, grew giant, and ate me? 

What if a really big eagle picked up the car we were in and started flying away with us? 

What if burning your finger meant you would die soon?

What if every time you smiled you had to go potty? 

    --Amanda, age 8

I'm Glad

 I'm glad there's chocolate,

    Fish 'n chips,

Starry skies and onion dips,

    Soft, worn jeans,

    And crispy fries,

Goods-down quilts,

    And butterflies.

I'm glad there's kittens,

    Candleglow,

Sunday comics,

    Fresh white snow,

Daffodils and barbeque,

    But most of all,

I'm glad there's you. 

Someone is Watching

 Old Testament characters didn't know their words and actions were being recorded for all mankind to read and evaluate. 

If Jonah had known ... would he have gotten on that ship? 

If David had known ...  would he have taken Bathsheba?

If Joseph's brothers had known ... would they have sold him into slavery? 

If Moses had known ... would he have killed the Egyptian?

If Sarah had known ... would she have lied to God? 

Even though, as far as we know, our words and actions aren't being recorded for posterity, I think we forget that someone is always watching us. II Chronicles 16:9 says, 

"For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him."

 After a very long list of faithful people, Hebrews 12:1 says they are "a cloud of witnesses." 

Not only that, but people around you are watching you. Your children watch you. Your neighbors watch you. Your siblings, parents, friends... they all watch you.  Everything they see in you is measured by a standard, and we all fail. But our goal is to be able to say with Paul (I Corinthians 11:1), 

"Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ."

 

 

 

 

Changes

March 10, 2013

I might have to move. Again. I’ve accepted that.

Yesterday, my family asked me why we are not considering overseas opportunities.

Because I’m selfish, that’s why. OK? I like my comfortable living space, driving to stores and putting purchases in the trunk, reading signs in town, and having steady electricity in my home.

Since November, I’ve been helping my husband look for work anywhere. Well, anywhere INSIDE the USA. Maybe the Caribbean, if need be. Alaska and Hawaii are OK with me. And so far, we have had very little in the way of success at finding that next job. He has had a few phone interviews, but the follow-up has been the letter of “we chose to go another direction.”

So yesterday, they asked me. Selfishness isn’t really a good answer to the question. Because my family is all on the west coast of the USA, I say. Yes, and how often do we see them? Truthfully, about once every two years. And I slowly realize, I have no reason at all to tell God I won’t go overseas again. It’s not comfortable. It’s downright wrenching. And then I let go.

Well, mostly let go. I enter the favored website and put in all our combined qualifications, and then I carefully select two opportunities I might like. One is in the Caribbean. I go on with my Saturday, feeling much better. And praying for a job in Puyallup or Uhio. Or the Bahamas.

Bahamas

Sunday morning, I check our email. That should be safe on a Sunday. And there is an inquiry from a school in Bangladesh, a request that we apply. That is by no means a done deal. I’m not packing. But my heart is challenged today, to consider it, seriously and prayerfully consider moving back to an inner city, with its poverty and the amazing opportunities to share hope and joy in a dark world that knows it is dark.

Bangladesh