The to-do List

Since we've been matched with Micah Joon in October, we've had so many friends and family reach out to us with excitement - and questions! I admit, getting that match was a HUGE milestone in this long journey...but it was a milestone of many; many that are still to come.

We were elated to get our emigration paperwork submitted to the court on Christmas eve. This was another milestone. Now we are waiting to hear that the paperwork has been approved by the court, which inches us closer to a REAL court date. Like, an actual, specific DATE we can write on a calendar! Then we can finally start making TRAVEL arrangements. That will be a big ol' deal because, as you know, real and actual dates have been nonexistent to this point.

Even without those dates just yet, we've begun to mentally and physically prepare for travel to South Korea. That's been exciting, but so nerve-wracking. On top of booking flights, hotel, having all the paperwork we need to enter the country and present to the court...there are COVID-19 restrictions that complicate everything, of course. There was a TINY window of time not-so-long ago when some adoptive parents were able to get exemption from the 14-day quarantine that was mandatory for incoming visitors. Unfortunately, with the emergence of variants and rise in cases, quarantines are back - for everyone, no exceptions (which means no exemptions!). The very thin silver lining is that they have lessened the time to 10 days. It's a bummer for so many reasons, not the least being that we have to pay for those extra 10 nights of lodging and meals. We'll be away from our children for an extra 10 days. Paul will be away from his new (and insanely busy) job for an extra 10 days. 10 days on top of the 8-10ish days it will take to travel to and from Korea and do our court business (and MEET MICAH).

That brings me to something I realized a few nights ago while leafing through our travel packet. I was reading the itinerary for the first trip and saw that it includes 2 visits with our son. That gave me such an indescribable feeling - to be in the same room, together, after being thousands of miles apart for his life so far! I imagine our first meeting a lot (while trying not to overthink it and thereby place any expectations on it!)...but to see it on paper made it feel real. Then, I noticed something about the meetings.

There are two of them. And they are one hour each.

And that's it for trip 1.

Between quarantine, travel time, and the week in the country - we're looking at an 18-20 day trip. 20 days! And only 2 hours with Micah. That leaves me feeling disappointed. Really disappointed. Especially considering we'll probably wait another 5-6 weeks to see him again. It's going to be hard to leave him, I think.

While we are waiting to hear of our EP approval and court date, we get to experience the joy of renewing our home study! Yes - that giant collection of documents we worked on in 2020 that took over 10 months to complete...it expires next month and Korea would like it to be fully up-to-date! Sure, why not? We have time, I guess...and money to redo it. Fortunately, we don't actually have to redo ALL of it - just the financial sheets, new background checks, job changes, insurance changes, all 5 of us need updated physicals and forms, and another home visit from our social worker. It's not even a fraction of what the original home study entailed (Korea is VERY extensive about what must be included that first time), so it's not too difficult. It's just one more thing, ya know? And these one-more-things are getting old with me.

I was going to start a rant here about my anxiety over our move and how it relates to taking custody of Micah and the post-placement visits we have to complete for up to a year after he comes home, but even I'm too mentally spent today to hash that out, so lucky you, I'm done! As always, prayers welcomed and appreciated. I'd like to insert a specific request here for consideration and prayer for Micah's birth mom and foster family. There is so much about adoption that is beautiful, but lest we forget, it is always the result of broken relationships and loss. Deep, deep loss. Thank you, love you, talk soon! ~B