1/6/2018
We have BIG news!
We are stepping out in faith to adopt YeonHee!
Last you heard, we had decided that we could not afford to move forward toward adopting YeonHee. Many people encourage us to try a GoFundMe page first. However, we were reluctant to ask for help.
When Brian and I first saw YeonHee, it was in 2010, only a short time after our son Keenan had come into our family as an almost 6 year old. We felt drawn to YeonHee but were not in a position to start another adoption. Shortly after, YeonHee was removed from the waiting child photolisting.
Then, in 2013, our family was gifted a trip to Korea with Happy Together, a cultural experience for adoptees with disabilities. Brian and I, along with Shae. Keenan and Aidan, spent 2 amazing weeks in Korea. During this trip, we went to Ilsan, an orphanage for disabled children developed by Harry and Bertha Holt. It was there that we got to see YeonHee in person and speak with her house mother about her development and personality. We cried biter tears when we were told that YeonHee was not available for adoption due to some changes in the adoption laws in South Korea. Brian and I felt that same connection to YeonHee and we cried because she could not be adopted into a family.
I began to earnestly pray for YeonHee that she would be allowed a forever family. Then, in 2015, I found a video made about YeonHee to advocate for her adoption. I contacted Holt Korea immediately and was told that YeonHee was still not legally available for adoption. Our family sent gifts and cards and I continued to pray.
On December 22, 2018, I began thinking about YeonHee and felt encouraged in my heart to look on the Holt International waitingchild photolisting. There she was! YeonHee is eligible for adoption!
My heart told me that she is meant to be in our family! Like a child, I danced around and began to tell everyone what God had done. But my family, including Brian, was reluctant and fearful to invest their heart when there were still so many barriers. The biggest barrier came quickly when we learned that the process to adopt had changed dramatically since our last adoption. Now, we needed to step out in faith and invest thousands of dollars before we could even be officially matched with YeonHee. They might say no. Another family might be matched with her first. Many doubts and obstacles became piercing fears in my heart, deflating my dream to make adoption a reality.
This is when I circle back to my original comment about not wanting to ask for help. It is hard to ask for help, especially when the help needed is money. Bottom line is, we cant do this alone. We do need help.
The bible says:
"Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father will be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it."
It is our time to step out in faith, ask for what we need, and believe that our needs will be met. In this way, God will be glorified.
Are you with me?
