UPDATE ON HANNA WITH VIDEO!!!

First of all, there is no news on the travel plans for Hanna, but the next closest thing we were praying for was an update on our precious lil' surprise miracle!  We received an initial report on Hanna and everything she was doing with her referral back in March, and it had all the statistics on Hanna up until she was 6 mths old.  We haven't received anything since than.

One of the harder parts of the wait, was seeing fellow adoptive Mums receive updates on their little munchkins and yet not hear anything about Hanna.  I was assuming no news was good news, and than with all this talk about the work the agencies are doing in getting the post placement reports to the Korean Ministry, I really just put it out of my mind figuring that there wouldn't be enough man power now for updates.

Imagine how surprised I was to find out that Spence Chapin of New York had received one on Hanna today!  I was actually outside with a girlfriend that had stopped by bringing lunch for all of us with all the fixins, and we were just catching up on life.  Wewere  sitting in the lovely Lowes Plastic Adirondack Chairs in the back yard with all our kids splashing away in the big pool, and here the 'Mums' were protecting our very white bodies from the sun, towel over our heads and our feet in the lil pink pool I had originally bought for Hanna. One of our kids looked out and asked us why we were dressed like Egyptians!  (just giving you the visual here)   Mark comes outside and asks me if I would like good news!  HELLO HONEY...you've been living with me the last two days....do I really need to answer that question?  So I say OF COURSE!  He says "I have more chickens coming!"  Now if my girlfriend wasn't sitting there, I think I would have resorted to domestic violence with his answer!  You see in the back of my mind I'm thinking he was going to say something about an update.  Well than he asks if I want some REALLY GOOD news....I just keep looking at him.... He than proceeds to tell me that he just looked at email and Namyi sent a message saying they had received an update with a DVD!  So I just start shaking and screaming at the top of my lungs.  The kids all heard me....my girlfriend is looking at me like I have five heads.  You see,  all she got out of the conversation so far, was chickens and DVD.  So here she thought I was very excited that Mark was apparantly getting a DVD of CHICKENS! She also knew I was mentally 'fragile' and probably thought I'd found a new hobby!  LOL!

I than emailed New York to tell them how excited we were, and I asked if we would get the package tomorrow.  NY is about 90 miles from us.  I figured she would say yes, it would be overnighted to us!  Well she than replied that the estimated arrival date would be July 25th!  UGHHH....are you kidding me?  So I quick replied and asked her if she had already sent the package or if we could seriously come to NY to pick it up!  At this point I'm picturing myself on the phone with FED EX finding out what truck the package is on and stalking I78 Fed Ex trucks looking for my Hanna DVD!  Thankfully, Lizzie emailed me back to say that she had pulled the package from the mail, and we could pick it up.  She said Namyi, our Korean coordinator, would love to meet our family in person! 

I love the way God works as well ahead of time, because Marks schedule was such that he didn't have anything planned for tomorrow(which is now today), so we were planning a family day, yet we hadn't figured out what to do, because I haven't been feeling so great!  (Inhaled too much ring dust at the last Horse Gymkhana on Saturday night!)

So stay tuned for a Hanna update, as the Weigner's hit Manhattan tomorrow.  The girls have never been to the city.  Bekah's last visit was from the back of our four door sedan with Aunt Heidi as we drove around, just trying to to find decent parking!  So we are hoping they will have a room we can watch our precious girl on the TV before heading home tomorrow!  Mark would rather wait, simply because we all know he'll be a basket of tears, but I'm sure they'll have a tissue box available.  As I told him, it will just show NY all the more what an amazing Dad he is.

Tonight I'm staring at her, the picture of a 6 month old, knowing this time tomorrow my perspective will be all new.  I know it will be bittersweet, for I know how much she is going to have changed, and I'm sure my heart will rejoice in seeing her, yet break for all we are missing!  The most important thing is I know she is being so very well cared for.  I know God has a plan, and I'm so thankful tonight, God has heard my cries, answered my prayers and together as a family we get to see our baby girl!  We have also been talking about a time we could go to New York to meet the staff that we have only talked to on the phone up to this point!  Another blessing to meet, and hug the precious women we pray for on a regular basis that are working so hard to bring our precious baby home.  We'll be able to take lots of pictures for Hanna's baby book, and complete an important part of her story!

So pray for the Weigner's tomorrow as we take Manhattan! :)  Our meeting is lined up for 3 PM, and I'll get an update on here by the weekend.

Thanking God for giving us just what we need to keep us going. 

That reminds me this morning, one of the devotionals I read from Oswald Chambers talked about the importance of WALKING!  How life isn't about only the exciting moments, but that we need to learn to simply walk.  Step by step, one foot in front of the other.  I wrote in my journal, how I've been really tired of walking and really the past few days I just collapsed on the side of the trail and was having some arguments with the Lord about getting back up!  The verse that was quoted in this devotion was one of my favorites from Isaiah and it had new meaning this morning, and than tonight as I'm experiencing the reality of it!  "Even youths grow tired and weary...but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall run and not grow weary...they shall WALK and not faint."  God gave me a shot of Gatorade this afternoon.  The joy of knowing we will lay eyes on our little girl again and see how big she has grown, and get to see her in action as well.  I know He won't let me quit.  I'm thankful His mercies are new every morning, and when I sit and have a pity party on the side of the road He patiently waits for me to Look up, Look at Him and reach for His hand, for the strength to keep on walking the journey He has placed us on.  The finish line with this path is a beautiful, miraculous little girl, and tomorrow I get another glimpse of that finish line!

Thanks for cheering us on everyone.  

In His Grip,

Karen