How we knew he was our son

Update: So I forgot one piece to the story...yes, there was one more sign:) At the end of summer last year, we were having dinner with one of our neighbors. We had been talking about the adoption and how at that point we didn't know if we were going to proceed...for several reasons. As we were talking, April left the room and came back with a checkbook. It was a check from the bank of heaven. At the top of the check was a scripture, "If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it" John 14:14. In the pay to the order of section, "Who so ever believeth in Me". In the following section, you were to write whatever you were asking God's blessing on. We wrote..."adopt a second child". We dated this check 8-17-2009. Our son was born 13 days later. I get goose bumps every time I think about all of these signs. God is so Good!!!

When we first received the file of Yi Seung Gi on March 16th, our hearts melted. His sweet little face took us in and we were hooked. At first, I was nervous to open his file. Did they send his file to us in error? Are they sure the weight requirement had been waived? We went ahead and opened the file and there he was. His newborn picture...sleeping quietly...he looked so peaceful. I didn't even need to read anything more. A baby boy...born in Korea...file sent to us = match made in heaven.

Then reality started to set in. He has a pretty significant special need. Can we handle his needs? Why did no other family show an interest? Was there something we were missing or was he just meant to be? These questions kept running through our minds day in and day out. Every minute of every day we prayed. This time we prayed differently though. When we would pray for each of the other waiting children we had requested info on, we would pray "let this be the one". This time however, we prayed for God's will to be done. If Yi Seung Gi was meant to be our son, We believed with all of our heart that God would lead us down the right path to our son. He is the only one in control in this situation, and we honestly believe he knew all along which child was ours and from which country he would be born in.

At this point, we felt pretty confident in submitting our name to be matched. Our next concern was how to afford the remaining cost of the adoption. We were blessed with a grant of over $10,000, but since we were switching countries we needed an additional $7,000. That evening, we spoke with my dad and step mom about our financial concerns...no one knows better than the developer of the M.W. school of finance...lol:) Anyways, after talking things over with them, they made it clear to us that we would not be able to proceed with this adoption due to our current financial struggles. We were devastated. I have never cried so much in my life. I felt like I had to give up something I never had.

From that moment, we prayed specifically that God would help us financially continue on this journey. That evening and the next day were so hard for us. I could barely see out of my eyes from all of the tears I had shed. There was just something about him that I could not just give up on. That is when it all started to change. We were graciously presented with $7000 to continue on our journey. Words can not even describe the joy we felt that day.

Our next step was to submit our name to be matched. I began to pray even more. This time I not only prayed for His will to be done, I prayed for a clear sign that he was our son. Some may say my signs were a bit off, but to me they were sent from above. As I sat at my desk searching ridiculous amounts of random websites I noticed an add for a clothing line. It was for the Tea collection and at the top of the advertisement it read, "Destination Korea". A few hours later as I was leaving work, I noticed a bumper sticker on the back of a car. It read "Remember Korea". On my way to pick up Lydia from school I was scanning through the radio when I heard these words to a song..."hey, soul sister". I just had to laugh. Lydia just might be a "soul" sister some day. Ok, so you may think these are not signs from God, but I truly feel they were. I immediately called Justin to tell him I felt 100% confident he was our son and that we should proceed.

On March 19th, we submitted our names. It took them nearly a week and a half to make a decision. It felt like that day was never going to come. I kept thinking to myself...we just have to be the family. Why would God present us with this child (born in Korea), make our hearts at ease, and help us financially find a way to bring him home if we were not going to be matched with him? I just couldn't get that thought out of my head...he just had to be our son.

The day finally arrived. On March 30th, we received the call...we have a son. It was his 7 month birthday. I shed even more tears that day. My head literally fell between my legs as I sobbed in Justin's office. We were sent an updated picture of him...he was just perfect! I thanked God for this precious child He has allowed us to raise. I was so emotional...I honestly don't know how I drove to Lydia's school.

So, even after all the signs we were given...here is one more for you. The song that was playing on the radio on my way home that day...You are so good to me by Third Day. Here are some of the lyrics:

You are beautiful my sweet, sweet song
And I will sing again

You are so good to me, you heal my broken heart
You are my father in heaven

You ride upon the clouds, You lead me to the truth
You are the spirit inside me

So I love this song for so many reasons, but on this day I loved it because he was my beautiful song. (We were originally told Kai's Korean name Seung was pronounced Song. Before I had a chance to publish this post, we have since learned his name is pronounced Sing). However it is pronounced, I still love him and this song.