Until you walk a mile in another man's moccasins you can't imagine the smell. --Robert Byrne

Well, Mike has been gone on a mission trip for over 8 days now and he is due back today!! I know he has had a great time but is homesick for the family. His being gone has made me look at my trip in a whole new light.

First off, we always joke about the fact that when Mike walks out the front door, the devil saunters in the back door. It only took him (the devil) 8 hours to get here this time! I hopped in the shower after Mike left and stepped into an inch of water in my basement floor. After much panic, a call to my beloved nephew (thank God my niece married him!!) and mopping it up, we diagnosed the problem as a backed up sewer. $%^&*#!!! What a disaster.

Then the service tech broke something and told me I would need to call someone on Monday to have it fixed, (it was now 4pm and I hadn't eaten anything) so I just nodded my head and said "OK".

Then it was off to pick up Austin at the West Michigan Science Fair Challenge in Muskegan where he placed third for his project. But later I got worried that whatever he broke might now make it through the weekend, so I called my nephew Steve AGAIN, and back he comes on a FRIDAY night no less.

All this to tell you.....what might go wrong when I am traveling?

The stove breaks? There is always McDonalds
The iron goes on the fritz? OOOh....wrinkles.

Anything else goes wrong? Well, while Mike admittedly might not be the handiest of guys, he always handles things for us and he will do just fine. He is so capable and unflappable. It's me that doesn't stay unflappable without him.

But that doesn't mean he will enjoy having to do it alone. He has been my biggest cheerleader through this all as I get ready to go, and I haven't realized just how long 17 days really is. So I am trying to keep that in mind. Maybe gonna have a few meals in the freezer. (Hope it doesn't die on him while I am gone, it was old when we moved here and it came with the house!)

Keep Mike in mind while I am gone will you? He just might need a few prayers, too!
Thanks,
Peg

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Pray as if everything depended on God and work as if everything depended upon man. --Cardinal Spellman

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. Philippians 1:9-11 (The Message)

As I get excited about this trip, I have to admit I get terribly nervous too. I want so much for the families to have a trip that is very special and exciting to them. I know firsthand how diconscerting it can be for the teens. It is hard to be an American-Korean in Korea, expecting to feel a real "connection" and not feeling it. Some of those feelings of connection come later when they get back home and get a chance to process all the information and emotions, but while they are there it can be frustrating. As instance of this comes when the teens are spoken to in Korean, and theycannot answer back. They feel incompetent even tho' that is an irrational emotion/response.

I am praying for myself to grow in depth and insight in the months and weeks to come, so I can be the best "helper" to anyone who might need me. And I hope the parents realize that this trip might be tough on some of their children while they are on the trip. I just want to be a listening ear to anyone who might want to talk. Also, I might be traveling with families who go to meet birthmother/birthfather and I really pray for insight. May God clamp my mouth when it needs to be shut and and give me the words of encouragement/sharing in joy when the moment is right.

It was a fantastic trip for our children (and all three are clamoring to go back) but the 2 1/2 weeks we were there was not alway easy for them. So I want to be sure that I keep praying the next 3 months for the families that are preparing for this trip of a lifetime!!

So, if you are a praying person please pray for the people coming on this trip and pray that I might have the wisdom and insight to know what to say and when to say it. Also pray for strength and endurance for me as I understand there is a lot of administrative work for me to do. Please pray that I do it well and with efficiency and accuracy.

"I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world."

This title comes from the website of the agency that we I am traveling with to Korea this summer. A few of you have sent me email asking me a few questions about the agency..why I am going again...etc.

We found the agency through others who had traveled to Korea and through researching tours that went to Korea on "homeland" trips for families with Korean born children. After checking out several of them, this seemed to be the one that best fit our families needs. It just appeared to be really friendly group of people, and the thing that caught my attention the most was that it was founded by the mom of two adopted Korean-born children. That seemed to me to be a very key factor. She would know what was needed for a lot of families.

We took our family to Korea in the summer of 2003 and were overwhelmed by the amount of work and people that it took to make that program run smoothly. And it really did run very smoothly. Every time we needed somebody to help us, a listening ear, or just a question answered, there was a staff person there to help.

So now I get to be a part of this program and I am so very excited! We will be traveling to Seoul first and spending a few days there. Then, if it goes like it did in 2003, we will go across to the Eastern Sea to Mount Sorakson and spend a few days relaxing by the ocean. Then we will travel by bus down to Busan, and then by train back up to Seoul.

If you want to check out the tour group's web site it's: http://adoptivefamilytravel.com

Anyway, that's it for now.
Thanks for reading. If you can't post a comment---I am sorry. I haven't figured out why. I will have to ask Mikey J.

The Brave do not live forever...but the cautious do not live at all.

The title quote comes from the movie the Princess Diaries. It describes how I feel about the choices I have made about going to nursing school this fall and about going to Korea. Earlier in my life I would not have dared make the leap to do either of these things. Especially going to Korea without Mike. When we went as a family, he did all the leg-work for us! I think I have lived a very cautious life. Mid-life crisis' can change you!

Well, I am sitting in the Hilton of the Americas in Houston, Texas (Mike's here for a conference and I am tagging along!) Mike suggested that I start a blog about my going to Korea this summer. I am not sure who is going to read it but I love to write so here goes!!

The day we left for Texas I got a call from Pat, my roommate while we are in Korea and that just truly made it real for me. I am so excited to be a part of the staff of this organization.
The tour truly changed how I looked at the whole adoption triad, especially for international adoptees, and I want to be able to share and help other families as they experience Korea for the first time.

I am not going to be a bus leader, but rather am going to be more of an assistant to Becca (the director) and Pat (the Program Manager). I hope that I can do that job up to their expectations. I am getting so excited for this!