It is Tuesday evening (11:20 pm, which is 1:20 Seoul time), and I am trying to put to words the experience of getting back home. Some words that come to mind are: long, emotional, hilarious, frustrating, innocent, disbelief, exciting, painful, fun, excruciating, sad, and on and on and on. I will try to explain most of those words, but suffice it to say, it was over 31 hours of exhausting labor, filled with beautiful reminders of why God uses difficult things to display brilliantly the good gifts that He gives to us.
I'll begin with DISBELIEF. We were about halfway to the airport when I realized I left my cell phone in the hotel room. How could I? I'll tell you how- I do it just about every day when I'm at home, why should this day be any different. We got to the airport and had to go to the Delta office to correct our tickets because we switched from flying home Tuesday to Monday. The ladies at the office were SOOOO helpful and even called the hotel and made arrangements for the phone to be driven to the airport by a taxi (an hour away!).
Next, is INNOCENT. We then went to check in for our flight and I now look at the following picture and think, "I had no idea what was about to happen!"
I look pretty innocent, don't I?
This is our gate, just in case you were wondering:
This is our monster plane:
Next, I might use LONG. The plane flight from Seoul to Chicago. The first three hours were a breeze and awesome. Jayne Riley was having a blast, entertaining everyone around her. Then came the next nine. It wasn't that she was being bad, but she had some tummy issues and she was hurting. She didn't cry constantly, just powerfully. Poor thing, she needed some TLC so we gave her all we could. It made the rest of the flight seem like an eternity. She did catch a few winks though in her bassinet. It was so cool, we got a bulkhead seat, which helped with legroom, and they attached a bassinet to it for her to sleep and sit and play.
Do you think we put enough things in for her to play with?
There was also a little bit of FUN in the flight. Before I left for Korea, I had been reading a couple of other blogs of people who had recently been to Seoul and then one couple who was also waiting to go,
Rachel and Josh. A few hours into the flight, I recognized Rachel from the pictures on her blog walk towards the back of the plane. So I got up and went to the back and introduced myself to her and her son, Josiah. He is such a handsome little fellow and I'm not sure he's going to cry before he turns 13. He had such a sweet disposition. It was great to meet Rachel and then Josh as we shared such a great moment in our lives together. That was fun!
Next, I could use FRUSTRATING. It was very frustrating to get to the airport in Chicago and hear of severe weather in Atlanta that could possibly shut the airport down. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! You can't do that to me! I've got to get home. I've been waiting to see the faces of all my family and friends who would come to see this precious angel in my arms. So we sat and waited for the news. Finally, we got word that we would board the plane and take off, of course though, an hour late. We boarded the plane, taxied out to the runway and all of a sudden we stopped. I have a baby girl in my arms who just fell asleep and we stop. "I'm sorry..." the captain begins. You don't want to hear the captain of an airplane start a message out by saying those two words. So we sat on the tarmac for THREE hours. Jayne Riley, thankfully, slept that whole time, but have you ever tried to hold a baby in your arms for three hours so that they will not wake up. Your body becomes contorted and you realize your blood is no longer in some of the limbs of your body. But we did take off and the flight was just over an hour and a half and she stayed asleep the whole flight as well. Can you believe that?
Next, I might use EMOTIONAL. Getting to the Atlanta airport was emotional enough after all that, but getting off and walking past thousands of people (the Atlanta airport did in fact close down for a few hours and every terminal was full and there were even planes sitting on the tarmac just waiting to find a gate to come into... people everywhere). They were looking at a tall, Caucasian man with a small Asian baby in a carrier, and their faces showed that there was something unnatural about that. It was a powerful moment for me, because I realized, with joy, the finality of the reason I had just traveled so long and far, and why we waited for 3 years to do this, but also the reality of people either not approving or understanding. So I asked myself, not because of doubt, but simply to remind myself, "Why have we done this?" Several reasons: because God has laid on our hearts, not because we are better than anyone else, but because he has burdened us with the privilege of loving a little girl born of another woman, and welcoming her with open arms into our family. I already see our boys loving her and accepting her in a way that is so sweet and (I hate to be redundant, but it's the most appropriate word)
powerful. It moves me when I watch them and to watch Meg who has desired this for AT LEAST 15 years all love Jayne Riley with enormous smiles on their faces. To think of that unconditional, accepting love only reminds me in a more vivid (the word 'powerful' also works well here) way of the love that God has shown me through His gospel. I guess I didn't realize how big of a moment the ATL airport was for me...
Next, if you'll allow me to reuse the word LONG, I would appreciate it. We had to wait, since we missed our initial flight out of Atlanta, for 7 hours to board and take off for Jackson. Don't get me wrong, I was extremely thankful to finally take off. It just capped off a very, very, very long day (actually days!).
I think I would best describe the flight from Atlanta to Jackson as HILARIOUS. How, you might ask? Well, I needed a little humor by this time, and it came. I was seated between two men. One on my left who in April had a pacemaker and a mechanical valve installed. The man on my right had a newspaper. No, that is not the funny part. The funny part began when Jayne Riley started reaching for the man's newspaper and I couldn't tell if his reaction was sincere or if he was nervously laughing. Then she began to grab the arm of the man on my left. She would rotate between each man and there was nothing I could do in my twenty two inch wide seat to completely stop her. About a minute into the flight, she decided it was time to use the restroom. So she began to grunt a little bit, changing the complexion of her face, which I'll have to say was very cute. It was at this time, I just began to laugh. Oh yeah, the man sitting in front of me was the only person on the plane that didn't hear the captain say to leave your chairback in the forward position. So if you notice me sitting upright in the picture, it is because the metal braces of the seat in front of me were digging into my knees. What a trip :-)!!!!! So I had a not-too-sweetly-scented little girl who was revolving between harassing two men, metal digging into my knees, and me being humored by it all. Thank goodness the flight was only 55 minutes. Otherwise, my laughs probably wouldn't have lasted. But I had the flight attendant take a picture because I really wanted to capture the moment- sorry it is dark, but I didn't want to use flash and wake up all around me. What you can't tell in the picture is that Jayne Riley just took a breath from crying. I sneezed, which startled her, and we've learned that when she is suddenly startled, she responds with crying hard. So here I was, having a blast in the back of an airplane, and I wanted to share it with you:
Next, I might use SAD. We have waited for this day for three years and the moment finally came to arrive at the airport where our family would be brought together for the first time ever. Because we arrived after midnight, the boys just couldn't make it. They tried to stay up, but their bodies couldn't go any longer. Mom got us two hotel rooms in Jackson and Meg, SueSue, and the boys were all in bed. But sadness would not take the night. So Mimi and I got off the plane, got our bags and drove to the hotel. I called Meg to tell her that her daughter was just a few minutes away. She anxiously awaited. When we arrived at the hotel, Meg had recruited the desk clerk to take video and pictures for her. I hope they will turn out. So I don't have a picture on my camera of Meg with Jayne Riley for the first time, but it was such a sweet sight. Meg was obviously very emotional, yet controlled. She couldn't believe how beautiful her daughter was (that still blows me away, our DAUGHTER... Wow!). She couldn't believe her daughter was HERE!
We then took her upstairs to meet her other grandmother, SueSue, which was very EXCITING. SueSue was overwhelmed as well, very sweet. Jake was sleeping in the bed in the room and we tried not wake him up, but we couldn't keep her quiet and she ultimately prevailed.
Will & Hudson got to meet her when they woke up Tuesday morning. She has really taken to them and they to her. The boys have prayed for her for so long and have patiently waited and are as cute with her as I had expected. We are blessed and excited and thrilled and overwhelmed with joy.
She even had her first conversation with her 'Grandaddy'
We all drove back to Starkville Tuesday afternoon and showed Jayne Riley her new home and her own room:
We all played with her and had a great time:
Her first meal at home:
One of the things the boys were excited about was to see what I brought them home from Korea. I had fun buying things for them, though it wasn't near as much as I bought for her. Meg and I wanted to have some things for her as she grew up that would teach her about her homeland. So I bought a few outfits, artwork, chopsticks, books, and a few other things I hope she will enjoy. Back to the boys, it felt like Christmas all over again, and I even look like Santa bearing gifts in the picture below:
Can you tell they are anxious?
Well, it is now almost 8:00 on Wednesday night and I am about to finish the post (almost 24 hours later!). Sorry to keep you waiting for it. It has been a wonderful homecoming. Thank you to all of our family and friends who have been so supportive. We will try and keep you up to date on how our family is doing.
I'm tired and I'm out,
Jason
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