APRIL 24TH IS THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE!!!!!

it all started in l983.....during my prayer time with the Lord, out of the blue,...I heard Him say that we were to adopt a little baby girl from Korea. Immediately I saw a vision of myself sitting in the basement of St. Teresa's church, probably in second or third grade, watching a movie about an orphanage in Asia, and saying to myself....when I get old enough, I am going to adopt one of these babies.....
I had not thought of that day since, except the vision was so clear, it was like I was there again...I knew without a shadow of a doubt the Lord had spoken to me....

However,I wasn't so sure how brian was going to react when I told him. We had not talked about having more children....and never about adoption.....So i waited for the opportune time, and proceeded to tell him how I heard from God, the vision, etc. He was not very receptive at first....but I told him that he should pray, that if it's from God, the Lord will show him too.....I don't remember exactly how long it took, but sure enough the Lord confirmed to Brian that it was Him that spoke and it was His will....

We attended some meetings of the group Families Interested in Adoption to find out how you go about finding an agency, what is involved in adopting a child, esp. from overseas....In Jan, l984 we filled a pre-application, and in April l984, we completed and filed our formal application. We picked an agency that was based in NY state.

As it should be, adopting a child is no easy process....there were physicals we both had to have, copies of everything, including HS report cards, certificates of employment, etc. We both had to individually write an autobiography to submit along with all the paperwork.... written references, Drs. approval, pages of questions we had to answer...a caseworker coming to our home and personally accessing our ability to provide a good home...

If we hadn't heard from the Lord, this whole adoption procedure would have been discouraging.....3 mos. after our first child, Nicole, was born....I was diagnosed as having Multiple Sclerosis....The Dr. came right out and said that he could not recommend me to be able to physically take care of an infant, child, being the nature of the disease, and not knowing what the future had in store for me physically....that we should not get our hopes up. That seemed liked strike one against us....but we were not discouraged, we told the Dr. that we knew we heard from God, and that my diagnosis was not going to stop us from adopting. Even our pastor, who met with us and was giving the agency a character reference, was not real encouraging and told us that we should say just what is required, nothing more, so as not to give them and the devil, any other reasons to cause this adoption not to happen.

However, after praying, I decided that in my autobiography, I was going to tell all...of how I heard from the Lord about adopting, the vision, everything.... how I was diagnosed with MS and was trusting God as my healer.....and how as a family, we
desired to trust God for everything, and dedicated our lives to be a witness and a testimony for Him.

We submitted all the paperwork...and was told that it would take at least l2 weeks...
after about 8 weeks, I felt, in prayer, that we would hear sooner, so I wrote out an arrival announcement. That afternoon, the case worker calls saying we were approved and she has a photo for us.....We were elated! and praised God for the miracle that He had performed to accomplish His will for our family. How awesome is our God?... it turns out that the agency we picked was a christian based one, one that also cared very much about the spiritual welfare of the child....we did not know that until after we were approved!...It turned out that us being honest and sharing about the Lord, was probably the key factor in them approving us, in spite of the MS diagnosis.

After being accepted, there were a few more obstacles...Korea decided not to renew the agencies license in NY....so another agency took over, one that was based in Oklahoma....just a temporary setback....took a few months longer than it
was originally planned.

We had prayed that "Lord, whatever baby you have for us, in spite of backround, physical condition, etc.....which ever one the agency first picks for us, we will trust that she is the one you have picked for us"....so when we were given the picture of KIM, Yeon Hee, from Soul Korea who was born on l/6/85 for approval....we knew she was the one that was to be a part of our family....and our
hearts were bursting with love for her.

If you have a biological child....waiting 9 mos. during pregnancy is sometimes difficult....well
adopting a child, I believe is worse, it was like being pregnant for well over a year.... from the time you apply and the time your child comes home....

Finally we are told she will be coming on April 24th....We travel to New York City, where she will be arriving along with some other babies that were to be adopted. Because their flight was very late, we literally had to sign the papers, grab Jodi(daddy had picked out the name) and run to catch our flight back to Buffalo.....
We just made it....sit down in our seats, and for the first time really get to look at our beautiful new baby girl.....she had 2 sets of clothes on, and because she was used to the formula given in Korea, we were advised to give her soy milk....I take out the bottle and put the nipple in her mouth...and she has this look like she is going to scream....but then decided it wasn't so bad, and started drinking the bottle without a fuss....we both were very relieved!

We were met at the airport in Buffalo by family and friends.....what a joyful celebration it was, balloons and laughter. Jodi was a bit overwhelmed by all this attention, but she never cried....just looked at everyone with her beautiful black eyes. Her big sister Nicole was so excited to meet this baby sister she had been waiting for, and her grandpa, to this day, still boasts that he was the only one who could make her smile that night. We were so thankful that she was finally home to be with the family the Lord had destined for her to be a part of....

The arrival announcement I wrote read:

"With Great Joy and Thanksgiving
We welcome to Our Family
Jodi Kim
(Kim, Yeon Hee)

Jodi was born on January 6, l985
In Chollanam-do, South Korea

We praise and thank God for putting
the desire in our hearts to adopt her,
and for the miracle he performed to
make the desire a reality.
Our Blessings Overflow!

HAPPY ARRIVAL DAY JODI!!!! WE THANK GOD FOR THE GIFT OF YOU!!!!!

April l4, l98l

29 years ago, Mon. April l3, l98l, I was very anxiously waiting our first child to be born....Back then, we didn't know if it was a boy or girl.....but I was convinced it was a girl....after all...I prayed for a girl, with dark hair and blue eyes, to be born on a Tuesday (because after taking a tour of Childrens Hospital ...found out they served prime rib to the new parents on Tues) AND I prayed for a big baby....I was afraid that I would be more nervous handling a tiny infant than a bigger one.....

That night I was a bit uncomfortable....I had a cold and was very stuffy and was afraid that if I went into labor, it would be difficult to do the breathing
exercises we had been practicing in our Lamaze classes.....ah...those Lamaze classes....sitting on the floor with brian behind me....coaching me....slow breaths.....blowing breaths.....all those weeks of learning to focus/breath properly so that you can relax, and make it a joyful birthing experience....yep, we knew breathing and relaxing...we were as ready as we ever would be!

Besides being stuffy, one of the main reasons I was uncomfortable was....I WAS HUGE...I had gained over 50 lbs.....well, I guess if you're going to have a big baby, you have to
gain more weight than usual, was my justification.....I have to admit, after my seventh month, I was pretty sick of people asking me if I was due any day now.....Finally the due date had approached, and I could answer yes to that question...of course, by then, the question was "are you having twins, you're so big?"!!! I think
when you're pregnant, everyone and their brother feel they have the right to comment on your body.... I got to expect the comments, and actually was surprised when someone didn't say anything about how big I was...AND I suppose the big fur coat someone gave me didn't help....I looked like a huge grizzly bear!!!!

Finally went to bed...it was hard to get comfortable...with the stuffiness and the hugeness....have to admit, I was a little cranky, here I am tossing and turning...and
my very sweet, dear husband is snoring away....
I must have fallen asleep at some point...but at 3:30 I was awakened....my water broke!!! so I wake up brian.....nervous, excited, a little bit scared....forgot all about the stuffiness....and was very much looking forward to finally delivering this little bundle of joy that has been growing inside of me for the past 9 months...
Well, nothing happened....no pains, not even a cramp.....so we decide to wait until
a decent time and call the Dr.....of course, the next few hours, for me felt like forever.....brian, bless him, snored away......

around 6:30 a.m. called the Dr....they said to come in... in a couple of hours if nothing happened sooner....so around midmorning went to the Dr. He sent us to the hospital and since still no contractions, around l2:30 p.m....they induced labor.... within minutes, the contractions started.....ok.....not too bad....but quickly they got more intense....
.....ok...now relax, slow breaths, blowing breaths.....THIS REALLY ISN'T WORKING FOR ME!.....I decide that I am going to focus on Jesus and pray in the Spirit instead....MUCH, MUCH better....maybe I should teach a class...I will entitle it..."Forget the breathing....praying works better!" Around 8:00 p.m. the Dr. comes in and checks me out and says that we are not going to have this baby for a long time yet, that he was going to go out for something to eat....besides, I was in good hands with the midwife that worked with him. She was a doll....very encouraging, positive....stayed with us the whole time.... and I had Brian, rubbing my back, doing everything he could to make me comfortable....

After about an hour and a half, I was at the point where I wanted to push so bad, but she said no, not yet....I think that part was harder than having the baby, the pressure, the wanting to push, but trying not to.

Finally, with no Dr. to be found, the midwife says I can push....and at l0:l5 p.m.
our precious baby was born....now they had this mirror on legs set up in front of me so I could see the baby coming out...but it had a decal of Raggity Ann on it...and wouldn't you know it, she came out right where the decal was on the mirror, and I didn't get to see her the moment she arrived!....disappointing, but funny at the same time.....

They quickly whisked her away to do what they do, and all of a sudden we hear the nurses making all this fuss, screaming....we immediately thought something horrible had happened....but no, it was because she was so big, the scale was not set that high.....boy, what a relief that was....she weighed in at l0 lbs. l2 oz....God had
REALLY answered my prayer.....

well, the stitching afterward took awhile, because she was so big, I tore pretty bad, but that was ok....I was so thankful she arrived safely, was indeed a girl, dark hair and beautiful blue eyes, it was Tuesday...and prime rib was on the way!!!!

God is so good....He cares about everything we care about....and I learned nothing is too frivilous to ask Him and believe Him for.....

As I held this precious gift of God in my arms, I was amazed at how quickly this tiny bundle of joy could create such emotion in you, how you can feel so much love immediately, and what a miracle it is that we were responsible for bringing this little person into the world.....

Welcome Nicole Marie Stelley....you have a God given destiny and from this moment on....will forever change this mom and dads lives for the better...you are truly a gift from God and an answer to our prayers....

HAPPY 29TH BIRTHDAY NICOLE....we love you and are so proud of the woman you have become.....

Friends

this June, it will be 40 yrs. since my high school graduation....Last year two of our classmates decided it would be nice to have a reunion this Aug. and one started contacting other classmates on facebook.....It has been wonderful connecting with old classmates. Some friendships have been renewed, while others, although we weren't friends in High School.....are developing into really good friends....
It's amazing how someone you didn't esp. connect with in school can become such a good friend at this stage in your life.....you realize now, why certain people acted the way they did in school, after finding out a little about what life was like for them back then. That bully was just acting out anger steming from his dysfunctional home life.....that girl you thought was so stuck up really was extremely shy.....and that beautiful girl who seemingly had it all....felt extremely sad inside and not as confident as everyone thought she was. Some haven't changed much at all....The class clown is still making everyone laugh and the sweet cheerleader is still very softspoken and sweet.
Most of us have, on the most part, overcome our high school insecurities.....but very few of us have completely conquered all of them....At what age do you have to reach where you are finally happy/content with who you are? Or maybe it's not an age, it's a state of mind...where you realize that everything you have gone through, good and bad, has molded you into the person you are right now.....and you finally accept that.

I personally feel that one can never really be content and happy with his life
until he gives it over to the One who created life.

I believe, and the bible says, that God, in His Divine plan, has created us all for a specific purpose...It isn't until we give our life totally over to Christ, make Him number one, and allow Him to show us who we are in Him, that He can reveal that plan and purpose He created us for. And even though we still may have faults, we can truly accept and love ourselves, who we are today, because we know that with Him, we are forever changing and being molded into that awesome person He created.....into our God designed destiny.

I thank God for this 40th reunion and the old and new friends it has brought back into my life......but I esp. am thankful that I have accepted Christ as my Savior,
and I will always have a friend in Him....One who loves me unconditionally,forgives all my sins,will never disappoint me,or be disappointed in me, And will never leave nor forsake me.