Category: Korea
Just writing twenty-two in the post title leaves me a bit melancholy. It just reminds me of how long this process has taken, and I think I once again find myself at my wit’s end waiting for the wait to be over. Here is what is on our hearts this month as we wait:
1. After a flurry of activity in March with the first group submitted and approved in three weeks and a 2nd batch accepted into the ministry, there has been no news out of Korea. Since March. This is really hard to understand at this point. Please pray that batch 2 would be approved quickly so batch 3 can be submitted. We keep thinking we will be in batch 4, but we won’t really know until the dust from batch 3 clears. We just want C home.
2. C is turning 20 months old this month. We know he is being so well cared for and loved by his foster family, and we are so grateful for this fact. Please continue to pray for his good health, happy days for him, and that his heart would somehow be prepared for the big change which lies ahead.
3. We pray for C’s foster family and the transition they will need to make when C leaves their family. They have taken care of every need for much longer than they originally anticipated since they first took him into their home in 2010. I can’t imagine the grief they will feel when they no longer receive the blessing of hearing his laugher every day. We are praying for this selfless family.
4. Please pray for C’s transition home to our family. I guess there are lots of things to pray for: the handoff at Eastern from foster family to us, the first night as a family of three, the 12 hour plane ride home, C’s grieving over the loss he is experiencing, and that the attachment process begins quickly for him and us.
5. We realization has sunk in for us that we will not receive C by Father’s Day, as we were praying. This has been a hard thing for me to accept and come to terms with over the past few weeks. We are now praying C will be home by July 4th. Even this date feels like I’m grasping at an unrealistic timeframe, but it’s what I’m praying for nevertheless. Please pray that the Ministry would expedite the process of approving EPs quickly and that batches would be large so families can finally be united.
I cooked our third made from scratch Korean meal a few weeks ago, and it was BY FAR the best one yet. The romanized name for the dish is Sokalbi Chim, or Stewed Beef Ribs. The dish smelled A.MAZ.ING while cooking, and the taste didn’t disappoint once it was finished. Although I followed the recipe exactly to serve 4, J and I ate the entire thing (and we typically aren’t huge eaters).
The only downside to this dish is the length of preparation time. I made this dish over my Spring Break two weeks ago so I had lots of energy, but I can’t imagine making it while chasing around C or after working all day long. Between chopping the veggies, prepping the meat, and simmering the ingredients together the entire process took almost 2 hours. I can’t wait to cook this dish again, though, because even writing about it making my mouth salivate.
Our second Korean dish, Dak Chim, was another success. Looking at the recipe I think we both were extremely skeptical. It called for ingredients we like a lot independently but don’t usually serve together: chicken, potatoes, carrot, and squash simmered together with a sweet soy base with red pepper paste. Once again the sauce smelled extremely strong and had a very distinct smell and we weren’t sure how the tastes would blend together.
Surprisingly, once the dish was served the sauce had formed a glaze over the dish and soaked into the vegetables and chicken. However, the taste was very mild. In fact, it tasted more like a chicken and potato dish you could find at any American restaurant so I’m wondering if it has a more sweet and spicy flavor traditionally. As made, this would be an extremely approachable dish for eaters who might not have ever tried Korean food. I think we preferred our first dish over this one, but it was different and we would probably make it again.
Hearts and Seoul 