A Love Letter Tree

Yesterday, we visited a Korean history museum, passing many rows of kindergarteners out on a field trip. I sat there, studying each face....trying to commit to memory their chatter that was so foreign to my ears. Like little bells chiming, they laughed and played...and again worry crept in...could I absorb enough culture in one week to share with my son...would I be equipped to parent this little one with information about his homeland...would I be able to recall the blowing ginko leaves, colors on the temples, sounds of the subway?

Tied on a tree in a lantern exhibit elsewhere were love letters and wishes...how I wanted to have a tree covered with all my prayers and wishes for this new little one...for my daughter and middle child as well...for friends praying...for my amazing husband...then I might have a beautiful visual reminder that might keep every memory available...every sight and smell and wish I hold for him...

These thoughts were still running through my head sitting in the backseat of an inconspicuous grey van now navigating the narrow streets of a northern Seoul community. Apartments and gates and doors stand piled one on top of the other...like a makeshift jigsaw puzzle of cement, brick and iron...And behind one of those doors was our piece of the puzzle...

The foster mother let us in an unassuming gate off an alley street, smiling and beckoning us up several flights of stairs...we removed our shoes and stepped into our future...

Our tiny future wore a light blue Teddy bear outfit and sleepy eyes...and time seemed to stop right then and there. Right then the swirling gingko leaves, the subway, the weather, the place didn't matter...doubt crept out, love crept in and I was complete. There with adorable little black eyes was a true life love letter tree...with every prayer and wish and blessing tied up in one 17 pound bundle.

There were tears and smiles and laughter...an amazing foster mother...and a wonderful beautiful moment in time...an hour sprinkled with one love letter after another tied on imaginary branch after branch...and then the hour was over...all too quickly...

And we had to leave...down the flights of stairs...out the side gate and back into the inconspicuous grey van. But we left with hope, with joy, and with more than one person could ever ask for from one hour of any day. He will be placed forever in our arms at 2:30pm this Friday. God is good.