The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I can't believe how enjoyable it is to witness Christmas through the eyes of a child. Isaac's first Christmas home he was too little and had just had surgery to correct his cleft palate. He really wasn't in to Christmas, still adjusting to life with a family, it was probably a bit overwhelming for him. Last year he enjoyed Christmas but didn't really get into it before hand, he just didn't "get it." But this year, he had an idea of Christmas, and anticipated it with such excitement and enthusiasm! It is truly a blessing to witness such events through the eyes of a child!

We started our family celebration with the tree decoration on the 6th. I wish that I had gotten a picture of Isaac building the tree, but I just didn't think of it. I can't believe it, I think we have a future engineer on our hands. I showed him what to do and he put in at least 25 of the 30 limbs. He didn't want help and thought it was a blast to build the "Christmas tree puzzle."

When we finished he wanted to do it again, but settled for helping put the ornaments on the tree.

This year also marked our first visit to Santa Clause and Santa Cow. We were surprised to see Santa at EPCOT when we went Thanksgiving weekend and Santa Cow came to our favorite restaurant, Chick-fil-A. Isaac was perhaps even more excited to meet Santa Cow than Santa Clause!

We celebrated Christmas with the Stopyra family a week early and Isaac was totally thrilled with the presents he received. Auntie Marissa and his cousins picked some wonderful gifts and we now have some Thomas the Train books to go with our trains and movies. Isaac loves his new books! I had never even thought to look for Thomas books.

To keep up with our love of trains and because I was painting a special mural for Aryn, I decided to paint a Thomas on Isaac's wall. He loves it! My niece is helping show off our hard work. She is quite the artist and was a real help when we painted. Now Isaac wants another choo-choo so we may paint James or Percy coming in towards Thomas on the right. I have to finish Aryn's room first and then we can talk one more choo-choo.

My best friend Wendy had some cool trees painted in her room when we were little girls. They were in the corner with a hammock and I always thought they were cool.

Originally I was going to do the same thing, but then I decided on one tree and went a little crazy. We still have some work to do, so I'll be posting the finished product later in the week. We painted little hearts the same pink as Aryn's name that we'll place on the tree like little apples. We're also adding flowers at the baseboards. It's been a real blast to paint for the kids and not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be.

Isaac even got to help sponge on some of the leaves. He is so excited to help out and I think he is going to be a wonderful brother!

And of course, my awesome assistant!!

Isaac loves opening presents. He doesn't care if they are for him or not, so when he wasn't opening one of his own he was helping other people open their presents. Lucky for Isaac most people were accommodating and allowed him to help. Next year may be a little tricky if Aryn wants to help people open presents too. I need to make a smilebox to show his excitement opening presents. It was so much fun!

We leave in 18 days!! WOW!!! I can't believe it. I'll work on another post tonight. I have a beautiful picture of Aryn Rachel that we just received, so stay tuned!!

The Official Countdown Begins!!!

We received new that our Travel Approval arrived on Monday, December 13th. I wasn't even expecting the TA announcement to come via e-mail because when it arrived for Isaac the agency we were using at the time called us. I remember that I had just at Target and stepped over to the benches to talk and give a few dates that would be good for CA (our consulate appointment) so that we could continue to set up our trip and hurry to China to get our boy. This time it wasn't as exciting at all, I mean the delivery.

Our desktop computer has gone on the fritz and I had posted a question to facebook to see if some friends could help offer some advice. I was going to check responses when I decided to check my e-mail first and THERE IT WAS!! We only waited 14 days from the time our Article 5 was issued until we received TA!!What a total surprise because we had been told 3-5 weeks and everyone that was just ahead of us had been waiting at least a month. Craig said he KNEW it would come, I wasn't confident. I wasn't even hoping for it until after Christmas. I had hoped it might arrive in time for New Years Eve so that I could celebrate the New Year knowing when we would hold Aryn Rachel in our arms.

We received this picture about 10 days ago. (Sorry blog, I just hadn't made it to the blog with the computer issues.) I joked that Aryn was on the phone, "Hello government people? I want to meet my new family!!" Well they got the message and yesterday we were able to book our flights to China. My mother and Isaac will be coming with me. Craig will be staying home to hold down the fort and to help us save money on our expenses.All day on Tuesday and Wednesday I keep checking my e-mail because we were told that we would be receiving our itenerary with the travel dates by e-mail. Nothing... Thursday afternoon I had just checked my e-mail at the start of 5th period, nothing... A few minutes later this boy asked if I had heard when I was going to go yet. I walked back over to the computer, and WOW!!! There it was!! "It's HERE!"

They cheered, "YEAH!!!!"

I opened the e-mail and said, "I meet her exactly one month from today!"

More cheers, I almost started to cry right there in front of my students! It was so exciting!!

So here it is. Our schedule, as we know it.

Thursday, January 13th - We will leave Orlando at 8:20 am and head to China via Seattle, Washington.

Friday, January 14th - We will arrive in Beijing, China at 9:00 pm. No sight seeing on this day, what a bummer! We plan to stay the night with our wonderful friends who moved to Beijing last year.

Sunday, January 16th - We will fly into Fuzhou, Fujian province and will meet Liu, Rong Jie soon to be Miss Aryn Rachel Liu-RongJie. Please continue to pray for her transition into our family. Also pray that Isaac will not be jealous of his sister and that they will develop a strong loving bond. Before we leave Fuzhou we will have completed the Chinese portion of our adoption paperwork and Aryn Rachel will officially be our daughter in the eyes of the People's Republic of China. We already know that she is ours in the eyes of our Heavenly Father!!

Friday, January, 21st - We will arrive in Guangzhou, Guangdong province to complete the American side of our adoption paperwork. This is the city where we spent our entire trip with Isaac as he was born in Guangdong province. I wonder about how feasible it would be to visit his orphanage and allow them to see how much he has grown and what a wonderful boy he is. I would like to do that, but I don't know if it will work out. I guess you could pray that if it would be a good thing, that God would open that door for us both with permissions and financially. I really don't know how expensive it would be to hire a car or what the expense would be to have a personal guide for the day.

Sunday, January 23rd - Nothing adoption related that I know of, but it is my wonderful Mom's birthday and I am thinking about something nice to do. We ate at several great restaurants while in Guangzhou the first time around. Does anyone have a good recommendation for celebrating adopting a granddaughter and your birthday? I would like it to be a special birthday dinner for Mom. (This one is green because green is Mom's favorite color.)

Tuesday, January 25th - U.S. Consulate Visa Appointment. The final step in our adoption process but the first appointment that had to be cemented before we could make any other plans. This is a pretty cool experience, unfortunately we are not able to take pictures and there is so much going on that I don't really remember. I sort of liken it to the Church welcoming a child into the Body of Christ through a baby dedication or baptism. To me, it's sort of like America welcoming the child into her arms. Maybe I'm a little looney, but without this meeting we don't get a visa and our child can not come into the country. It was so AMAZING to see men and women from all over our country, service men and women who give their lives to serve and protect our country who were stationed around the world, all with children coming home to become part of us, part of the American family. Most importantly, a room full of children no longer orphans. A son!! A daughter!! My child!! You can not immagine the emotion if you stop to think about it. God moved on the hearts of each of these families. He provided a way for each of these families to go and bring this child home. He is doing this same thing around the world and in our own country. Adoption really is the greatest thing in the world. It helps you better know and understand the heart of God. (I could go on and I think I will in another post. This post is to share our dates and is getting a little long...)

Thursday, January 27th - Aryn Rachel's visa will be issued at some point... It only took a day to receive Isaac's visa, I wonder why it's two days? I wonder if we'll get it in the morning? At some point on Thursday we will board a train and take a two hour train ride to Hong Kong.

Friday, January 28th - We will board a plane and head HOME! Because we are crossing over the international date line it doesn't look like we are traveling very long. We will leave Hong Kong at 10:35 am and arrive in Detriot, Michigan only two hours later at 12:10 pm according to clocks, but it's actually about a 14 hour flight or something like that. We will get to fly over the North Pole! We will make it into Orlando at 8:43 pm the night of Friday, January 28th. Actually when we leave Hong Kong it will be 9:35 pm on Thursday, January 27th for those of you in the EST in the United States so the travel time will be about 25 hours.

TA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOW! WOW! WOW!!! I was not expecting TA for another 2 weeks!! I am totally surprised and in shock!! Other families have been waiting about 1 month exactly from receipt of Article 5 to the issue of Travel Approval, but we have been blessed to receive it in two weeks! Our God is so awesome and He totally blew me away because this was above what I even hoped for. We could arrive in Beijing, China on one of these dates: January 7th, January 14th, or February 11th. I am praying for January14th because Christmas vacation starts this Friday and we return on January 3rd. It would be easiest if I can get through this week and prepare things the week of January 3rd to be out after that. Also my mother is getting a new classroom and will be readjusting and getting things settled the first week back from break. So as much as I want to hug my little girl close, I really hope that we can go the 14th of January. We would celebrate my mom's birthday in China! Maybe the Consulate appointment would be on her birthday, now that would be SO COOL!!

Never a Dull Moment

I realized that I've been writing so much about our anticipation to bring home Aryn, that I haven't really written about the most amazing little guy in the entire world. Isaac is such a bundle of energy it takes a lot of energy just to keep up with him and then it takes great talent to capture him on "film" so that we can look back on it. He is a ham with the camera, but he tends to run towards it and out of the picture if given the opportunity. So many photos are of his head and while I've been deleting them, perhaps I should save them to show that he always had boundless energy and so that I can truly appreciate the photos where he actually is in them.

The most exciting event in the past month would have to be our Sunday, December 5th trip to the Centra Care Urgent Care Center for stitches. Here we are waiting to be discharged after the doctor finished patching him up. It turned out that the doctor was able to use a special butterfly tape/glue so that he didn't have to go through the trauma of stitches.

I woke up to Craig calling for me, "Gretchen! Gretchen! We have to take Isaac for stitches!" Isaac had fallen off the arm of the couch where he was trying to get to the computer. Instead of reaching his intended destination, Daddy's lap and the computer chair, he fell catching his head on the desk and getting a nice slice that was about 3/4" to 1" long and about 1/4" deep. Luckily it wasn't really a bleeder and Isaac was a real trooper! So brave!! As the doctor worked on his head he squeezed my hand.

As we waited to be discharged we were able to watch YouTube and found some Signing Time videos and Elmo.

Here are some pictures from our November 27th visit to EPCOT with Uncle Joe and Zoe. Isaac was thrilled to spend the day with his favorite cousin while she visited from New York. He can't wait until she comes back for Christmas!

I love Zoe & Uncle Joe! (He looks so intense here. He really wanted to ride on the edge of the tram and doesn't get it that he isn't big enough according to Mickey.)

"Where's the Fire" is our favorite game! Yeah!!! Zoe was on our team!!!

The ride in Mexico is fun, but playing the bongos is even more fun! Isaac is becoming a very musical little man. He loves to sing and play any instrument he can get his hands on.

The highlight of our day was our visit with Santa Clause! Wow! We were so excited to learn that Santa and Mrs. Clause made a special visit to EPCOT!

Isaac was very excited and we purchased rain ponchos so that we could wait in line to tell Santa what we wanted for Christmas.

Here he is looking up at Santa, I wonder what was going through his mind. He wasn't saying a word, just looking.

Here he is telling Santa, "I want.... car truck!!!" He was so intent. Some people look at this picture and say that he looks scared. He wasn't scared at all. He was very excited and very intent. This is one little boy that knows exactly what he wants! Stay tuned to see if Santa and his elves are able to make a car truck for Isaac!

Article 5!!!!

We received word that the CCAA has received our Article 5 which means that all of our paperwork is in order. I kept checking my e-mail to look for it yesterday, but finally gave up. I guess I should have persevered because the e-mail came through at 6:32 pm which is only 3:32 on the west coast where our adoption agency is.

They said that we could hope to receive travel approval from the CCAA in about three weeks based upon the recent length of time for other families who have gone before us. I'm not holding my breath, because many families waited a month to get their travel approval on one of the sites that I frequent. They also say that we could travel four to six weeks from when we get travel approval.

So let's say we get travel approval in three weeks, that would be December 20th. Then if we traveled in four weeks that would be Monday January 17th at the four week mark, but our agency said that there would be no travel to China from January 21 - February 4th due to Chinese New Year. At least those are the dates that I wrote down earlier this month when I spoke with someone, but after looking online I think those dates might be incorrect. So if we got travel approval on December 20th in three weeks could we travel the week of January 17th?? I don't know. I guess it would be more realistic to say that I hope to be in China the second week of February.

My computer search says that Chinese New Year is on February 3, 2011. I read that it is a fifteen day celebration, but when does the celebration officially begin and end?

This whole lunar calendar thing has me messed up. The internet says that the celebration lasts for anywhere from six to fifteen days, but when does it start? Do they begin the celebration on Febuary 3rd or is there a time of celebration leading up to THE DAY? If the celebration doesn't begin until Febuary 3rd then they will be celebrating at least until the 18th of February. So is it more realistic to hope to travel in January? I am so confused!

I was hoping to have my daughter home by the New Year, could it be that she will be home by the New Year China style? Hmmm... That would be nice!

Chip In

It's been a few weeks since we received the news that our I800 provisional approval has come in. We continue to wait on our Article 5, which basically is the US Consulate going through our paperwork and declaring that all is in order before China can issue travel approval. Where we had once hoped to travel and meet Aryn by Christmas, we now realize that is not possible. We are now hoping (and it is quite possible that we will meet this new goal) that we will meet Aryn before her 2nd birthday on March 18th. We are confident that we will be able to travel by February and possibly even the first of the year.

Some of you have asked how we are doing and if we are accepting donations. So in response to your inquiries, we are still trying to raise the funds to travel and we are accepting donations. I have found that several of our fellow adoptive families have used the site chip-in where you can donate to us in a secure manner using a credit card or your Pay pal account.

What's ChipIn? (this is from their website)
ChipIn is a Web-based service that simplifies the process of collecting money from groups of people. We make this process quick, easy, and secure, and we provide organizers with numerous ways to get the word out about their ChipIn event.

http://helpbringarynhome.chipin.com/to-help-bring-aryn-home





We were extremely blessed to be able to raise around $1000 at our rummage sale on October 30th and that was a huge blessing!! I wish there was a way to show that we had raised almost 17% of our goal, but I could not figure out how to do that so I lowered our goal to $5000. We will be spending 14 days in China where we will be in hotels and eating out for most meals. We will bring some snacks and non perishables with us, but the vast majority of our eating will be in restaurants, out of necessity. We also have to purchase airline tickets. Craig will be remaining home in the US to take care of the home and to save on our expenses. He prefers to do his bonding at home since where he is more comfortable. Isaac and I will be traveling with my mother. We need to raise funds to cover airline costs for me, Isaac, and Aryn.



We are thankful to anyone who would even consider donating to help bring our precious Aryn home. We have been so blessed by your support. We were totally overwhelmed by your generosity as you donated items to our rummage sale, and were completely overjoyed to see how God turned your contributions into such an unimagined success! We know that many people can't donate and we understand. If you can not donate please join us in prayer.

1. Pray that Aryn will be able to have closure with her foster family and that she will be able to accept us as her forever family.
2. Pray that Isaac will be able to accept and adjust to sharing his Mama and his Daddy with his sister. He is excited about her arrival and we pray that he will continue to be excited about her once he has to share our attention.
3. Pray that Isaac and Aryn will bond with each other and share a loving brother-sister bond.
4. Pray that the final stages of our paperwork will go smoothly and that we will continue to be patient in our wait.
5. Pray for traveling mercies. My mother has back problems and is very concerned about the long flights. I am concerned about traveling with two small children. Many things can happen in travel and we pray that everything will go smoothly.

Thank you for joining us on Love's Journey! We really appreciate each and everyone of you who has supported us in prayer and encouragement along the way!

Maybe I'm Being Selfish

When I think about Aryn, I generally tend to think in terms of my best interests. What is best for me? What is best for my students? What will work best with my time off from work when I go to travel? Look what God has done for me. Not that there is anything wrong with that, I mean it is a normal tendency of people to be a little on the egocentric side. Most of us think that when we're being egocentric it is OK, but when when others think of themselves first we tend to become annoyed. And really what mother doesn't want to hold her child in her arms for as long as possible and as soon as possible.

When you were little did you ever find a dandelion in your yard? I thought they were the most beautiful flowers and believed that if you blew all of the "petals" off that your wish would come true. I was completely amazed to learn that most people consider the dandelion to be (gasp!) a weed! How could something so beautiful that brought me so much joy be a weed?

Dictionary.com gives the following definition for weed - a valueless plant growing wild, esp. one that grows on cultivated ground to the exclusion or injury of the desired crop. I guess most people would say that the dandelion injures their lawn so that their grass doesn't grow to it's full beauty. But I stumbled upon a cool blog that talks about the goodness of dandelions while I was looking for a picture of dandelions in the yard. I don't know what the rest of the blog is about but this particular entry was of interest to me.

Sometimes, usually we Americans especially are tempted to think of waiting as valueless, much like most people are programmed to think of the beautiful dandelion as valueless. But as the poem I posted a few weeks ago says waiting is important and so what may at times seem valueless to me can in fact produce good things.

As surprised as I was to learn that many people consider a dandelion a weed, I was even more shocked to discover that people actually eat dandelions when I was at a French restaurant in my mid-twenties! What!? People eat dandelions? How can this be? I was told this was a weed!? People don't eat weeds? Do they?! Yes, people eat weeds but what is a weed to one may not be a weed to another.

So where is this leading and how does it apply to Aryn? Why would I think I'm being selfish? Well maybe this time of waiting for me is difficult, but the truth is I have never held Aryn in my arms, I don't know what I'm missing. I mean I can imagine and compare it to loving Isaac, but really I don't know. But there are people half-way around the world who have been loving Aryn since before I even knew about her. She has been living in their home since March 31st according to the report from our adoption agency and I truly believe that they love her.

You can see how she has grown and blossomed under their loving care. You can see how she's grown from her referral pictures, which I think were taken in June since her paperwork was completed in June, and compare that picture to the pictures of her I received in October and you can see that she is flourishing and growing. You can see that she looks happy and even radiant. And you know that babies don't flourish like this unless they are being loved.

This morning on my way to work I asked the Lord to show me if I was being selfish. I have been thinking about how much we love Aryn Rachel and how much we want her home, but I haven't considered the love being poured into her from her foster family as she waits in China. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate them! I pray for them each and every day. I feel such a peace knowing that she is in a safe place. God has blessed us with peace and assurance as we wait. But something occurred to me before that was a new insight. Each day that we get closer to holding Aryn in our arms is one day less that they have to hold Aryn in theirs. Who knows what the future holds? Not I. Some day I may discover more about the first months of Aryn's life. Some day I may discover what a blessing this time was for her.

And I haven't considered as I pray for God to prepare Aryn's heart to love us, I haven't been praying that God would prepare her heart to leave them. What will this transition be like for my daughter? She is loosing a second family. We'll be her third family. God has to prepare her. This journey isn't about me. It never has been about me. It has been and always will be about Aryn. She lost her first family at five months, how that must have confused her. So sick, so helpless and to lose her comfort. Now she's got a new family, to her they are Mama and Baba. To her I am nothing, a photograph maybe. A picture in a book. Really, what can that mean to a 19 month old who has no concept of adoption. Has no concept of a new Mama, a forever family. What is that to Aryn? She has a family. She is happy and loved.

Our agency requested a picture of her with a friend or a care giver and we were given this lovely photograph. Here she is surrounded with people who love her. Today they are loving her and caring for her. Soon they won't be able to hug her close or hear her laugh. So yes, I think I have been being selfish. Lord forgive me. I didn't understand that their is a bigger picture.

In art class we learned that sometimes we are too close to the picture to appreciate its true beauty. In order to get its true beauty we must step back. I love Monet, I think his art is beautiful, but it is best appreciated at a distance. When you are too close you lose something and it seems to be a mess. But when you step back and adjust your view suddenly a beautiful picture comes into view.

Expecting the Unexpected

What a wonderful day.

I keep telling our adoption agency that I need a miracle when I see their time lines. And I keep getting the miracles that I tell them I need!! According to the time lines our NVC letter should arrive around November 13th on the short end, but it arrived on Monday, November 8th!!!! So yesterday I learned that the last families they want to go to China this year will leave on December 17th so I told them that I needed to be part of that group. The guy probably thought I was delusional, at times I think I'm delusional, but as I said the last post, my hope is in the Lord.

We are now awaiting Article 5 from the US Consulate in Guangzhou where they will affirm that all of our paperwork is in order before China can issue travel approval. According to time lines we can expect to receive Travel Approval in about 5 weeks and expect to travel 4-6 weeks from there. Which would mean that we would travel in early January.

I know families received Article 5 in October are still awaiting travel approval. Some have received it and some have not. Their really doesn't seem to be a method to the madness, but the one thing I have learned through two adoptions is that the only predictable thing when it comes to adoption is to expect the unexpected.

So I am expecting the unexpected. I still continue to hope and have faith that we can travel in December. Am I delusional? Time will tell. This could be the biggest miracle many of us have seen or I could learn that maybe at times I should be more trusting of man and the parameters we set out, but so far my experience is teaching me that God's ways are not our ways and that His timeline trumps mans. So until HE makes it clear that it is HIS will that we not travel in 2010 then and only then will I accept that we are to travel in early 2011.

My Hope is in the LORD

I realize that I let the enemy come in and steal my joy and my hope a few hours ago and I am back to say, "My hope is in the LORD!"

Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight."

Psalm 71:5 For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth.

Just a few short weeks ago I was told that it would take 2-3 months to receive my Letter of Acceptance. The very next week the woman who told me that called me to say that my LOA had arrived WAY ahead of schedule. [link to that post]

So what does that tell me? My LORD and God has His own timeline and it does not have a thing to do with man's timeline. So if man's timeline says that it is impossible for us to meet Aryn by the end of the year I will not believe them!!! For my hope is in the LORD!

This is National Adoption Awareness Month and I believe that anything is possible when it comes to matching children and bringing children home into the loving arms of their forever families.

Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight yourself in the LORD and HE will give you the desires of your heart."

So you know what?!

I told our agency I needed a miracle!

I told them that I expected a miracle!

And do you know what? I've already gotten several, but one of them is that one a week later when my Letter of Acceptance arrived a good solid month before they said it probably would.

So I've looked back at other timelines and I believe that it is possible that God will bring Aryn home this year. I believe that He can do it because I believe He wants all children to be in the arms of families who will love them.

Maybe God wasn't talking about international adoption when He inspired this verse to be written, but I am claiming it as my own. I believe there is a reason that it was quickened to my memory and my heart now.

Isaiah 43:5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west.

One Step Closer!! But Still So Far to Go...

I updated our wonderful news in the header but with so much wonderful news to share yesterday I completely left out our exciting news. I can't believe I did that!

We have been waiting with baited breath for our I-800 Provisional Approval to arrive. This document has declared Lui Rong Jie to be an immediate relative of Gretchen & Craig Stopyra. Our provisional approval was issued on October 22nd, but we didn't receive it until November 1st, so we don't know what date we should be counting from so we know when to expect our next step.

What Now???

Now we are waiting on a letter from the National Visa Center. It's called the NVC confirmation letter. The US Consulate in Guangzhou, China requires the adoption agencies to provide a copy of the letter that confirms transmission of our current immigration approval by the National Visa Center (NVC) at the time of submitting the visa paperwork and scheduling the Consulate appointment which is our final step while in China before we are allowed to come back home to the United States. It is kindof a swearing in ceremony, well it is, but the kids well not all, but most are so little and too young to understand. Without the letter our agency cannot submit the papers needed to secure a consulate appointment, which can delay our travel because we can not make travel arrangements until we have a Consulate appointment. Of course we can't schedule a Consulate appointment until we receive Travel Approval from China, so it's sort of a double edged sword kind of thing.

According to our adoption agency we are looking at these timelines, but in our hearts we are hoping that they are wrong at that we will be able to travel and meet Aryn in December. God can do anything, and we really need you to join us in prayer that our adoption will take place in His perfect timing. I know that He can do mighty things and we hope and pray that He will either help us travel in December or that He will give me peace because traveling later in the year (as in the school year) is going to be a real burdon on us financially. I have two weeks off for Christmas and I really would like to have those days to travel as I only have 8 days of leave remaining in this school year. So I look at their timelines and my heart starts to race and is filled with panic, but then I remember to be still and wait upon my Father.


Hague documents sent to China (That is my I800 letter that we received yesterday and the NVC letter that we are currently waiting on) to travel approval: 9-11 weeks

Travel approval (is where China gives us permission to come to China and adopt Aryn) to Arrival in China: 3-6 weeks

*These estimates can change at any time based on how long the Consulate and CCAA take to process paperwork.

According to these depressing estimates I won't be able to meet my daughter until early February at their best estimates. This is just completely devastating to me! I'm basing that off of 12 days from I800 to NVC letter which is what someone else posted is how long it took for them to receive their NVC letter after they had recieved their I800 letter and then I took the short end of the 9-11 weeks and 3-6 weeks.

I refuse to accept their timeline. But am I dillusional? Should I? I mean would it be easier to be a realist and just expect to travel early in 2011 just before her 2nd birthday or do I continue to put my hope in the Lord? Is my hope realistic? Now I am sad, I wish I hadn't opened the adoption agencies e-mail after feeling so excited.




Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.


Ecclesiastes 3:1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

Good News to Share

Where should I even begin?? I don't even know! Well when Craig suggested a yard sale which I guess really turned out to be a rummage sale I thought he was crazy. I mean, what did we have to sell? We had a few things, but nothing much. So, we asked our friends and we believed that God would move on hearts to donate to us.


Ephesians 3:20-23 (King James Version) Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Here is a portion of the things that were given to us. I took a picture of the room before I got started organizing on Thursday. We ended up holding the sale in another room. We had so much that we couldn't set it all out so as tables got spaces people would run back to this room and get more! I wanted to take more pictures, but I was so tired and so busy that this is the only one I was able to take! I probably spent 25 hours at the church getting ready for the sale and cleaning up afterwards! We are so blessed by our church family who helped us before, during, and after. We could not have done this without you and without those of you who donated items or who prayed for the success of this sale!

All I can say is this. He did exceedingly and abundantly above all that I could ask or think or imagine! Through the generous donations of our friends, family, and even total strangers we were able to raise over $1000. Yes, that's right! I am so utterly amazed! Better than that we were able to bless a new couple who just moved to Orlando after having lost everything. Someone gave us a couch and love seat. I wasn't sure how to price it so I put stickers on it asking the people to make an offer. A few people at church had made offers before the sale, but then changed their minds, and we wondered, God are we going to be stuck with this couch? What is its purpose? So this gentleman came up and asked if we had any offers on the couch and started telling me their story. I was so moved and touched as I felt God's love for them. It was such a blessing to be a blessing. I never understood, "Blessed to be a blessing." But on Saturday I got it, and the only reason I was able to bless this couple was because of the generosity of a complete stranger! Someone I never even met heard a friend asking for donations at a sale and she called my friend and gave us some items for our sale. So wow! Thank you God for allowing me to be an instrument you used to bless this beautiful couple! I want you all to know that your prayers helped me and Craig help others and we all are working together. So amazing. But that's not the best part!

Honestly, there is no BEST part. There are just lots of amazing parts! So over ten years ago when I started teaching I had the most horrible year. 1999 goes down in the record books as the worst year ever from start to finish and to be quite honest it dragged on into May of 2000 when I rededicated my life to the LORD. Short version I felt lost and alone. Long version. Well it would take too long to write it out, but I have to say my life has never been the same since and it has made me a much more compassionate, empathetic, and sympathetic person. Anyways, this woman that I worked with that year happened to come to the sale. After looking at each other a few times she asked if I was a teacher and we discovered we had worked together that fateful year. All these years I thought everyone there was against me and all these years she has wondered about me and said that I was treated unfairly. It was a healing balm to my heart to know she and a few others were concerned about me and wondered about me all these years later. It made her feel good to know that things had worked out OK and that I'm still teaching after that miserable year. And I can honestly say that God is the only reason I am still teaching because at the end of that year I told Him, "OK God. I'll give you one more year. It's three strikes and you're out or third times the charm." Let's just say my third year teaching was my best and to date has still been my best year ever! So praise the Lord!

So we were exceedingly and abundantly blessed this weekend. We still have a long way to go until we meet our goal for travel expenses. Yesterday I looked online and found tickets for $1500 with four layovers all around the world. Just to get to China is going to cost over $3000 dollars. To have the "pleasure" of flying with a child on your lap cost almost $900 two years ago. It's such a long flight and Aryn is going to be at least six months older than Isaac was, we really should purchase a ticket for her but I don't know what that expense will be. Also we have to put in travel inside China from Beijing to Fuzhou to meet Aryn and complete the Chinese portion of her adoption to Guangzhou to finalize the American requirements of her adoption before we come home. And the enemy would try to plant seeds of doubt into my head and that serpent would try to minimize the absolute miracle that my Lord, Jehovah Jireh, provided this weekend.

What have I learned? My God will supply all of my needs according to His riches and glory!! The funny thing is this. The items that we had purchased and took to the sale did not sell. I'm serious! The only items that sold were items that the LORD had provided to us. The items we bought we ended up donating. Yes! That is right, I can hear God whisper into my ear, "It's OK. Trust in Me! I have this under control! I don't need you to worry. Trust in Me! I will see you through!" And you know what? So far He has! I believe that He will! I know that He will!

This is an older picture of Aryn that we have been blessed with. Just as God has provided us with pictures and comfort as we wait on Aryn to come home. God took her under His wing. She was such a sick little girl, but He saved her life. He blessed doctors with wisdom to heal her heart and several bouts of pneumonia. He guided us to Aryn and we are so blessed. We can't wait to hold her in our arms. We are blessed to have you share her journey with us. We are thankful to God for the part that each of you have played in bringing her home.

Learning to Wait on Him

I was perusing facebook and saw that my friend Ohilda had updated her blog, her post read, "For all of you (myself included) that are struggling with God's timing... I hope this helps." Oh yes it did. Thank you so much Ohilda!!!! The author is unknown and how sad, but it could be that one of those angels we are told about delivered it straight from heaven so that we could hear God's comforting words as we wait.

You know the verse, Hebrews 13:2 "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing, some people have entertained angels without knowing it."

OK, so probably a real person wrote this but how beautiful and I believe inspired by God!

WAIT!

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried:
Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.
I plead and I wept for a clue to my fate,
And the Master so gently said, "Child, you must wait."

"Wait? You say, wait!" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith, I have asked, and am claiming your Word.

My future and all to which I can relate
hangs in the balance, and YOU tell me to WAIT?
I'm needing a 'yes', go-ahead and sign,
or even a 'no' to which I can resign.

And Lord, You promised that if we believe
we need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply!

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
As my Master replied once again, "You must wait."
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taught
and grumbling to God, "So, I'm waiting... for what?"

He seemed, then, to kneel, and His eyes wept with mine,
And he tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead, and cause mountains to run.

All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be.
You would have what you want--But, you wouldn't know Me.

You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint;
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint;
You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there;

You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence were all you could see.

You'd never experience that fullness of love
As the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove;
You'd know that I give and I save... (for a start),
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

The glow of My comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight,
The depth that's beyond getting just what you asked
Of the infinite God, who makes what you have LAST.

You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that "My grace is sufficient for Thee."
Yes, your dreams for your loved one overnight would come true,
But, Oh, the Loss! If I lost what I'm doing in you!

So, be silent, My Child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.
And though oft' My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer is still, "WAIT."

- Author Unknown

My Provider

I am so amazed at the goodness of my God. I believe Abraham first called Him Jehovah Jireh in Genesis 22:14. From my limited research I believe that is the only time that specific name of God is used in the Bible. I just love the Hebrew language for He was so much more than "God" to them. He was their everything, like He is my everything, but their language is so much more expressive and all encompassing. Today and everyday He is my Provider. The Chinese proverb says, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." As we began this Love's Journey it was knowing that we desperately needed God to be our provider. It was scary because we didn't have large sums of money lying around waiting for us to find something to do with it. We began this journey knowing that we were going to have to rely on Jehovah Jireh to provide in very real ways. We had no idea how He would provide, we just knew that He would see this journey through to completion. (Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.)

Mustard Seed Faith Jesus's parable of the mustard seed is recorded in Matthew 13:31-32, Mark 4:30-32, and Luke 13:18-19. He told us that if we have the faith of a mustard seed that we can move mountains. Maybe mountains is literal, as in if we really had the faith we could tell Mount Everest to jump into the sea, but definately mountains are figuative. We all face mountains in our life. When Craig and I were looking to buy a home when we got married we bought the mustard seed house. I mean literally our house is white with mustard yellow trim and it took all the faith we could muster to put in a contract and buy this house. It seemed so huge because it was at the very edge of our budget. However if we had waited a year or two we would not have been able to buy a house, or at least not one that fit our needs so perfectly. And because we bought our home when we did we were able to build up equity. The equity helped us meet the requirements to adopt from China to begin with.
I am no stranger to mustard seed faith. I was raised in a mustard seed faith family. My mustard seed faith has allowed God to bless us with a home and allowed our son to come into our family. However, there were times in this journey when I felt perhaps, this seed was not viable. Maybe this time it just wouldn't work. I mean how many times can I ask and expect an answer. Do we run out of miracles? Do we start out our life's journey with a finite number or things we are able to ask or expect of God? "Of course not!" we hasten to encourage friends. However when my wonderful husband suggested we hold a yard sale to raise money, I was less than enthusiastic. I mean we don't have a lot. What could we sell?Craig was not going to let me loose my faith and he said, "we'll ask our friends." So that is what we have done. We asked our friends, and our friends asked their friends, and our friends asked total strangers when they were out yard saleing themselves. So we will have an AMAZING yard sale this coming Saturday, October 30th at our church, New Life. The address is 2740 E. Michigan Avenue, Orlando, FL 32806.

We are so blessed because not only did we grasp on to our mustard seed of faith and step out into this yard sale journey. Our friends have taken their mustard seed of faith to help us raise the money we need to bring Aryn home. I am completely amazed and blessed beyond measure as I see the way our friends have given of their time, thier stuff, their energy, and themselves to encourage us in our adoption. Today at church we went into room 5 where the church has been placing things people have brought for our sale. It is packed! They have had to place some items in other places! I don't know why I was amazed because when we were in the middle of Isaac's adoption God totally blessed us beyond measure in 2007 when we asked friends to donate to us. But this time I wasn't really expecting Him to do it. I mean I knew that He could, I just wasn't sure that He would. I feel ashamed to admit that, but it's real. I am just so completely and totally blown away!

And it's not just things that people are giving to us to encourage us in our endeavors. We have been blessed in the past week with over $200 in donations. One man doesn't even know us! He was fellowshipping with friends of ours and I guess they were sharing about this and that and in the process our adoption came up in the conversation. What a blessing!

The amazing thing is this. At the foundations of the Earth God knew that He was going to create Craig and I. He knew that in order to build a family we would have to turn to adoption. At the foundation of the Earth He had already planned how He wanted to bless us.

There is a verse about God doing more than we could ever imagine. This isn't the verse, but it's close. If you think of the verse please let me know. If I can remember it I will come back and update the blog.

Ephesians 3:20-22
20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

So did you ever wonder what a tiny mustard seed can grow into? I mean what type of plant can this tiny seed yield anyways? I mean I've seen various types, but I like this picture the best! Are you ready? Because this is AMAZING!

Wow!!! Wow!!! Wow!!! Who knew??? Wow!!!