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.