Patience

I will be the first to admit that patience is not my top characteristic.  I too know that as a Christ-follower that patience is not an option but rather one of the fruit of the spirit that I have.  Galatians 5:22-23 tells us
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."  Now, all that being said I also know that I am still a work in progress and I am not the most patient person in the world.  You'd know that if you were to have me behind you at the traffic light and you paused just a nano second longer than I thought you should and I commenced to lay on the horn to remind you that you were too slow for the jerk of an impatient person behind you - me.
By now you may be asking what all this about patience has to do with Joylee.  Well, we received word this week that the next phase in our adoption process, the "LOA" or "Letter of Approval" from China is delayed.  Not just ours but every family that had a match in May or June are experiencing a delay.  We were matched with Joylee and should have received our LOA this week as this was the 8th week since being matched.  We were informed this week by our adoption agency that everyone is experiencing a delay and that it could be several more weeks before we receive our LOA.  Thus, the entire point of the first part of this post.  We are having to be patient.  I know that God is in control and He has a plan, but I am so ready to go to China to get Joylee and bring her home.  On a purley practical side, we are hoping to be able to bring her home before the end of the year because that would be best for our vacation schedules and time away to make the trip.  The hardest part, though is seeing Joylee's pictures and wondering about how she is doing.  I know she is ultimately in God's care and He will give her to us when He is ready.  We pray for her every night as a family and I pray for her often throughout the day. 
As I close, I would ask for your prayers for a couple of things:  Joylee's well being and care, that we would receive the LOA soon, that we would still be able to go get her before the end of the year and finally the financial means to meet all the needs we have to bring Joylee home.  Thank You!

Remember when...

Okay, I need to tell these little bits that just show you how God is in the details!

Jeff and I had prayed about the adoption idea for around 2 weeks and it was very apparent that this was what God was telling us to do. I mean, every time I read my Bible it was all about taking care of orphans or trusting God, etc. Then came the big question...how do we pick an agency? I pulled tons of info off the internet but the ones that appealed to us most were not Hague accredited (recent international standardization). But Jeff remembered the child we sponsored and asked if that agency handled adoptions too. Turns out they did! And they were Hague accredited. Cool detail #1! We had years of experience with Holt so decided to look into the adoption side of things.

Soon after that, we were dropping by a convention center where Bethany's school had a booth and Jeff ran inside to check how things were going. He came out and whispered to me that there was a Holt booth inside (Cool detail #2!) and would I like to dash in to get some info? You bet I would! So I literally ran inside, grabbed a packet, shook a hand and ran back out. (I don't know where we were going but we were on a schedule.)

We sent an application to Holt to see if we were even eligible to adopt but wanted to wait for approval before saying anything to Bethany (9 at the time) to avoid disappointment in case it fell through. So we were at church one evening and Bethany was holding the sweet new baby girl of our youth minister and his wife. She looked up from that baby at Jeff and me and said "Mom...Dad...you should adopt." Since we had said nothing to her so far, we were speechless!(Cool detail #3!...what Bethany said, not that we were speechless...) It was such a confirmation that God was working out the timing of ALL things including our daughter's acceptance of it.

It is important to remind ourselves of the cool details when we are frustrated or afraid of the unknown. If God has done it before, He can certainly do it again. REMEMBER

Kristine

Are you adopted?

Jeff is leading a summer camp this week and was talking about the fact that we are adopting a little girl.  He made the point that adoption is forever and Joylee Aiyu will be a permanent part of our family.  In the same way, we are adopted into God's family when we accept what Jesus did for us.
Joylee cannot say "yes" to our family but the officials in China have to do that for her. We, however, have the option of saying "yes" or "no" to Jesus.

Our adoption may be expensive but, to get into God's family, it's priceless.We can never "pay" enough with our good deeds to get into God's presence in heaven. It required the payment of the life of a sinless and perfect sacrifice which we can never be. Jesus was the only one able to make that payment and offer us a "paid in full" stamp on our account.

Have you been adopted into God's family? Do you know for sure that Jesus has paid YOUR account? I would love to know that, no matter what this life holds, that I will get to see you forever in eternity.
E-mail me if you have any questions, want to argue or discuss any of these points (hoosierbabybmw@gmail.com).

I care about you but God cares most!

Kristine