Waiting for Travel Approval and Tentative Travel Plans

This is an article that I wrote for our church family to bring them up to date about Joylee's journey home.  I thought I would share it with everyone.  Thank you for your continued prayer and encouragement.  
As of two weeks ago we had one major hurddle left - what is known of as the Travel Approval from China.  This will be the finalization of appointments with both the Chinese government and US government that will all take place in China on our trip.  The last word we received was that it could be up to five weeks before we receive our Travel Approval.  Once we receive the Travel Approval it could be another five weeks before we are actually able to travel.  As of now we are still hopeful that we will be able to travel to China to pick up our little girl, Joylee Aiyu Wells, before the end of the year.  (Joylee is the name we are giving her - it’s a combination of names, Joy in honor of my late mother and lee in honor of Kristine and her mother as it is their middle names.  Aiyu is her Chinese name that we will keep as her middle name as a way to honor her heritage.)  
When we do get to go get her we will be gone around 16 - 18 days.  We will fly into Beijing first where we will spend three days.  We will go through orientation with our adoption agency, Holt International, as well as get acclimated to the time change and prepare for the rest of the time in China.  On about day three we will travel to the Provence of Jilin to the capital city of Chanchun where Joylee is in foster care.  The Provence of Jilin is located in the northeast part of China with borders with Russia, Mongolia and North Korea.  The day we arrive in Changchun we should meet and be given custody of Joylee.  In adoption lingo this is refereed to as “Gotcha day” and is celebrated like a birthday.  We are so excited and looking forward to “Gotcha day” when we will get to meet Joylee and begin to include her into our family.  We will spend about five days in Changchun as we attend appointments with various government officials as part of the adoption process and wait for her Chinese passport to be processed.  After that work is completed we will travel to the city of Guangzhou, which is located in south central China, just north of Hong Kong.  We will spend about a week in Guangzhou where we will finalize the adoption and complete all U.S. immigration requirements.  We will then travel to Hong Kong where we will probably fly out from for our return flight to the U.S.  Kristine, Bethany and I will all be making the trip to bring Joylee home together.

Waiting...

I know it's been several weeks since our last post.  To be honest I thought we'd have a lot more to share as the time was drawing nearer for our trip to China and to meet our new daughter.  As it is we are making progress towards the goal of completing all the necessary paperwork yet it seems like the time between forms being received and approved are being drawn out.  We were hopeful that we would receive our Travel Approval and dates by the end of October.  As of this week that seems unlikely. 
With each passing day we are becoming more and more excited about the time.  For now we continue to wait.  Our anxiety is softened by the truth that we know that God's timing is perfect and as such we trust Him.  We do trust Him!  We busy ourselves with getting her room ready, buying toys and clothes at yard sales and praying for her.  I have to confess that I find myself staring at her picture several times a day either on my phone or at the picture above my computer in my office at church.  She is so cute and is growing up so fast!  So, we ask that you continue to pray for us, for our joy in the journey and for our patience.  Please continue to pray for Joylee, for her protection, care and well-being.  And, we ask that you join us in prayer for the process to go as God plans.  No delays, no issues, no problems.  It's our heart's desire to have her home by the end of the year.  If that is God's will it will be.  If not, we know that God is in control and He knows best. 

So many things to share!

There have been a lot of developments in the last few weeks.  Kristine is wanting to update many of the specifics and she hopes to blog soon.  In the meantime, I get to share NEW PICTURES!  We received an update today with new pictures of Joylee Aiyu that were taken in September!  She looks amazing!  She's standing on her own and walking!  Remember, she's now 15 months old!  In these two new pictures you'll see her standing and looking at the camera - she's great!  The other picture shows her sitting on the floor playing with a ball.  This picture reminds us that even though she's growing, she's still a little girl. 

We're waiting on some additional paperwork to clear and our passports and visas to come back as we look forward to travel to get her.  Hopefully we will have her home by Christmas!

The end of this week I will be sharing with you all about our Adoption Fund week of fundraising, "7 Days in October".  For now, enjoy the beautiful new pictures of our little girl, Joylee Aiyu!

Don't Cry

I have always been drawn to the power of music, especially the lyrics and the impact they can have on a person.  In the last few weeks of waiting on our Letter of Approval from China, I found myself listening to one song over and over again.  Being a teenager during the 80's I must confess that I am a huge fan of 80's music.  On our return trip from Hudson, Ohio I found myself listening to the song "Don't Cry" by Asia.  This classic 80's song has a unique sound with a catchy chorus.  Bethany had compiled a long playlist for our family's upcoming baby shower for Joylee.  As we were driving I listened to the wonderful list that "Sissy" had put together to play in the background during our first baby shower for Joylee.  I must confess, she did a great job!  She included songs like "Be My Baby" by the Bay City Rollers along with songs like "Beautiful, Beautiful" by Francesca  Battiselli.  She even included one of our special songs from when she was little - "Sugar Sugar" by The Archies.  Like I told you, a great list of songs!  Well, after we were done listening to her list I pulled up my 80's playlist where I had randomenly dumped over 300 songs from the greatest decade ever!  After a few trips down memory lane the song "Don't Cry" by Asia came on.  As I listened and sang along with it I told Kristine and Bethany that it too needed to be added to the Baby Shower playlist.  As I listened to the song, I couldn't help but think about my baby girl in China waiting for me to come get her, bring her home, love her and protect her for the rest of her life.  Ever line of the song spoke to me as I thought about Joylee Aiyu.  From the moment I first saw her picture I feel in love with her and hoped that this was the baby girl God had for our family.  See the lyrics below and see if you don't agree with me about what a tremendous song this is and how it speaks about the beauty of God bringing together an orphan and a loving family.  I can't wait to sing it to her for years to come. 

"Don't Cry" by Asia

Hard times you had before you
I knew when I first saw you
You girl you’ve always been mistreated, cheated

So leave it all behind you
It took so long to find you
I know that we can last forever, ever and more, more, oh



(chorus)
Don’t Cry now that I’ve found you
Don’ Cry take a look around you
Don’t Cry it took so long to find you
Do what you want, but little darling please Don’t Cry

I knew I’d never doubt it
I was so sure about it
Don’t think of all that’s been before

I’ll hear you when you’re calling
I’ll catch you when you’re falling
Don’t worry I will always be there, like never before, or, oh

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