We are getting closer

Each bit of paperwork that is completed brings us closer to bringing Jesse home.

September 21st (our 17th anniversary), we received our I-800 Provisional approval and on October 3rd, we received our National Visa Center (NVC) letter.  These are 2 key steps in bringing us closer getting our travel approval.  We were hoping to travel in November, but it looks like December 6th will be around our best travel date.

Our NVC letter took longer than expected, and didn't meet the deadline before new on-line forms were to be used.  We resubmitted information on a new form on Friday and expect that to take 3-5 days to process (which often times means weeks!).  After this information is 'processed', we will be waiting for China to issue an Article 5.  We should get this form via e-mail, and the next step from there is our travel approval.

We are able to send Jesse e-mails that are translated to Mandarin.  We explain when we will pick him up and what will happen when we see him and what to expect while in China and the trip home.  We thought that traveling December 6th would be a hectic time to travel, right between the holidays and coming home a few days before Christmas, but we are constantly reminded that God's plan is perfect.

So, about 2 months from today we hope to be meeting our new son and we have been praying for his foster family to continue to love him through this transition time.  We pray for extra mercies on them as this time will be difficult to say good-bye and yet be strong for Jesse.

T-shirt fundraiser

We are praying that we will be able to travel in November, but some paperwork is slowing the process.  We are reminded that God's timing is perfect.

In the meantime, we have a neat opportunity to partner with a company that is a strong support of orphan care.  There is a website created just for our adoption to raise support for our adoption. There are some new and stylish t-shirts that are for sale, with a large portion of each shirt going directly to the expenses for bringing Jesse home. If you are interested in purchasing a t-shirt, you can follow this link:

http://www.adoptionbug.com/kopinski

Galatians 4:5-7

to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

New pictures of Jesse!

We feel so fortunate to have such a wonderful adoption agency.  Every request we have, they are so quick to answer the best they can.  Last week we asked for another update on Jesse, including pictures. We asked many questions and they answered them all. Our agency even threw a few extra questions that we hadn't thought of.  We got a very quick response back, today!

Jesse is so cute and we learned that he has an 8 year old foster brother and he loves his family he is currently with.  We also learned that he likes to ride bikes, play with toy guns and cars.  He likes to read, but doesn't care for math. Yup ... he will fit in well at this house!  :)

Please continue to pray for his heart to be soft to our family and the transition that he is facing.  Please pray for his foster family to continue to prepare him for leaving China and starting new in our family.  Please pray for all of us to be sensitive to Jesse and his foster family as they grieve the losses of each other and the changes ahead.  We know that God has meant for Jesse to be in our family, but also understand that the road ahead will be filled with challenges and anxieties and joys!

More Paperwork

Well, the last week has been exciting as we have been in a frenzy since getting word of traveling sooner than expected.  We sent our signed LOA back to Holt on Friday, August 30.  At the same time, we also sent all of our new paperwork (I-800) to USCIS for approval to adopt Jesse and bring him into the United States. We now wait 3-4 weeks to get approval from the USCIS before we get to make plans for obtaining visas and planning our travel.

In the meantime, we have been blessed with support of many friends and family through prayers and giving.  Our sweet friends sponsored a Noonday party at which our adoption fund received proceeds from that!  What a great company too... please check it out and support not only adoptions, but sustainable living opportunities from people around the world.  It is beautiful that God is glorified through this business.

We are grateful to the support of many as we go through this journey and continue to be amazed at God's orchestration of Jesse's adoption.  Every time we doubt or worry about how we will be prepared for a special needs child or how Jesse will be prepared for a major life change, God provides the right person at the right time to overcome that fear.  We continue to surrender our anxieties to Him, and He fills us with peace every time.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6-7

Our children are counting down the days until they get their little brother home and each have their own ideas of how to welcome him into the world.  Whether is it learning Mandarin, making special heartfelt gifts, choosing books to read to him, or organizing his bed to be perfect for Jesse's homecoming.  Each child is earning money and saving wherever possible as it is our desire for our entire family to fly to China to meet Jesse at the same time.  As this adoption is one of the entire family, we continue to pray for God to provide and convict us as to whether He wants the children to go or not.  We truly believe that Jesse will adapt to our family if all of his siblings were there together.  As travel arangments will need to be made soon, we will have to decide quickly if we travel as a family or not.

Traveling sooner than expected...

We got an exciting phone call today from our adoption agency, they received our Letter of Acceptance (LOA)! The original time frame given to us for receiving our LOA was 3-4 months, but things moved along quickly, as it has only been 39 days!

This means that China has accepted our application to adopt Jesse and we can now work on the last leg of our journey.  We, of course, have more paperwork that needs to be completed and we do not have travel dates yet. However, the agency speculates that we will travel around November 15th or December 6th.  This is many months earlier than we had expected and are caught a bit off guard, but God's timing is perfect. So, bring on the next set of paperwork and let's bring him home!

Thank you all for your prayer support.  We are specifically praying for Jesse's heart to soften and be open to accepting us as his new family and for God to comfort him as he grieves all of his losses.

Happy Birthday, Jesse!

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord.  Isaiah 61:10

Today is Jesse's 6th birthday.  We are so excited to know that this is the last birthday we will spend apart from each other and the last one he will spend in China. We were able to celebrate with very special friends and sing happy birthday to Jesse and blow out 6 candles in honor of him.  

However, this was a day to reflect upon Jesse's mother and her choosing life for Jesse.  We are so thankful that she chose to bring him into this world and am sure she is mourning on this day, as she will never see Jesse again.  We pray that she can find peace in her decision to choose a better life for Jesse and get him to a safe place.  We do not know or understand all that Jesse has been through in his 6 years, but we are counting the days until we can record his life in our family photo albums!  

We are still waiting to get our Letter of Acceptance (LOA) from China, and are hoping to travel in February(ish) of 2014.  Thank you for your prayers and support for our little man in China.  

Dossier Sent to China

On Friday, July 19th, our dossier was approved by our adoption agency and mailed to China.  We should get our 'log in date' in the next 2-4 weeks.  The log in date means that the China portion of our agency has received our dossier.  It will take time for them to translate the paperwork into Mandarin.  The estimate travel date to bring Jesse home is 5-8 months.

God has been so faithful and He has continued to fill our lives with amazing friends and strangers who are prayerfully supporting this adoption. It is so exciting to see the body of Christ move to care for orphans.  Our garage sale went well and we are humbled to see the generosity of those close to us and those we do not know who want to do what they can to bring Jesse home.  Thank you to all who helped with our garage sale.  Here are a couple of pictures from our garage sale:

Ethan operated his own lemonade, cookie and brownie stand.  He was excited to share with everyone that he was saving this money for his brother in China!

Brianna set up and sold many bracelets and necklaces!