All travel costs paid in full!

I am so sorry for not posting more about what is going on with our adoption, but I have been so busy lately. Last Friday I paid for all of our in-country travel, and we are all officially going to China. We will be leaving on October 6 and returning home on October 20th. It has been crazy how this whole thing has transpired, the blessings, the testings of faith, but we are almost at the finish line. Although, I don't know if you can really call it a finish line as this only ends one journey and begins another. We are looking so forward to bringing our little baby boy home, and I am praying for all of you who are waiting to get your child. I have read some blogs as of late and I can remember waiting for that last document or the TA. All I can say is that eventually it will come, and stay faithful. I wondered why our LOA and many other things were taking so long, but looking back it was all part of God's plan. Since I was told I was going to loose my job, the Lord has provided all the money we need to take the whole family. If we would have gone when I wanted to go, July/August, only I would have been able to go. But we know that we serve a God who know's so much more than we do, and I have realized that faith seems to always be backwards looking. We always seem to look back at the things that God has done, only wishing we would have had the faith we knew we should have. I love the Lord with all my heart, and I have given Him my life, and in so doing, I have had the greatest experiences of I could ever imagine. I am going to China in less than 2 weeks, to make a special boy a part of my family. I have been helping numerous Chinese families here at home, as the Lord continues to use me. Who would have thought that after 10 months of studying Chinese, I would be speaking hours and hours of Chinese a week with people who don't speak English. It is just like the Lord to use something that I thought I was doing to help talk to Josiah, to further glorify Him. I know it may sound like I am rambling here, and you are probably right, but I just can't say enough about this journey. I will have to start writing my book soon :)

I love you all,

Brian, or as my Chinese friends call me 大海 (da hai...big sea...thanks Josiah)

Travel Approval!!!

We received notification that we have received our travel approval today. We are shooting for a consulate date of October 18th, which would mean we would be leaving for China about October 6th. Please pray that we can lock in this date, as this will allow us to bring Josiah home soon. With the Guangzhou trade fair going from the middle to the end of October, we don't want to be pushed back to November. But, none the less, the Lords Will be done. He has been planning this adoption since before we were even born, I'm sure He knows what's best. I just want to say thank you to you all for your thoughts, encouragements, and prayers as this has been a long journey, but it has also been the greatest faith building experience of my entire life. I will be sure to update with more details as they become available.

In His service,

Brian

Article 5 Issued

We received a notification yesterday that our article 5 has been issued. This means that the US Consulate has notified China to issue our travel approval. We should have our travel approval in about 3 weeks, then hopefully traveling about 3 weeks after that. We are still planning on taking the girls with us, but we will see how it all turns out. Just an FYI to everybody, we have been extremely busy lately, I am sorry for not posting or responding to emails as often as I should, but my last day at my 2nd job was Monday, so hopefully some more normalcy will return to our lives....just in time to turn it upside down...but I am looking forward to that :) We appreciate your prayers, and we will keep you updated as to our progress.

In His service,

Brian

Travel Plans a changin'

Well...as you all know God always seems to have different plans than the one's we think up in our minds. A few weeks ago, we received a notice that someone has made a donation to pay for Rachel's travel to China. Praise God, this is awesome. However, not to be outdone, with me working two jobs we have a good chance of being able to take both Paige and Paris with us, which is great (especially since we really don't have someone who can watch them for 2 weeks). We are not sure how much more we will need as it depends on how I get my severance paid out. A good friend at church has come forward and offered his services and supplies to make survival bracelets for us to sell to help with our expenses. Not only are you getting a really cool bracelet, you are helping with our travel expenses as well!!! Each bracelet has approximately 9 feet of parachute chord which can hold up to 550 lbs. I can't make any guarantee on the colors, but I will do my best to be accommodating.

Josiah Video

I-800 Provisional Approval

Just wanted to give a quick update on our status as we have received our I-800 Provisional Approval. We have requested a copy of our NVC Confirmation letter to be emailed to us which should speed the process up by a few days. Based on what the adoption agency is telling us, we will be traveling in about 9 weeks give or take. Please pray that God keeps us on track, and if not, that we can be patient to wait on Him. Here are some pictures of Josiah with his photo album...for your viewing pleasure.

LOA!!!

I have been waiting for 90 days to post this....Our LOA is being overnighted tonight and we should have it tomorrow or Tuesday. Praise God!! I didn't think it would ever come...I thought they forgot about us :)

Thanks everyone for your prayers!!!