We have Josiah

I don't know how long the internet will be working, but I wanted to let you all know that we have Josiah, and I think he loves his new family very much. At first he wasn't real sure, but by the end of the night he didn't want to leave my arms. He kept me up until midnight wanting to play instead of sleep, but Im sure he is going through a lot right now. Some things I already know about him: He loves watching TV, he loves making people laugh, and he doesn't like it when you touch him if he doesn't want you touching him. I will try to post a picture but I am not sure it will work. As for the rest of us, we are all doing well-ish. Paris is having a hard time with the Jet lag and has been wanting to go home aleady. Hopefully over the next few days things slow down a little and she can catch up on some sleep. She does not like the smells here. Hopefully Changsha is better for her. I will try to post when I can but we are moving at 100 mph and I don't know when I will have time. For the next 2 days we need everything to work out well with Josiah because we were not supposed have him and I am not sure what impact that will have on all of our travel. We met the man from his original orphanage last night who will be taking him on the plane and we need to give josiah back to him tomorrow morning. A lot of things need to work out in order for that to happen. Please be sure to think of us often...love you all.

 

  Brian

We are in Beijing

Hello everybody. We are in Beijing. The flight was long, but very uneventful. The kids did great, even after a few pre-flight jitters. I hope to write more tomorrow, but for now we need to get to bed...we are going on about 3-4 hours of crappy sleep in the plane. It is hard to believe that we will be meeting Josaih in about 12 hours. Awesome!!!

At the airport

Made it through security no problems...waiting to board...flight leaves at 5:45 central time. 2 more hours....detroit here we come :)...then on to beijing

Running a test

This is just a test to see if I can email posts to the blog.

China Bound

Da Jia Hao-Hello everybody. It has been a while since I have posted any information, but I wanted to make everyone aware that we are leaving for China tomorrow to bring Josiah home. It has been quite the adventure and we are all looking forward to going. We should be meeting Josiah for the first time on Saturday around 2PM China time. I will post more as we start the trip tomorrow and as we meet Josiah.

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