Running like crazy....

If you're wondering why the posts have been slim of late, just read on! We've been in the fast lane lately with cross country, soccer (the Elf made the varsity team and is knee deep in fun!), school and adoption trip preparations.....among other things!

On the cross country front....

Ladybug and the Elf ran in the county meet. The Elf had a bad day, but Ladybug did well! She had a personal best running time of 22:06 or 07 or 08 or something like that...whatever it was, it was fast! Then, the next weekend, Ladybug ran at the District meet and placed 13th...woo hoo! Our team progressed on to the next level: regionals. We traveled to Tallahassee to watch the team place 5th in the region, thus winning them a spot in the state tournament! It was quite the bonus to be able to see the Elf play soccer that night in Tallahassee...and stay with Mammy and Pop. How kind of God to place our weekend right in the lap of family!

Once again, this weekend we travel...to Dade City and the Cross Country state tournament. This time, we get to stay with BeBe and Poppy, who live just down the way a bit. Isn't it nice that BOTH sets of grandparents get to cheer on Ladybug in her final races?!?

Enjoy a few slide shows, lovingly put together by the Elf....and cheer on our girls!

County Meet

District Meet

Regional Meet

Last Call (for real) for Quilt Squares!!!

Ok, now that we have gotten our LOA we must, I repeat, must get the quilt finished. We really want all of our good friends to be a part of this way of welcoming Emmy Xiang and are simply not willing that any of said friends not be represented. Right now we are focusing on getting the quilt itself done, so if you need more time to work on the wish, that is fine. But we need fabric.

Thanks so much for wanting to speak into Emmy Xiang's life in this way. We are so excited that she will soon be here with us. We will post some pictures of the quilt as we go!

ElvenMaiden

Happy Birthday to me...

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday, we got our LOA.......Happy Birthday to me!

Yesterday was my birthday, so I'm convinced that God wanted to bless me particularly today!

So that LOA part of the song...that's not how it goes....you ask, what does that mean? It means that tomorrow our friendly overnight mail person will be delivering a parcel, which will consist of a letter for us to sign. This letter will state that we really, really do want to adopt Emmy Xiang. So we'll scribble our names and pop it back in the overnight mail to be delivered to our agency. They will forward it on to China. Once the LOA makes it to the CCAA in China (as God allows, I might add) we can expect to receive Travel Approval (the coveted "TA") in 2 to 3 weeks. Travel Approval would be something to be thankful for, wouldn't it?

And THAT means that we could be in China mid December! It will be a merry Christmas indeed for the Brown family if we receive that precious present of our daughter (and sister) Emmy Xiang. Praise be to God for His wonderful gifts....He is so kind to us.

We pray that God will be glorified in our lives as we represent Him....here as we wait, and in China. Please continue to pray for Emmy Xiang, her foster family and for us, always thanking God for His wisdom and His timing, and for His goodness to us!

Brownberry Hoedown

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!This is what Mom, Dad and friends did on Sat. during Celebration! HAHA! Have fun.

Praise be to God, for His timing is perfect

This afternoon when I checked email, I found this email from Deniece at CCAI, our agency, tucked in among the rest:

Hello there! We know that you have been on pins and needles waiting for news from the CCAA on your dossier’s progress. As your agency, we have been anxious too and have been consistently requesting news on your progress.

We are delighted to let you know that we FINALLY have some news!!!!

Your dossier has been moved into the Match Room at the CCAA! This means your dossier has been reviewed by the CCAA and has been transferred to the CCAA’s formal matching process. With this news, we will request that Travel Packet 2 be made available to you this evening! CONGRATULATIONS!

Woo! Hoo! It has really happened....our dossier is moving along again in China. God has been so kind to give me this past long weekend to reflect more upon Him, His goodness, His mercy to me (more about Celebration North Florida later)....and now to flood our family with awesome news! How cool is that?!?! One step closer to bringing home Emmy Xiang. Rejoice with us, and praise God for His faithfulness to us!

Lost, but now found....

Our dossier, that is.

We now know one reason it has taken so long to hear good news from China.

You see, back on May 1st, incidentally the day this blog began and the day before we "met" Emmy Xiang, the rules and regulations changed for potential adoptive families in the China program. The rules became much more stringent as of May 1, and thus many families are no longer qualified to adopt from China. Consequently, in April dossiers from those affected families flooded the CCAA in China (thousands). Though our qualifications as an adoptive family has not been affected by the new regulations, our dossier was providentially among the deluge.

Apparently the department or company to whom the CCAA entrusts the dossiers for translation was understaffed, and decided to subcontract the translation process. Our dossier was in a batch that was sent out to one of four companies. Either it was "lost" for a time or someone lost track of it....but when it was finally found in September (along with about 14 other families' dossiers from our agency), it was poorly translated and needed to be translated anew.

Thankfully our file is now in the review room, but we hope that VERY soon it will be moved to the match room. That means that maybe in the next week or so, we'll receive our LOA. We still hope to travel sometime after Thanksgiving....maybe we'll spend some of the holidays in China!

I am grateful that we did not know of this when our dossier was "lost." I am grateful that the process for us should speed up now. Mostly, though, I am grateful that we have continued to trust in a God who is sovereign over all, even over lost dossiers in China.

Please continue to pray for Emmy Xiang, her foster family and for the government officials through whose hands God is moving our file. Pray that we will be patient as we wait, but diligent to prepare practically, financially, physically and spiritually for the homecoming of our daughter.

God has been so kind to us....we don't deserve it.

God is still good...

and He always will be. No matter what.

Even if it takes many more months for us to be approved to bring home Emmy Xiang. Even if it takes years. God will still be good - even if we never get her. That is hard to say. But it's true.

I am constantly finding myself question God's timing, and thus needing to remind myself of this truth. God is sovereign, and He is good. When I preach truth to myself, take my eyes off of myself and place them on Him, I see that He has blessed me beyond belief - WAY beyond what I deserve. I just have to look around me to be reminded of evidences of God's grace: I am cherished by my husband, loved and encouraged by my three daughters, held dear by our most supportive family and lifted up continually by friends. Mostly, I remind myself that I have been saved from future wrath, by the grace of God and am being changed daily by His grace. Yes, He is merciful...and good.

So today, when so many of my "friends" online who are adopting waiting children through our agency are receiving good news (that same good news that we wait for), I remind myself once again that He is sovereign and He is good. I am then able to rejoice with them and trust God's perfect timing. It is a daily struggle, but one that I know He will only allow until His purposes are complete for this season.

May you, too, be encouraged in whatever season God has you. May you remember that He IS good.