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!
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Brownberry Hoedown
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
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.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!
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!
Thursday, October 11, 2007
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.
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.
Monday, October 1, 2007
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.
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.
Friday, September 28, 2007
A New Picture of Emmy Xiang???
I was reading emails yesterday when I came across this one from a "friend" on the yahoogroup I belong to concerning kids adopted from Shantou. This sweet gal is either on staff with or volunteers with Love Without Boundaries, the organization that provides Foster Care, nutrition, education, etc. The email read:
When I read it, I had a weird feeling. So I clicked over to the actual page to see this picture. I was amazed to see our Emmy....It just HAS to be her....
Check it out this slide show of the pictures we have of Emmy Xiang. The last one is the "new" one. What do YOU think???
God is so kind to have blessed me in such a big way.
We got in foster care reports today for the kids in Shantou and I had to share the one on the homepage because it made me laugh so hard with the speaker size. Now that's a foster mom and dad who must LOVE music! :-) Wonder if there is a 50 inch plasma screen TV on the other side of that room? :-) Thanks to everyone who sponsors a child into foster care. The kids are absolutely thriving and the reports were great.
When I read it, I had a weird feeling. So I clicked over to the actual page to see this picture. I was amazed to see our Emmy....It just HAS to be her....
Check it out this slide show of the pictures we have of Emmy Xiang. The last one is the "new" one. What do YOU think???
God is so kind to have blessed me in such a big way.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Running!
I am happy to admit that my younger sister has officially beat me (3 times) in a Cross Country meet. We have had two official meets so far this year. Ladybug and I have both won some medals and Ladybug, who is only in 6th grade, won her's in a high school race. She has become quite the runner and is rapidly moving up on the team. I have just been hanging in there (Cross Country is not what you'd call my thing! :) Hope you enjoy the slide show. The pics are from our first meet.
Oh! Almost forgot to add that Mom has run a mile twice! This a big accomplishment and she has diligently awakened early to exercise every morning! Awesome job, Mom! Love you. Let's see one and a half to two by birthday time!
~ElvenMaiden
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