Happy NEW Year!!!

 I can't tell you how much we have longed for 2015 to be here, without rushing 2014 too much.

I have to admit I was a bit overwhelmed with our newly proposed travel date once we found out we'd be traveling in January and not March as we had planned.  But there in works our wonderful God.  I  should know by now that life is on HIS timing not mine!   I imagined a calm Holiday season, one where I could slowly prepared for little guy and all the things we had left to do.   Love the Lord's sense of humor, I know he's shown ALL of it from time to time.

I believe this was one of the few CHRISTmas's that I was not excited about. And anyone who knows me knows I'm a Christmas-holic.  I start listening to Christmas music in July people ~ welcome to MY world! ;-)   I was not at all excited about shopping for anything except little guy stuff.  I was feeling overwhelmed by what we had to get done by the end of the year, what others expect from us, and what I had to get done by Christmas.  In a way I just wanted the year to be over because if I had to think about who still needed a gift or how much I had to wrap yet I was going to go insane....  

As this was our Last Christmas together before little guy I was amazed, though I shouldn't have been, at God's calming grace on me.  I was able to get back to the roots of CHRISTmas, that being the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus.  It wasn't about the gifts, or food, or get together's.  I was able to relax a bit and focus on the TRUE Reason for the Season.

I'm not in such a rush to take down what few decorations we actually put up this year, but we will have to do that this weekend.  This was the bulk of our decorations.  I was going to put our nativity up instead but it wouldn't fit, and I wanted to save the little people one for next year. I'm afraid Isabel would have knocked it over had I put it anywhere else. 

I think there are more toys in here Mom!

Someone is tuckered out from celebrating Jesus birthday.

This is indeed a NEW year for us.  A new year of Firsts! We can't wait.  I'm overjoyed to look back at 2014 and tell you today makes exactly 1 year from the date we started our application with CCAI to find our child.  When we leave in a few weeks on Jan 14th and arrive in China on Jan 15th it will be exactly 1 year from the date our application was approved and our process really started. I LOVE that our Gotcha day is on Jan 19th because like the late Martin Luther King Jr, I also have a dream.  A dream of a family.  A dream of a little boy who will call the love of my life Baba and me his Mama. A dream of so many wonderful firsts, life changes, challenges and lessons for us all to come. A dream of bringing our little one to know Jesus and life everlasting.

We leave very soon to make that dream come true. Please continue to pray for us, our little boy, and our journey.  We know it will not be without some bumps.  Our little guy will be ripped from the only life and family he has ever known.  We have been waiting and loving him for so long, and he knows little, if anything, about us.  It breaks my heart even now to know the grief and pain he will go through for us to become a family. We hope and pray his foster family received our package and that they have been showing him the album of us and his new home.  If they have then we won't be too unfamiliar.  But we have no way of knowing until we have him in our arms. I'm not sure who will cry more on gotcha day, him or me?

I am planning to update as time allows while we are in China.  We do have a fun filled 5 hour layover in Detroit to start our trip out so I should at least be able to give a small update during those hours.  Yes I am aware that it would quicker to drive over there but you never know what Michigan weather will throw at us!   We hope you will follow along on our journey.  We can't wait to show you our little boy!  And the family is excited to FINALLY know what his name is.  We haven't told them since we found out, it was one of the few things we could keep to ourselves. 

Thank you for sharing in our journey and keeping us in your prayers.  We appreciate all the love and support.  We will surely need it in the coming months as we all adjust to our new family life. 

Praying God gives you a NEW year to follow your dreams and find your own peace.  

Blessings,

Becky, Joe, and Isabel