LOA!!

Yesterday Jamie received a phone call from our agency.  The call was to tell us that she had received our LOA (Letter of Acceptance) or LSC (Letter Seeking Confirmation) from the CCWCA.  What this means is that China is officially accepting us to be Carsen's parents!!  For those that are unfamiliar with the process, this is one of the biggest steps in this process.  It's huge because the waiting time to receive the LOA varies greatly (some families wait only 30 days and others up to 100 days!) and there does not appear to be any predictable pattern in which they are issued.  The past couple of weeks have been very stressful for me waiting for the LOA to come.  We are very thankful that we only had 53 days, because recently we have seen others wait up to 90 days.  This puts us on track to travel in September or October, but hopefully in September before the holidays in China and the trade fair in Guangzhou. 

God has really been with me during the past couple of weeks when the waiting has become really stressful for me.  I have listened over and over to "While I'm Waiting" by John Waller and began seeking out what God would have me to do during the waiting period, because I felt like there was something, I just couldn't figure our what.  The other day I found out what it was, Jamie and I are being given an opportunity to share how God has given us a passion for orphans and adoption and what we are doing about it.  We are very thankful that He is continuing to led and guide us through this process.

Pictures!!!!

One of the other Xuzhou families went this week to meet their child and they were able to go visit the orphange where Carsen lives and took some new pictures of him. We are very grateful to them for taking the time to get pictures for us and the other waiting families