"Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord: let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.  Let us come before hime with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. FOR THE LORD IS THE GREAT GOD, the great King above all gods.  Psalm 95:1-3

TRAVEL APPROVAL FINALLY ARRIVES

On February 1 while sitting the the parking lot of our local auto mechanic we received the phone call for which we had been waiting.  Our travel approval had arrived.  WE WERE GOING TO CHINA!  Excitement and panic filled us as we absorbed all the joy of the moment while realizing just how much needed to be done.    Due to the fact that our agency was not scheduling any travel groups until April we opted for traveling with a private travel group.   Although we were disappointed that we would not share this portion of the journey with other families we were confident that God's purposes and plans are so perfect and look forward to the opportunities that lie ahead of us to share His love with anyone we may encounter along this part of our journey. 

The planning portion of the travel has been without any difficulties and we know are busy preparing for our departure.

The details are all falling into place and are quickly coming together.  Our anxiousness of traveling without Cody and Grace has been eased by the graciousness of family members who are going to be loving on them while we are away.  They will be staying with my sister, brother-in-law and their children for a portion of the time and my parents and grandmother (NANA) from Cartersville, GA will be traveling down to stay with them for the remainder of the time.  Mike's mom will be taxiing Cody and Grace back and forth to school each day. 

As we near this most exciting part of the journey I am filled with thanksgiving to God for granting me this gift of my new daughter, the blessing of a loving family who is so willing to share our joy and sacrifice their time to care for Cody and Grace, dear friends who have prayed for us and Emily and have shared in every moment of the journey,  our small group from church who have embraced our joy and made the journey more special,  for the precious women whom I have met online who have made this journey more meaningful and precious; love you "chatty girls" and for Mike, Cody, Grace and Connor who make life GRAND!

May the Lord go before us and prepare a smooth path as we journey to bring our Emily home.