PRAISE THE LORD

I am pleased to announce that our paperwork arrived in Taipei. I receieved a call tonight from THOGL to tell me that everything looks great. We are leaving Sunday to go get our son!!!!

Visa sent to Taiwan

Our visa documents were electronically sent to Taiwan at 3:00 p.m. today!!! Thank you for your prayers!

"I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. May my meditation be pleasing to Him as I rejoice in the Lord." Psalm 104:33-34

VISA help

I wanted to update you and let you know that I have talked with both of our senators' offices. They are going to try to assist me. Please keep praying!

National Visa Center

I spoke with the National Visa Center. Our documents still have not been sent to Taiwan. They told me to call later today or tomorrow morning or later this week! Please keep praying.

Prayer Need

Our visa information still has not arrived in Taipei. We have a small window of time for it to arrive or we will have to postpone our trip. Our appointment is currently on the 7th. No appointments are available until after the 20th if we have to reschedule. The National Visa Center has our information. I talked with them after 11:00 p.m. They can give me no specific time or day that it will be sent out. Please pray that they send it to Taipei tomorrow morning.
Thank you to all of you who already have been praying.

How'd That Happen?

I did not update here yesterday, but if you are on facebook, you may know that yesterday was emotional and frustrating. After run-arounds from several government agencies, and the help of my congressman's office, we finally got the tracking number for our documents, only to find out that the US Postal Service had no record of this piece of certified mail. This sent us into a scramble because USCIS doesn't keep some of the documents. I was going to hand deliver the documents to USCIS, but wasn't given approval until it was too late to make the 2 hour drive to Metairie, LA before they closed. So, I Fedexed the documents.

That was yesterday. Today, I checked the tracking number with the US Postal Service. I'm not really sure why I did, but.....It arrived at the National Visa Center at 8:48 this morning EST!!! Now how did an item that did not exist, suddenly get delivered this morning? I have one answer that I was able to share with my congressman's office and USCIS: God answered my prayers.

Oh, and you know that Fed ex package? It contained original birth and marriage certificates that we didn't want to send, but felt we had to. Guess what, somehow, it did not leave the Fedex facility last night, even though I was there before they closed. I called and am going to pick them up today!

I say praise the LORD!!!!

Please continue to pray that the National Visa Center processes our documents in time. I don't know about you, but seeing what happened with the documents, my faith has been strengthened!

"He is my strength, my shield from every danger. I trusted in Him, and He helped me. Joy rises in my heart until I burst out in songs of praise to Him." Psalm 28:7

So What's New?

1. Nathanael is doing well. He remains on medication, but the doctor doesn't feel he needs a follow up appointment.

2. He gained lots of weight in the hospital. In fact he gained so much weight that the ladies helping to care for him nicknamed him "sumo"! :0)

3. The National Visa Center has issued a search for our documents. Also, our congressman's office has sent our information to their contact to try and help get the approval sent to Taiwan.

Please continue to pray and trust God with us!

Home from the Hospital

I wanted to quickly update. Nathanael is home from the hospital. He is doing better and was scheduled to see his doctor. I have not heard anything since then.

Please keep praying for the VISA situation. I am receiving conflicting information. Please pray that everything gets clarified and completed correctly. We have less than 2 weeks until we leave! That being said, I know God is in control and I am holding on to that.

Attaching to Adopted Infants and Toddlers: Ideas to Help Babies and Young Kids Bond with Adoptive Parents

Attaching to Adopted Infants and Toddlers: Ideas to Help Babies and Young Kids Bond with Adoptive Parents

Travel and Visa

We will be leaving for Taiwan on Easter Sunday afternoon!!! We are so excited! Please keep praying about the VISA, as it has not arrived at the National Visa Center, yet. We serve a big God who has worked out so many details and we are praising HIM!!!!

"I will be glad, yes filled with joy because of You. I will sing Your praises, O Lord God above all gods." Psalm 9:2

Updates and prayer requests

Praise the Lord! Nathanael is doing much better and should be released from the hospital at least by Monday!

Please keep praying about the VISA processing, as they have not received our information, yet and we are looking at traveling very soon.

God has worked out so many details. We are trusting him to continue to do so!

Thank you so much for your prayers!

We love you all,
Brian and Heather

Please Pray--Nathanael is back in the hospital

Please pray for Nathanael. I just received notice from Bev that they put Nathanael back in the hospital on Thursday. He has pneumonia and serious bronchitis. They went to see him at the hospital tonight. He did not recognize them at first with their masks on. The held him, sang to him, and patted him. By the time they left, he was talking with them (making baby sounds). He is eating well.

Please pray that he will get better soon. Please pray also, that our VISA processing will be expedited so that we can go and bring him home!

Now it's the National Visa Center

I received notice that our I-600-A application has been approved and sent to the National Visa Center. Today, I called the National Visa Center to make sure that our approval is cabled to Taiwan. They were unable to find it in their system and stated that they have probably not recieved it, yet. Please pray that they receive it soon, so they can process it. Then pray that the process is completed correctly. I was told that they create a file at the National Visa Center, then everything is sent to the appropriate consulate. No one knew anything about cabling it to Taiwan. Please pray for no delays in going to Taiwan to bring home our sweet little boy!

"I prayed for this child and the Lord answered my prayer and gave him to me." I Samuel 1:27 NCV

Court Hearing

I love when I get emails from Ted Skiles that begin with the following verse: "Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land.” Proverbs 25:25 We got good news last night. He said that court went "just fine" and that we can be preparing to travel about a month from now! We won't know exact travel dates for a couple of week probably. Praise the Lord for answered prayer and thank you all for praying!

"I prayed for this child and the Lord answered my prayer and gave him to me." I Samuel 1:27 NCV

Nathanael's voice

We got to hear Nathanael's voice on the phone tonight. It was so sweet to hear his cooing sounds! I just wanted to share with you all! We will keep you posted when we hear something about the court hearing.

Our Court Date!

Our court date is tomorrow night at 8:15 p.m. central time. Please be in prayer that all goes well! Please pray for the judge, Nathanael's birthmom, and those who represent us in court.

"We prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted what we asked of Him." 1 Samuel 1:27

USCIS update

I received an email just now from USCIS stating that there was a continued problem...BUT they had talked with my social worker for the homestudy and she is bringing in a correction. Once they have received the correction from her....wait for it...wait for it...THEY CAN SEND ME AN APPROVAL LETTER!!! Thank you so much for your prayers! Please continue to pray for our courtdate which will be Monday night at 8:15 p.m. CST.

Adoption Discipleship

We received new pictures of Nathanael today! And we heard that everyone is on the mend at the orphanage after a bout with the stomach flu. We cannot express how grateful we are to the caregivers who are taking such good care of Nathanael and all of his friends!
Please remember to pray for the USCIS situation. The Secretary of State's office received the correction yesterday, but needs to send it on to USCIS in Metairie today. We know God is in control and we are hoping for no delays in bringing our little sweetie home! I know this sounds complicated, but this really is the "par for the course" with international adoption. We are praising the Lord for his help in bringing people into our lives who have walked this road before and have helped us on the journey. It's kind of like "adoption discipleship"--helping one another along the journey of adoption, which we all know is close to the heart of God. I want to do the same for other families.
Please pray for our court date to go well. It is March 9th at 10:15 a.m. Taiwan time..which is March 8th at 8:15 p.m. CST. We would appreciate prayers during the 10-12 day waiting period following court as well. I am meditating on the following scripture as we approach these important days:

"We prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted what we asked of Him." 1 Samuel 1:27