So much to celebrate!

One year ago we got the news that China had approved us to be Joseph’s parents. On his 2nd birthday the Letter of Approval was stamped. He would be a Williams. Today, on his 3rd birthday he is celebrating in a family. It takes my breath away every time I think about the difference one year makes. Today, he was celebrated as a son. His life matters to us. He is treasured. He is 3! Can it get any better than this? Cupcakes, a ball pit, and some new Thomas the train track….we celebrated our Christmas baby big!

As if that wasn’t enough!

We got an email today – another letter of approval for a second boy. Can you believe that we got the approval on the same day one year apart? It is the Letter of Approval we have been waiting on to take us into the final stretch of adopting Benjamin. (By the way, we need to think of a fun blog nickname for this new guy! Ideas?) We still have several steps in order to make him a Williams and only a few more weeks to get it done, but we are at peace knowing that God is orchestrating this whole adoption.

Having the letter of approval gives us even more confidence. All the paperwork was turned in. They didn’t find any mistakes and all was accepted and approved. Phew! Now we pray for the same thing on the US side. We now submit all of our adoption approvals and paperwork to the US government to get the approval from that side of the ocean.

We also would appreciate you praying specifically for Benjamin in the coming days. He will soon find out that he will join our family. Hopefully he will be glad to join our crazy crew, but this also will be a difficult transition. He has lived in the Children’s Home for many many years. He will be leaving all he knows and entering a new season. Pray that he has courage, peace, and acceptance for what God has for his future. Can you imagine going and living with a Chinese family at the age of 13? Pretty crazy shocking. Pray hard for all of us.

We also want to thank you again – our matching grant to Brittany’s Hope was fulfilled because of generous gifts from you! Seriously, we are blown away by the support, love and gifts that have been poured out on us through this adoption. The financial commitment of adopting again was daunting – in two short months due to the generosity of God’s people and because of two grants we are only $1,500 short of being FULLY funded. It really is a miracle. Thank you seems so inadequate. We could not have done this alone. Thank you for being a part of the community who is praying and giving in order to bring this boy home.

Benjamin should be joining us in the next 6 weeks or so. We will be updating our blog through the process. We would be blessed to share our journey with you if you would like to follow along.

China said that he can be ours. This time it is a 13 year old boy. A boy we will call son, will treasure, and his life matters to us. That is the best Christmas present EVER. Next year there will be 6 stockings hanging from our mantel (well, um, from our bookshelf!)

Still want to give to help bring Benjamin home? You can give to our new matching grant through Lifesong for Orphans (they double dollar for dollar every gift and 100% of the gifts go towards bringing Benjamin home). We only need $1,500 more. You can give here. Direct your donation to adoption, complete the online form and fill in our family name and number (Williams 7399) Thanks again! Can’t wait to write the post that God provided every dollar we needed for this journey!