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<\/p>\nHello to all of our Friends and Family!<\/p>\n
This has been an awesome year, one that we will never forget! Most of you know that last year, we began the process of adopting a little one from China. At the close of 2004, we sere still awaiting a response from the Chinese Center of Adoption Affairs with a picture of our new little family member. December was a long month!<\/p>\n
Then on January 6, we were at the church office working when the phone rang. Brandon\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mom answered it and came and said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Someone named Allison from America World is on the phone.\u00e2\u20ac? We screamed! We were both an instant bowl of mush and emotion, shaking all over with excitement! Needless to say, that was our referral call! We were now the proud parents of a little girl from Hubei China named Li Jia Yi, soon to be named, Rebecca Catherine Jiayi Battle. She was born on 3\/5\/04. That means that exactly one week after we made the decision to adopt from China, our little girl was born. WOW! Isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t God awesome!<\/p>\n
January and February were planning and packing and praying months. They too dragged on and it seemed that March, when we were scheduled to travel would never arrive! Then March 2nd came, and we were off to China for 16 days. The families we traveled with were all so very sweet, and we will never forget them. (We hope to have a reunion next year!) The first 3 days were spent in Beijing touring the Great Wall and other historical sites! On March 5th, Becca, as she has come to be called turned one, and then 2 days after that, she was in our arms for the first time! Becca\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Gotcha Day had finally come! We spent the next week loving on and welcoming our new daughter into our lives and seeing her province. We also filled out paperwork to finalize the adoption, and had our first official family photo taken! Then, we flew with Becca to Guangzhou where we applied for her visa to fly home with us. We then spent another week or so touring, shopping, and enjoying Becca while this final paperwork was filed. Then on March 18th, we flew home, and the instant our plane touched US soil, little Becca became a US citizen! Boy did it feel good to be home!<\/p>\n
It took two weeks for our body clocks to adjust to a 14 hour time difference. We walked around in a daze for days! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
In April, we, along with another adoptive family, the Crowders (who are very dear friends of ours), shared at America World\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Adoption Seminar about our adoption journeys! It was so much fun to share our joy with other families who were praying about adopting. We enjoyed it so much that we later became America World Adoption Associates, spreading the word through adoption seminars and small groups about the joys of international adoption! We also had a birthday party for Becca in April together with both sets of her grandparents! We decorated the house \u00e2\u20ac\u0153to the hilt!\u00e2\u20ac? The one thing we will never forget is Becca\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s face as she enjoyed getting her hands covered with icing and cake digging her fingers into her little \u00e2\u20ac\u0153smash cake!\u00e2\u20ac? She had so much fun being the center of attention and getting loved on by both sets of grandparents! We discovered that day how much she loved balloons more than any other gift she received!<\/p>\n
In May, we had our church\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s annual Missions Conference! After adopting Becca, this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s conference was especially wonderful because we got to introduce our little Becca to the ministers from many different nations of the world that our church supports. This year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s conference felt much like a family reunion. We were able to see some minister friends that we hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seen in a very long time.<\/p>\n
Another special day in May, was Mother\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Day. Sarah, for the first time, celebrated this day not just as a daughter, but a mother, Becca\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mother! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
In June, Brandon was especially blessed. He was asked by his dad to preach the Father\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Day sermon at the church. He preached on the Father heart of God, and showed our Gotcha Day video.<\/p>\n
In August, we held our first small group fellowship for adoptive families and waiting or potential adoptive families. We had 10 people there, and we enjoyed talking to one another so much, that it lasted one hour longer than planned. No one really wanted to leave, because we enjoyed each other\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s company, and the stories and info that were shared were so rich!<\/p>\n
Also, this summer, many of our relatives met Becca for the first time and welcomed her into our family. <\/p>\n
In October, we held our first official adoption seminar as AWAA Associates. It was held at our church, The Lord\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Glory Church in Humble, TX. We had the privilege of tying the seminar together with a benefit concert with Christian Artist, Clay Crosse, and God enabled us to raise over $2100.00 to help other families adopt. One of these families was Clay Crosse and his family. They just recently returned from China with their beautiful Sophie May! Congratulations to the Crosse family! The concert was held on Friday night and then on Saturday, October 29, at 10 AM, we held a Spirit of Adoption AWAA seminar. Clay and his wife Renee shared about their adoption journey, and the Crowders also shared about their trip to China to get Kayla, their sweet new daughter! Ten interested families cameto the seminar, and two of them who had previously been undecided, made the decision to begin their adoption journeys. That made the weekend worth it all! Our whole church got behind these events and we really appreciate all of the time and effort they put forth!<\/p>\n
In November, both Brandon and Sarah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s parents came over and had Thanksgiving Dinner. We have so much this year to be thankful for with Becca now here in our family forever. It was such a joyous occasion. Also, we had a lot of prayers going up as well, due to the fact that our dog, Precious had contracted a blood disease that was threatening her life. But God! He healed her! We received a miracle during that next week, and she who was at death\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s door is now getting back to her \u00e2\u20ac\u0153old self\u00e2\u20ac? again! Yea! Praise the Lord! The vet said to Brandon: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Brother, we have experienced a miracle!\u00e2\u20ac? God is so good!<\/p>\n
This month, we enjoyed having a reason to decorate for Christmas! Becca helped as we decorated the tree, and her face lit up as it was lit up! Brandon was telling James Benson, one of the daddies in our China travel group, how wonderful it was to experience Christmas as a daddy for the first time, and see it from that perspective. There was nothing more priceless than seeing Becca experience the joy of her first Christmas: her eyes lighting up as we lit the tree, her eyes filling with wonder as she looked out the window of her room and saw the Nativity Scene and then with joy yelled \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Jee! Jee! (That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Jesus\u00e2\u20ac? in baby language). James also pointed out to me how he now has even more appreciation for Joseph this Christmas. He was an adoptive father too, you know!<\/p>\n
We also had a wonderful Christmas party with America World families who live in the Houston area! We hosted it at our house, and had 26 people come (11 kids! Wow! Awesome!) ! We had families there who had adopted from Russia, Ukraine, and China! One little girl from China was dressed in the same Santa dress that Becca had on! They looked like twins! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
This has truly been a year we will never forget! God has blessed us, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s because of His grace that we are now blessed to be parents of this little girl that we know He has enormously wonderful plans for! He has already used her to touch so many people! It is truly a beautiful joy to wake up everyday and watch her discover those plans one step at a time! Thank you Lord for 2005, and thank you for blessing us with this beautiful gem from heaven named Rebecca Catherine Jiayi Battle!<\/p>\n
May God bless everyone of you, and may this Christmas be filled with childlike wonder and unfettered joy for you and your families! Can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wait to hear about and see what the Lord does in each of your lives in the coming year!<\/p>\n
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Love,
\nBrandon, Sarah, and Becca Battle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hello to all of our Friends and Family! This has been an awesome year, one that we will never forget! Most of you know that last year, we began the process of adopting a little one from China. At the … Continue reading