Leaving Soon

We are set to fly out of Nashville on January 6, 2010. We leave around 3:00 in the afternoon on Thursday and we'll arrive in China on Friday at 11:30 at night.  I'm not exactly sure what to expect, but am pretty certain that my rear will be tired of sitting that long.  I don't plan on sleeping much, I prefer to be ready to sleep when we arrive in China that night.  We fly into Beijing and we will spend the first full day of China touring the main spots in Beijing like TianAnMen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Great Wall of China....I have wanted to see the Great Wall of China for a LONG time, but never would have dreamed that God would be taking me there while adopting a daughter.  Ahh, the great adventures that He takes us on....

We fly out of Beijing on Sunday, January 9 and arrive in Nanchang where we will meet our daughter that afternoon. We stay at the Galactic Peace International Hotel until Friday when we fly to Guangzhou for a week.  There we will finalize the adoption with the U.S. government.  We will leave China on Friday evening at 6:00 and will land in Chicago on Friday evening at 5:15; I know, weird....While there our hotels look to be pretty amazing.  One is even a 5-star hotel.  The odd thing is that the cost of these hotels is the same or even cheaper than a very normal hotel here in the states.

There is a great deal of expectation and anxiousness over many things. What to pack?  How much to pack?  Getting paperwork ready and making copies of everything....not to mention getting things ready here in Nashville so that our boys can carry on a normal life while we are gone. It's going to be interesting living in a far away land for two weeks, but I look forward to it....and I'm a little nervous, particularly about the food.  But, I will pack plenty of granola bars and peanut butter crackers.

This experience has been a long and blessed one.  Already we have felt love from so many different people who wish to help in one way or another.  So, we say thank you for joining us in this journey and helping to make it a wonderful experience.

"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."  Phil. 3:12-14

All to the Glory of God!

Prayers:
*God, take care of our boys while we are gone....
*God, keep Baby Bo warm and safe until we arrive....
*God, help us to return safely to unite our entire family....
*God, please give us wisdom in choosing food and keep us from getting sick....
*God, bless those who have blessed us....
*God, help our story encourage others to reach out to some of the 145 million orphans in our world and help save some of the 26,000 children who die daily of starvation or a preventable disease....
*God, may you receive all the glory and may the work you have started in us serve to grow your Kingdom....