T minus 10

China, here we come!!!

(I'm such a geek... I have been waiting for these "T minus" posts

 for the last 6 months...)

We've reserved our plane tickets! We fly away in 10 days! This is really happening! We're doing the happy dance!

Here's what we know about our China schedule so far:

    Fri, July 29 - fly away from here

    Sat, July 30 - arrive in Beijing and stay for 16 hours

    Sun, July 31 - Chris fly to Henan, Jason fly to Shanxi

    ????? - Gotcha Day(s)
    Fri, August 5 - Everyone flies to Guangzhou

    Tue, August 9 - U.S. Consulate appointment

    Wed, August 10 - Pick up the munchkins' visas

    Thu, August 11 - Fly away from China

    Thu, August 11 - Land in Los Angeles -- the munchkins are U.S. citizens now!

    Thu, August 11 - Land in Denver - welcome home!

(In case you couldn't tell, August 11 is going to be an extra-long day for us with a few extra hours thrown in just for fun while crossing fourteen time zones and the dateline and all that. God has a funny sense of humor like that.)

Later this week we should get our daily schedule from our adoption agency. They arrange all the in-country appointments and transportation. The only thing we have left to do is pack!

Oh, and get license plates for the car. And ship keys to my sister. And call insurance. And get some more papers notarized. And talk to the cleft clinic again. And clean the house. And go shopping at Target just one more time. And, oh there's more... OK, maybe we still have a few things to do...

Us yesterday enjoying some family time ~ right before our snowball fight!

Job 37:5  God's voice is glorious in the thunder. We can't even imagine the greatness of his power.

Travel Info

We have a travel information update... No, we don't have word on when we're traveling yet. Are you kidding? It has only been 5 months since we started this process ~ it is way too early to know that! We're still aiming for traveling late summer-ish (please, Lord, August at the latest... our munchkins are waiting).

Our travel update is not about when do we leave, but the logistics. Remember, our two boys are in different provinces so we have to go to three different provinces if you include traveling to the U.S. Consulate. This means that if Jason and I travel together we can expect about a week in each province. Yup, that would be minimum 21 days. Three weeks. Three-quarters of a month. In another country where we don't speak the language, we can't drink the water, we are eating in restaurants every meal, we are dealing with jet-lag and government appointments and not driving each other crazy, and doing all this while we are running on adrenaline from the excitement of finally meeting our sons and trying to bond with these two beautiful little munchkins while missing our #1 son on the other side of the world.

What's that saying... If He brings you to it, He'll bring you through it. We know adding these two boys to our family will stretch us beyond our comfort zone. We know that while we're in China we will be uncomfortable and waaaaaaay out of our element. These are just the inconveniences and discomfort of life, and it is so temporary. And God has such a greater purpose for us. It is not about us. He is driving this bus, all we have to do is trust and go along for the ride. We can do this for three weeks.

If we had to.

But we'll choose what's behind door #2...

We emailed the CCAI travel gurus and we do have a two week option. If Jason and I split up for the first week, we can git 'er done in 14-16 days. (This is the typical length of a single adoption in China.) We prayed about it, we talked about it, and we're doing it. Jason is going to pick up David in northern Shanxi province. I am going to pick up Samuel in southern Henan province. We will both have in-China CCAI representatives available 24/7. The difference is that I will probably be in a travel group with other Americans who are adopting, and Jason will probably be in his own travel group by himself. We can do this. It is only a week. We're already leaning on God throughout this process, might as well keep on trusting that this is His deal and His idea. Who else could orchestrate something so beautiful?

The three week travel trip would give us each other to lean on the whole time. The two week travel trip gets us home faster. Either way it isn't about us. Let's enjoy China while we're there, but let's get these boys home a week sooner. We'll trust that this is His idea.

Isaiah 55:6 Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near.