Falling Into Place

Obviously my big ideas about keeping up with our adventure in a real-time way while in China did not pan out. Between the challenges of hotel computer speeds, sleep deprivation, a very full schedule of events and decisions, and "Big Uncle" (aka the Chinese government), I failed.

We are, gratefully, back in Knoxville after a L O N G trip home. As if a fifteen hour flight from Hong Kong to Chicago is not enough time spent in the "friendly skies", we were again treated to a little extra time in Chicago. This time we got to sit on a taxi-way for three hours. We arrived in Knoville at midnight Monday night ((Tuesday afternoon where we had just spent 10 days), so we are pretty wiped out. The girls were troopers as usual, even despite Emily having stomach pains the entire HK to ORD flight and Ellysa throwing up several times on that same bumpy ride. We think Emily ate something that disagreed with her. As for Elly, well, she frequently needs a bag nearby during travel if you get my drift. They are both fine now.

Anyway, things are "falling into place". For my part, it sure SEEMS like falling too! I continue to have mostly positive and confident thoughts about this undertaking but I would be lying if I didn't say I feel overwhelmed and scared every day too. I still can't believe we found a home, enrolled the girls in schools, met an MD in Hong Kong who agreed to coordinate healthcare for us while we're there. Thanks to Bill's amazing organizational skills, we also bought cell phones so when we arrive in August we'll quickly be able to contact our new network! To increase the comfort factor in a land of strangers, we even got a cheap phne for Ellysa! (You can imagine her excitement!) I got the same cheap model as I expect to remain a simple(tech)ton for some time! Elly was proud that I chose the same phone as she so that she could teach me to use it. (Sad but true....)

We feel good about the decisions we've made so far. One big question before the trip was related to furnishing the house. We decided to ask for our unit to be unfurnished so that we can take our familiar things with us and make it feel more like our home and our sanctuary. We think we'll get quite a lot of resistence to our requests to hang pictures on the walls as they are all concrete. It' sad and worrisome to think about storing the many prints we have bought as souveniers on vacations over the years, but maybe the tropics would be hard on them anyway.

Not long after sharing our "We're moving to China!" news with people, a fretting friend told me that if God is behind a plan, things will just "fall into place". It seems that this is the case for our move. I pray daily that God will keep sheltering us and give us wisdom We have already been given so much advice, encouragement, hospitality and support, both here and in China. Really, I can't put my appreciation into words. I never dreamed I would be taking such a big adventure. I certainly would have denied my ability to absorb the events of the past month and still be standing upright. (Okay, I admit I sway and swoon every now and then.) God is great .....and He has many hands and feet around His world.

Oh..... I almost forgot. Today, after being back in TN for about 12 hours, we accepted an offer for the purchase of our house. If all of the steps "fall into place", we'll close on July 15th.

I'll post some photos on my next entry into cyberspace. Right now, I need an Ambian and a pillow, in that order.