Anticipation....

We have been working to get things settled and ready for our trip. Paul has been trying to get a lot of work done to make up for the time he will be gone. Breanna has been doing some homework in advance. Sean, well, he's been sick (more on that later), so he has been doing a whole lot of nothing. Me, well, I have been trying to get some packing done (Carissa's suitcase is packed. Yay!). I have been cleaning, kind of organizing (does hiding and stacking things nicely count as organizing? ;o) ), moving furniture around, setting up a crib, running errands, getting things for the trip and also meal planning so that I can get meals in the freezer for us to have on hand for when we get back home.

I find myself lost sometimes, overwhelmed by the amount of things we need to get done, not knowing what to do first. I'm just trying to take it one thing at a time and feel accomplished if I get even a couple of things done each day. It's weird going from this intense paper chase mode to just kind of waiting and preparing. I've been working paperwork for so long, it kind of feels like I'm missing or forgetting something. Kind of unnerving.

People ask me a lot if I'm just so excited, and I definitely am. I'm so excited to see Carissa face to face, to hold her and comfort her. But, there is also a bit of trepidation mixed in. I go from intense excitement one moment to "Oh my! what am I thinking?!?" There is the constant fight of the fear of the unknowns, fear that Carissa is going to have a really hard time, fear of the flight over there (have I mentioned that I have never been out of the US?), fear of getting sick on the trip, fear of my kids wondering off when I'm not looking....just fear. I know where that comes from and it's not my Heavenly Father. So, I feel like I'm at battle over my mind, sometimes. I know who's going to win, though. I made a promise to myself a long time ago that I won't make my decisions based off of fear. I know that God has given me a place in my heart as well as the rest of the family's heart for this baby girl and He's going to take care of things for me, her, and the rest of the family. So, I just try and shove those fearful thoughts out of my mind and point my thoughts upward. I do better at it some times than others.    "In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid.  What can mere mortals do to me?" Psalm 56:4

On top of all the preparations going on, we have been fighting illnesses in this house. I had an extremely sore throat a week or so back. It never went much further than that and tiredness, so that's good. Now, Sean has bronchitis. So, I've been really concerned about this. I'm really praying the rest of the family stays healthy this next 12 days and on the trip.

So, on that note, I have a few prayer requests:

For our health. That Sean would improve quickly and stay that way throughout the trip. That the rest of us stays healthy. That the trip to China won't be too hard on our bodies, including Breanna's asthma and all of our allergies and also our tummies.

For everyone's safety on the trip and when we are touring around various cities in China. Especially when we are riding in vehicles in the crazy traffic.

That our flights to and from China go smoothly. We have a couple of layovers that are cutting it super close, so we could really use prayers that everything stays on time.

For Carissa's heart. Please pray that, in her grief, God brings comfort to her heart that He can only give. That she somehow knows we are safe and that we love her so much.

Again, thank you for all your love, excitement, support and prayers during this time. It's such a comfort to know that we have friends, family and even a few people we haven't even met that are covering us all in prayer. It's an awesome feeling!

I just really can't wait to bring Carissa home and introduce her to this amazing community!