Preparing to leave

We are testing this out. My friend Lori is going to post my emails to my blog.

Well, we are about 80% packed. After our travel meeting Friday, we were ready to leave right then and there. We have talked with everyone staying at our house, and things seem to be good at that end. Overall, we are ready!

Church was amazing today. We were prayed for by our pastors, connect group leaders, and Lori...and if I missed anyone, I truly apologize. I spoke for a few minutes about our journey and specifics to pray for. After the service, we were truly humbled. A man we'd never met gave us a very special cross to carry on our trip. It has an amazing story, and we feel honored that he would give it to us to take on our trip to help cover us through the hard times. Many people came up to us and gave us hugs, and many had adoption stories to share or advice to give. I am so blessed to have such an amazing church family.

Then tonight at connect group, we prayed (and I cried...again...what is with all the crying?), and Kacie was given some gifts for the plane. She was so excited, yet couldn't understand why someone would do that for her. She's a very giving girl, so for someone to give to her, she didn't quite understand. She was very thankful. One of the gifts was a little note book, and we had been discussing that she needed a journal to capture her memories of China. Overall, we are just so thankful for our connect group and their prayers and how supportive they have been. I just met these people in September - February (I think) but I feel like I've known them for a long time.

OK, so that's it! If you're reading this, then Lori has successfully completed her first post! If you can see the picture, Lori did that too. This is actually a picture of Badaling, the area of the Great Wall that we will be experiencing at the end of this week. Oh my gosh, this trip is happening! Praise God! Tyson will be home in no time.