See you soon.

Tomorrow's going to be a LONG day. We've been instructed to have our bags outside our room at 5:30, and we will board out first plane from Guangzhou to Shanghai at 9:00 a.m. We are thankful to learn that another family in our group has the exact same flight schedule, and we are happy to have comfort in numbers to get each other through each phase of this long stretch of travel.

We have quite the layover in Shanghai (5 hours) and leave for the States at 4:20 p.m. on 9/25 (China time...you will hopefully still be sleeping!). We hope to hit U.S. soil in Detroit, as planned, at 6:15 p.m. on 9/25 U.S. time!  I am pretty sure we will be kissing the ground. 

We have very short time to claim our baggage, make Joseph an official citizen at immigration (yahoo!), clear customs, recheck our bags, and then board our final plane for HOME. Just typing that word makes my eyes fill to the brim. 

Our prayer request is that all of our flights are smooth, and that we make our connecting flight (DL 1663) from Detroit to Fort Lauderdale, which is scheduled to arrive at 11:00 p.m. Lord, I can't wait to see those kids. Please, also, pray for Joseph. He had a tough day filled with nervous energy about his new future. It was painfully obvious, and we pray that he is able to rest and find peace during tomorrow's hectic schedule.

This is the part that makes me a little more teary-eyed. It's been such an amazing experience, and so many of you were right here with us, praying us through each and every moment--the grace-filled ones, and the tough ones, too. We are blessed by you, and we are so grateful to our Gracious and ever-loving God, who gave us exactly what we needed--at every turn--to make this happen. Any of you who wish to greet Joseph at the airport are WELCOME. We can't guarantee how any of us will feel (or look, lol), but if you want to be there, we want to see you.

Now comes the next chapter...the most important chapter, our new life at home. We'll see you soon.