24 Hours!!!

Picture Ty Pennington running around our house with a megaphone yelling "Twenty-four hours, people!" and you'll get a sense for the anticipation in the air around here. It has been hard to wait through all of the stages and delays, but we are, at long last, only twenty-four hours from leaving for the airport. Our bags are mostly packed, our day-jobs have been tied up and either put on hold or handed to others to deal with for a few weeks, and our refrigerator is looking empty enough to go a few weeks without anything spoiling...

I have been sitting in the living room this morning praying and enjoying the company of our dogs who will be well taken care of but still lonely, and realizing that this is finally it. No more delays, no more to-do's (well okay, a few more of those). Our tickets, passports, and visas are in hand, our baby stuff is prepared, our hotel rooms are booked, our bills are paid, our t's are crossed and our i's are dotted. Off we go! Praise God!

For those wondering about when we will get back on the 12th, our parents have our flight details, and I don't feel perfectly comfortable posting them here. If you have a need for them, please contact any of our parents. If you don't know any of the parents but would still like to know when we get in, you can email me. I should have time to reply while we are in China. My address can be found to the left under the sign-up box for email updates.

We would greatly appreciate your prayers for safety and for our time with Sydney as we begin to bond and attach. There are certainly many things that could go wrong, but few things that usually do. We anticipate it will take anywhere from a few days to a week for Sydney to really feel comfortable with us, and we covet your prayers for that process. I know we have not been alone in praying for Sydney's health and protection. We are also praying, as every parent does, that the Lord would touch Sydney's heart and bring her into His family in His timing.

All I know about parenting is that I don't know diddly, and that I may not know much more 20 years from now. Pray for grace for me and Amy as we become parents and seek to honor God by our caring, teaching, and guiding of Sydney.

Thank you to all of you who have supported us through this long waiting process. Soon it will be over and she will be home with us!