You know, you just want to sit and wait.  Do nothing and just wait until it's time to go.

We leave tomorrow and we have to pack now because  after we get back we will be zapped. That 'good kind of tired" but still tired.  Never thought it could take so much energy to pack but it does.  You have to think!  Then weigh the suitcases and then rethink some more.  But one thing is for sure, however it ends up you usually get packed one way or another. It just happens.

We were off (after finishing packing) and the van left at 2:45 for our 4:00 PM appointment time with the US Consulate.  Our wonderful Angela had already prepared all the paperwork and assured everything was correct and we just went through security in this obscure typical downtown business office building and we found ourselves waiting in a very large room with chairs kind of like the DMV.  Just cleaner. We went to a teller window and the lady behind the glass did a visual verification of our passports an we went back to sit and wait some more.  There were about 25 families in this large room all doing the exact same thing we were doing!  It was an amazing sight.  All these parents with these little Chinese children--each one looking so different and doing the typical things babies, toddlers and children do in a place like that.  

Then the Vice Consulate came out and using a microphone asked everyone to stand and then we raised our right hand and affirmed that all the information submitted was correct and true.  We all responded with the affirmative "I do" and that was it--cheers went up and the kids had no idea.  But it was a moment they will remember as their story is told and retold over the years ahead.

 We celebrated.  Went to KFC.

Seems like there are so many things that you pack that you never need, but just in case you pack it.  One thing is for sure, we could have used more peanut butter.  That went the fastest and if you think one jar is enough think again, you just find it to be a great source of energy and a basic food staple. 

Remember.  This is a journal with sometimes random thoughts.  The light bulb just came on.  I'm slow sometimes.  The feeling we had been experiencing for the Chinese culture and people just really hit us out of the blue.  Just really did not expect that.  Cindy and I both have been in other cultures.  Did not experience this feeling before.

 Here's where the light bulb circuit came on.  Not to over spiritualize, but it's just so clear.  God's Son became one of us.  Guess that would classify as a cross-cultural experience to say the least.  God's love for us is unmatched.  I can't say we have the capacity to love as much as God did for us, but we have the same love through Him in us!  It's the same!  That's why it felt so familiar and at the same time new.  It was Him.  It was a love that is not natural.  It is beyond us to generate.  Surprising.  You bet.  I should have expected it.

We hit the road in the morning at 8:00 AM-Friday, March 31st.  That's 7:00 PM ET on March 30th.  We arrive at PTIA at 9:10 PM March 31st.  That's a mind bender.

 The next email will be from Kernersville, NC.  We'll be home.  We'll post an update on our travel day and an additional update as time goes on.  Blessings for sharing this time in our family.