Today is the day!

It's surreal to wake up to "the day."  Today, we are going to Africa.  Tomorrow, we will be in Rwanda.  On Sunday, God willing, we expect to be meeting our daughter for the first time.  There really is no category for what I feel.  Leaving the three others behind yesterday was so emotional.  I know without a shadow of a doubt they will be loved well while we are away. (THANK YOU AGAIN MAGGIE AND BRENT AND SUMMER AND CHRIS!)  That's not the hard part.  The hard part is knowing that when I turned around and left, that was the last time we'd be a family in the way we've been.  As with each addition to our family, much will change.  I think it's always most difficult to say good-bye to "the baby," whether heading off to the hospital to give birth or to Rwanda to bring a baby home.  Saying good-bye to Sarah, and to her place as "the baby" in our family, was hard.  BUT...we are ready!!!!  We are SO, SO ready to meet our new baby...excited, nervous, as prepared as we think we can be, feeling surrounded by the love and prayers of family and friends.

As I looked out the plane of the window last night, over the piles of clouds in a sunset sky, I couldn't help but be moved by God's presence.  I felt the intensity of His love and peace.  I recognized His sovereign power as Creator and Author, Lifegiver and Redeemer.  I gave thanks for all He has done for us and I quietly meditated on His words, that have come to me at many peak moments in my life, "...Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;  I have summoned you by name;  you are mine..." (Isaiah 43:1)