Timezones & Anticipation

As I sit here and type this it is 4:30 AM, China time. I'm lying in bed because I just can't sleep anymore...a 12 hour time change is quite hard to get used to. I've been up every 3 hours and for the first time of my experiences in China my bed is actually not THAT hard, which is very nice. Also, our room is soooo cold! I am definitely counting our blessings because when we get to Chenzhou the air shuts off a lot at night and you wake up covered in sweat on your rock hard bed. Literally, it's a hard, flat rock; but it's worth it because my kids are right around the corner!

As I'm sure you have already realized, we made it safely to Shanghai. The flight was definitely one of the longest most miserable flights that I have ever been on. It was very crowded and there was not much leg room at all. I had planned to sleep the first 8 hours but even with the help of my Advil PM I only slept about 3-4 hours total. Luckily I did sleep during my 2 1/2 hour flight to Detroit. 

Thank you for all the prayers for safety and health. We all got here in one piece with all of our luggage and as far as I know we are all doing well. 

Our wake up call should come in about 3 hours at 7:30 so that we can get up, eat breakfast together, and then head out to go sightseeing and tour Shanghai. 

I'm really excited to see Shanghai, it's so beautiful with all the lights and architecture & definitely different from going to Beijing like we have the past 2 years. 

Please pray that the rain and storms hold off for at least some of the day and that we can get our touring in. Please also continue to pray for safety and health as we travel in China. Lastly, pray that we can be used in an amazing way when we get to Chenzhou and that they would be very open to us and ask a lot of questions about why we are how we are. 

This trip is definitely going to be a life-changing trip. I can already tell that there are great things to come just by having some of the conversations we've had on the busses and planes. I love my team and can't wait to get to know the other 9 ladies more as the trip goes on; I can already tell we are going to become very close. 

Thanks again for the prayers and support, I love & miss you all. 

-Lys