And We're Off!

We began our journey at 6:15 am on December 28. Both of our mothers drove us to Washington Dulles airport. From Dulles we flew to London, which is where we are writing from now. Our cell phone does not currently work over here and there is not any wireless internet that we can find, so we are using a computer in the airport. We paid £3 for 30 minutes of internet access. It is around 7am here while it is more like 2 or 3 am back in the States! We will be boarding our next (and final) fllight in roughly 2 hours.

This trip, so far, has been very stretching. It is very difficult to leave family and friends behind for such a long time. I (Rachel) was frustrated when we got to London and the phone and internet did not work! We were able to get online though and communicate with our family which was a blessing! There is also a Starbucks just across the way which makes Michael a very happy traveler! :o)

Please continue to pray for us as this will be a tough transition and we will miss all of our family and friends (and our puppy Zoe). It is a very strange feeling because we are extremely excited and sad at the same time. We know that God has promised to go with us and He who has promised is faithful. We are praying for you all and look forward to hearing from you soon!

Love from London,
Mike and Rachel

departure approaching

It seems like time is FLYING by as we prepare to leave in less than 2 weeks! It seems almost surreal! There is so much to do between now and December 28! Preparing to leave is so much more than simply getting all of our belongings packed! We really need to have time to emotionally prepare as well! Being away from our home, family, friends, culture, conveniences, etc for so long is going to be an emotional thing for us, but we are prepared to face and embrace each emotion, whether it be painful or cheerful. We know that through every aspect of this grand adventure God is going to teach us and change us, and for that we are extremely thankful and excited! Not sure how many more updates we will be able to post before we get there! Things are crazy with finals (for Rachel), Christmas approaching, family coming in, and preparing to leave! Seems like even though we have been planning this trip for almost a year, we still do not have enough time! We probably would never have adequate time to prepare for something this big in our lives!

For the next few weeks, we ask that you would pray for the following things:
*That God would prepare us emotionally for this trip
*That God would allow us adequate time to get everything packed and ready to go!
*That we would be refreshed this Christmas season by the fellowship with our family and friends before we leave!