No Storm

Well, friends, here we are. I leave for the airport in about 18 hours. So that means in 18 hours I will embark on 3 hours (at least) of riding in a car, several hours of standing in lines, being searched, sitting in a waiting area, getting on a plane, 6 hours of flying to LA, some stressful minutes of retrieving my luggage, checking my luggage through to Beijing, about 9 hours of meeting teammates and entertaining ourselves in the airport, 14+ hours of sitting on a plane chatting, watching movies, attempting to sleep, eating, attempting to sleep again, arriving in Hong Kong, transferring flights, sitting on a plane for 3 hours, and finally, arriving in Beijing! (Yes, that is a horrendous run-on sentence, and no, I don't really care right now!)

The adventure I have been preparing for since October is finally actually almost here. If you've never been preparing to live in another country for a year, you may be wondering what I'm feeling. Let me tell you.

“ExcitednervousscaredanticipatoryI'mgoingtomisseveryoneIcan'twaittomeeteveryonenewwhatdidIgetmyselfintoIcan'twait!”

Take a moment to decipher that, and you will know that I am flooded with a whole lot of different emotions right now. As my emotions threaten to swell up and overwhelm me I am reminded of words to a song which I have always loved and which we happened to sing in Fellowship this morning:

“No storm can shake my inmost calm while to that Rock I'm clinging. Since I believe that Love abides, how can I keep from singing?”

I'm clinging to that Rock pretty desperately right now. So, here goes!