On Our Way...

Apparently it takes international travel to get me to dust the blog off these days. Just as video killed the radio star, Facebook seems to have done the same thing to Blogger. I confess to taking the quick and easy way out most of the time. But what we're up to these days deserves a little more cyberspace.

Today, Jeff and I are heading back to Hyderabad, India! It has been 20 months since our last journey, and that is far too long. I am itching to get back and be among so many people that I love and the land that God has etched into my heart. The purpose of our trip this time is to help our friends at Baptist Church Hyderabad with their annual youth conference on October 2nd. It is an event that brings over 5,000 people from all over the state of Andhra Pradesh, and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to participate this year. This week we will be hanging out with our friends and helping in their preparations for the conference. I also anticipate sweet time with the almost 60 girls living in the orphanage on the church property. I miss their gorgeous faces!

Since our church isn't actively pursuing a partnership with BCH anymore, Jeff and I prayed about it and decided it was time to just head out on our own. We know God has put this church and city in our path for a reason, and until He shuts the door for us, we intend to do whatever we can to foster that relationship. As much as we have loved time spent with past team members, we're actually really excited about going on our own this time and the freedom that will bring. We were discussing earlier how God made us for international travel, and we are so grateful that He did and has given us the resources to pursue that passion. So the above picture is our "team" picture for Hyderabad 2010. Thanks, Dad! :)

As I write, we are waiting out a 4-hr layover at Chicago O'Hare. Due to much past experience with Chicago, we didn't want to risk the later flight out of Nashville. This city is normally my traveling nemesis, but everything has been beautiful so far today. We actually arrived a few minutes early! The air is crisp and clear and I think it's only 62 degrees out there. Quite a shock from the mid-90's we've been used to as we quickly walked through the breezeway upon exiting the plane.

This is the view from my window. Look closely and you can see the Chicago skyline in the background. It really is a spectacular day!
We are unbelievably grateful to all of you who have supported us on this journey. I need to give a big shout out to all of the caregivers taking care of the three little Swords over the next ten days, Uncle Marc and Aunt Gigi, Mimi and Poppa G, the Abbotts, Uncle Bill and Aunt Krenan, the Weimers, Meem and Granddaddy Reid. It truly takes a village to make this possible! You have all been nothing but encouraging to us as we follow God's direction, and we don't take that for granted. You are such a blessing to our lives!

Once we leave here tonight (7:30 Central time), we should be in the air for about 16 hours until we arrive in Delhi. We have a 10-hour layover there, so I'll try to update at that point. We should be arriving there around 8:00 p.m. Saturday, which is 6:30 a.m. back home.

Please keep us in your prayers. We can feel them! Love to all...