Chris & Abbie

We are officially on our way to Japan! We are at the airport, have made it through security, and will be in the air in one hour!

We are so thankful: that we didn't have to pay anything for our overweight baggage, that we made it through security with no problems, and that there is a Starbucks in our terminal (sometimes it's the little things!)

Thank you all for your love, support and prayers. We'll talk to you from the other side of the world the next time we check in!

Well, we were supposed to leave for Japan this morning, however our flight was cancelled. Our plane got hit by lightning on the way into Columbus, and the lightning put a hole in the plane. NO JOKE! So, we couldn't get out today. We have another flight scheduled for tomorrow morning, so please pray that all will go well tomorrow.

The good news: the airline put us up in a hotel and gave us food vouchers. Nice to have a place to rest our heads and relax today (we only got about 3 hours of sleep last night).

The bad news: we will have one less day to get adjusted to new time and life in Japan before school starts next Monday. The airline we fly tomorrow charges more for overweight luggage than the airline we were supposed to fly today, so we are praying we won't have to pay the more expensive fee.

We know God is in control and has a reason for all of this, so we are just waiting and trusting in Him today.

On our way to Japan...or so we thought...

(If I get ambitious today, maybe I'll post pictures from my family's visit this weekend.)

We are one week through orientation before going to Japan, and this past weekend we had some visitors! Mom and Dad as well as Andy and Laura all converged in Ohio to visit us at our orientation. Who knew how much fun could be had in one day! We saw a refurbished carousel, an 150 year old prison, and a great Bob Evans. More importantly, we had a fun time enjoying family before having to say goodbye.

Over the past month, we have slowly been saying goodbye to all of our friends and family, as we get ready to leave. Sunday night there was a goodbye party for us at church. We were so blessed by all of our friends and family who are supporting us, praying for us, and cheering us on as we move to Japan.

It has been such a bittersweet past few weeks, preparing to go. It's so hard to say goodbye to all of the people who have invested in us, been such a blessing to us, and really formed who we have become. At the same time, we know God is preparing us and asking us to move forward into an exciting time. Even though we don't know what Japan will really be like, or what God has in store for us, it's both exciting and scary to sit and wait for him to reveal His plans to us.

We are in Ohio now for two weeks of training and then we'll be off to Japan.

Thank you to all of you who took us out for dinners, wrote us notes, helped us pack and move, and have really just loved us. We will miss all of you so much - you are each a wonderful part of our lives!

I'm having trouble posting pictures so hopefully I'll be able to post some soon.