T-Minus Zero…

So here we are, the night before we leave. Wish we could post a couple pictures, but hey, the hard drive with the pictures is packed. And since “a picture is worth a thousand words”, I’d better do a lot of writing (NOT). Today I wore clothes from storage and the thrift store pile. And Brian’s socks ‘cause all my clothes were either packed or in the laundry. And then I wore my brand new Chaco sandals (that came just in time in the mail yesterday)!

So, “how are we doing?” Right now, we’re kind of tired, but I’ve definitely got some butterflies/adrenaline going on. We’ve got our trunks all packed, weighed, re-shuffled, re-weighed, opened, closed, re-distributed, closed and locked with our spiffy little TSA approved locks. And that was done by 10:00pm! This is where I get to brag on Brian, because he is a veteran packer and knows how to get things done—when he was a little MK on furlough, his parents would pack everything their family would need for the next 4 years in a large water tank/shipping container. Brian would get inside the water tank (through the opening on top) and people would hand him things and he would pack it all in until he packed himself out and so yeah, he’s been doing this a while and is an amazing packer! I love to plan and sort and organize, and we’ve moved a couple times now (great practice), so we’ve had a couple times to work out our packing system. Anyway. It’s nice to have the trunks done. Brian is sewing the button on the pants he wants to wear tomorrow (yes, he packs AND sews!!) and I’m blogging and e-mailing and facebooking while I also need to sort thru one more pile of papers/etc… to pack into my carryon. And sleep.

So we’re really going. This is it. It’s almost tomorrow (11:40 pm) and we’re getting on a plane. And going far away. For a long time. We’re totally thrilled, yet at the same time, a bit sad. Goodbyes are just generally not fun. But!!! There are cool things like skype and e-mail and videos on blogs, and I think we’re getting better at using all of those. So we’re very hopeful and excited right now. I think though that reality will hit me when we’re about 30,000 feet in the air when we’re finally on the plane—we will have “nothing” left to do (no packing or “one more last times”) and I will be very tired and miss everybody. Then I will have a good cry.

So I’ve started every paragraph with “so”. That is an indication that I’m tired. We’ve got tons of cool PTL things to share with you, and we haven’t even left yet. Specifically about Jehovah-Jireh, our provider and Jehovah-Rapha, the God who heals :)

K, time for some sleeps… Much love to you all. Thanks for your encouragement and prayers. We appreciate seeing so many comments from you all on e-mail or facebook or our blog just letting us know that we are being prayed for. There’s so much more to say, but that will be on another blog at another time from another country!!! Woohoo!!!

Love!!

Jocelyn (& Brian)

P.S. So much for NOT writing a lot of words!

P.P.S. FYI Contact/Itinerary stuff

If you would like to see where we are going to be on our trip, here is a map and the information: Itinerary

If you would like to be on our mailing list, please use the form on the right (if you are reading this in an e-mail, you are already on our mailing list ).

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New Address and Information:

Brazil Mailing Address:

C.P. 77

Parnamirim RN 59140-970

Brazil

USA Mailing address (will be checked regularly)

PO Box 448

Duvall, WA 98019

Skype name: brian_jocelyn