This Great Work

Our shipment has been a complicated math problem. While complicated, it might simply be expressed simply as  s=d I'll define the variables:  s=shipment    d=drama Every few days a new point on the graph is added.  On again.  Off again.  Up a little.  Down a lot. Up a lot, down a little.  The plots on the graph definitely reflect a roller coaster ride rather than a smooth glide on a serene pond.   Here are just the highlights of the plotted points. 🎢Point A:  While still at home:  review the long list of prohibited items to be taken into China.  Unpack many things we had wanted to take.  (mostly food items and seeds for herbs, tomatoes etc.)  Re-itemize every single item that goes into the boxes (tedious!!). 📈Point B:  Fly to Dallas and only after obtaining permission to fly into China do we summon the movers to pick up our boxes. ⊶Point C:  Make arrangements for the shippers to meet Chandler at h...

When I first heard the youth theme song for 2021 I was impressed that that was to be our purpose in China.  That song got me through a lot of difficult pockets of doubt, insecurity and fear.  It moved me to tears nearly every time I listened to it.  A few of the words really spoke to me:       There is a work to do      that was prepared for you     long before the world was made .     You have the  strength you need     to cross the stormy seas     that you will find along the way.....          This is a great work that we’ve been given.     This is a  part of His grand design .     So don’t be weary.  He will be with you ,     And He will lead you through the night     in this great work. This great work.  This is a great work . There were times on this journey that were filled with great disappointment....

It is one thing to move.   It's another thing to move internationally.  It is totally another thing to move to China with Covid.   As one of our flight attendants said, "It is a big adventure to move internationally, but to do so in China right now is an EXTREME high adventure!" And then everything is taken to a whole new level when you have to personally obtain visas for a family to get into China during Covid. Most people who move abroad have companies or government agencies doing all of that work for them; but this has been a 'from the ground up' kind of experience.  Tom has tenaciously done all of the footwork and research himself with help from Ortho's Chinese employee, Jacky, doing all of the footwork and research within China. To obtain visas has been such a strenuous, stretching and difficult process.  All that we had heard about moving internationally and moving to China has been heightened because of Covid and China's response to it.  We...