In God's Time

I believe that God is active in our lives. I believe that God answers prayer. And I believe that sometimes - certainly not always - but sometimes, God provides difficulty in order to help us depend more upon Him.

It was an evening when I wrote about needing to trust that everything will work out; about realizing that with God in control, I do not need to know the details. I don't need a roadmap, if I can honestly trust that God will lead me. And on said evening, I began to trust. My faith grew and my anxiety faded. And the next morning, we received an email.

Finally, communication from the people in China!

They are looking forward to our visit. In fact, others from the region will travel as well so that everyone can meet together. We will travel to China the week following Easter, first visiting Hong Kong and then visiting Shanghai. We both get to go, and we're crossing our fingers that we'll get sent business class!

No News is Good News

I realize that immediately after sharing my website with many family and friends, I also stopped posting. The blame partially falls upon my computer, which was in the shop for a few weeks. But the rest of the blame, well, doesn't fall anywhere.

There is simply no news.

After accepting the job on February 14, we have heard nothing more.

That's not entirely true. We do know that Uncle H-- will be sending both Dave and I to China for a "look, see" before we move. And yes, that is the technical term. Even though it sounds rather unprofessionally like "oopsey." And we do know that Uncle H-- is leaning toward sending us to Shanghai, but that the Hong Kong option is still open.

But seriously, that's it.

And I've decided that's okay. I was feeling frustrated with the lack of information. I mean, I have decisions I need to make and actions I must take that are time-sensitive, dependent upon when we will leave the country.

But I'm not in a hurry. If it takes them a while to put this together, that's longer our girls have to hang out with their family in the US. And I have to trust that they will give us enough time to manage anything that is time sensitive.

So I'm not listing the house next week. And I'm not applying for visas. But I did get S--'s passport photo taken, and will send off the application soon. And that's all okay. I have made the conscious decision to be relaxed and take this entire process as it comes. And if a lack of information means that I just sit back, relax, and wait for details to come, then No News really is Good News.

Living Simply

I went to the wedding of a close friend this past weekend. Their ceremony was beautiful, and reflected the couple in a touching way. Evident in their ceremony as well as their reception was the couple's commitment to living simply. The wedding has caused me to reflect upon my life. It seems to me that this move is the perfect opportunity to purge my house.

When we were considering moving to Chicago, I felt that we would need a large home with plenty of storage space. In planning to move to China, I expect to have a condo with less square footage than our house, and very little storage space. Although I should admit that we will rent a storage unit, I only plan to use it for the piano and some important heirloom quality pieces.

Everything we own will fall into one of four categories:
1 - Take it with us
2 - Pay to store it
3 - Loan it to family
4 - Get rid of it

It is my hope that most items fall under the lattermost category.

Full Information

As an extension of the last posting, I will offer all of the information that I currently have on our move.

1 - We will leave in 3 - 6 months.

2 - We will live in China for 2 - 5 years.

3 - We will either live in Shanghai or Hong Kong.

This is all I know. This lack of information is beginning to frustrate me, and hopefully will not last much longer.

When we will leave effects when I will arrange for passport photos, temporary housing, listing the house and closing on it, putting items in storage, and purging the house.

Where we will live effects the language we will speak, the amount of English which natives will understand, the size of home we will have, and the availability of western goods.

Again, how do I plan?

Infant Passport

Here's a funny thought.

S-- needs a passport.

I mean, of course she does. Crossing international borders requires a passport. Hence, moving an American citizen to China would require that citizen to have a passport.

Still, its a funny thought. A child's passport expires in 5 years. S-- is nearly 3 months old. I imagine that any child between the ages of 3 and 7 will be able to pass in and out of the country on her passport in five years.

That she is so young, coupled with the fact that we do not leave immediately, raises the question -

When do I have her picture taken?

On one hand, every day she grows and looks older. So, the longer I wait the better the picture.
On the other hand, we could conceivably leave as early as May. Let's count backwards - assume we need 8 weeks to get a visa. If we leave at the end of May, that's the beginning of April. Assume it takes 6 weeks to get a passport. That shows that her photo ought to be taken and application mailed in the middle of February.

Shoot.

But we won't leave in May.

Will we?


An illustration of my current frustration. How do I plan anything?

Open Invitation

Let it be said:

You are invited.

Not only are you invited, but we encourage you to visit.

And yes, the Olympics will be in China next summer. More specifically, the Beijing Olympics will last from August 8th to August 24th in 2008. More info at http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/beijing/index_uk.asp

And no, we will not be in Bejing. But from where you are, we'll be really close! The flight from Hong Kong to Beijing is 3 hours. The flight from Shanghai to Beijing is more like 2 hours. And if you can get us tickets to the Olympics along with you, you'll even have resident guides for your entire trip!

Our small bed and breakfast may book fast during this period, so do feel free to plan ahead.

But all Olympics talk aside, I dearly hope that all of our family will make the time to visit while we're away. And I do hope that our friends with any interest and ability to travel to China will take advantage of our foreign residency.

You are welcome to stay. Do not wait for another invitation. Rest assured that you are welcome at our home.

Raising nieces and grandbabies

I suppose it goes without saying that MOVING TO CHINA dominates many of the thoughts flying through my mind lately. So much so, in fact, that I'm writing about it at 1:30 in the morning rather than sleeping. And with a child not yet sleeping through the night, my own sleep time is precious - believe me, being awake at this hour is not by design.

But, I figure, if I'm to be awake thinking about MOVING TO CHINA, I may as well be productive with my time and begin to answer some of my many questions. Let's take this one: How will our children know their family?

A fact about family: they will be honest. My brother has voiced his disappointment in our choice. He explained how much he enjoys being an uncle. He and I share disappointment in our uncles for never being there, and he vowed long ago not to be an absentee uncle. I love that. And I know that with our decision, we've thrown his plans and honorable intentions out the window.

I feel that since we made the decision to move our children far away, we are responsible for keeping the tie between them and their family tightly bound. And to that end, I plan to do the following:

• make annual visits to America, where the girls will spend significant periods of time with everyone in their family (non-us residents unfortunately excluded)
• continue to send photos on a regular basis
• purchase a camcorder, and send documentary footage as regularly as possible
• help the girls to communicate with their family as much as they are willing, through the phone, email, and more traditional forms of written communication.

When I was a girl, we spent a lot of time on my grandparents' farm. My aunt still lived at home while I was young, and so I spent quite a bit of time with her when I was little. Still, I have no real memory of my time with her and no real friendship, either. On the other hand, I saw my great-grandmother infrequently. As far as I recall, it was never more than once or twice a year. And then generally for just an afternoon. But she always sent me a birthday card with $5. What's more, she always sent me valentines. Every year she sent valentines, until she died. I loved getting those valentines. I mean, $5 on my birthday was great and all, but the valentines were invaluable.

I think that our girls' relationships with their family will grow much stronger if family can communicate with them as well. In the spirit of brainstorming, here are some of my ideas:

• send photos of yourself, either by email or by real mail
• send letters, pictures, cards - communication that little girls can relate to, and that we can help them connect to you
• communicate directly with them, through phone, letters or email
• visit - please! as frequently and for as long as you are able

I know that each of these pales in comparison to a weekend every month or an evening or more every week, but these regular communication and reminders of who their family is and that their family loves them will be their valentines. It'll mean more than you'll know to our little girls.

I am committed to holding up my end of the bargain. I look forward to seeing how our family - and our friends as well - will hold up theirs.