Leaving in 5 days

This last week has been a bit of a jumble, first waiting to hear something from Holt, then being told that indeed they scheduled us for the embassy March 28th, but are actually expecting us in Addis on the 24th.  So, we had to jump through some hoops to get plane tickets.  There has been an unbelievable amount of turmoil in the Middle East and Africa over the last 6 months, and I really didn't want to risk a stop anywhere in between here and there.  God bless Erle at Azumano Travel, who managed to find us what might have been the last set of tickets on a non-stop flight from the US to Ethiopia.  So, we're leaving Wednesday morning and get to Addis Thursday morning.

So, here we are at the five days and counting mark.  If I said everything was packed, that Jenny and I are ready to go, that we're not the least bit nervous, I'd be lying.  Truth is, I'm nervous about several things:

• Despite not flying through Egypt, Libya, Israel, or even Japan, I'm very nervous about the flight.  This will be only about the third or fourth time since we've been married that Jen & I are on the same plane at the same time.  We've made a habit of flying places separately to avoid the potential for making our kids orphans in the event of an accident.  For some reason, it seems less appropriate when we're flying more than 24 hours away.  Still not sure it's a good idea.
• The other kids' nervousness is showing itself as skepticism and even rejection of the idea of adoption.  This late in the game, we're pretty sure it's mostly anxiety-related.  Still, it's hard to reassure them enough that each time we've added a kid to our lives, the result has been more love, more fun, more life, more God in our home.
• Didn't get done all the finance-related maneuvers I wanted to finish since Christmas.  We got our trust in place and we're pretty sure we're covered in case of an accident, but I just can't feel completely confident the kids will be ok if something happens to Jenny & me.
• The US Embassy could still be a problem, or we could have forgotten a piece of paper that slows down the process or even stops it.
• Traveling back from ET for about 23 hours with a 4 year old that might be a little shell shocked.
• How Tommy will feel about our dog, cat, turtle and fish; Ethiopians generally don't keep domestic animals, and he's certainly not had one at the care center.

Things we're not worried about:

• That adopting a young boy from Ethiopia is the right thing to do; in general and for our family.
• Whether, and how we'll love Tommy.  We just will. In fact, we already do.
• How Tommy will feel about us, the kids and joining our family.
• Getting his medical and physical condition addressed.  It'll take some time and major effort, but we'll get him going on the process and just continue to work on it like we did with Madi's neurological problems and like I do with my MS every day.
• Communicating with Tommy; based on our last visit, we think he's pretty good at it.
• Tommy's cognitive ability; he is a smart boy.
• My parents watching the kids for a week.