Winter Weather, Packing Lists & My final Meals stateside

Where do I begin? We are leaving for India in less than 24 hours......maybe. For those of you who have no idea what is going on in a majority of the United States, let me explain. We are the midst of a Winter Storm that has been described as "crippling, a monster, complete blizzard, biggest storm since the 1960's" and many other things. The storm is expected to affect over 100 million Americans and wouldn't you know it, the storm's next targets are Detroit, Cleveland and Buffalo. Beautiful. Our first flight tomorrow doesn't leave until 4:55pm so we are still holding out hope that we may be able to get on our way. More to come on this developing situation.

On Sunday we held a commissioning ceremony during both of our morning worship services. We are all very grateful to Rev. Jim Dietz for leading this liturgy and sending us off in such a nice way. I believe I can speak for all of us when I say that is truly humbling to be able to participate in this trip and that we are so grateful for all of your kinds words and prayers you offered to us on Sunday. Following our Annual Meeting that afternoon we gathered to attempt to pack the massive amount of everything that we are taking with us. Allow me to share with you a portion of this list: 2, 45 lb. winches, a leaf blower, soccer balls, frisbees, a weed whacker, TONS of silly bands, McDonald's toys, matchbox cars and assorted other things for the school fair in Mungeli. We also have packed a Nintendo Wii, controllers and games, a bajillion (more than a million, but not officially counted) posters for the school classrooms, bags upon bags of candy and various other things. A big Thank-you to everyone who donated to our collection efforts. We are so grateful - Dr. Henry is going to be thrilled! I would like send a special thank-you to everyone at Sylvania U.C.C. in Toledo where my parents attend church for their help collecting posters for our trip as well. You are all rockstars in my book. I would also like to thank Arica Kress and the Columbus Crew for their donation of soccer balls, we really appreciate the support.

Don't strain your eyes trying to picture all of this packed into about 10 full sized suitcases, I will be sure to post some pictures from the airport tomorrow. You are all going to flip and I can't wait to see the reaction of the TSA folks....HA! On top of all of this, we have our own luggage. Now I will be the first to admit that I am not a light packer. I enjoy and pride myself on being "prepared" for all situations - formal party, swimming, working out, snowy weather, rainy weather, windy weather, humidity, church, safari, sight-seeing, painting/construction, 15 hour flight or 8 hour train ride, etc. You get the point. So trying to limit myself to a handful of t-shirts, a few pair of pants, a light jacket and some clean socks has been a challenge. Right now I am not necessarily winning the challenge, but the packing wars are not quite over! Needless to say getting out the airport in Dehli with all of our stuff is going to be a circus!

Oh and I forgot to mention how I spent my Saturday. Rev. Kelly sent us a text message saying that she was at the gym on Saturday morning and had seen a portion of a show on the History Channel profiling some of the world's deadliest roads and this episode was profiling good old India! So I was intrigued and 8 hours later I had found I had my spent my entire Saturday engrossed in an Ice Road Truckers - World's Deadliest Roads marathon. WOW....I mean I know not every road is quite like this, but WOW. And when I couple this with the comment "be safe on the roads" from every single person I have talked to who has lived in or been to India....I think we are in for quite the treat. I just hope our horn works and our driver has Dale Earnhardt reflexes. I am thinking I am definitely going to have to capture some video of this for you to get a real feel for the situation. Coming soon - driving in Dehli.

Finally one of the most important things I have been doing over the past few days is enjoying my due portion of American fare. Over the past few days my meals have included Las Cazuelas (best Mexican food east of the Mississippi), Wendy's, Buffalo Wild Wings and lots of Pepsi. Tonight I will be enjoying a bowl of fresh popped popcorn and tomorrow for our final lunch before we leave, Lisa and I have decided upon Chipotle (anyone who knows me....duh.). I am actually really looking forward to all the new types of dishes that I will have the opportunity to try during my time overseas. I am in love with Jesus, Lisa, my family and food. So eating will certainly be a favorite part of my experience!

It's hitting me. I can't really believe I am going to India. This is out of control! Be sure to check back often for more updates and pictures and my best attempt to capture this whole trip. Gregg is also blogging during this trip and I guarantee he will have some amazing insights and stories and photos that you won't want to miss. Check it out at http://revgregg.wordpress.com.

The past few days have been a whirlwind. Between finishing up last minute emails, phone calls and a host of last minute packing decisions, I have tried to spend some time thinking about our trip. Who will I meet? What will I see? Do I have everything I need for the trip? Am I ready to experience something like this. My Dad said to me tonight before we finished skyping with my parents - "Just be sure to take it all in." So true, so true.

For the next two weeks, I plan to do exactly that....take it all in. Thank-you for reading my ramblings and thank-you for your continued prayers. I hope to post something while we are making our way through the airports tomorrow. Until then....let's all hope for clear roads and runways, blue skies and the best Chipotle that the folks at the Lakewood branch have ever made!

Much love,
Nate