Tuesday, April 29, 2014

From Painfully Slow to Extremely Fast

That about says it all.
Months and months of nothing.
Wondering if we were ever going to be back together.
Thinking that perhaps the year of living apart might actually turn into 18 months or 2 years.

But then, just when you are about ready to go postal on someone, you get an email and suddenly everything starts happening all at once.

Case numbers have been assigned.  Paperwork is on its way.  We can now sign up to deliver everything electronically, taking weeks off of the process.  I can pay the fees that will get us one step closer to the interview.

Perhaps the most amazing thing in all of this has to do with what Jo and I can only see as a "God thing" and not a coincidence.

Part of the paperwork we can now submit includes criminal background checks from everywhere Jo and the kids have lived.  For Jo, this meant England.  Getting a police background check from England, when you haven't lived there for years, and you now live far away can take weeks, and was the one thing that was going to potentially slow us down the most.

Everyone Jo talked to said it would take a minimum of 3 weeks and could take longer.

Jo got it in two days.  2 Days!!!!

It is already being couriered back to her as I write this.  Once she receives it, she can put it in the file and send it and then we are waiting for interview dates.

All of this makes me stop and think about how I relate to God.  At times, often if I am honest, I think God isn't doing anything because I don't see anything happening.  It is at these times I need to remember that God is always working behind the scenes.  Just because I can't see it with my limited human eyesight, does not mean God is also limited.

This is hard to do.  Especially when life is unfair, when good things happen to bad people or when bad things happen to good people.  At times I wonder if God is working at all.  Then days like this happen and I remember that He is God and I am not.  That I live in a sinful, human world and the consequences of living in this world are not always pretty.  They are not always fair or right.

But the end is coming, and when it comes, it will come fast.  God will set everything right.  He will make everything work together for good for those who love God.

Until that day, I have to do the best I can to remember this.


Wednesday, April 23, 2014

And then something good happened

So we are in the "final" phase of this Immigration journey (nightmare), whatever that means.  Despite the fact that it has taken over eight months, despite the fact that my daughter's file has mysteriously gotten separated from Jo's file and the boy's files and is weeks ahead of theirs in the process, despite these and a million other small, tiny, details, there is a light at the end of this tunnel.

We still don't know when exactly we will get an interview date, or as of yet, what forms the government will require us to file before that interview date, but, but, but, but, at least we are in the phase where they now ask for all these documents, meaning the end is near (ish).

One of the things the government will ask for are my tax transcripts for the past few years.  The only problem with this is that I have been living out of the country for several years and so have only recently filed all of my back taxes for the years I lived outside the US (don't ask, it is a long story and very convoluted and confusing - which is why I am not going to bother you with all the dark and mysterious details).

I tried to order the transcripts online.  The IRS website locked me out.  I was not happy.
I tried mailing in transcript requests.  They said I would hear from them in ten business days.  I waited. Ten days came and went.  Twenty days.  Nothing.  I was not happy.
The IRS website does not contain a phone number where you can call and ask for transcripts.  You must show up at an IRS office with proper identification.

A trip to the Las Vegas IRS office was in my future.  I was not looking forward to it.  I've been to government offices before.  I took my ipad, my ipod, my phone, a case of water, food for several days, a sleeping bag and a pillow.  I said "Good-bye" to my co-workers and told them I was hoping to be back at work within 3-5 business days.  I took enough money to pay for parking for a week.  I was expecting the usual bureaucratic, red-tape, long lines, and hassle that accompany most government offices.

And then something good happened.

The IRS office was fast, efficient, pleasant, not overcrowded, clean, and a down right enjoyable experience.  The ladies who worked there were friendly, they took care of me, got me all the documents I needed, didn't charge me for anything, and best of all, I was in and out in less than one hour.

One hour people!  At the IRS.  Less than 2 weeks after tax season when everyone should be down there crying and moaning and whining and fighting about their tax returns.  But not today.  Today, the IRS was like a little piece of paradise.  And I'm not even lying.

Now, if I could just get Immigration to take a lesson from them, we'd be done this whole thing tomorrow and Jo and the kids would be down here in no time.

But for today, I will be thankful when something good happens.  Today, something good did.

Thanks Las Vegas IRS office.  You were awesome.

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Today is Saturday

My life right now is like a giant Saturday.  Like 'the' giant Saturday.  The one between Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  A day of waiting.

When Jesus died it was the darkest day in the lives of his disciples.  The Bible is very clear that they did not fully understand that He was going to be crucified on Friday and then rise from the dead on Sunday.  When Joseph and the Roman soldiers put Jesus' body in the tomb the disciples thought it was over.  There was only darkness for them.  The disciples were waiting; perhaps for the Roman soldiers and Jewish leaders to come and arrest them; perhaps for a miracle; perhaps for everything to quiet down so they could quietly return to their lives as fishermen and tax collectors.

But on that Saturday as they waited, they didn't know what we know.  They hadn't experienced the Sunday that we look back on and celebrate.  They still had to wait, and they weren't sure exactly what they were waiting for.  They only knew that Sunday was coming, and with it, God-knows-what.

I feel like that as a modern-day disciple.  For me, every day since Jesus rose from the dead and went back to heaven is like another day of waiting.  Waiting for His return.  Waiting for everything that is wrong in the world to be made right.  Waiting for all His promises to come true.  It's just that I've been waiting a long, long, time.

The world has been waiting a long time.  Over 2,000 years.  No wonder so many people have forgotten or no longer care.  Absence, apparently, does not always make the heart grow fonder.

But there are some of us who have not forgotten.  There are some of us, the rebellious, the dreamers, who still wait.  We know He said He would come back again, but we have no idea what that will look like or when that will happen.

Sunday is coming, but it is a long way off and the picture is really blurry.  Perhaps I will die and the next thing I see will be Heaven.  Perhaps one day the rapture will happen and I'll suddenly find myself in a better place; a perfect place.  Perhaps the clouds will suddenly role back and the little cloud will appear and every eye will see Him as He returns on the clouds.  Maybe He will rule this world for 1,000 years of peace.  Maybe He will take the Saints to heaven for 1,000 years of peace will the earth is made new.  I can imagine, but that is all it is right now because the Bible is clear that no eye has seen and no mind has even come close to imagining the beautify and perfection of heaven.

But all of that is Sunday, and today is Saturday.
The hardest day of all.  The day of waiting.
The challenge disciples throughout the ages have faced is no different than the challenge faced by Peter, James, John, and the others on that Saturday so long ago.

Don't give up.
The weekend isn't over yet.
Sunday is coming and you won't believe what He has in store for you.
It will be worth the wait.

 

Thursday, April 3, 2014

6 weeks, 42 days, 1008 hours

6 weeks.  42 days.  1008 hours.
This is how long it will be until I see my family again.  As I was sitting on the plane yesterday, flying back to Vegas after spending a short week with Jo and the kids, the thought of 6 weeks away from them again was a little overwhelming.  Remember, we've been doing this for 8 months now, so in the past 8 months, I've spent about 6 total weeks with them.
6 weeks seems like a long time.
So I started thinking in terms of days.  42 days until I see them again.
That doesn't seem quite so bad.  For some reason the thought of days instead of weeks seems less daunting.  One day at a time.
Then I started thinking in terms of hours.  1008 hours until I see them again.  My flight was three hours, I'll sleep for 8 hours, so already I'm down to under 1000 hours.  That was easy.  Well not really, but thinking in terms of hours makes it go so much faster, at least in my head.

Maybe that is why Jesus tells us not to worry about tomorrow.  Don't let the enormity of life get to you. Think in terms of the here and now, of the day you are in, of the hour that you have right now.  Enjoy this hour, live this hour, love this hour, believe this hour.  You are only responsible for this hour.

What will you do with this hour?  I know I've wasted many many hours of my life.  I don't want to waste any more.