The Approval and the Return

Continued from “The Submission”…

When I dropped off my visa form last week, they told me it would be 6-8 days before my visa would be ready and that I should book my flight back to South Asia on Wednesday, Feb. 21, seven days after I’d dropped of my visa.  They advised me to check my email and the tracking application on the website so I would know when it was ready.

By Tuesday, I thought it should be ready.  That was six days after my submission.  I looked on website—as I’d been doing daily—and checked my email, but there was nothing that said it was ready.  It only said that it had been forwarded to the High Commissioner for evaluation.  So, I didn’t go back to the visa center like I’d originally planned.

The next morning, Wednesday, the day of my flight, I still had not received an email and the website still said the same thing.  I got nervous.  What if it wasn’t ready?  My flight was late that night.  I so, so, so wanted to be on it.  I talked to the Father about it and attempted to not worry.  The time for pickup of visas wasn’t until 2:00 pm, so I went about my day, waiting until I could go to the visa office.  At 2:00, I arrived, got my number, and waited about 20 minutes.  When they called my number, I went up there trying to look confident that my passport containing my visa would be ready.  She took my number, told me to sit back down, and then I waited for about 5 minutes.  Talk about a long 5 minutes where I really had to exercise trusting the L0rd!  She came back and had my envelope.  Inside was a visa—the duration for the time I needed!!!  Praise Him!  Praise Him!

That night, after eating one more Whopper from Burger King, I loaded the plane back to South Asia.  What an adventure the past 2.5 weeks had been.  How the L0rd proved His faithfulness, mercy, and sovereignty over and over again.  Oh, He is so good to me!

As the plane descended onto K-city in South Asia and I gazed out the window at the lights of the city, my heart was full.  I was coming back to a place I’ve grown to really appreciate and, dare I say, love.  This place is often full of frustrations, dirt, and annoyances, but it has a special place in my heart—a place I’ve come to believe is carved out by the Father.  Looking out the window, my eyes filled with tears thinking about the L0rd’s goodness to me and His love for the people here.  What a privilege it is so serve Him here amongst such a beautiful people.  I am so glad He granted me the opportunity to continue to stay and serve Him through loving His people here for another five months.