Hills & Valleys: Our Faith Journey

Father God, I'm listening. I believe You. I believe You will be faithful. I believe You are the same yesterday and today and forever, to the point that I believe You will do things that are incomprehensible. My flesh resists and wonders how...but I choose at this moment to trust You completely. You walked beside Your people in the wilderness and sent food sufficient for the day. You stood by Moses at the Red Sea as it parted and left Egyptians in awe. You were with Sarah when she conceived in her old age. You have proven time and time again that You can be trusted. So today, no matter what my flesh may say, I choose to trust You.

Things are really moving forward with my immigration process, which is very exciting. Last Wednesday we rose bright and early (around 4.45am) to get on our way for our interview up in Kansas City. I was very nervous as I had no idea what to expect in the way of questions or anything. After a short wait in the waiting room, we were called in for our interview. It was very basic stuff for both of us - confirm your name, address, etc. In all honesty, I don't know why they even needed to confirm that stuff as we were the ones who completed the forms. About the only thing extra we did was take an oath to be honest in the interview before things started. Then, before we knew it, the lady who interviewed us was saying she would recommend our application to be approved. Just yesterday (April 19th), we received the letters from USCIS stating that our application has been approved, and our card should be on its way within the next few weeks. So what does all this mean? Well, firstly, it mean...

I thought I would give a little update on the status of my immigration process, since many of you may not know where I am up to on that. Here's a rough timeline: Nov 2009 - Submitted all of the paperwork to USCIS (United States Citizen & Immigration Services) for an adjustment of status (from a student to a permanent resident) Dec 2009 - Received the paperwork back with a request for more money Dec 22, 2009 - Mailed paperwork back to USCIS January 6, 2010 - Recieved confirmation of receipt for the paperwork January 14, 2010 - Received an appointment notice for fingerprinting February 2, 2010 - Had fingerprinting appointment. All went well, it was a very easy and fast process. Now they send my fingerprints through to the FBI to check my criminal background. February 26, 2010 - I receive authorization to travel while my application is still pending March 2, 2010 - I receive an appointment notice for my interview, the final stage in this process before they accept or deny my appli...

Well hey! It's been a little while, hasn't it? I hope you didn't think I dropped off the face of the planet... I've just been busy as usual and have found myself spending less time on my keyboard and more time...well, just living! Three weeks ago today, I finished my last final and bid my farewell to school at State Fair Community College forever. What an incredible feeling! I must admit, not being in school is also probably the strangest feeling in the whole world. To this day, I have moments when I start to panic at the homework I've forgotten to do, quizzes that are piling up, or not having read today's posts online. Maybe I'm silly, or maybe I've been a college student for too long, but I've even had dreams (you could also accurately call them nightmares) about school many nights since I finished. ;) Regardless, I am thoroughly thrilled to be done with school for awhile. So how am I filling my days? I have been making LOTS of beaded jewellery to ...

So...life has become incredibly crazy around here. I'm sorry I'm a terrible blogger, and it's been almost a month since my last post. It's just, well, when you're a full-time college student who is taking all online, 8-week classes, college has a way of taking over your life. Weekends are no longer weekends, but are now days for homework to be due. Ick. Anyway, on to more interesting things... I think I may have told you in a previous post about our problem with roaches in our house. The horrible critters thought this house belonged to them, even after we moved in. Some five months later, I think we've finally got them under control. SO thankful! But...this week began with another development, this time in the form of a very strange mouse. Strangely enough, a friend posted a blog last week about how her and her hubby had had a run in with a mouse that she named Closeaux, as there was something about him that just seemed French. What Leah didn't know was that...

Bethany (Stace) Larissa and Joyelle! Congrats girls! :) I will send you the information necessary to make your jewelry in the next day or two. For everyone else, thanks for participating! I just might have to do this again sometime.

Yesterday we received some exciting news! USCIS (U.S. Citizen & Immigration Service) has accepted our application for me to get permanent residency. This does not mean I have been granted permanent residency or a green card at this stage, but simply that they have accepted the paperwork and payments to begin this process. Having already received the paperwork back once to fix a payment problem, it was a great relief to know that they had accepted it the second time around. This means we should not have to lug that pile of papers to the post office to mail ever again. :D That makes me immensely happy. So where to next in this process? Well, next step is getting fingerprinted, which I think will be in KC. They have to contact me (probably via mail) to inform me of the date and time on which the fingerprinting will occur. From there, I believe the next and final step is just waiting to receive the green card. We are praying and trusting that God will bring our paperwork through this p...