This is how I felt this past week. Last Friday, thanks be to God, Clever's fiance visa was approved!!!!! We started the process mid March and just now finally got our "YES"!!! Thank you all who have been praying! It was perfect timing for so many reasons!!
I have waited for many things in my life, for long periods of time; so I am a bit of an expert on this. But this one was a little different for me because I felt like I could do absolutely nothing to move the timeline, in a worldly sense.
There were so many "what ifs", that it kept me from dreaming big, for fear that it wouldn't work out and that dream would be put into a category of another dream unrealized..... Has that ever happened to you? Maybe, I'm just speaking about myself? But, thankfully, Clever likes to dream and a few days before this all started (the visa process), we sat down and talked about some of the special things we would want in our wedding regardless of the location/country. We talked about what things were the desires of my heart and his, and then we made a time line. The timeline helped us keep in mind what we were waiting on. Marriage. We agreed we would be married by the end of 2017, no matter what. We agreed to certain dates as cut off points, for example, "IF we didn't hear from the embassy to move on from phase 1 to phase 2 by this time, we would start planning a Peru wedding".
EVERY TIME one of our timeline dates was approaching, I was nervous. Wondering if God's plan for us was in line with the desires of our hearts. And EVERY TIME, He moved us through to the next phase, JUST IN TIME. Isn't God amazing? Not only that, along the way, He gave us encouragement that led us to believe that in fact we would in the end get what we both desired. For Clever, he wanted his mom to be able to be there. About a month ago, she applied for a tourist visa and was APPROVED not just for 3-6 months, but for 10 years!!!!! Then it was one of his brothers, who also received a Yes!!! God was showing us, and encouraging us. The wedding venue we chose over a year ago, has been so incredibly flexible with us and so we didn't have to stress about that either. There are so many other things that God has done to encourage us along the process....
Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37.4
Well, now that we have the visa, we are running full speed ahead. We bought our plane tickets the same day we got the YES for the visa, and we set a date! We HAVE a date for the wedding! Dec 2, 2017 and are running to plan the wedding that is just a little over a month away!!! God is faithful. He has given us the desires of our hearts, and we are SO happy! So, now we are wrapping up our service projects here, Clever with his commitment to leading volunteers to give out free wheelchairs to people in the Lima area who need mobility, me tying up loose ends with the special needs ministry and therapy, and both of us ending on Nov 11, with the second annual parents of kids with special needs retreat! We then head to the USA on Nov 12th!!!!
Thank you for your prayers for all of this to come to be! We are really blessed and excited by this next step. Since your prayers are so powerful, we ask if you would join us in prayer for the following things.
1. PRAISE for God's goodness!!!
2. That we can stay focused on ending our service commitments here well before we leave for our 2 month break!
3. That once in the US, that all the follow up details we need including, Clever entering the US for the first time, and our marriage licenses application, goes smoothly without any major problems.
4. For safety and health for all of us who are traveling.
5. For a fresh blanket of SNOW on our wedding day.... (but not so much that people can't get there) (:
6. That even though we are now done waiting and are RUNNING, we ask for prayer for peace in the stress of all this, and that we can still stay focused on the most important details, which includes family and friends.
7. For the presence of God to be with us every step of the way.
Thank you all! Blessings and peace be with you all!!!!