2 Weeks

Wow wow wow! Our departure is set for 2 weeks from today!

We are still waiting for our visas to be approved. Limited office hours in NY and SA have caused delays in processing times so we are definitely beginning to wonder if we will get them on time. We have to decide by March 9 whether or not we are going to change our flights (and pay a fee plus the difference in cost). I am praying that God works a miracle here. I don't doubt his ability to. I'm just not 100% positive that March 13 is the exact day He wants us to fly. I have felt that He has been assuring us that He is with us and for us and that we're following His plan every step of the way, but I am questioning my ability to interpret His will. I am asking Him to grant us favor and a speedy delivery of our visas. I have been doing my best to wait patiently and find God in this season of waiting, but as it drags on, it weighs on my heart more and more. Suitcases have taken over my house, my family is wearing a very minimal wardrobe, we're eating through the random food from the back of our pantry, and we're trying to process saying goodbye and watching our loved ones cry over our leaving. I am determined to live in surrender to God, but telling Him we will wait patiently if that's what He would have us do is not coming easily right now. My saying all of this isn't to complain. God is working in my heart and I am grateful to Him for His patience and grace. I only share my story and heart as a testimony of God's faithfulness. Please pray with and for me.

The kids seem to be doing well. I am trying to gently prepare them for saying goodbye, but how can a 2, 3, or 4 year old process 2 years without their loved ones? What I do know is that God knows the depths of their little hearts and He will use this experience to bring them to Himself.

Honestly, this all feels like a dream. I think it's especially difficult to accept as reality because we have talked about going to Africa for 8 years, and we have set many times (especially over the last 3 years or so) that we thought we would go. To have it now 2 weeks before us doesn't seem real. It feels like it will just change again because every other time we thought we would go, it hasn't happened. The state of the world right now also doesn't help that feeling of uncertainty! As I said before, I don't doubt God. In a changing world, God is constant. In my questioning, He is sure. My prayer is that He would teach me to know His voice.