You Thought We'd Have an Answer

Can you tell from my title where we're at.  Literally, it's nearly 11:00 p.m. here and I've just finished packing 1 suitcase and 1 backpack.  Jim's packing his right now too.  Our day was LONG, AGAIN.  It started with a 9:00 a.m. call from the girl at the embassy.  She had a question for us that was easy to answer, which Jim did.  After he hung up we looked at each other and got very excited - she was obviously working on our behalf.  At 9:45 she called and asked if we could come and pay for the visa. We said we would do that before going to the court to get the document they needed.  The rest of the day is long.  Did I say long, because I mean really long.  Suffice to say that Jim took one for the team today.  He did EVERYTHING.  I did nothing.  I couldn't.  When the girl at the embassy told him he needed to come up with another plan (because it was 2:00 and the embassy was emptying out for the day), he told her he didn't have another plan.  Our daughter needed to be on that plane with us tomorrow morning.  She agreed to meet us in the morning at 7:00 a.m. (half an hour before the embassy officially opens) to process Tracy's visa as quickly as possible.  She called him back and had reconsidered.  She would wait until 4:30 and if we brought the document (which we had been told for the past 2 hours was coming soon) she would work late and get it done tonight.  4:30 came and went. 5:00, 5:30, 6:00...finally, at 6:30 the justice signed our written ruling.  The fact that the justice was willing to stay this late was indeed a miracle.  For this we were grateful.  But, we had passed the embassy deadline.  Just as frustrated as us was the gal from the embassy.  Graciously, she still agreed to meet us at 7:00.  We are supposed to be at the airport at 7:50 and the embassy is about 45 - 50 minutes away from the airport.  We don't know how long it will take to complete the visa.  We can tell you that all other conditions of the visa have been met - it appears to be a doable deal.  I wish I could tell you that we are all jumping for joy.  Frankly, we're too drained to do so.  We feel really good about tomorrow.  Our bags are packed - for all 3 of us.  Technically, we're not yet done.  We have one more hurdle.  Fortunately it's a low hurdle, although we feel like we need to run the race after completing a marathon!  The morning starts early for us - we leave at 6:00 to be at the embassy early (and yes, I did say early - for those of you who know we're never early)!  Our plane is scheduled to leave at 9:50.  We hope to hear from one of our girls around 8:30 or 9:00p.m. Thursday evening your time when we can confirm that we have received the visa and we will make the flight.  Hopefully they can post it here for you to see.  Jim saved the day for us. Technically, he saved the last 2.  All of my organization and thoroughness got us where we were, but Jim carried us these last 2 days.  He fought for our family and is completely drained.  He stood outside the clerk's office for 7 hours today, waiting for a document that they said was coming and appeared to be out of his grasp.  I stayed in the car and read a book.  I couldn't handle the anxiety of it, so I removed myself from the stress of it.  I can honestly say we would not be at this point if I had been responsible for communicating today.  God made us a team and it has been so evident on this trip how we compliment one another.  His mercy is good and we continue to ask for it and receive it.  One of the last things Tracy said to me before she got in bed was "it will happen.  God would not bring us this far and not complete it".  To that I said "amen sister"!  We can't wait to get on that plane and start the journey home!  Believing in miracles, Tanya