WE HAVE A VISA!

Today is a very good day. It was Sam who discovered the wonderful email awaiting us in our inbox, and he ran into the kitchen and jumped in the air to tell me. Wahoo! We are so excited and relieved! And amazed to look back on everything that God has been doing in us in these last few weeks of limbo. He is so faithful and we want Him to have all the glory.

So after nearly three weeks of numerous prayer, doing van-runs for Besom, playing hours and hours of competitive scrabble, backgammon, monopoly, getting up early to watch virtually all the rugby games, learning to shoot hoops in basketball, Sam building impressive k'nex structures, reading lots of books, and even playing conkers...we are hoping to fly to Australia on Thursday (as flight prices sky-rocket after then) and start our next adventure on the other side of the world.

Thank you all SO much for all your prayers and support, we are so grateful and blessed by how God has placed you in our lives! 

Awaiting our Visa

The latest on awaiting our visa application...

     Katie and I are still waiting for our Visa to come through and still have no idea wether it will be approved today, or in 2 weeks or more. We should have started work 2 weeks ago today but have obviously been stuck in the UK. Youthworks (our employers) are very understanding about us being late and have been really supportive in reminding us not to worry and to trust in God. God has been amazing in providing for us, through many people providing money that was able to be used for cancellation fees, and homes to stay in to both wait it out and simply spend a weekend on our own, feeling like a married couple again.

What has God been teaching us?..

     While we have been in York, staying with my parents, we have had loads of time to pray and seek after Gods own heart again. It is both amazing and frustrating to live each day not knowing how long we will be in York before we fly to Sydney. We have to trust God everyday to guide us in what he wants us to do because our situation doesn't really allow us to plan.
     A real blessing for us has been the time each day that we have been able to pray for and give our time to Besom (a local charity our worked for in the 2009/2010 winter). It is a blessing for us to see and experience God evidently working in so many peoples lives around York, and to be involved in praying for individuals, and seeing so many answered prayers. It has been amazing to be reminded of how personal God is, because when he provides for the needs of individuals who are struggling, it is so often not just what they need to cope but what they will enjoy, and meets their needs specifically.
     Obviously God has been teaching us patience through our situation but he has also taught us so much more about how to pray and how much God wants to dwell in our hearts uncontested. The less we hold on to, the more God is able to dwell in us and work through us. I personally have really struggled with the need to explain why we are in the situation and place we are in now...What is God teaching us? What do I need to do before God will allow the Visas to come through? Do I need to pray more? Do I need to learn something through this and if I do what is it as i need to get it done now and quick so we can get to Australia?!...I am really learning and fighting to be in a place where I can trust God completely without him giving me any clues or answers or reasons for anything. To really learn what it means to trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding (Proverbs 3v5). Now that I think of it I have been asking God for a while that he would challenge me and teach and give me wisdom. The title of Proverbs 3 happens to be 'Further Benefits of Wisdom'.

God is Awesome!