Travel Approval!

At 5:11 this afternoon, I checked my email for like the hundredth time today.  We've been praying specifically for our Travel Approval (TA) recently..... we needed it to come by today to have almost any chance to receive a Consulate Appointment (CA) before the two week shutdown to move buildings.  June 17, Lord..... we gotta have it by June 17.  We've had a whole bunch of folks praying for June 17.

My prayer has been, "Lord, I REALLY want our TA to come June 17, but, if it doesn't, Lord, I need an extra dose of that peace that passeth understanding.  I need You to make it okay that we don't get it on June 17.  But, Lord..... can we just get it on June 17?"  

Well, at 5:11.... NOTHING.  And I had decided to just call it a day and go to bed.  Hadn't cooked dinner yet..... Joe hadn't even gotten home from work yet..... but I was sorta done.  I was A LOT done.

At 5:13, my phone rang.  It was Joe.  He said, "Check your email."  I said, "I have.  Many times.  Nothing.  I've decided to be depressed for the rest of the day and go to bed.  Goodnight."  Joe said, "Well, check it again!  Cause we just got one from Karla!  We are going to China!"

It's time to get our girl.

First order of business:  text Jack (who's away at Strings camp)

Me:  "We got TA!  God is good!  He would have been good if we hadn't gotten TA, but I'm so thankful!"

Jack:  "Good indeed, good indeed."

Second order of business:  take Max out to dinner.  Where did we go?  Yogurt Mountain.  I'd been promising him that we'd go to Yogurt Mountain when we got TA, so, as soon as Joe got home, we decided to make it dinner! Don't judge.  I just got TA and don't care.

Third order of business:  make Joe a list.  There are funds to wire, crisp bills to get for exchange, VPNs to download, and MORE paperwork to look at!  

Our social worker will submit our request for a Consulate Appointment at the US Embassy tonight.  That date will determine our travel dates..... but it looks VERY good for travel NEXT WEEK.  

IT IS HIGHLY POSSIBLE THAT WE WILL GO TO CHINA NEXT WEEK! Please join us in praying for that because we have learned... things can happen.

I am beyond.  So thankful....so excited.... so nervous.....and so very, very blessed to be on this journey.

Mary Powell...... your babydolls are on your bed, your clothes smell so good and are hanging in your closet,  Jack's ready to read you some books, Max knows how to work the seatbelt on your push-car, and your Mama and Baba are praying for your heart every day.  Your family is coming, you darling thing..... We are coming soon.