So, we waited and waited for our decision. I decided not to change my ticket again because we really couldn't afford it. I knew that if it was God's will He would work it out just in time. We all spent a lot of time praying and waiting on God. I was scheduled to leave on Tuesday February 1, 2011 and on Friday, January 28, Luis left with two of his brothers to go run some errands. He called me around 2:00 to say that yet again he had called DHL to see if they had anything for him and they said yes, and to come pick it up. He told me to go pray with him mom that it would be his visa. He picked it up and called me to say there was an envelope that said do not open, but that there was a paper attached that said this is not a visa. I told him it must be because there was no reason to have an envelope he couldn't open if it wasn't. He got to the cars where his brother and Jaden were waiting and called again to say he was thinking it was not a visa because that paper definately said this is not a visa. I told him to keep the faith and get home so I could see for sure. He started to leave when the car wouldn't shift. They had to sit there waiting for a mechanic to arrive, praying the damage wasn't too serious. A mechanic arrived and then they had to go buy a part, fix the car and run their errands. I was pacing at home praying for good news. Luis called to say he couldn't wait anymore and had opened his passport and inside there was a page that said U.S. Consulate Immigrant visa. He finally got home at 6 so I checked his papers out and found that he definately had the visa so we bought his ticket for the first, called my parents and started getting things ready to go.
On saturday we went to the beach with the family for a break and a final get together, Sunday we went to church then spent time packing. Monday we went visiting and saying goodbye to friends and on Tuesday morning we headed to the airport around 8am. WE were hanging around waiting to go in when they came in and said final call for our flight, so we had to rush through our goodbyes and head in only to find that they just wanted us in there to make sure if our name was called we could go down to have our bags checked in front of us. Dad called to say our flight from Miami to Boston had been cancelled so we rescheduled it before leave GYE. We go to Miami and dropped our suitcases off and then prepared for a long night in the airport. Jaden slept off and on in his stroller and we tried to sleep on the floor but it was ice cold. We ate over priced burger kind and plantain chips that we had brought with us. By 3am they told us our morning flight was cancelled and we couldn't even make coherent sentences because we were so tired. I missed a couple calls from the airlines that said our flights were cancelled and they offered a rescheduling option which I couldn't do because I didn't answer as my phone was a little ways away charging. I called back and waited for a very long time for someone to answer and make new reservations. We had to do luis' separate but managed to get on the same flights.
Around 10 my dad called to say that some friends of his were going to pay for a hotel room and all we needed to do was find one and get to the shuttle. We tried a bunch and finally found one that sounded could, we had no clothes or anything but we didn't really care. We got there around 11:30 and walked to CVS to buy diapers because we weren't sure how long we would be stuck for and I could barely walk straight. We got back to the hotel and I fell asleep instantly on the couch waiting for check in at 1:30. Luis had to keep walking with Jaden so he wouldn't cry. I slept for about 10 min. until the room was ready and then we went upstairs and let people know we had made it then laid down for a nap. We slept for a few hours then got up, showered and ordered dinner. We went to bed early after setting two alarms. We got up and ate left over pizza and had orange juice from the continental breakfast. We caught the 8am shuttle to the airport and made it just in time for checkin and security to get to New York and then to Boston. On the last flight we couldn't sit together but at that point we didn't care. Luis thought it was too cold in the airport but he doesn't mind it here in Maine. We got home around 11:15 on Thursday night.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Still waiting...
On Wednesday, January 12 our appointment was scheduled for 7:15 am. It was for our final interview to determine whether or not we would get the visa. It took a long time and we found out around 11am that our visa was not approved for support reasons. We were a little short on the income that they feel we require to maintain our family. They told us that we had a week to bring in more information that would make up the difference between what we make and what they want us to make times three. We could either find a joint sponsor, which they prefer, or proof of assets. We went on Friday to drop off the paperwork only to find out that we could only bring it on Mon-Thurs. at 2pm and that they were closed on Monday for a holiday. If we couldn't get it in within 7 days we had to get it to them through DHL(a mail/shipping service) which would take longer. On Tuesday we went to drop it off, we left an hour early, we sat and prayed in the car beforehand, and when we were getting out with a half hour to spare, I realized that I had the wrong paperwork. I had everything that we had needed for the interview but not the new documents that were evidence of assets.
We hopped back into the car and rushed home praying all the way that God would get us back there in time and that he would work everything out, and reassuring ourselves that everything happens for a reason and that all things work together for good to those that love God. We got back to the consulate around 2:05 and rushed in to drop off the papers. As we were on our way in we saw the woman that had told us no and what we would need to bring in, Luis wanted to stop and talk to her but I assured him that wasn't the best idea, she saw us and said, "Hey, how are you guys doing?" but kept looking straight ahead and walked on. We figure it was God's plan for us to be late and see her on the way in so that we would be on her mind and she might look at our case faster and maybe even feel more simpathetic.
Anyway, we went in and dropped off the paperwork and were given the blue sheet to go to DHL across the street to pay for them to either deliver the answer to our house or have it there for us to pic up. We filled out the forms and were given a receipt with a phone number and a confirmation code so we could call and find out if we had an answer yet. We called on Friday but there was nothing for us, so we plan to call again tomorrow.
The first few days were rough. We stuggled with tears, frustration, pain. We cannot understand why God would bring us together, why we have made it through so much, why He would make the way for us to get married, only for us to be apart. When we met, Luis was the only one in his family that was a Christian. Since then all of his family have become believers and been baptized, I have graduated from college, we have Jaden, we felt sure that God would be ready for us to be together. Yet the answer was still no, not yet. Luis struggled with anger and I struggled with feelings that I can't even discribe. I didn't doubt God, I wasn't angry at Him, I know that HE has a plan and will work it out. I took comfort in the song, "I will praise you in this storm" by Casting Crowns, but I felt that awful suffocating feeling that I associate with loss, with saying goodbye to my husband. I have this horrible picture that keeps going through my head of us all in tears saying goodbye once again at the airport. I picture Jaden crying too as we walk away from his father, he has become so attached and even follows Luis to the door, in his walker, crying as luis leaves for work. I begin to feel as if I can't breathe. Every goodbye is even harder than the last and we have spent so much time imagining peoples reactions when they get to see Luis in the U.S. at last, what we will do, where we will go, how he will react to different things, what God will do with us there. We were so confident that all we needed was to get to the interview, that it had not even occured to us that they could say no until just before the interview. We were crushed when they said no. Since then we have spent a lot of time in prayer and in the Word, listening to the sermons at church hearing promises that God never forgets, or that even though things don't come out the way we want God has not lost control, that he loves us and wants what is best for all of us, that two are better than one, that a man must leave his mother and be one with his wife. There are so many things to encourage, but we still struggle with confidence in God's willingness to let us be together. We don't know if He will make it happen this time around either. Not knowing His will and not understanding why He says no is so difficult.
We have a year to fix it, but we don't know how, we can't find anyone willing to be a joint-sponsor, we understand that it is a serious commitment that most are not able to make. We are at a loss of what to do next. If more than a year passes we must start all over again.We are at what seems to be our last stop in the process before we have to give up and hope that I can find a way to get out of debt with my school loans and move to Ecuador.
We could really use your prayers and any ideas that you might have. We knew this would be a difficult path when we commited to it, we prayed a great deal beforehand and tried to go our separate ways a couple times, but God always brought us back together and made us stronger than before. We are commited to sticking to the path God has for us, but we don't claim that it is easy. Please pray that He will have mercy on us and that He will let us be together at last, that He will let us know soon, before I leave so that we know without having to change my ticket again, and that we will be able to get Luis a ticket to fly with us, once we get his visa. Luis has never traveled and it would be very difficult for him to do on his own.
We hopped back into the car and rushed home praying all the way that God would get us back there in time and that he would work everything out, and reassuring ourselves that everything happens for a reason and that all things work together for good to those that love God. We got back to the consulate around 2:05 and rushed in to drop off the papers. As we were on our way in we saw the woman that had told us no and what we would need to bring in, Luis wanted to stop and talk to her but I assured him that wasn't the best idea, she saw us and said, "Hey, how are you guys doing?" but kept looking straight ahead and walked on. We figure it was God's plan for us to be late and see her on the way in so that we would be on her mind and she might look at our case faster and maybe even feel more simpathetic.
Anyway, we went in and dropped off the paperwork and were given the blue sheet to go to DHL across the street to pay for them to either deliver the answer to our house or have it there for us to pic up. We filled out the forms and were given a receipt with a phone number and a confirmation code so we could call and find out if we had an answer yet. We called on Friday but there was nothing for us, so we plan to call again tomorrow.
The first few days were rough. We stuggled with tears, frustration, pain. We cannot understand why God would bring us together, why we have made it through so much, why He would make the way for us to get married, only for us to be apart. When we met, Luis was the only one in his family that was a Christian. Since then all of his family have become believers and been baptized, I have graduated from college, we have Jaden, we felt sure that God would be ready for us to be together. Yet the answer was still no, not yet. Luis struggled with anger and I struggled with feelings that I can't even discribe. I didn't doubt God, I wasn't angry at Him, I know that HE has a plan and will work it out. I took comfort in the song, "I will praise you in this storm" by Casting Crowns, but I felt that awful suffocating feeling that I associate with loss, with saying goodbye to my husband. I have this horrible picture that keeps going through my head of us all in tears saying goodbye once again at the airport. I picture Jaden crying too as we walk away from his father, he has become so attached and even follows Luis to the door, in his walker, crying as luis leaves for work. I begin to feel as if I can't breathe. Every goodbye is even harder than the last and we have spent so much time imagining peoples reactions when they get to see Luis in the U.S. at last, what we will do, where we will go, how he will react to different things, what God will do with us there. We were so confident that all we needed was to get to the interview, that it had not even occured to us that they could say no until just before the interview. We were crushed when they said no. Since then we have spent a lot of time in prayer and in the Word, listening to the sermons at church hearing promises that God never forgets, or that even though things don't come out the way we want God has not lost control, that he loves us and wants what is best for all of us, that two are better than one, that a man must leave his mother and be one with his wife. There are so many things to encourage, but we still struggle with confidence in God's willingness to let us be together. We don't know if He will make it happen this time around either. Not knowing His will and not understanding why He says no is so difficult.
We have a year to fix it, but we don't know how, we can't find anyone willing to be a joint-sponsor, we understand that it is a serious commitment that most are not able to make. We are at a loss of what to do next. If more than a year passes we must start all over again.We are at what seems to be our last stop in the process before we have to give up and hope that I can find a way to get out of debt with my school loans and move to Ecuador.
We could really use your prayers and any ideas that you might have. We knew this would be a difficult path when we commited to it, we prayed a great deal beforehand and tried to go our separate ways a couple times, but God always brought us back together and made us stronger than before. We are commited to sticking to the path God has for us, but we don't claim that it is easy. Please pray that He will have mercy on us and that He will let us be together at last, that He will let us know soon, before I leave so that we know without having to change my ticket again, and that we will be able to get Luis a ticket to fly with us, once we get his visa. Luis has never traveled and it would be very difficult for him to do on his own.
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