Filling in the details

Someone pointed out in an email this morning that I haven't really said much about this whole grad school business. So let me fill in some of the missing pieces.

David wants to study Public Health in the UK with the intent of returning to Africa to put his degree into practice. He's applied to four schools. His first choice school is in London, but it's also the most competitive program. Also, I think it's the most expensive--and London is, of course, the most expensive in which to live, of the three cities where we applied. On the flip side, the London school also has the broadest scope for scholarships... Anyway, we're waiting.

All the programs are one year, but we haven't been getting our hopes up much yet because it would only be by God's infinite grace that we could get funding for any of the programs. We aren't paupers by Nigerian standards, for sure, but we don't have $30,000 just lying around either. So we'll wait and see and trust God to provide if He wants us to go. In the meantime, when I get the official admission letter(s), it's frantic scholarship application time for me! What would David do without me? ;)

Acceptance!

David got an email today with an offer of admission to one of the schools in England! It's not actually his first choice, but really, any admission is better than none. So I guess we'll start looking at scholarships for this school, just in case we don't get admission to either of his top two choices. We may be moving to England for a year!!

Still working on the passport

I see that I didn't follow up our passport problems after going to the embassy on Monday.

The short version is that we still couldn't apply for Timothy's passport.

So we're hoping my parents can bring more documents with them when they come next weekend. It's been a nightmarish week of phone calls (for Dad) and emails and faxes (for me). I've tried to contact everyone under the sun who could possibly help me verify--officially--that I've been physically present in the U.S. for five years. This included emailing my 2nd- and 3rd-grade teacher to seek her help in getting my primary school records. (Yep, primary school. Right. Honestly, who brings their primary school report cards to Africa when they move?)

Anyway, all that to say we're still waiting and working on it. Lord willing, when Mom and Dad bring more papers, including three official transcripts, we'll be able to make more of a case so that Timothy's passport will be ready before June. Otherwise, we'll have to postpone our trip until his passport is ready.

Bureaucracy. Humph.

Sleepy Saturday

It's just past noon, and all three of my boys are asleep. Not still asleep, mind you. They were all up at one point or another. Luke, as is his Saturday custom, was up probably between 7 and 8 and was watching Wallace and Gromit for a good half hour to an hour before I was aware of it. Timothy woke at 6:30 to eat, and we were up again at 8:30 to 9:30 to feed Luke and eat breakfast ourselves. After breakfast, Luke got in trouble, and I told him to go lie on his bed, and he fell asleep after crying very loudly for 10 minutes. David, though, has the best reason for sleeping. He was on call and awake all night; he only came home at 11 AM. Ah, the life of a resident.

Besides that, it's a sleeping morning. It's just cool enough that it feels wonderful to be under the covers--not cold, just cool. Now, at noon, it's warming up, and I've extracted myself from bed. But my boys are still sleeping away, snuggled up and warm. (Timothy's the exception, sleeping in my arms as I type.)

It's days like this that I'll miss when there are places to go, people to see, things to do. I'm not an advocate of laziness, but I believe in having a good lie-in when possible. After all, God rested on the seventh day, right?

Believing God

I'm taking part in a Bible study by Beth Moore called Believing God, and it's been really good so far. Two weeks ago during Bible study, we talked about how we need to believe God for the little things that we think He really won't do, as well as the big miracles like healing. A friend told about how God brought someone into her life unexpectedly to fix her computer when it was broken and needed immediate attention. So last night when David came home at 11:30pm and told me to go to bed, that my transcript wasn't going to come, I kind of sagged. Earlier I'd told God I believed Him to get my transcript to me so I could go to the embassy on Monday.

I woke up around 4:30am to feed Timothy and decided to check my email--just in case. I knew it wasn't very likely I'd have gotten the transcript in my email/fax since I'd checked at 11:30 our time, which was 4:30 Central U.S. I figured they wouldn't fax the transcript between 4:30 and 5:00pm on a Friday!

But there it was in my inbox. Hooray! I believe God is who He says He is. I believe I am who God says I am. I believe God can do what He says He can do. I believe I can do all things in Christ. I believe God's word is alive and active in me. I'm believing God!!

Killing time

Have you ever thought about that phrase? Think about it now. When you kill something, it's finished, spent, ended, no more--at least in an earthly sense. (After all, time means very little to God.) Time is something we can kill. I'm not saying it's alive, but it has the sense of existence and being finite. When we waste time, it's no longer there. Finis. You can't raise the dead, and you can't relive a moment that's gone by. And in sitting at a desk playing solitaire when I could be reading a fabulous book or playing with my son or even blogging means that I've killed precious moments. Who knows when my life could end, or the lives of those around me? Sure, we have a life expectancy to go by, as David keeps reminding me. But God's the only keeper of our earthly lives. We can't really have any idea when that one breath will be our last. Goodness. It sure makes me want to get up off my fat little bottom and do something more worthwhile than solitaire!

But that actually wasn't my original point. I'm actually killing time waiting for a document I need as soon as possible. We're going back to the capital on Monday--hopefully--for our second attempt at getting Timothy's passport application completed. If this document arrives, it will be a huge help. We can go without it, but I'd really rather not. And yet I'd much rather not reschedule our trip now that I've already made plans. So I just have to hope it gets faxed in the next hour. (Right.)

California Dreaming

David got his visa!! And it wasn't even really a nightmare! Praise God!! The immigration officer we saw was very considerate and explained everything to us, so we feel truly blessed. We're coming to the States! Woohoo!! You wouldn't believe how pumped I am! The next few weeks are going to be totally insane with my going nuts with travel plans, itineraries, costs, and just dreaming about introducing David to my grandparents and other family members. Yay!

If you'd like to see us, let me know! We'll definitely go to San Diego and the Chicago area. Maybe we'll try to set up an open house or something...

The BAD news is that we were unable to apply for Timothy's passport. There were a few hitches we think we can iron out in the next week or two. Keep praying! It'll mean another trip to the capital (ugh), but I think we'll manage. I just hope it all comes together in time for us to travel in June.

YAY!!

On our way - please pray!

In an hour or so we'll be heading to the capital. Tomorrow morning David is going to his visa interview at the U.S. embassy. This is a huge deal to me, as his being granted a visa would mean my extended family would finally get to meet him, and my friends and family Stateside would get to meet Timothy. It would also mean our being present at my good friend's wedding in California in June. If you're a praying person, or if you even believe in God at all, please pray for us! David's not nervous at all, but I'm going bananas with anxiety. And I won't be allowed in for the process. If you read this after 9:30am (GMT+1) Tuesday morning, please pray that God will give us peace and understanding if we DON'T get the visa, and that He will help us with all the planning that needs to be done if we DO.

Wish us luck!

Sending mail

The good news is that David's grad school applications are finally out of our hands and on their way to England.

The bad news is that now the waiting period must begin.

"I hate waiting," as Inigo Montoya - my hero - has said. But wait we must. For one of the schools, we should know about our admission status within four weeks from the time they receive the application (which should be by the end of the week). The other schools, I guess, will respond at their leisure.

So we'll sit on the edges of our proverbial seats and dream of fish & chips and double-decker buses.