What the?!?

I'm not sure if anyone even reads this anymore because of my lack of updating and the turn our story has taken from amazing, uplifting and entertaining....to heartbreaking, hopeless and not quite so entertaining (thus, the lack of updates).

So, we've just been truckin' along trying to keep the faith and figure out what to do next. We're waiting on the Lord and seeking Him for guidance and hope.

George and I were both feeling pretty sad and upset today and then we got a glimmer of hope. It turns out that George has a cousin that lives basically down the road from me! How crazy is that? So I spoke to her on the phone (wonderful and hilarious all at the same time) and tomorrow I'm going to have lunch with her. It was so encouraging to talk to her and it doesn't feel like George is so dreadfully far away since I have one of his family members near by. So that's cool, I've been praying for some sort of encouragement and I was not expecting this, but it's great nonetheless and I'll take what I can get. Until later....

I waited patiently for the Lord: and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear and will trust in the Lord. Psalm 40:1-3

We're still here!

We're still here and we're still in love.

There have been many mixed reactions from people about George not getting the visa. Some people think that because it's not easy, we should just quit; some people think the visa thing was some sort of a fleece or test as to whether or not we should be together; some people think we should blow off everyone and run away together, among other things...

So this is what I think. Just because things aren't easy doesn't mean they're not meant to be- if that were the case where would any of us be? Besides that, that thought process is definitely NOT modeled in scripture and I am SO NOT a quitter. Also, the visa was not a fleece or a test in any way. We know we are meant to be together, we're pretty sure that means getting married sooner, rather than later and we hoped that my family and friends would get to meet George here before we were married- the only thing that has changed is the last. And as completely appealing as running away sounds, it's pretty juvenile....can we say "Disney"?

So then, what's next? I still haven't got a clue (well, maybe a clue, but only a tiny one). I've been thinking a lot about the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead and it's been encouraging... and frustrating. When Lazarus' sisters sent word to Jesus about his illness Jesus said he wouldn't die, but he did-!- to human eyes anyway. And then look what happened, Jesus brought him back! I'm not implying that the visa is our Lazarus and that God's going to turn it around, what I am saying is that things happen that we don't get and God uses bad things and turns them around to the good of those who love Him and to His glory. I look at the story of Lazarus and even knowing the outcome can still think of half a dozen ways that God could have been obviously glorified without Lazarus' friends and family going through all that heartache. It's a good thing I'm not in charge though, huh?

So we keep praying. Praying for direction, praying for finances, praying for greater faith, praying for miracles, praying for peace and wisdom, and just praying. This is all a tremendous walk of faith, one that sometimes lends way to tears and anxiety, but mostly, a walk of faith.

'I waited patiently for the Lord.....'

Visa news...

"This changes nothing, I am still George and you are still Bethany, my wife [to be]."

George sweetly reminded me of that fact today after he was denied a visa.

We have had time to cry, we have had time to be really mad at my government and we have had a little bit of time to chill out. At the end of the day, God is still God and He is still in control, even though it looks like this totally sucks.

We're not sure what steps to take from here and are thinking about several possibilities. Please continue to pray for us as we walk through this disappointment and move forward...

Gye Nyame

This is my favorite West African Adinkra symbol "Gye Nyame" which means "Except for God", a symbol of the supremacy of God. You can find it plastered all across Ghana as a constant reminder of the need for God and His supremacy in ALL things. It's particularly fitting right now, because that's where we are. We have exhausted all of our resources and are beyond being able to do things ourselves or with the help of any man.....Except for God.

More bumps in the road!

Things as of this moment aren't exactly going smoothly, we really need your prayers.

George tried to get the paper from the UNHCR and he did, only it's not really from the UNHCR. Even though he went to the UNHCR building everyday, rode in their vehicles, answered to their bosses and was "hired" by a UNHCR person, technically, his internship was with WISE (Women Initiative for Self Empowerment). The two organizations were working with one another and for some reason his internship fell under WISE. The problem here is that the whole point of the letter is to confirm the truth of what I said about George, and now it won't. Ahhhh! Also, the man George worked for is now in Iraq and can't be reached, so we can't get him to write a personal letter either.

As for the transcript, the school is saying that will take a month, which judging by their track record, it really means 6-8 weeks. We aren't sure what to do at this point, but we're praying and trying to be resourceful.

Didn't see that one coming!

Today was the day....and we don't have an answer.

I'll try not to be too cynical here, but there really aren't words to express my disgust with this whole process or the people we have been dealing with. On the flip side, there also aren't words to express how amazing George is, he's handling all of this so well while maintaining excellent grades and a good attitude. Yay George!

George went to the consulate compound in Accra today and had a very long interview. However, his passport size photos weren't quite what they wanted so he had to fix that first. He was taken to a specific passport picture place by a consulate security guard and payed through the nose to get pictures that looked VERY similar to what he already had (this is not the first time this has happened and is quite suspicious to me!).

Once that was finished he actually had his interview. To quote George, the woman who interviewed him was "younger than you [Bethany]", she was "disturbing me [George]" and "made me [George] very hot [irritated]". George had to convince her to read my letter-which she didn't, and basically argued with her the whole time about who he was and who I am. In the end, she didn't say yes and she didn't say no. She wants a school transcript and a letter from the UNHCR about his past internship with them. So he will return next week on Monday, Tuesday or Thursday. Hopefully she'll actually see him.

George has already spoken to the UNHCR and they will get him his letter quickly. The University of Cape Coast however, is quite another issue! They have been nothing but difficult and S-L-O-W!! So my prayer is that they would be nice for once and have a sense of urgency (I know, obviously the prayers of a Westerner, but the consulate's not going to wait!) So please be in prayer with me. Lord willing, next week we will have some real news!

One week...

George's interview with the consulate is a week from today at 1:30pm Ghana time. It hardly seems real that in just one week there will be an end to all of this waiting and anxiety. So PLEASE PRAY!!

Pray that the interview will not be rescheduled.

Pray that the heart of the interviewer would be turned towards George to grant him a visa.

Pray that George would be at peace and have confidence and know exactly how to answer the questions.

Pray for peace for me waiting over here for the news.

Pray that God would be glorified in our lives and in the lives of the people George interacts with.

Not long now...

Nothing new on the visa front, just waiting for the interview....

In other news, my mom and I registered for gifts this week and it was so much fun! I got to dream about all the wonderful aspects of our life when we're married. It was difficult at times to figure what to register for to take with and use in Ghana (meaning light weight, not expensive, and something we may or may not bring home) and what do I register for to use for years and years and years! But it was a blast and made me very optimistic for our future. I enjoyed telling George about it, but he won't truly understand until he comes. He told me, "This is NOT something we do in Ghana!"

Also, I am losing my mind and memory! My mind is so encompassed with immigration/visa stuff, planning a wedding, and figuring out how to move 6,000 miles away that I'm forgetting other things. Such as, but not limited to, not sending George two very important papers about his interview with the consulate- I just forgot to scan them and send them to him! That is totally not like me! George was extremely understanding and reminded me about it before it was too late, so at least I haven;t done too much damage. Hopefully as soon as we have a visa that will free up space in my brain and I can function like I used to! I guess we'll just have to wait on that one too....

Anxious for nothing...

Yeah, I'm working on that! Sometimes I feel like I'm anxious for everything.

I was thinking today about my favorite verse and the one I keep remembering through all of my worry about immigration and at times the uncertainty of our future and my desire to make everything work out, all on my own.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7

Through God's providence, this verse stood out to me in a different way about the time I met George and has helped to guide me through the travails and triumphs of dealing with immigration, navigating cultures and a bi-continental relationship and everything in between. It reminds me how big God is and how much He cares. It also reminds me that I should chill out and be thankful for all things, even when they don't go my way. :) The 3am post may have seemed a bit whiney and I was not very happy. However, I am so thankful and I need to bring that back to the forefront. I'm thankful for George and our future, thankful for wonderful and supportive family and friends, thankful for a good Internet connection in the middle of the night, thankful that we finally have an interview date and are moving forward in the visa process and so much more! God is so good and I am very fortunate.

The things you do for love.

It's 3am which is when normal employed people should be sleeping, but I've been up for more than an hour trying to get an interview time for George. The consulate told him the website typically works between about 7 and 8 in the morning...Ghana time. Well, we all know how reliable Ghana Internet has been, so my alarm went off at 2, so I could give it a shot! The first 50 minutes or so are a frustrating daze of trying to stay awake and pressing refresh a zillion times, but all of the sudden, it worked! So after trying to contact George to figure out which date was best (his preferences weren't available) and losing all the close dates while waiting for a response (I only waited for about 15 minutes!) we ended up on April 15th. I'm not exactly ecstatic with how late the date is, but at least we have one....maybe some sleep will make this seem like a bigger victory, right now I'm kind of bummed.

One more step in the right direction!

We still don't have an appointment, but George was able to print the much needed papers and contact the consulate today. Hopefully more news soon!

A mini victory dance and a squeak!

We have a completed application!!

After trying and trying and trying some more, we decided to ditch the whole Ghana Internet thing. I was a little concerned that it wouldn't work to fill out the application here, because we have to print it so George can take it to his interview (I wasn't sure if he would be able to open that type of scanned attachment or if I could get it scanned in properly). So we did it anyway- we'll see tomorrow if it worked and if I have to spend a small fortune overnighting (is that a word?) the papers to Ghana, then so be it. It took me from the time I got home from church to the time I had to go back to church and included the Internet phone complete with headset, not one, but two computers, a mad dash to Walgreen's by my sister to get ink for the printer and help from dad and others to get the silly application scanned into Word. We were not able to get an interview time though, that part of the website didn't seem to be working, so G will call tomorrow, but all in all, it was a productive day and we are actually moving forward. It was also really cool to fill this form out together. :)

And on a random note, let me just point out that all of the visa process absolutely MUST be done in English without exceptions (not even foreign characters for names). However, in the U.S. people can vote in foreign languages and most of our other important government documents come in several different languages. And you know what, that kind of makes me mad-not that we needed anything in a different language, but it's the principal of the matter! Ridiculous.

Try, try, try again.

George tried to complete the online application and get an interview today (yet again) and still no progress. He'll try again on Monday and needs to study on Tuesday for 4 quizzes on Wednesday, so if Monday doesn't work, Thursday will be our next try....I guess we won't know anything by the end of this month after all.

In case you haven't noticed, the whole hope deferred thing royally sucks.....and, it's making me sick.

6 HOURS!!

....and not a step closer! George spent 6, yes s-i-x, 6 hours at the Internet cafe trying to do the application and get an interview time, but everything was so slow and wouldn't work correctly, so the poor guy has nothing to show for all that time. :( I also just found out that the wait time for an interview has doubled since we started this process, I'd like to be optimistic, but it all just seems to get worse, doesn't it?

Nothing.

No change.

Light out.

So I couldn't handle another title with something along the lines of "Tomorrow" or "Still waiting"- it's too dismal, but that's basically where we stand. There were lights out on Campoose today....translation: the power was out on George's Campus. That means, no computers, which means, no Internet connection, which means, no application being filled, which means no interview date, which means we are not really moving forward. So I continue to wait, I don't know when it will happen and dare not even suggest that it may be....tomorrow.

Tomorrow, again.

Yep, the answer is tomorrow...again. George missed school yesterday to go to Accra so today was catch-up because he has a presentation tomorrow. So, tomorrow he should fill out the application and get an interview. We shall see....

Tomorrow and a half.

Yesterday's tomorrow is today and is partially fulfilled, so I'm happy.

George did indeed go Accra and paid the application fee. However, he was not able to get online and fill out the application and get an interview (it's fairly involved and not something you can really pause in the middle of). So it's tomorrow yet again, that we should really have some concrete information-that is, if the power works, the net works, the computers work (and all those things continue to work), there isn't a huge line at the net and George doesn't get caught up studying or in class. Simple enough, right? It still looks like the end of the month before we'll know, but we are moving in the right direction and at a fairly nice pace, maybe we have finally found our perfect Ghamerican time. :)

Tomorrow.

That would be a reoccurring theme in this process, the answer is always tomorrow...and then tomorrow again...and, well you get the picture. I'm praying for only one tomorrow this time.

So, tomorrow (we hope) George is going to Accra very early in the morning to pay the fee and will hopefully return to Cape Coast and go to his Internet Cafe to do all the online stuff and get an appointment. So, tomorrow, we could actually have a date for the big interview!

Nothing new...

Has anyone else noticed how much this process seems to resemble a roller coaster? Nah, maybe that's just me!

I do want to mention though that all the stress and trouble of getting a visa, all the worry, all the tears (that would mostly be me), all the sleepless nights, all the phone throwing (that would totally be me) is SO worth it and has brought out only wonderful things in our relationship. As stressful and frustrating as this is, George and I are not stressed or frustrated with one another. Immigration is going to be something we have to deal with for a long time, so we just have to figure out the system (and hopefully make a lot of money so we can have an attorney who figures it out for us!). It's really been a wonderful challenge so far and as much as I just want to have a visa and move on to bigger and better things, life doesn't work that way, and who would we be if everything went smoothly? We are learning so much and our faith is growing more and more everyday. I think God seems bigger to me as this moves on and the more discouraged we get, the more we lean on him and the more we grow together. I'm so thankful for George, he is a rock...and me, I put on a rock face when I need to, that, and try not to cry on the phone!