Records Dept, Mexico, and Karate

On Monday (March 28) I called the National Benefits Center to speak to our Adjudicator Officer for our I800. She is so super sweet! She was in the midst of reading the chico's files right then and had nothing but kind, gracious words. Let  me just say, that for a government agency, I am pleasantly surprised. Every time I have called this office the people answer quickly, kindly and are genuinely concerned about your issue.

All that said, we are unfortunately at the mercy of the Records Division of the NBC right now. After the Officer read everything she had to send the files to the Records Division and everything has sat in that office since  Tuesday morning. I've called each day this week to see if there is any progress, but so far nothing. Apparently they can legally take up to five business days to process the file. Something that should normally take an hour, according to our officer.

So, this will most likely mean our travel is delayed by a week or so. I'm still praying we'll leave while the calendar still says April, but the reality of that isn't looking too good. Oh, well. Par for the course. God's timing is best. Thankfully, I don't feel frustrated or stressed over the delay. I have peace about the timing. (Maybe it has to do with the massive To Do list that still needs finishing and I KNOW I need more time! LOL!)

Brent has been away all this week on a mission trip to Mexico. He gets to see our two Tarahumaran children we sponsor, which I'm so excited for them! They LOVE it when their "padrino" (sponsor) visits. It's a big deal! I am sad to miss them (only men were allowed on this trip!) but glad they got to see Brent. It has been a construction trip where they are expanding the church and helping to finish one of the houses in the Tarahumara community for a new believer. God is working so mightily in Chihuahua. It is humbling and awe-inspiring to be a tiny part of it. Also, I hear he's working on his Spanish! I'm hoping he learns a lot so he can teach me before we go to Colombia!

Cait, Grant, Jake and Quinn are feverishly practicing their karate since they have a tournament this Saturday. They haven't done a tournament for a few years so there are a bunch of nervous kids around here! We've been trying to get school done this week but it's been difficult since I've been focused on my long To Do list. We keep interrupting our school day to sort clothing for all seven, shop for clothes, reorganized toys, pack stuff up for donations, and clean. Right now the house looks worse than when we started, but there is a method to the chaos! Each pile has a purpose! If I could just get the kids to stop knocking the piles over and mixing them up, I'd be fine! LOL!