3 VISAS IN ONE DAY

let me first start out by saying

WE GOT OUR VISAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PRAISE GOD FOR HIS PROVISION AND SOVEREIGNTY AND ANSWERED PRAYERS!!!!

let me next start out by saying i have had about 4 hours of sleep in the past 62 hours and am a little loopy by this point, but i wanted to go ahead and write this because i can still hardly believe it. i keep taking it out and staring at it to make sure it's real.

part of the reason i've gotten so little sleep is because i did not go to bed last night. this was because my mother and i set out for Houston at 5 am this morning, and i had enough to do that it took precedent over a couple hours of sleep. arrived at the Consulate-General of Japan right as it opened at 9:30. and this is what i discovered. big pathetic puppy eyes help you get your visa expedited. and prayer. prayer helps too. i told them my flight was at 6:30 am on friday so i really needed my visa by tomorrow. at first they said the fastest thing to do would be to pick it up tomorrow (which would have meant we either would have had to spend the night in Houston or drive back to Dallas, then back to Houston the next day, which would have been not fun). at that point i was just happy to hear they could even process it by the next day. then the lady paused, took a moment, then said "let me see if we can get it to you by this afternoon- wait a moment." and they said they could. and there was much rejoicing. they said to come back at 3:30 pm- on their website it says it takes a MINIMUM of 4 days, and they processed mine in 6 hours. michelle and henry were also able to get their visas today. so amazing. i love it when God allows me to experience a miracle.

my mom and i killed time by having a fabulous breakfast at the Four Seasons hotel which was right next to the Embassy, wandering around the shops, taking naps on the couches of the Four Seasons lobby (i felt like a high class vagabond...) and hanging out at Starbucks. then retrieved my visa and headed home to Dallas!

God provides, even when i'm not sure if my faith is strong enough to believe it. but He provides for me anyway, because He loves me that much. i called the whole experience a miracle, but in actuality, it's only a miracle in my mind because i thought it couldn't be done, because i did not believe enough. but "with God, all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26), and "all things are possible for those who believe" (Mark 9:23).

may we live every moment of our lives believing this is so.

one more day in Dallas, then i fly to San Francisco at 6:30 am Friday (which means i get to leave for the airport at 4 am....woo!) , then on to Tokyo!