STARTING OFF THE NEW YEAR WELL

“Don’t panic, there is no need to panic.” a bright voice on the other side of the phone said with a polite American accent.

PRESSING ON, shackles undone, war waging un-won -it’snot ova yet.

Passports……………………uh………................................. Check.
References; Friend, Employer, and Pastoral all passed out . ….. Check.
Pots, Pans, Kitchen/Living room stuff all packed (day one of packing 4 ½ boxes).... Check.
Extra Blood work for Overseas insurance done(required)……………… getting there… but we just found out we don’t need it till we leave.
Extensive relief …………………… Check.

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We had been racing around and staying up uber late because of the time zone difference; trying to call the YWAM, Perth base. Leaving several messages, to get some possibly crucial questions answered. I hadn’t remembered it being like this before. I have to this point been praying that God would confirm and affirm that we were still to remain on course. Honestly mostly because of my distracted and worrying conscience. Going half way around the world is no small task, but for this purpose totally worth it. Currently Reading Philippians 4:4-9 (you are not alone)
So we got a call about 8:30pm-ish unexpectedly,… 10:30am their time. ‘Finally’ I thought as Matt answered his cell. We asked some questions about the applications and details that concerned us,… then I told Matt to ask her how long the applications would take to get accepted, and how long the international visas were taking. (FUN TRAVEL FACT 1 : a visa is an official stamp or sticker put in your passport if you are in a foreign country for more than 30 days; and you apply for it by filling out a costly and thick application with an official Embassy) “There is no need to panic, the apps only take about a week and my visa application only took a day to process- & I’m American also.” (FUN TRAVEL FACT 2: many Embassies dislike Americans just enough to hesitate to process them quickly, and a lot of Americans travel creating an influx of applications- Lucky-us -cause YWAM is liked.)

Also in the last couple of days…….
-We got Matt’s criminal record check back- long story short we were having some trouble with this- via the U.S. postal service. Wha-whoo! Those can tend to take a while too- and I already have one so I’m well off already.
-Other good news the long-term-fasting-of-meat (vegetarianism thing) is going quite well. The original plan was 3 months even if we didn’t like it or it wasn’t ‘working‘. Matt and I are feeling a lot healthier, clearer minded, sleeping better and it has been much easier than we thought, so we may keep it up. The discipline has been our focus and has helped us consume less, and consciously pay attention so that we don’t stumble into gluttony. “Waste is waste no matter where is goes”, says my wise friend Mrs. Porter.
-And It appears I have a possible job. My mom is getting involved with a special foster program, and will need a babysitter a couple days a week. I will go through some training with her but a job is eminent. Yay!
All and all mucha weight has lifted off our shoulders... Just stuff falling into place.
Newest Scrimmage -- trying to find a cheap faxing service that will let us fax internationally. Staples charges 6 bucks a page- outrageous huh, we just wanna get our apps through fast but we may have to just snail mail it all. Grrr…

APARTMENT COLORS

OTHER RECENT PHOTOS (NEW YEARS EVE)