Prayer and Customs...a match made in heaven.

I made it! I'm finally in California! After two years of dreaming, waiting, and seeking God, I've finally begun this new season in my life. It's so incredible to look back at everything that has happened since I was first here in March of 2004. God is so faithful, and when we are following His will for our lives it's reasuring to fall back on that truth even when things seem like they are going wrong. I want to share with you one small way that God has been so faithful in taking care of me.
As most of you know, I left September 7th (this past thursday) very early in the morning. I had to be at the airport at 5 in the morning to be precise. This early morning was due to the fact that I had to clear customs and that I was actually trying to immigrate to the U.S as a 'non-profit religious worker.' This specific type of visa (an R-1 visa) would allow me the freedom to come in and out of the country for the next few years without having to re-explain myself every time, as well as be able to stay for longer than 6 month periods, and get a social security number. This is the ideal type of visa for someone in my position.
In order to receive this visa, one must present the customs officer with a stack of papers from the organization (in this case YWAM) explaining my purpose there, declaring their non-profit status, as well as inviting me to become a staff member. So as you can imagine when the papers had not arrived by the afternoon of wednesday the 6th, I started to get a little concerned. After a couple of phone calls it became evident that the papers which had been mailed to me the previous week would not be arriving on time. Time to implement plan B.
I immediately alerted the prayer chain at church. I knew that in order for everything to arrive on time and for the right things to fall into place we had to rely on God 100%. After trying to contact YWAM for several hours, we finally managed to get through to someone and were able to begin the process of having all the forms faxed to me in Calgary. Praise God, by 8:30 p.m I had all necessary papers in hand and was ready to face the challenge of obtaining the visa.
Fast-forward to 5:15 a.m thursday the 7th. It was finally my turn to talk to the customs official and attempt to obtain a visa. Unsure of what to say, I plunked my papers down on the desk, showed him my flight ticket, and my passport.
"How long will you be in the U.S?" the officer asked me.
"Two years" I replied in a slightly nervous voice.
"How long?" the officer asked again.
"Two years" I once again answered, though this time with a little more certainty.
"You don't know how long you'll be in the U.S?" the officer asked.
"Two years" I once again said, now overly loudly, yet not trying to be rude.
"Why is this faxed?" the man asked.
"Because the mail didn't get there on time" I answered, now trying to use an assertive voice. "Well, why didn't you plan to have all your papers on time? Why weren't you prepared?"
"Sir, the mail didn't come on time, we musn't have anticipated labour day" I responded trying to soothe his demeaning manner.
"Well, would you apply for a job with a faxed copy?"
"No sir, I wouldn't" I responded meekly.
"You need to be more prepared. Push your cart forward" the officer gruffly said.
As I pushed my cart forward I had no idea where I was going. I just walked forward and realizing the man had my passport and ticket, figured I must be talking to someone else.
After leaving my cart in the main customs area, I was ushered into the side room and was told to take a seat. After a moment, another customs officer called my name. As I came forward and handed him my stack of papers, he began questioning me about what I would be doing in the U.S. After trying my best to explain, and him mentioning something about not being able to apply for this kind of visa at a border crossing he told me to sit down while he read the stack of papers.
Now this is what I mean by the title of this blog. There comes a point where you realize that you have absolutely zero control. This was one of those moments. I had to rest in the assurance that God had called me to go to California and that there were others out there praying for me, and specifically for this moment. So I joined and also began praying. After about 10-15 minutes of waiting and constant prayer, the man once again called my name.
"I'm between a rock and a hard place here" the officer said. "I want to give this to you, but I am missing some documentation, and I can't give it to you if I am missing some documentation."
"What kind of documentation sir?" I asked.
"I need some kind of proof that you've been with this religious organization for some time" he said.
As I struggled to think of what kind of documentation I could have given him, I realized that there was nothing more I could have done. I continued praying and explained to the officer that even if I had the time or the resources there wasn't any kind of documentation that I could present to him to prove what he wanted me to.
"Well, maybe there's someone I can call then?" the officer asked me.
As I started suggesting calling YWAM Pismo Beach, or a Pastor in Calgary, I realized that since it was so early in the morning, most places would be inacessible. As these thoughts entered my mind, the officer just plunked the visa sheet in front of me and told me to fill in the top and bottom.
Praise God! I filled that sheet in the fastest possible, so that he wouldn't have time to change his mind. God is so good. The visa is good for 3 years, and though it was supposed to have cost me $180 US, it cost me nothing. This is just a story of the faithfulness of God and the power of prayer. So thank you to everyone who has been praying for me. Please continue, and be encouraged by this story because it is not unique. This is the God we serve, and the Father who loves us so much. Nothing is impossible for him!