Passport Circus

We received our passports!!!  Yay!  All 6 of them.  We're ready to get on a plane for Tanzania.

But it wasn't a simple process.  Here's the drama...(get ready to laugh!)

First, we needed passport photos.  So we went to a local drugstore that advertised "passport photos" but they informed us that we would have to remove our glasses.  We think that's silly since we wear our glasses all the time.  AND we each had passport photos taken years ago with our glasses on.

So we found another drug store and they said, "oh yeah, whatever you want, that will be fine."  After lots of dollars we received very pretty photos.

Then we scheduled an appointment with the post office to submit our applications.  We juggled around my class schedule and the kids' nap schedule to find a block of time for 6 applications.  The appointment was scheduled three weeks in advance.

Then we filled out the 6 applications that were each 3 pages long.

Finally, it was the big day.  We walked into the post office with our four children and....the person who processes the applications was out sick, for the whole week, and they didn't call us.  The next available appointment was not for three weeks.  However, there was another post office 20 minutes away that accepted walk-ins.

So back in the car, drove to the other post office, stood in line (with our four children), finally reached the counter and the agent sighed, "these photos are terrible!  All of them are unacceptable.  I can't process your applications.  You need your glasses OFF."  Oops.

Here are the rejected mug shots:

We couldn't go back to the original photo place because it was 20 minutes away.  Therefore we found another location of the same franchise and explained our situation.  They gladly retook our photos and sent us back to the post office.  Unfortunately, it was almost time for Ben's class so after waiting in line for 15 minutes, we had to leave.

Later that evening, we received a phone message from the post office informing us that our applications would be cancelled because we did not finish them on the same day we started them.  AAAHHHHHHHH!!!!

Day 2:
We went to the post office first thing in the morning with our new photos, expecting to fill in brand new applications.  Thankfully, the applications were still in queue!  BUT, three of the new photos were still unacceptable.

AARRRGGGG!

Back to the drugstore for the third time.  You'll never guess what we heard, "Oh, I'm sorry, we can't find our camera today."

WHAT!?!!??

So we found yet another drugstore of the same franchise in another city and retook the photos, again.

We walked back into the post office a little slower this time, wondering what else could possibly go wrong.  But, miraculously, everything was accepted, the applications were submitted and we should receive our passports in six weeks.

Well, miraculously, they arrived in two weeks and they look fantastic.

But as we reflect on that circus, the most profound miracle of God's grace was that Jeannette and I never cried, we never yelled at anybody (although I got a little forceful with the post office agent), and Jeannette and I didn't fight.  We just laughed in shock and wonder and hugged each other.

It was a great opportunity to share with our children that God is sovereign.  God knew where that camera was, God knew that the first guy would be out sick, God knew that our applications would be held overnight.  God knows everything.  God is in control.  God is wise.  God is with us.

We pray that our attitude will be the same when we encounter this same circus in Tanzania.