Leaning Which Way?

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways ackowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." Proverbs 3:5&6 (ESV)


Today I was awake at 4:00am as I thought about the new visa applications I had completed last night after conferring with our son and daughter-in-law about how to correct the problems noted in our applications of yesterday. I was up at 4:30 and boarded the Amtrak train in Windsor Locks at 6:02, bound for the Chinese Consulate in NYC. On the way down I was reviewing the events of yesterday and trying to plan a strategy that might produce a different result. I made sure not to bring my jackknife but I did have our newly completed visa applications, a letter of invitation from our son and an itinerary I had put togther myself. I also had a copy of our plane reservations, our passports, our pictures, my wife's green card (a resident alien identification card) and a printed copy of all the instructions for visiting the consulate. I was as ready as I could be.

But during the 3 and 1/2 hour train ride back to New York, the verses listed above kept coming back to me over and over again. The LORD was clearly "speaking" to me through this very familiar passage. As I was leaning on my own understanding about how to get our visas, I was denying the truth of God's Word that clearly tells me to trust in the LORD with all my heart. I was clearly being disobedient. During the train ride, somewhere between New Haven and Stamford, I bowed my head and asked God to take care of the visas. I asked Him to take away my worry and my desire to develop a "foolproof" plan. I wanted to know that when the visas came, they would be coming from the LORD and not from my efforts. Then I left it with Him.
When I arrived at the embassy at 9:50am some amazing things happened; no, not amazing but some God things happened. Yesterday the line had been out the door when I arrived, today there was no line. Yesterday, when I had set off the metal detector and was searched, the jackknife was discovered and confiscated. Today, when the metal detector went off, no one seemed to notice and I was waved through. [I still don't know what set it off.] Once inside, there was no one waiting in line. I thought maybe they weren't open yet, but I was waved up to an open window, and my three visa applications were reviewed and accepted and I was on my way in 10 minutes. This even though the consulate officer discovered my wife's green card was expired and she shouldn't have been allowed back into the USA on Monday when we went to Canada to renew her passport. I was told the passports would be ready with the visas affixed if I returned after lunch.

Since it was just a little after 10:00am, I decided to take the subway down to ground zero and see the site of the World Trade Center. The place where the twin towers once stood is now a major construction site. Below is an artist's rendering of what will one day occupy the spot. You can actually go to that website and see what's happening now. I found it interesting that a Chinese company is the first one to sign a lease for space in the new tower when it is built. Progress is being made and new buildings are slowly beginning to emerge from the ground. After my walk around the sight I took the subway back up to where I got on and walked back to the Chinese Consulate to pay for and pick up the visas. While many other people were also there picking up their visas, I was able to get them in about 45 minutes and then make my way back to Pennsylvania Station where I was able to buy my return Amtrak ticket. One interesting bit of information to all of you world travelers, the Chinese are sticking it to us Americans. The cost of a single entry, 90 day visa for anyone with an American passport - $13o. The cost of a single entry, 90 day visa for anyone holding any other passport in the world - $30. That's right, it cost my son and I $130 each and it cost my wife $30 for our visas. And is case you are wondering, it cost an extra $30 per person to pick up our visas on the same day.

So, in summary...

the cost of one slice of pizza across the street from the world trade center - $6

the cost of 2 Amtrak roundtrips from Windsor Locks to NYC - $200

the cost of three visas with same day delivery - $380

the cost of getting to see and hold Sarah Grace - priceless!