Lord willing, Meggan, Andrew, and I will apply for our visas at the Spanish consulate in Chicago on August 6. In the meantime, we're gathering the decent-sized portfolio of paperwork necessary to make that possible. There's a lot of red tape to cut through, and if we don't have just the right stuff, we could be turned away. I would love it if things went smoothly, but I would also love it if I could just handle myself smoothly. Below is what I recently wrote to our field leader in Spain, Dan:
I'm not sure why, but something about my personality makes the visa application process one of the most stressful parts of getting ready to come to Spain. Raising support... downsizing our personal possessions... saying goodbye to friends and family... I'm mostly handling those with grace, self-control, and healthy emotions. This? I get nervous, worrisome, and short-tempered, and I feel like the process controls me rather than me having self-control in the midst of the process. Prayers appreciated. (And thanks for listening.)
3 comments:
You'll do great, Ben! Praying for you guys!
http://www.state.gov/misc/59452.htm
Thanks, Claire! I'm feeling better about it these days; we're doing what we can to compile everything they ask for, and we'll just see if it all gets accepted... which we believe it will. T-minus five days till we apply in Chicago. It'll be nice to have it out of our hands!
Hey, Ben!
I'm headed to the Spain field this fall/winter as well, and what you said about the process pretty much sums up exactly how I feel! Yaugh! Everything else feels like it's coming to a natural progression: the downsizing, the goodbyes, the packing and sorting. But the visa thing just puts me on edge!
But...Sheryl told me that you got your visas within five weeks, which is awesome! And encouraging to little worrying me, too. :)
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