Still Waiting

As most of you are aware, Raul had his appointment this morning at 11:15 for his Consular interview. After waiting the entire day, they called him to the window at 3:00 p.m. only to tell him that he would have to come back on Monday. As you can imagine, this was very disappointing for Raul. He was looking forward to heading back home to Santa Monica tomorrow morning, and now he has to stay over the weekend in Juarez.

It would be putting it mildly to say that I was upset when I heard the news. Not only must my love spend longer in lonely Juarez but this is going to be very costly as well since his plane ticket for tomorrow is non-transferable and we will have to pay for extra nights in the hotel. Though I intellectually know that God will provide for our needs, I have trouble trusting in that as I see our savings being drained by things beyond our control. Again, thank goodness that God is so faithful even when I am faithless. He must just shake his head at me sometimes when I freak out over money and other things which are beyond my control. I hate to say it, but I see a strong similarity between me and those grumbling Israelites. He performs miracle after miracle and still I complain and doubt.

Other than those glitches, things are going pretty okay for the Gizzos. We're looking forward to our Panama vacation over Christmas. It will be hard for Raul to be away from his family in the States for Christmas, but at least we will be together and he will be able to be with some of my side of the family. We have really been enjoying speaking on the phone this past week since he has a phone in his hotel room and he doesn't have to pay for incoming calls. When he is in Santa Monica, we usually try to limit conversations to 15 to 20 minutes, but this week, I've been able to chat about nothing for up to an hour. Just like the good old days when we were dating!

Though this whole situation has been frustrating, I have been seeing blessing after blessing that we have been receiving through it all. Raul was joking that every newly wed couple should go through a time of separation to help strengthen their relationship. Taking a step back has really helped us see how blessed we are to have each other.  God has also been using this time to teach me some of the areas that I need work on in our relationship.

Even after all of our frustrations, we are reminded that God is still in control. The God who parted the Red Sea and who has power over death itself is still our God and his ways will prevail if we let him do his work. Glory be to God.