Finally, I have progress of some sort to report even though it is not really the progress I was hoping to report. Raul traveled to Cholula (a town right outside of Puebla) to the DHL location to pick up our letter yesterday. The letter confirmed what we were expecting and our waiver has been referred for further review. Honestly, we were both disappointed with the letter. Even though we knew that most likely it would say we were being referred for further review, we still had that small glimmer of hope that maybe just maybe we would get the word that he could start the process of coming back home. The letter said that it may be another 12 months before a decision is reached in our case. However, my sister said they are currently averaging around 6 months to make decisions after they are referred.
The only thing holding me together right now is the knowledge that God is still in control and His timing is still perfect even if it does not match my "perfect" timing. Apparently, there are still lessons for us to learn and purposes for us to accomplish before we can move on to the next step. Plus, God must not have wanted my ticket to Mexico for July to go to waste!
We do have some specific prayer requests at this time. One is for wisdom for us on what if any additional documentation we should send in to prove "extreme hardship". Also, our finances are a concern to me (even though God has been providing for us every step of the way). We do have a small amount left in the savings, but I don't think I'll have the luxury of planning any more "vacations" after this one in July. In addition, my car is aging and there are always little things that come up. But, like I said, God has made every dollar of ours stretch more than I could've imagined, so maybe the prayer should be more for me to be able to chill out and trust God! Please also pray for us during this waiting time. As the time for the answer draws nearer, it has been harder for me to trust God's plan and pray instead of being anxious about the end result. Pray also for Raul. He has had a good attitude during this whole journey, but continue to pray for strength and encouragement for him.
Other than that, there is really nothing new to report. There is a wedding in Raul's town this weekend so he helped this morning to butcher a cow for the party. He'll be on duty as one of the volunteer police officers for the wedding tomorrow. He leads such an exciting life!
Thanks much for your prayers and as usual, keep 'em coming!
