Dear Friends,
It has been an eventful week! Last Wednesday we turned in our visa application paperwork to the Spanish consulate in Chicago, and thankfully, after a thorough going-over, it was accepted. This is not to say that we are getting our visa yet, but that our paperwork did not have any glaring errors, omissions or discrepancies, so it is being forwarded to Madrid for review and, we hope, approval.
The time-frame on the visa process is very much open-ended: they told us we could have our decision in as little as three weeks or as much as a year! However, the average is about 3 months. Obviously, we are hoping for the low end, and ask that you would join us in praying for this as well.
It was a big relief for us to get the paperwork turned in. Although we spent a lot of the time waiting on various bureaucracies to get documents to us, we still carried with us the sense that it depended on us to get our paperwork together. Now that this is done, we know that the whole situation is in God's hands, and the "work" we have to do is mainly praying and inviting others to join us in prayer, that all will work out for God's glory and in His timing!
In the meanwhile, we celebrated Michael's birthday last week and ordination on Sunday evening in Wilmore, KY, where we joined the Free Methodist Church and have spent the greatest part of our married lives. Although we left 3 1/2 years ago, it still feels a lot like home, and we've enjoyed getting to visit with many friends and loved ones.
On Wednesday, we journey to Tennessee for church visits (6 in just over a week!) and to visit with some friends before the New South conference fall ladies' retreat at Eagle Ridge.
Hope to see many of you soon!
Blessings,
Michael and Carrie (Caty) Hamley
Congratulations to Michael!! And prayers follow you through another busy travel schedule. May the blessings abound.
Posted by: JDM-GBG | October 30, 2009 at 05:36 PM