Sure. That would be how it would go in a perfect world. Our passport experience was quite different, though. With busy schedules for each of us, finding time to get everyone to their appointments was a challenge. Also, I discovered that Zack's birth certificate apparently was lost throughout the years of wrestling sign-ups, so I had to apply for a new one, which took weeks to arrive in the mail.
Also, I should have known that one parent cannot apply for a child's passport; you need both parents. This meant that we needed to plan for a day when their dad could meet us to sign the kids' applications.
Then, the day that Adam was scheduled to get his passport (which was incredibly difficult to schedule due to him working 12 hour days, six days a week), we discovered that both mother and father needed to be listed on the birth certificates, which they apparently didn't do in 1978 when Adam was born. So, we hurried up to Erie for a new birth certificate and made it back just in time for his appointment at the post office.
The postmaster said it could take 6 to 11 weeks for our passports to come back. When she counted the weeks at our final appointment, there were 12 weeks left before our departure.
I think God is teaching us to not be anxious through this process. Our preparing and going on this trip is in obedience to His calling. It would be so much easier to not go. It would be so much easier to pretend that I don't hear the Holy Spirit and ignore the obvious signs leading us to pursue this. If it is God's will, we will go. It is really that simple. If the funds are there, we will go. If our passports arrive in time, we will go. It is our job to pursue this journey, and God will make a way. He alone is our provider.
Genesis 22:14 Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the Lord will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
