The past few days have been an absolute whirlwind. I received a call from US Citizenship and Immigration Services Monday morning informing me to go to Fargo and get my fingerprints done. I asked if Jim was able to get this done in Haiti and they thought so, but could not tell me for sure. I called Jim right away to tell him this and suggested that he go to the consulate as soon as possible to see if they could take his fingerprints. He said Barb was planning to go in the morning anyway, so he would ride along. Since the benefit was scheduled for Monday night, it didn't work for me to go to Fargo that day. Believe me, I would have jumped into the car in a heart beat otherwise! Joe, Jess, Isaiah and I spent the night with my nephew, Cole, after the concert and left the next morning. To my surprise, one of Jim's best friend's wife worked at the immigration office. Jim and Fred graduated from Border Patrol Academy together 26 years ago. Little did we know they are living in Fargo.
After my appointment, I felt completely blessed and overwhelmed with God's grace. I thought to myself, "What a wonderful country we live in!"..... I was surrounded by immigrants waiting to take their naturalization test and as we visited, I could sense their excitement about becoming a citizen of the United States. A young man told me how he could not wait to become a citizen, so he could join the Army. I told him that was very admirable. I also told him about my son-in-law, Sean (Sheila's husband) who had just graduated from basic training in the Army last fall, and has recently graduated from AIT with achievement and leadership awards. As I told them the story of Jim and Lacey in Haiti, hoping to bring our children home soon, tears streamed down the young girl's face. We exchanged contact information and agreed to keep in touch. His wife (or girlfriend) was taking the naturalization test that day.
After I left USCIS, I tried to call Jim to let him know he was free to go up to the consulate in Haiti (if he had not done so already) and get his fingerprints done. They had called Washington to double check on that while I was there and said they would send an email to Haiti letting them know Jim would be coming in to do this. I couldn't get in touch with Jim. I tried again once I got to Grand Forks and he picked up the phone in Barb's office. I told him how I ran into Fred Ewalt's wife, and he couldn't believe it. He said he had just gotten back from getting his fingerprints done and it was like they were expecting him. I told him they were! He asked what time I was in Fargo at USCIS, and I said about 12:00 noon. Jim arrived at the consulate about 1:00 our time, so they had received the email and processed him as soon as he got there; Barb said in the past 20 years she has never seen anything go so smoothly and quickly. It's so amazing to see God work all this out because we could not have planned it better. After all the miracles God has already done in my life, I am still in awe of him.
Lacey, Sam, and Katyna
The Building Crew
Terry and his little friends
Dean, Sam, and Katyna
Can you believe how happy they are, even after such a disappointing day?
