Count It As Joy
Apr 11, 2021 | by The Fellowship
God is so good! His faithfulness continues to amaze me in every trial and circumstance we find ourselves in. Sometimes it is hard to trust God in every situation, but He continues to teach me that He is molding and refining me more and more to be like Jesus.
We have wanted to travel with our kids and thought now would be a good time to get a passport for our seven-year-old son. In February, my husband took our son to a passport appointment at the post office. When applying for a passport, the post office requires original documents. My husband saw them put the passport application, our son’s original proof of citizenship, and original Ethiopian birth certificate in the envelope and send it to the passport agency. Because we had such difficulty getting our son’s U.S. citizenship, my husband was very apprehensive about relinquishing the originals.
To give a little background, our son was adopted from Ethiopia in 2018 when we were serving overseas as missionaries. In 2019, back in the United States, we had a huge ordeal trying to get U.S. citizenship for him and found ourselves down on our knees praying for God to make it happen as his visa was about to expire. We feared having to leave the country and being separated as a family. Thankfully, God showed up and our son got his U.S. citizenship just days before his visa expired!
Over spring break, we received a letter from the passport agency stating they received our application, but we needed to send proof of our son’s U.S. citizenship and original birth certificate from Ethiopia. We were floored! My husband had witnessed the post office sealing those documents in an envelope and sending it to the passport agency!
Feelings of anxiety came back just as they had when getting our son’s citizenship! My husband called the phone number on the passport agency’s letterhead. He waited an hour and a half on the phone to be told they did not know where his documents were and to call the Houston passport agency for more information. Our hearts sank and my mind started to panic: Would we have to start his citizenship process all over again? Could I even call up Ethiopia and get another original birth certificate? How can we possibly move forward in solving this situation? In that moment, God reminded me that our trials are what mold us and refine us into His image. If we give Him our burdens, He can handle it.
We reached out to The Fellowship Prayer Team, asking them to pray over every detail of this process and for a speedy resolution. We also shared our dilemma with some friends from The Fellowship, and they recommended we call our representative in Congress. They had been faced with a similar issue with their passports.
My husband emailed our Congresswoman, Lizzie Fletcher, on a Friday. By Monday, her office emailed back a confirmation and asked us for a bit more information. By Tuesday, they had contacted the Houston passport agency and were working on getting all the documents, including the passport, together. By Wednesday, our son’s passport and original documents were shipped to us! Our representative not only contacted the passport agency on our behalf, but made sure we received all documents the very next day!
We are praising God! He is more powerful than the U.S. government! When we thought there was not a way, He made a way! I now count it all as joy!
D.A.
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect
and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks in wisdom,
let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach,
and it will be given to him.
James 1:2-5