God is faithful! Can I hear an "Amen!"? And He sure does have a sense of humor. And sometimes, I think He likes to show off a little bit too! Here's how it went down this morning.
Jerry made plans to work from home today, so this morning he started working extra early. He let those in his office know we were going to run downtown to get our fingerprints taken as soon as USCIS was open for business at 8:00. We figured if things went smoothly, he would be able to easily put in a full day's work, but if we encountered a big crowd, or if they didn't want to allow walk-ins, or there was crazy rush-hour traffic, or anything else major, then we might be stuck downtown for a while, and he would have to use one of his vacation days.
So, we dropped off the boys at school and then headed downtown. The whole drive, each time I would feel the blender in my stomach start to puree, I would start to pray again and remind myself of God's faithfulness. I was like that in fact most of the morning before we got on the road. Traffic was not bad at all. We found a parking spot in a lot just across the street from the federal building. I pretty much bolted across the street to get in the building as soon as possible. We went through security just fine. Luckily I didn't have any sharp implements in my purse like I did last time we had to renew our fingerprint clearance! After security, I bolted toward the USCIS office. Now keep in mind that this is the third time we have had to get our fingerprints taken for this adoption. And we had to have them taken once each for Mario and Erik's adoptions. So this is fifth time getting fingerprints from USCIS. We are pros at this. So, we walk fast over to the USCIS office. Every other time we have been there, we have always got there first thing in the morning before it opens so as to get early in line. I think maybe one time we were first in line, but generally there are other people there in front of us. The first time we went there, it was a huge line, and we ended up having to wait over an hour to get our fingerprints taken. So we've learned our lesson to get there early. We weren't able to do that this morning because of having to get the boys to school, but we were still there within fifteen or twenty minutes of he doors opening, which is excellent timing when you come down to it.
So we come around the corner and go into the USCIS office. There is no one there at all, except for the two USCIS staffers waiting at the counter! We were able to walk right up and get our fingerprints taken! There was no problem with us just walking in, and there was not even one other soul waiting! I was completely blown away! I knew going into this fingerprint situation that this was going to have to be all God. There were so many factors against us, and everything was out of my control. I had to give it all to Him. And it just plain cracks me up that there was no one at all waiting in that office! It was as if our dear Lord was just saying "Dear child, I've always got your back. Let me show you just how much!"
Praise God for reminding me of this once again!