…But we are back in Iceland with VISAs.
Here’s a recap of what we had to go through in the last 3 days:
1. 1. Three hour train ride from Jyvaskyla to Helsinki, Finland. Colby’s backpack broke. Had to shop for another one in the Helsinki mall and transfer everything into it.
2. 2. Got to the airport. Got into the slowest line at Czech Airlines. Finally it is our turn at the check-in counter. We find out we are only allowed to check 80 kilos and we are required to check our strollers (which we have never had to do). We open up all the suitcases and try to carry on as many pounds as possible. We are charged for the extra weight. We are NOT happy.
3. 3. We trudge through the airport—Colby carrying a heavy backpack and dragging two garbage bags full of clothes, me -- a backpack stuffed with 20 pounds plus my other carry-ons, and Haley carrying the camera bag. We all have our winter coats on (we had to bring them in case).
4. 4. Arrive in Prague. Only have 45 minutes between flights. Run to next gate. We look like a scene out of Home Alone.
5. 5. Get to Heathrow Airport in London. At Border control, Haley is nearly in tears, frantically grabbing herself because she is about to wet her pants (we had just gone to the bathroom on the plane). Hold on Haley, we just have to answer 20 questions first.
6. 6. Go to Baggage Claim. They have lost our double stroller (the double stroller we had paid 80 dollars to check). Colby goes to try to locate it, leaves me with all the luggage, and Darcy wets her pants (she had JUST gone to the bathroom on the plane).
7. 7. We emerge from Baggage Claim to meet someone from our company…Darcy dripping with urine, Haley upset because she had just lost her new Hello Kitty bracelet, and Colby and I with bags under our eyes.
8. 8. One-hour drive to our hotel in Gatwick. We arrive, take everything to our room, and then realize that we are so hungry we won’t be able to fall asleep. Colby goes to find food. It takes almost another hour.
9. 9. Next morning, Colby gets up early to get directions to the Embassy. The wireless internet isn’t working. He figures something out, we chug breakfast, and catch the Gatwick Express to downtown London.
10. 10. Walk for an hour. Arrive at the Embassy 45 minutes early. The woman at the counter looks confused, and says, “I’m sorry. You don’t have an appointment for today. I have you down for Monday morning. And today we’re packed full.”
11. 11. Colby looks like he is about to hurt someone. He gets assertive. “I’m sorry, there must have been a miscommunication. We agreed on Friday and we have flights to Iceland tomorrow morning.”
12. 12. Clerk responds (with a perfect British accent), “Ah, sh*#... (head in hands). Okay, out of the goodness of my heart, I’ll try to squeeze you in today.”
13. 13. Find out we need passport photos. We get a map and run for 15 minutes until we find “Snappy Photos” where we have a quick photo shoot. Run back and get in line.
14. 14. They call our name. Find out our credit card will not work and we need 112 pounds CASH. This time Colby goes alone and sprints to the nearest “hole in the wall.”
15. 15. Get what we need. Go to Kensington Gardens where I lay on the grass for an hour trying to recover.
The moment came at the perfect time. We were at the home of Irma, an amazing Finnish woman who glows with the presence of God and who owns a lovely piece of property in the outskirts of town. We had just sat down for afternoon coffee with her and our dear friends here, the Pauls, when Darcy busted in the front door from playing outside screaming, “I have to go POO-POO!” Colby got up to help her when I heard his phone ring. My stomach immediately dropped and the Finnish fancy cake I was chewing on suddenly made me want to vomit.
This was it. It had to be. We had been waiting for 13 months and 9 days to get a residence permit and today was the day we would hear the decision. I made eye contact with Heather and we both tried to politely listen to the conversation that was happening around the table, both knowing that something monumental and life-altering was happening in the other room. I was nauseated with nervousness.
I excused myself and entered the bathroom where Darcy was loudly trying to get Colby’s attention because she needed to be wiped… and Colby was hiding in the shower with one hand plugging his ear, trying to hear the person on the other end of the phone. He was smiling with a giddiness that I hadn’t seen in a long time, and I leaned into the phone just in time to hear the words, “You have been approved.” It was almost visible—the weight that I watched lift from Colby’s shoulders…the burden that had been there for so long that I had begun to not even recognize it.
He continued to talk on the phone with our representative from Iceland, and I made my way to the closest chair in sight and collapsed in it. I watched him pace back and forth around the living room, laughing, glowing. We made eye contact. He moved the phone away from his lips and mouthed to me, “It. is. over.”
I couldn’t believe it. I sat in the rocking chair in a state of shock for a long time. Now that I think about it, I don’t know if anyone ever wiped Darcy. Poor child. All I could hear were the words, “It is over.” All I could see in my mind was a long and painful road that we had finally--hand in hand--come to the end of. Not just us, but many that have traveled this road with us were behind us cheering and smiling. I didn’t know what to think. For so long we hadn’t known WHEN this would end, WHERE it would end or if it WOULD ever end. And now it was over. This journey was finally over. And it was finally beginning...
(Cuddling in bed reading this psalm to my girls in pajamas):
1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue, you know it completely, O LORD.
5 You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
Haley Jane (furrowed brow): "Well...why does He only hold us with His right hand? Why doesn't he hold us with both hands?"
We flew into Helsinki and then drove 3 ½ hours north to a college town called Jyvaskyla. This place is strikingly similar to where I grew up: marshes, lakes, and HUNDREDS of trails for walking and biking. We spent 6 hours running and walking around in the warm weather (warmer than any day we’ve had in Iceland) exploring the trails and the city. I love seeing so many people outside exercising here. We’ve noticed lots of people into Nordic walking here (walking with ski poles).
The girls have done well adjusting. For the first time in a year, the girls have separate rooms to sleep in. Bedtime has been 75% less stressful and that is so helpful. Of course, Darcy is going through her typical culture shock. In the middle of the night she woke up screaming, “My leg is BWOKEN!” and when she wakes up she is convinced she has a fever and ice cream is the only thing that can cure it. I’m just waiting until starts telling me she has to throw up again.
Of course, there is the drama of not having a car and always trying to catch a bus. Today the bus drove right past me even though I was standing right at the bus stop (apparently you have to flag them down). A half-hour later when it returned, the girls frantically started running toward it, Haley knocked Darcy over, and we made a scene getting on the quiet bus …(Darcy, in between sobs) “NOW… I… AM …LAME!!” (Thank you Jesus Storybook Bible for expanding my child’s vocabulary). “Mommy…(trying to catch her breathe)….You have to get me sticks so I can walk.” Nordic walking, anyone?
