In a Holding Pattern

The last two weeks have proven to be a real eye-opener for me. During the whole ordeal, it seemed like my envelope was pushed to its limit, but looking back now, the experience was necessary for the development of my character.

Ever since we got Betsy, the miracle car, we have been more adventurous in seeking for church appointments. Distance and time was not limiting us anymore. Gone were those days of being at the mercy of other’s availability. We can go everywhere we wanted to.

Davin and I love road trips, and so we embarked on one…which as I’ve said, is pushing me outside of my comfort zone.

Davin worked hard to get the car ready. With the car at 98% “ready for the trip”, we made our first long journey from LA to Silicon Valley.

I was looking forward to this appointment because it was set up by old friends from Andrews that I have not seen in 6 years. It was the only church appointment we had, but not wanting to waste all that gas to come all the way to SV area, we brought most of our things in case more opportunities would present itself.

With the weekend over, the looming thoughts at the back of our heads were “Where are we going next? Where are we staying until the next Sabbath?” As we packed our bags to leave our friends’ house, the same questions echoed in the pastor’s lips. “So where are you guys going next?”

The next hour was spent by the pastor pulling all the strings he could pull so we can have a place to stay while in Northern California. And pull the strings he did because we found ourselves staying in one of the richest neighborhoods of San Francisco for the next two weeks and a half.

If I was to walk a block away from the house, I would have a spectacular view of the Golden Gate

Bridge. A few steps away would be streets lined with nifty little shops, street musicians, and rich-looking people sipping coffee while reading the newspaper. A few blocks away was the War Memorial Opera House, the Nourse Theater and the SF Jazz Center. Even the Fisherman’s Wharf was within easy access if we were in the mood for a good walk.

While the accommodation was above and beyond what we were used to, we know we can’t enjoy it as tourists. We had several issues at hand that we needed to solve, such as:

1. Visa: Davin and I are on a 10-year multiple entry tourist visa (B1/B2). But while the visa is good for ten years, it only allows us 6 months at a time to be in the US. When the 6 months is up, we need to exit the country, and re-enter to start another 6 months. My 6 months is going to expire on the third week of October.

2. Passport: Davin’s passport needed to be renewed which takes 6-8 weeks. By then, I should be out of the country…with or without him.

I’ve never felt so stuck in my life. We have spent almost a year fundraising in the US, and just as when we’re about to reach our goal, we have to spend for plane tickets and processing papers.

I’m the kind of person who knows what I’m going to do at letter E while I’m still working at letter A. I like my ducks in a row. I have checklists and to dos and I know how to map my way to get from point A to point B.

But this time, I feel like I just got told, “Check mate.”

However, I will not ignore the fact that there were a few glimpses of hope as we dealt with our situation. One of those was the offer to become Bible workers for my friend’s church. If the process is successful, we can change our status from tourist to religious worker. Allowing us to stay for at least 3 years (without having to exit every 6 months) and save to get Davin’s pilot license.

Another opportunity was that Andrews has a community-based pilot training. And when all finances are factored in, their program was a thousand dollars cheaper than Philippines. Kinda hard to believe, but it’s the truth.

So here we are. Sent all requirements necessary to process. Wondering when all of these efforts will come through for us.

Like planes on a holding pattern. All we can do is wait.