Rest

It is interesting how we can get so anxious about things in life. Even Christians, who believe in a sovereign and loving God, are bogged down by the trials and monotony of every day life. We forget that we have a God who is for us and not against us, a God who is fighting for us.

As I sit here at our kitchen table, listening to Lorde’s new album, Melodrama (which is amazing by the way), with my wife, I am reminded that resting in God isn’t something we are simply able to do. Resting in the Lord is something that takes practice and commitment and hard work. I know, that sounds like an oxymoron, but it’s true nonetheless. Right now we are resting in God.

It’s easy to write this out at the tail-end of stressing out about Leslie’s tourist visa last week. Our constant prayer was this: “Father God, we know that you are sovereign. We know that whatever happens, whether we receive the visa or not, you are in control and you know what is good for us. You know better than we ever will what is good for us. Help us to remember that you are good, that you are for us and not against us.”

We were so stressed out because the visa holds so much weight. It determines a lot of things about our future, not just allowing us to visit family and friends for Christmas this year. Thankfully I can report that we did receive the visa. We honestly didn’t even have to worry. Leslie had told me that one person’s reason for wanting a visa was that they wanted to see the Statue of Liberty in New York, and they were granted a visa! So being married to a citizen and having family in the States was reason enough for the government.

For those of you who don’t know, I (Alex) will be staying behind in Utah in December in order to start working and getting ready for Leslie to join me after we get her green card. The road for both of us being back in the US is still a long one. Please pray for us, we need it! Luckily, Leslie will get to visit me when she has holidays (we enjoy a lot of holidays living in a predominantly Roman Catholic country) and during the summer of 2018, and soon after that we will hopefully have her green card.

We want to thank everyone who was praying for us while we were waiting to see if we would get the visa or not. We really appreciate all your prayers and it is comforting to know that God hears the prayers of his children!

In God’s grip,
Alex and Leslie