Wow. It has been a month since I last blogged. So much has changed since I wrote my last blog. I have been fighting it so hard, and wishing this was not happening. Husband and I made a pact that I wouldn't update the blog until we had a chance to tell people in person what was going on. So, since it's been a few weeks, and since I cannot wait any longer, I decided that I
wanted needed to blog tonight. It's been a long day. And by long day I mean stayed-in-my-pjs-all-day-layed-on-the-couch-ate-lunch-only-watched-half-a-season-of-24. But wait, I'm getting ahead of myself.
Since we have arrived in Cayman we have been
battling (okay, I'm being a little dramatic) in constant contact with the Immigration office here. You see, for a while we were not sure they were going to approve my work visa. Then, at the last second (literally the Friday before my wedding) they did! PTL. When we arrived on island my visa had a bit of a hold up. There was the fine print that read (paraphrased): no teaching licence = no visa. Fair enough. We went into "Get licence and move on" mode the next day.
But then...you know when ever you hear "but then..." it's never a good sign. That would be appropriate for here. :( There's this funny little thing about Immigration. They are allowed to be picky because it's their country. They (for obvious reasons) do not want people (outsiders) coming to their homeland and taking it over. I get it. I promise I do not want to take you over Cayman!
Pinky Swear! Anyways, a verrrrrryy long story short, my licence would not be approved until I showed proof of completing my Credentialing School. Sounds easy enough!
Wrong.. You see, there were still three little, tinsey, winsey things that I needed to complete....and for various reasons (not having the money at the time, getting married and preparing to move to a different COUNTRY) I didn't complete them. First, let me be honest. This is my fault. I should have been more on top of it, I should have, and I take full responsibility. That being said, I honestly didn't think that my meesley ol' California credential would matter in a different country. Well, I thought wrong, and now I am paying the price.
Let me express to you how loving, caring, thoughtful, and selfless my boss is. Seriously. She calls me into her office, and long story short, she tells me that they are fighting for me and will do everything in their power to keep me. She offered me time off without penalty to fly to CA to take my test. She lined up a CPR class for me and even fought for me every step of the way when trying to figure out how to turn in my TPA. Seriously, the woman is a blessing. I can't even begin to describe how comforting she has been during this time. She truly is fighting for me.
Then..Friday September 28th came. Kyle went to the Immigration office to extend his visitors visa. Since we got married and moved all within a week there wasn't any way for me to add him to my visa, so he had to come on island. He was granted a one month visitors visa. We thought that by the end of the month we would get the marriage license and would be able to add him. Again, we thought wrong. Apparently the state of CA really didn't want us married..(okay, I'm being dramatic) but seriously, they were picky about signatures being out of their boxes and then lost our marriage certificate in the mail. (I'm tell ya, when it rains, it pours!) Anyways, we didn't get the certificate in time so Kyle headed down to get his visa extended. He fought and pleeded with them. And let me tell you, I know my husband, and when he wants something he does everything he can to get it. However, in the case it just didn't work..They denied his extension, and told him he had to leave the island by morning.
BAM! Just like that our perfect little married life came crashing down. Literally. So, I cried. He cried. We cried together. I've only ever seen my husband cry once in our whole 6 years of dating. This man was sad, and he was not afraid to show me..which made me cry harder. That was the worst 24 hours of emotions I have felt in a long time. I had to say good-bye to my partner the next morning. The worst part? We had no idea when he would be able to come back on island.
Kyle told me I was sick for taking a picture of this. But I just had to document it..
But, the Lord works in perfect ways. His old boss (a dear friend of ours) hired him back. She had no agenda. Stay a week, stay two, whatever it takes.
Wow. What an amazing woman she is (and not just for giving him a job!) :) So now Kyle is able to work, something he wasn't able to do while he was here because of the whole "visitor" part in his visa.
Blessing #1
The next Wednesday my Principal let me know that she was going to be giving me some time off from work. (funny thing: if you don't have a visa, you can't teach...) okay, so it's not funny. Actually, it's not funny at all. And I cried. It was awful. The worst part? Kyle was gone, I was alone, and now I wouldn't even have work to distract me from the fact that my husband was now 2,500 miles away. (And
yes, I did just look that up on Google to confirm...lol)
And let me tell you, those were the longest two days of my life. Although we live on an island, and everyone swears it's paradise, contrary to popular belief I wasn't sippin' Mai Tai's while laying on a hammock on the beach. We don't have a car, and pretty much every nice place to get to requires one..so I was cooped up the house..
Blessing #2 I was able to go home on Saturday. Yes! Home to my husband!!! :) I was so excited I'm pretty sure I didn't get any sleep that night. I was greeted at the airport by the sweetest family ever! Sisters and Callie held up Welcome Home! signs (wish I would have gotten a picture!!) and even Grandma came out for the ride! :) It was so nice being back together with my hubby too!! Then!
Blessing #3 Probably the highlight of my trip (besides of course seeing my husband and family) my college roommate went into early, but not too early, labor. Which meant........I WOULD GET TO MEET BRIELLE GRACE! Dang! To say I was excited was an understatement! I am so proud of my roomie! (and so scared to give birth! ha!) Her baby girl is perfect and so so so beautiful! And I even got to hold her! It was so wonderful getting to catch up with my roommate too. It was so nice getting to talk for almost 4 hours about marriage, honeymoons, babies and life! Gosh, I have missed my time with her.
Then it was off to take my test and leave once again for Cayman. I wish I could say with my husband..but unfortunately I can't. :( Luckily, my mother-in-law had already set up a trip to come to visit us! Blessing #4 I am going to post a seperate post about her trip here, but let me just tell you. The Lord had each of these blessings planned out. This past month may not did not go how we planned, but along the way the Lord has given us perfectly timed blessings to help us through. And this was definitely evident in her time here!
So now, we wait. Wednesday I will know whether or not I passed my test. Here's the thing. I don't want you to pray that I pass, and I don't want you to pray that I don't pass (ahem, sisters!) ;) I am pleading with you that you would pray for God's perfect will. Wherever He wants me I will go, if that means staying in Cayman, or moving back to CA, we will do it. I just don't want to rely on my emotions..because right now, I'd rather be with my husband and family...
Sorry for this being such a long post, and props to you if you read the whole thing! :) I guess I really did need to get a lot off my mind!
Love and Hugs,
Mrs. Rodgers
