Facing More Challenges

Greetings, Friends and Family back home! Thanks for your words of encouragement and prayers. Yes, we are going through a very tough time right now. A friend's relative has a contact in the FBI who told her last week that the computer shows that Nadeem's fingerprints were approved on November 24 from the second set that was sent to Texas which we were told had been lost. All offices were closed last week for the Thanksgiving holiday, so we couldn't verify this news until Monday. The senator's office has no knowledge of this, and immigration shows that Nadeem has not been approved yet. The new fingerprints were FedEx'd to Nebraska over a week ago, but we have no news yet of their arrival or processing.
On top of this, the two missing packages with Kalina's supplies that my mom has sent are in fact here in Bangladesh, but Customs is holding one, maybe both. Nadeem and/or Hasan's dad must appear with their passports to state the contents of the packages so they can be inspected and possibly released to us after we pay a fee. Kalina has had no proper formula for three days now. She only has diapers sold here which leak. We're out of baby safe detergent, and the soap they use here causes her skin irritations. Last night the diaper leaked all over her last clean outfit.
In addition, Nadeem and I are both struggling with some health issues, and obviously some discouragement issues!
Have you ever felt like you were drowning in the troubles of life, and instead of receiving a life preserver you receive a shove deeper under the water? Nadeem and I have talked about what to share on the blog. We've discovered that people like happy postings. Maybe this isn't surprising at all. I mean, in general, who likes to hear bad news? When we post cheerful, light messages we get a positive response. When we post heavier messages, we receive emails that we need to cheer up. The reality is that we're human like everyone else. Hopefully that has come across in our blog postings. Our strength, faith, and hope comes from God. However, that doesn't mean that we don't struggle. We do! It's a matter of turning to God who always helps us.
For me, sometimes I like to read the Psalms where David struggles. I like to read authors like Philip Yancey and Larry Crabb who bare their souls and "tell it like it is." I can relate to struggling and doubting. While reading, though, I start to feel like I want to shut out their words. Sometimes it stirs up emotions inside of me that I'd prefer to keep out. When I hear news of someone going through a tough time, it's hard to know what to say. It's much easier to celebrate over good news. Since we've been here, I've thought many times of an acquaintance of mine who was recently diagnosed with cancer. At first I sent her some cards and emails and such. Then I moved on with life. That's sad to me. We tend to live such busy lives, and it's hard for us to enter into the pain of others.
Here in Bangladesh people visit each other's homes daily to chat and have snacks. A visitor the other day told me that Americans are selfish because they don't visit in this manner. I was a little surprised and defensive. No, I said, Americans are just private.
It's a risk to share on the blog because we never know how it will be received or interpreted. At first we created a simple blog to post updates with some friends and family on our quick three week trip to get Kalina. Now we have readers that we don't even know. As the primary writer, I pray every day for guidance on what to share and how. Nadeem reads the messages before I post them. If we were less than honest, I don't think that would be pleasing to God. We try to share exactly where we are and what God is doing in the midst of it. Thank you for those of you brave enough to join us on this faith journey!
I had hoped for my life preserver to come in a different fashion-with packages arriving with no troubles and good news of our approval! However, God sent a life preserver in the form of encouragement from many of you, pretty song lyrics to "The Voice of Truth" from a friend, and a hug from my sweet baby this morning as she woke up and rolled over to me. Thanks for helping God hold us up when we're weak!