Passports and Sparrows

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” Matthew 10:29-31

…details

Are there two empty visa pages in my passport or none? (There were none, but now I have about 20.) Do I get to my appointment at the consulate 15 minutes early (and have to stand outside and wait) or on time (and go right in?) Do we have the proper vaccinations or not? (No, it takes 3 different appointments over the next two weeks.) Do I have a US address to put on the application? (Thank goodness for parents!) Do I mark “tourist” or “visitor” on the application? (Our friends in Cameroon know this one.) Does DHL know the location of my package containing six passports en route to the United States or is the package lost? (We haven’t tried this one yet.) Do the six passports get through the visa process in time for the flights that have to be prescheduled or not? It’s all in the details. Crazy as it seems, we plan to send our passports on a very long, but relatively inexpensive journey to the Cameroon embassy in the United States while we stay in Estonia. The alternative, all six of us traveling with our documents to the USA, is much more costly and time consuming.

…sparrows

“His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.” The words to this old song hummed through my head and reminded me that he sees, knows, and cares. I trust that he watches not only how many hairs are on my head, but that he watches my passport fly across the sea, that he watches it arrive safely in the embassy, and that he even sees it get stamped with all the right stamps and sent back in time to assure us safe arrival in our new home.

…my worth

“Are you not much more valuable than they?” If God knows enough to provide food for the sparrows and clothes for the flowers, can he not do the same for me? As the song goes,

"Let not your heart be troubled," His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;
Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.