For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways,"

declares the LORD.

"As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

(Isaiah 55:8-9)

So those of you who have been on my recent last dialed numbers would know about the excitement I had these past couple of days. For those who have no clue, I am sorry you were not in the loop. Not that I didn't think you were unimportant to be part of the excitement, just that it all happened so fast and I didn't have time to get the word around. Besides, I was merely the innocent bystander who so happened to have been at the right moment at the right time.

So......... moving along... this is the story.

It all began when I went to Dublin with Sheerah last Thursday. Everything was superb. Definitely worth the money, though I wish it wasn't so blardy cold and that I could have done a bit more walking and see more. But anyway... I never thought I would make it there anyway, so must thank God for little blessings.

Weekend with the Masters after that was also superb. After living in a mix dorm, it was nice to have an en suite bathroom, nice warm bed and gorgeous home cooked meals. Plus the Masters were wonderful company and amazingly spirit filled.

Anyway... they were kind enough to wake up at 3am to ensure Sheerah and I got to the airport by 4am to check in for our flight to Edinburgh. Once we got to the airport, that was when things got a bit funny.

It turns out that S's passport had expired because of a STOOPID mistake made by the Brit High Comm in Malaysia (gee... no surprise there isn't it?). We applied for our visa in Oct 05 and got it back by the end of it. Jule's and my visa were postdated to Jan 06 but S was the only one with the validity of Oct 05 - Oct 06, meaning by the time we were travelling, it had expired 1 month ago. We both (managed) to convince the immigration officer that this was genuine mistake and that we had papers and ppl who could verify we were in UK for official visit. He even tracked our visa application online and realised we were by the book. But like all things, because this was a legal matter, we had to wait for his superior to come have a chat with us.

I could have flown to Edinburgh if I wanted to, but there was no way on earth and heaven i would have left her there by herself. And I am sure, if the tables were turned, she would have done the same for me.

I immediately got onto the phone to ppl in Malaysia to tell them about this and to find out if anyone can help us. It was 5am UK time. But I was also thinking who is their right English mind would be awake to take my call as well. But thank God, there were ppl awake - S' host and church members and The Godfather. At 6am, Godfather said to hang tight and he would be there.

But it was a 2.5 hour wait from the second we found out her visa had expired to when we finally met someone and the wait was excruciatingly long. Throughout the whole time, we dare not pee, I dare not leave her for too long and she was busy tearing every now and then. Her phone was ringing from calls of family members and mine was busy with calls to ppl to pray for us.

Finally, the officer came and I seriously thought she was going to eat us alive. But she acknowledged it was a genuine mistake on our part and gave S 7 days grace to leave the country and come back again. And they will also not blacklist her passport - which was something I was worried about. But she also suggested us to kick up a ruckus in Brit Hi Comm in Malaysia - which we will gladly do so.

Anyway, on our way back from Birmingham to Telford / Shrewsbury (i am in T and S'bury where S is, is the next town) her church member called to say he has a lawyer who will look at her case so that she doesn't have to go home.

S went to London on Thursday and submitted all her papers and considering she is already leaving the country in Jan 07, her case is not a priority so not to worry about it. But she has been warned to stick her head in the sand for a bit.

When we were sitting at the airport, I watched my plan fly off and all I could think about was the money I spent flying in the air. (at that time, it didn't occur for me to change my flight... to nervous and anxious mah!) At that point, I really wanted to know what God had in mind and what lesson were we suppose to learn. And even S asked me what was God telling me at that time. I was taken aback by her question because I was worried and stressed I didn't bother to listen to what God had to say. I took a deep breath and seriously, I could not find a reason in my mind that God would want her to end her mission and leave so abruptly. And I was sure God was going to carry her through this, but why was He allowing us to go through this was beyond me.

In retrospect, S and I had a good conversation with Godfather about our plans when we head back and we both honestly feel if it wasn't for us missing the flight, we would not have had the opportunity. Godfather says maybe God didn't want us to go to Edinburgh. I had some free time to cook and visit a couple of friends I have been dying to visit - and I had a splendid time with them.

S and I also found out how many friends we have in UK and how many ppl really care about us here.

Also... if I had gone to Edinburgh, I would not have visited my friend and her hubby and therefore would not have watched the God channel and would not have heard the following encouraging words :

God is not in a rush for us to make a rash decision. He doesn't mind if we take 6 months to make it. And in the course of that 6 months, He will gently guide and prepare us to make the right decision. Which is precisely why when we do make the right decision, we feel a sense of peace. Because God guided us in that direction. *SIGH* Perfect words at the perfect time.

So... to all those I SOSed... thanks for your help and prayers. Our God is indeed mysterious but never ever doubt in your mind that He does not care or does not have the situation under control. We may even think He has a sick sense of humour because sometimes all the unnecessary stress we go through is really not required. (like how we got to Dublin and back alright and only got detained when we were checking into an internal flight! No one we have spoken to understands how this was even possible!) But if we are going through it, then there must be a lesson to learn and in His time, all shall be revealed.

In the mean time........ just sit back and enjoy the unknown.

^__^