Hope. Anticipation. Excitement. Nervousness. Fear. Disappointment. Doubt. Anxiety. Stress. Uncontrollable tears. Grasping. Striving. Giving up. Surrender. Peace. Calm. Hope. Anticipation. Excitement. Doubt. Disappointment. And more tears…

It was a long day.

What happened? We tried to pick up our visa in Vienna. You’d think that since we have already been approved for visas picking them up would be no big deal and a quick and painless process… Wrong. Not for us. Not today. It looks like we will have more hoops to jump through and will have to make another trip to Vienna to pick them up after rounding up more paperwork. Clearly, saying “your visas are approved” means basically nothing – you still have all sorts of things to do before they will actually give them to you and let you live here.

Today I, once again, felt my near desperate desire to be in Prague… and I cried thinking about all the what if’s that go along with not yet having visas. What is it about this place that I love so deeply…? Why does Prague stir such strong emotion in me…? I’m realizing more and more that the real heart of it is unexplainable... I just deeply want to be here.

After the visa ordeal and after being awake for somewhere around 36 hours we got home and quickly showered before going to hear a lecture at Faith Community Church on Jan Hus. It was fascinating. I really enjoyed listening to Phil talking about Jan Hus and really liked the way that he presented the information. It stirred things in me. I miss history. Most of all I miss church history. I miss having that be a part of my life. Anyway, it was really interesting and I really enjoyed learning more about the fascinating man who was Jan Hus and the influence that he had on the Czech’s and also on the world. It was also nice to meet some new people there and also see people we know. After a long day of dealing with bureaucracy it’s nice to come back and be surrounded by FRIENDLY faces.

After it all I got to talk a little bit with Sarah Baker’s mom – wonderfully sweet women. She and her husband are planning on moving to Prague. But, tonight I didn’t really talk with her about their move much or about Prague, instead she told me a little of the ordeal they went through adopting their youngest daughter – I got choked up listening to it. I’ve gotten choked up a lot lately when adoption comes up… Anyway, it was nice to chat with her a little – she and her husband seem like a really great couple from the few brief conversations that I’ve had with them.

Anyway, that was the day. I’m off to bed now… it’s been way too long since I’ve slept.

Rejoicing in the journey - Beth Stedman