Miracles

The last few days have been insanely nerve racking- to put it mildly. While I was happily planning away my trip to Brasil, the thought had crossed my mind, but I hadn't understood that to get out of the country I was going to need a visa. As you probably know, it isn't always easy to get one. Let alone in a timely manner. Well, until Saturday, I had just assumed that my passport would be sufficient for a short little trip. I got online to find out for sure. Shoot. I was wrong.
So I called our local travel agency and talked to the sweetest lady ever, who told me to come in on Monday with all of my papers and passport so she could help me send away for my visa. I wasn't too worried about it, since she sounded so hopeful on the phone. Well, she made her first call. "No way. Ten business days at the absolute least." The next call, "No way. Those are hard to get even in ten days." The next call, "You're gonna have to call someone so-and-so." The next call, "We MIGHT be able to do it if we print up a fake itinerary out of New York and get her to have a friend in New York add her name to their utility bill." Heck no. Last thing I want to do is get caught in a lie to get out of the country.
So, phonecall after hope-crushing phonecall, I was beginning to feel like there was no hope for me to leave by Saturday. We had exhausted all our resources, so I left the travel agency and went and sat in my car. Okay, so I cried. I realized crying wasn't going to help a dang thing. So I began to pray. I explained to Heavenly Father that I KNEW someone had the power to help me. I just needed to find the right person. I also know that God answers prayers, and it's almost always through someone else that he meets our needs. I just wasn't quite sure who it would be.
Well, when I got home, I had a number on a Post-It that the travel agent had tried and not gotten through on. It was all I had left. So I called the number, and a Brazilian man answered the phone. I tried explaining the situation to him, and he didn't offer much hope. I started speaking in his native tongue, and it must have softened his heart. He told me I needed to get myself to Houston to make it happen. Well, I told him that wasn't exactly feasible. So I asked him if I found someone in Houston to bring in my papers personally, if there would be a chance of getting my visa by Friday. He said, "There is a good chance."
The scary part was that visas would only go out on Thursday, so I might not even be getting my visa until Friday night, the night before I leave. I'll take it. So, I called back our local travel agency and asked them if they knew anyone in Houston. Of course! Maria! She was the first phonecall we had made. (Remember, the "No way. Ten business days at the absolute least" lady?) Well, her business is right there in Houston. She agreed to let me overnight my papers to her, and she would hand-deliver them to the Consulate for me, since I had talked to the head guy over there.
Oh my gosh. Well, this was all scary, but we kept on going. So Monday night it was out of my hands. I prayed so hard that things would fall into place. Last night I couldn't even sleep, so I decided that first thing this morning I would call Maria to see if she had followed through so far. Well, I called her and explained who I was. She asked me to hold on for a minute. Oh no! She didn't even know who I was! She didn't get the overnight mail! She had no clue what was going on! These things were flooding my mind. Then she gets back on the line and says, "Yes, hello. Um, we are leaving in the next twenty minutes to go pick up your passport so we can mail it to you tonight. We are going to get you to that wedding." Oh my gosh! All I could say was, "Maria. I love you! I am so thankful for you. You have no idea how happy you have made me!"
So things are working out after all, and I am SO GRATEFUL that these people were so kind to help out a dumb girl who thought she could fly to Brasil without a visa on her passport. I know there were many people praying that this would work out for me, and I want to express my sincere THANKS for those prayers. I know that miracles happen. (And this really was nothing short of a miracle.) Prayer offers an incredible power that so often goes untapped. I am guilty of not utilizing this gift more often. But even if you find my story a little lengthy and boring, I just want you to know that I know God hears and answers prayers. I am so thankful for people who are willing to help answer the prayers of others. That's the type of person I would strive to be. I would want to try to be in tune to promptings that would allow me to participate in blessing someone else. People all around us are silently hoping and praying for us to make a difference in their lives. We will never know what prayer we might have been an answer to unless we listen closely to those good ideas that come to our minds, and then do them. Thanks to so many of you who have been answers to MY prayers!