Today was the day. It was my last ditch effort and the question kept running through my mind like an out-of-control locomotive. What would they say? Would I be able to stay in Germany, or would I have to pack my bags and leave immediately, or maybe they would even arrest me and throw me in jail or escort me to the airport?
I posted last night that I was feeling tired. That was true... I still feel tired, because it has been an exhausting week of not knowing the outcome of this time in my life. I have experienced a tremendous amount of anxiety and the emotional roller coaster that I have been riding for the last week or two has really taken everything out of me. I really had no energy today, I sort of just trudged through my morning, trying to get the motivation to spend an hour on the train, only to get turned down. At least that was the fear....
So, I finally got motivated and got out of the house about 11 a.m. Made the journey and took "that" walk again from the train station along one of the most boring stretches of road in all of Berlin. As I trudged along in the rain this morning, I felt like a convict on his way to the gallows, waiting to stand before the executioner to plead my case one last time before he pulled the lever. I finally made it down that long, lonely road and climbed two flights of stairs to face my fate. On my way up the stairs, I was surprised at how many people were waiting to talk to these bureaucrats who held their fates in their hands. There were significantly more people there today than I had seen there before.
I reached the 2nd floor (3rd floor in the US) and found my way to the waiting room. The way it works in this particular office is that you wait in line to speak with someone at the window, then if they felt your cause had merit, they gave you a number to wait to have a more in-depth discussion with someone there. The line was quite long and the poor girl behind the glass was visibly frazzled by how many people were there. She was a nice young woman and was polite but to the point. I told her briefly how I didn't get the job I had hoped for on Tuesday, but was unable to meet with someone then because they closed shortly before I arrived. I asked if there was any way to extend...
She looked at my passport and at me and asked nonchalantly "Can we just extend that 3 more months for you?" In shock, I simply answered, "that would be great." She said fine and gave me a number. She told me to come back around 4 p.m. She said I didn't need to wait then, just come back.
I have to be honest, I was very skeptical. She kept my passport and of course every negative scenario was playing out in my head. Would I come back to have the Polizei waiting for me, or was this a legit deal? I decided to try to allay my fears as much as possible and just return around 4 p.m.
I went to the library and Larry and Teri were there. I told them that I had some bad news, that they would have to put up with me for another 3 months. You should have seen Larry's eyes.... LOL. We talked about it and we were all so glad. I told him that I can't wait to actually have it in my hands because I was a bit skeptical about the whole thing. So, about 3 p.m., I got back on the subway and headed back up to the Foreigner Registration office.
As promised, I returned shortly before 4 p.m. and when I walked into the room, the girl I spoke with earlier saw me and gave me a big smile and said, "Oh, we have that ready for you." I smiled back as she handed me my passport, the residence permit and a letter confirming my ability to stay. I asked if I needed to pay at one of the kiosks in the building, she said no, that extensions were free! I thanked her profusely and went on my way. I put everything in my bag and walked out of the building, utterly stunned. Just to make sure, I got all the information out again to confirm I had gotten my passport back and double-checked the date. Sure enough, I was actually legal until Jan. 9, 2014!
Then I tried to call Katja. No answer. I tried calling Christoph. No answer. Where was everyone???? I have this great news and I can't share it with anyone! Anyway, I did get a hold of Jürgen and he was as relieved as I was. We had a good conversation and I walked back to the subway station.
I mentioned that I have been feeling a little stressed about today, it really could have gone either way, but God just totally blew me away! Now, I just need to deal with how I am currently feeling so that I can get myself back on the horse and ride (ie: start looking for work). I plan to start tomorrow, I was just too exhausted to start today and once I got back, there wasn't much time to look for work anyway. If I don't have a job by Nov. 25, I will make plans to return to the states on the date my flight is currently scheduled, Dec. 19, 3 weeks short of the expiration date on my residence permit.
To celebrate, I wanted to see who wanted to go out and "eat a beer" ( I was tired and obviously not thinking clearly.) Ulf and Matthias and I went to Doree, where they both got a beer, I opted to celebrate with a banana split. I couldn't do a beer and a banana split.
I shared at the men's devotional tonight how I feel like my faith has really been lacking this week. I want to take a moment here to thank everyone for not only just praying for my situation, but by having faith in God with me, and for me this week. I asked a couple weeks ago for your faith, and I feel like you guys really moved God's heart to help me this way today. I'm eternally grateful for all of you who participated in this. Your prayers really did work!
I am looking forward to sleep tonight, I know I will sleep like a rock, a blissful deep sleep. Thank you again for all your support and love, I'm amazed at what God is doing through all of our prayers!
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