I am very relieved that I finally got a clear answer yesterday. I was praying yesterday morning, telling God that I don't do well with ambiguity. If I feel there's any way that it might work out, I will go after it.
So I prayed for my heart to be ready for whatever the answer would be and I went to the Foreigners Registration Office. To be completely honest, I was starting to see the "writing on the wall", but I had some specific questions to which I needed answered, so I decided to go in for my appointment even though I didn't have a job offer or any information that they had otherwise required to extend my residence permit further.
I told the lady my situation and the confusion with my plane ticket being changed, etc. Since my flight to Seattle leaves on Wednesday, Jan. 15, she gave me a short 7-day extension. I asked her if I were to get a job offer in the next week, if I could stay, she said "No, you HAVE TO leave." I said I just wanted to make sure, and that I had no intention of disrespecting this requirement. She further said that when I return, I can not have been in Germany more than 90 days in the past 6 months. I was a little nervous because when I first asked her, she almost made it sound like it might be longer since I have been here 9 months this time. But she checked and confirmed the shorter time frame. Whew!!!
So, yes, I am disappointed by having to leave, but I am grateful that I have the right to return again. At least now I know how the process works, I have contacts and information on where I can potentially find work, etc., so when I come back (God willing), I think I will have a better chance of finding something.
Since posting this information on facebook yesterday, I am grateful for all the love and support of my friends and family. This has been such a profound time in my life and in my walk with God, I am grateful that you care about me and are already helping me get back into the swing of things in the states.
So, my birthday is in about an hour. I am excited for closing out another year of my life, and a very exciting and eventful one at that. I hope I have grown in the last year and have become a better person, friend, disciple. I'm excited for my birthday party tomorrow night at the library. It will be hard to say "Auf Wiedersehen" (until we see [each other] again) to everyone in the next few days, but I certainly can't regret the last nine months of my life, the people that God has blessed me with here, and the ways he's challenged and blessed me in every way. I don't even know if I've done a good job, but it has certainly pushed me well past my comfort zone. Frankly, God has very obviously been taking care of my every need and a lot of my wants, too. I'm very very grateful for all those things...
I will be interested in the next few weeks and months to look back over my time in Berlin. Some things just don't occur to you until you are no longer in the situation, so it will be interesting to see what those things are, how I react, any regrets, etc. (Although I have tried to give my all and not to have regrets.)
I am very excited to return to Seattle, my spiritual birthplace, after over 11 years being away. I'm excited to pick up with many friendships where we left off many years ago, build new friendships, have new experiences.... I am confident that I can find work relatively quickly there, and I really do want to return to Germany as soon as I can. I have a lot of bill-catching-up to do, but I do hope to return as soon as God allows (if that is his will).
I do have one prayer request though. I know that it takes a few days for "bad" news to "hit" me, which means that probably Sunday or Monday I will struggle or a day or two. I'm glad that I will be at church with my friends on Sunday and at my party tomorrow, but after that, I foresee that it might be very difficult for me. Please pray for me to get everything done before it needs to so that I can be ready early Wednesday to fly.
Anyway, for my friends in the Seattle area, any thoughts would be helpful in the following areas:
1. I will be staying at my mom's house in the Everett area and will likely not have a car, if anyone could help me get to BT or church services for the short term, I would be super appreciative.
2. I am also looking for work. I have worked 20 years in customer service, including 2 years in hotels, 11+ years in insurance (claims adjuster) and taking orders over the phone while also providing help in using an ordering website... Any thoughts or actual positions available would be greatly appreciated.
Well, I think that is it for now. Thanks everyone for your support and love and I am not sure if I will be able to update again before I return, but either way this is not the end of my journey and I will not give up on my dream of returning here someday if it's God's will. Either way, I will be present and do my very best wherever I am. Talk to you again soon!
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