A Painting and a Visa

So, throughout the whole ordeal of trying to get my visa and getting all the right information for the boarder guards, a painting was produced. It is a painting about my journey and struggle to get my visa, but showing God's hand all the way through the whole process.

I have always enjoyed painting, artistically speaking, even though I am a painter through employment does not mean I have always enjoyed it, I have learned to like it. Painting a picture is different than painting the walls of a house. I haven't always had a lot of time to put my creative skills and God's inspiration to work on a canvas, but seeing as I was stuck at home with not much else to do, there was now the time to paint -artistically.

So I started with a fairly small canvas, finished it quickly and then started on to the big one. I used colours that God told me to use, and painted them where I felt Him guide my hand. It was so much fun, I used my fingers as my main brushes. When the painting was done I had a strong impression to put a metallic hand print on my painting, but it was to be three prints, not just one. As others looked upon my painting they saw different things, one person saw the green as me growing and new growth, pushing the darkness away. Another saw the yellow as hundreds of thousands of seeds being released, unable to be held by the darkness. Yet still another saw the hand of God upon the scene, guiding the green to grow and push and breakthrough the darkness. While another saw the green and the light as a 'green light'.

I finished my painting the night before I left, and what every single person said was right, in my time of waiting I was growing more with new growth, reaching and pushing and fighting to break through the darkness -the battle over my visa. With the hand prints a sign of God's plans and help through this time, and the 'green light' as a go ahead to cross the boarder.

Even before I tried to attempt to cross the boarder the first time, I knew deep down that I was going to get my visa. I did get my visa, just not the way I expected to get it.

I did get my visa on the second try, even though we were detained for about an hour and a half.

So here are a few pictures for you to enjoy, documenting most of my trip.











Seattle as we drove through...





mother and I after getting my visa, both feeling relieved.

................................................

Mother and I feeling sleepy after driving and getting the visa

Mother and I trying to stay and look awake...

Me after I landed in Boston waiting for my bus with my luggage

Waiting and Learning

In this little corner of the world wide web one can find the thoughts and events of Elisa Zupancic's life recorded here purely for one's entertainment and enlightenment. Or it is here so other's can keep an eye on me while I have two on you (<- refer to image on left)? Yeah yeah I know it was a bad joke you don't have to get all huffy puffy about it, or maybe you didn't because you didn't recognize my poor attempt at a joke when I don't know what to write for a first post.

So I am trying to make my way to New London, New Hampshire to attend the internship by Streams ministries, but at the moment I am stuck at home here in Canada. Stuck because my visa application was refused when I tried to get one at the boarder. I ended up getting my fingerprints copied by a cool laser machine that copied them when I rolled my tips across a glass pad. It was pretty neat seeing my prints the size of a 5x7 on the computer monitor, I have never seen my fingerprints that big before. Then I was red flagged, and sent back home, denied my visa but not denied to the country. Oh America... how secure you are....

Throughout this whole process God has taught me a lot, and given me such peace through the whole ordeal. When we (mom, dad, David and I) were sitting waiting for the guards to come and tell us if my visa was to be accepted or rejected, I was getting a little tired after waiting an hour and half. So I asked God for the guards to come within the next ten minutes and let us know something about the visa. At the very end of ten minutes a guard came and told us that they were not going to give me a visa and so forth. I thought it was pretty cool that God would answer a small prayer like that. Somehow I had got this mindset that it was easier to believe that God would answer prayers for something big like a healing, but not for the small things or the personal things. Well He proved me wrong.

I know that my visa will come for I know that God wants me to go to New Hampshire, but my visa is not going to come the way I expected, it's going to come the way that God expected and planned.

Another big thing I learned was that I let others take control of my life because it was easier, then I didn't have to think about making big important decisions and live with the consequence if it was the wrong one. I realized how much I depended on my parents to make the decisions for me rather than asking God myself. This, I all learned in one fantastic night, all because my visa was denied. In a way I am almost glad that my visa didn't come through, other wise I might not have learned all that I did, but I am still disappointed that it didn't come through for I would love to be in New Hampshire at this very moment.