Our Journey to Australia: God's Perfect Timing!

I always hear that GOD is seldom early but is never late!!!

My walk towards achieving this answered prayer sure wasn't easy. God closed the door for me in the US then in Singapore... until finally last September 9, 2011, He opened the opportunity for Australia =). Why Australia? Up to now all I can answer is that it's nearer to the Philippines than Canada, UK or US... so nearer to my parents as well which is one of my wishes too.

Also, as I was writing this I was convinced that because I haven't been and therefore wasn't used to life in Australia, we will be in total dependence upon God on this journey. I'm excited (and yes a little bit scared) to see where God will bring us.

Let me share with you my walk with God throughout this whole process of waiting for God's answer.

~@~@~@~

Early this year, we were busy looking for a house because we wanted to cleave and stand on our own two feet. When I finally found my perfect dream lot, I consulted God if we already should make a downpayment and He impressed upon me that I should let my husband decide. So my husband prayed about it and the answer to him was "NO"... I forgot the exact verse but I'll post it here once I recall it. The answer was puzzling to me because I knew God's heart would be for married couple to leave their father and mother and unite as it is stated in Genesis but nevertheless we obeyed... soon enough we received from our agent that we need to process our medical for our Australia immigration petition and the answer not to buy a house made sense. By April, our distant cousin ate Maila and her family migrated to Australia at about the same time that we completed our medical. We were told both by them and by the agent that after medical, it usually would just need two months before the final visa verdict would be released. 

I admit I panicked at that time and admitted to God, our dgroup and to myself that we were not ready to leave yet... I got so stressed out researching and bugging friends who lived in Australia trying to find a house and a job, then a car, a school and childcare for Yonky and so so much more... then two months had passed and there was no update... and so I sought God once more.

My Walk with God:

These are my notes in sequential order as I sought, prayed, complained and begged God for answers regarding our migration to Australia. Often times, I would asked Him to just please make it clear and as plain as "Yes" or "No" but as you'll see below, God gave me comfort and assurance which I presumed as "Wait" ... (not my forte)

• Bus MMC - showing signs of Jobs to Australia
• June 3, 2011 - I saw Australia Harvest poster
• June 10, 2011 - IELTS results of Ryan didn't meet 7 and I started to question God why? He can still work in Australia but we're hoping he get 7 on all 4 areas of IELTS so he can already start processing registration in Australia Nursing Board. At this time I also asked God if I was not understanding His will right, if this desire is just my personal wish. Hence, I requested for Him to please remove the desire to migrate in my heart if it is not His will. Both my husband and I received peace all through this time and felt that it was God's will for us to migrate. We would often asked each other and we agreed that we both felt light... anxious but we don't feel rejected.
• June 29, 2011 - I heard in DZAS a testimony of Pastor Abdul when he migrated to Canada. He said it was a humbling experience working blue collar jobs as he was so used to having somebody do things for him here because he was already a boss here before he left and migrated with his family. I felt God telling me, are you ready to humble yourself and start at the bottom? I said if we continue to trust God, we can make it..."kaya namin God basta diyan Ka lang"
• July 3, 2011 - Psalm 81:7 "I answered You"

"⁷ In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud..."

• July 4, 2011 - Psalm 84:11 "no good thing does He withhold"

"¹¹ For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless"

• July 10, 2011 - Philippians 1:6 "God will carry it to completion"

"⁶ being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

• August 11, 2011 - Psalm 111, Psalm 115:12. At this time I was also praying Jabez's Prayer

¹² The LORD remembers us and will bless us..." -Psalm 115:12

• August 12, 2011 - Psalm 116:1, Genesis 18:14 "Is anything too hard for the Lord?"

 "¹ I love the LORD, for he heard my voice;
   he heard my cry for mercy." - Psalm 116:1

"¹⁴ Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year..." - Genesis 18:14

• August 22, 2011 - dream 1year. I forgot the exact dream but I got one year in my notes
• August 23, 2011 - Psalm 112 "no fear of bad news"

"⁶ Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever. ⁷ They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the LORD. ⁸ Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes. "

• August 26, 2011 - Psalm 145:16 "satisfy". By this time our GH(Glorious Hope) series was also completed. We didn't get to finish all of the modules but God has started in me a way to understand where my anger and temper are coming from and how I could be responsible for my own actions and response to situations. I believe this would be vital as we face new challenges in a foreign land. 

"¹⁶ You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing."

• September 10, 2011 - We finally opened the house for housewarming and had our 1st dgroup session in the house that God Himself provided. At this point I asked for a prayer from our group on what else God wanted us to learn before we migrate to Australia. 
• September 11, 2011 - Numbers 11:23 "Now you shall see if My word will come true to you or not". This popped to me at the Sunday service. At this time I was petitioning God to speed up the 2006 bank statement requests that I made to two banks which would prove that payroll deposits had been made as this was requested to me by our agent. As per the bank it would take upto 3 weeks before I can get the printout and at this point I feared we wouldn't meet the September 20 deadline. Nevertheless, I lifted that concern to God. I was also surprised by my response this time that I'm not getting OC on completing items by myself but rather letting God control the situation.

"²³ The LORD answered Moses, “Is the LORD’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not what I say will come true for you.” 

• September 12, 2011 - I got a call that our VISA has been approved!!! - exactly 1 year and 13 days after the application was lodged by the agent. The agent said they have argued with the case officer regarding my payroll and finally it was ruled that the bank statements wasn't needed because they already have my salary deductions record on file. Indeed God's reach is not limited to protocol and deadlines precisely what was said in the verse above! Then I started thinking about Yonky and on how he will adjust and cope to the new environment but since worrying is a sin, I threw that concern to God as well saying "since bigay Mo to God, Ikaw bahala sa amin dun. Ikaw magbibigay ng work, Ikaw magbibigay ng house and most importantly Ikaw bahala kay Yonky!" Then shortly before leaving the office I was able to read this... Proverbs 14:26 

"²⁶ Whoever fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for their children it will be a refuge."

And I was like... really God's timing and answers are sooo amazing! After receiving a good rating, being okay with my former boss and understanding how I've learned a lot from him from all we went through together and how I'm missing his guidance and pushes to perform at my very best, I was soo blessed to just be able to share the blessing of obeying authorities because everything fell at God's perfect timing. I've proven my worth at work, I've humbled myself to authorities, I let go of all the pains and bad feelings... and yes now I'm ready for our next adventure and more awesome journal of my walk with God... day by day and moment by moment.

TO GOD, the ONLY LIVING GOD who ANSWERS PRAYERS and the GIVER of BOUNTEOUS OPPORTUNITIES... I WORSHIP YOU! THANK YOU... YOUR GRACE has cause me to cry with tears of PURE JOY.

~@~@~@

All verses are quoted from BibleGateway NIV version