Up at 1:30 AM in Tlaxiaco, Mexico. Arrive at 11:00 PM in Pharr, Texas. Nothing but driving in between. That was our day yesterday. With three kids no less. And we survived. Are we stronger because of it? Not a chance. Did we get a hot breakfast and all the hot water showers we wanted today? YES! Do we have to drive back tomorrow? Yes.
At least we’re taking two days to get back this time. Not as insane.
So ya, we’re in Pharr, Texas today. Since Mexican immigration wouldn’t give us a long term missionary visa we needed to leave the country to cancel our tourist visa and get a new one. They are only valid for 180 days so our next visa (getting it tomorrow) will last us till the end of our time down here. Seems worth it to drive all that way for just a silly piece of paper. Right?
The drive was an amazing example of how God answers prayer. The Mexican police (not the military) are legendary for their, um, treatment of gringos. They don’t like us. Especially in a couple of specific areas. But a lot of people prayed that the police would be blind to us, and they sure appeared to be as such. Or there were specific times where we could see they had just pulled someone else over and they couldn’t get us. There was one time where we were about to turn into a legendary area for police action and we saw some waiting. So we stopped for a minute to decide what to do, then watched them drive away. But not just drive away, they pulled out, faced us for about two minutes and then drove away. It was like they didn’t notice us at all but how could you not notice two vans full of gringos? So ya, really cool how much God was with us.
The kids were also fantastic. How do three kids (and 4 in our friends van) all just stay happy all day when stuck in a van? God, that’s how. And yes, God did give us DVD players in our vans.
Today we’re just relaxing by the pool, doing some shopping and just plain enjoying being able to flush toilet paper down the toilet for a day.
/RD