Trying and Succeeding

Vous avez atteint la date de fin de vie de votre code secret.

This is what the screen said to me this afternoon as I tried to log onto our French bank account online. It means, "You have reached the date of the end of the life of your secret code."

I stretched my neck back against the leather of this comfy old sofa chair hand-me-down, closed my eyes and smiled. Smiling is a better alternative than screaming.

Consider the balance:

"TRYING" STUFF: (as in, I find this very trying...)
- still waiting on the work permit, 27 days after mailing it for the second time (found out today they may not even have started looking at it yet, although we are reassured that they do at least know who we are and have our application)
- still waiting on someone to want to buy our house (2.5 months after putting it on the market)
- still waiting on a UK bank account to really start working (some 12 days after David rode the train to downtown London to set it up with a particular work-sanctioned institution)
- still waiting on adding me to the bank account as well, as my name's not on the UK utility bills (though apparently we can use a bank statement from our French bank, now that it has our new address on it; shall try that tomorrow)
- still waiting on the plumber, who could have come yesterday, but it was rescheduled and we thought he was coming this morning, but he himself did not think he was supposed to come until tomorrow...so we waited three hours for him not to show up (and the garbage disposal sits hanging open in its rusty old exploded way under the sink for the 14th day in a row, while the new faucet the kids can actually use sits patiently in its box on the kitchen windowsill)
- still waiting to figure out whether we get to go anywhere for summer vacation (probably not, I am thinking at this late juncture, since some required school activities start up again August 18th). Then again, we did start out in France and are now in England via Georgia already, not bad locations ;-) It's just we'd been hoping to visit at least one set of the grandparents' homes.
- still waiting for some real British cool drizzly weather (it's so hot here, we'd never have thought it!)
- found out there was a bathtub leak before we arrived as tenants, and the den may have to be repainted, requiring all our stuff to be moved out of there (just after moving it in, obviously)

"SUCCEEDING" STUFF:
- the kids have made new friends already and had a sleepover (only two weeks into our stay here; that's amazing).
- nearby Christian youth group for 11-14 year olds that Jason loves (AND his new friend wanted to accompany him on the spur of the moment tonight, though it's probably a sort of a new experience for him)
- my mom came to help us unpack and was a great help sorting out our kitchen storage challenge (along with playing games with us, giving us a date, and even doing some ironing - a blessing incarnate, that woman is)
- the house and neighborhood are both lovely, quiet, safe, convenient and pleasant
- the kids are happy
- ice cream social at the new school, meeting plenty of people who identify with us in so many ways (ex-pats waiting for their goods to arrive, getting used to new surroundings, trying to sell houses in other countries, etc.)
- my confidence has been rising in my driving on the left with the steering wheel on the right and the gear shift & rear view mirror on my left
- it's easy to buy Ben & Jerry's ice cream at the grocery stores here!

With the heat (and lack of air conditioning, which we put in our previous three houses and then moved away from each time), and the dragging on of the "still waiting" items above, I've been struggling to keep a cheerful, trusting and patient disposition (and I've been losing today). But we are all healthy, we're all together, we're all free, it's a beautiful world, and God has placed people in our path to love. So buck up, Katherine, and settle back down into faith. And wait some more.

P.S. on the secret code thing I mentioned at the top - I only had to change it online and the new password worked right away. No big deal. Nothing worth screaming about.