The kids have been in Manila with Sandy since Sunday morning.  There were a flurry of prayers going up from the Buley house on Saturday and Sunday night…anytime we expected they were in the midst of something significant.  Theresa and I stopped in the middle of staining the deck to pray together for their flight as close to takeoff as we could figure.  Of course, Sunday night here meant Monday morning there, and the big medical appointment day, so we’ve really been wondering for the past 18 hours how they were doing.

 

This morning the phone rang right as I was pulling into Cambridge.  The number started with 011…it was coming from the Philippines.  I’m still laughing at my split second response when I saw the caller ID.  I sat straight up and just looked around the car frantically for a moment.  I guess I was thinking, "Is there anything at all that I can be doing to make sure this call comes through as clearly as possible."  The radio was already off so there really wasn’t much left to do but ANSWER (it’s amazing I didn’t stop the car in the middle of the intersection).

 

So, yep I did actually answer.  It was the person Theresa and I are nominating for Time’s Person of the Year, Sandy.  All she said was, "Hi Matt, someone wants to talk to you."  (This has to be good right?  If something bad had happened would she be handing the phone over?  Am I shaking?)  "Dad, (it’s my daughter) our tests went good."  I of course had to clarify: "You ALL passed?"  They all passed.  Oh, thank God.  I got to talk to each of them for between 30 seconds to a minute (international cell phone calls aren’t cheap)…but I got to talk to all of them.  (Poor Theresa might have taken off work today if it meant getting to share in those 2 minutes–this waiting for your kids stuff gives new meaning to missing someone.)

 

I can’t begin to explain how grateful we are.  The kids still have their interviews at the embassy Wednesday and Thursday, but honestly, I was more concerned about these medical appointments than I have been about any other part of the process.  We are truly blessed that things are progressing the way they are.  If you’ve been praying we really can’t thank you enough.  We’re finally now at the point that we can book our flights.  This Buley family is closer than ever to being where it belongs: together.