Chick-fila, Ferrets, USCIS, and Billy Graham

Hahah, what kind of title is that?! Well, it's a synopsis of my day. I have to share about today before I forget because it's just too funny. Today we had our fingerprint appointment with USCIS in Charlotte. Our appointment was at 8am so we took the day off so that we could leave super early and get through traffic. We thought we were doing so well because we left the house at 5:45am. It usually takes about an hour and a half to get there from our house. We were doing great on time so we decided to stop at Chick-fila for breakfast. Brian and I NEVER get up early enough to go out for breakfast so we decided it would be fun this morning and it was! So we had our quick breakfast and hopped back in the car. It was raining but other than that nothing crazy, even though back home it was apparently snowing! Crazy North Carolina weather! Anyway, we were driving along having fun when all of a sudden the traffic started slowing considerably. We kinda expected some traffic so we weren't too worried until we could see that there was a continuous stream of traffic way up ahead. We were stuck Later we heard on the news that no one could ever explain why the traffic where we were was like that. It was a "mysterious slowdown." There was no wreck or construction.

Thankfully we made it to the office, which oddly enough was located in an old shopping/business center, by 8:04am! We went right in and the lady at the desk was very helpful. She told us what form to fill out, what line to stand in, and then where to sit to wait for our number to be called. So, this USCIS office was really like a sitcom. We totally felt like we were in AP Environmental Science again because Brian would always say something that would make me laugh and then our table would get in trouble. I was afraid we were gonna get in trouble for laughing. Let me explain what was so funny but I'll warn you that it could very well be one of those situations that you had to be there to truly experience the hilarity of it.

So the office had a tv set up in the corner on one of those rolling carts. It was just turned on to some random channel. Well, while we were in line we noticed that they were interviewing people about their pet ferrets. People that have tens of ferrets in cages. People that enter their ferrets in contests and win lots of ribbons. We were snickering at the idea of a ferret show being shown here because it probably was deemed by the govnt as the least offensive thing they could find. I mean who would find ferrets offensive? So we went through the line and then they showed us where to sit and wait for our number. At this point a lady was singing a lullaby to her ferret and holding it like a baby. I'm not lying, a long lullaby. Now other people are starting to notice the oddity of it too because the couple in front of us laughed too. We were doing everything we could to hold it in. Then we see the official receptionist that was close to the door look up to see the lady rocking her baby ferret. She gives the TV one of THE funniest looks I have seen in a long time. You know she is thinking, "What the crap is this?" So, she quietly goes over to a desk and fishes out the remote and changes the channel to the news. Hah, we were all relieved.

After that we noticed that after everyone had their fingerprint scan they were given a little piece of yellow paper. Each person carefully folded the paper and then stuck it in a little box that looks like one of those raffle boxes where you enter to win an ipad or a trip to Jamaica. So I jokingly said, "Maybe we'll win an ipad!" To which Brian retorts, "Listen, I worked for the government, they are not giving away ipads. If that's a raffle, then they are giving away something like The Complete Eddie Money Collection on cassette tape." Hah, so of course, I was holding in more laughter. Then, the receptionist lady went to get two brand new boxes of pencils and commenced to sharpening ALL of them. This probably wouldn't be a problem to the normal person but I share a trailer with 3 other teachers and almost at any time of the day one of them will be sharpening pencils. It's maddening really. Sometimes with the electric sharpener, sometimes with the old manual one. So, Brian thought it was great that this lady was sharpening every last pencil for me to hear on my day away from school. Oh, the other thing that happened was that a teenager came in and proceeded to pull out his cell phone while he was in line. I'm guessing that he missed all of the pictures and signs that say, "NO CELL PHONES." Well, about that time, the receptionist lady looked up from her pencils and saw him out of the corner of her eye. She stood up and in a loud voice said, "Oh we got one on a cell phone." So she she headed over to him and pointed at the sign. He remained on his phone and looked at her confused and said, "What?" She then pointed at his phone and at the sign again. He got it that time and put it up pretty quickly.

All in all a very uneventful time at the Appointment Office. Shortly after that we were called up for our scans and then it was time to go after we entered the raffle....that turned out to be just 3 questions about their customer service.

Since we had the day free and it was still early we decided to by Trader Joe's and then to the Billy Graham Library because it was on the same exit and we had heard that it was definitely worth the trip. We had such a good time there. The property is beautiful and peaceful. The actual museum and library is incredible and it's free. It's definitely about Billy Graham but really it's about the many ways that God used him to share the hope and grace of the Gospel with the world. Everything points to God and gives glory to Him. It was so powerful and encouraging. I highly recommend a visit. At the end, we were greeted by some people that work there. They asked if we enjoyed our visit and what brought us there. We told them how we are adopting and that we were just up the street completing some paperwork. They were so thrilled for us and said, "oh can we just pray for your family and your daughter in Ethiopia?" We said, "of course" and they even have a prayer room there to the side. It was the most sweet and loving prayer for our family and our daughter. They said, "Please bring her back her so we can meet her one day!" We all hugged and were so so blessed by our trip there. After that we looked through the library and then had lunch at "The Dairy Bar." The main building looks like a farm because Billy Graham actually grew up on a dairy farm. After you leave the main building, you can tour his family's original house and then walk through the prayer garden and see where Ruth Bell Graham is laid to rest.

It was such a nice day for us to spend together talking and laughing and thinking about our future.