This time, we are actually going to leave. Not what we want to do, but it is what we need to do. Or should I say, must do.
About two months ago my wife and I went to pick up our paperwork that allows us to stay in Italy at the state police office. It was the second time for us to do our paperwork here in Italy, so it was just a renewal of a permission to stay in the country. We thought we had covered all the bases and were 100% confident to receive our renewal papers. Apparently we counted our documents before they crossed the stamping line.
To make a long story short, we were denied the renewal and asked to leave the country within 15 days. That same day we decided to consult a lawyer on the issue and we sent out a distress signal to all our Italian and American contacts that we have.
Seven days later…
We know somebody, who knows somebody that is high up in the state police force. That person called the police here and that same day they decided to review our paperwork. They said come back in 10 days.
10 days later…
We return, paperwork still not done, asked to return in another 10 days…
14 days later we return, the paperwork is finished and they have denied the renewal once again. They reinstated the 15 days to leave the country and that is where we are now. Actually we are at 14 days and counting.
The problem is that we have to leave all European Union countries. We have to return to the states and renew all our paperwork. All we have now is a valid passport, our visas are expired as well as our permission to stay in the country. Therefore, we are heading home.
We hope to return to Italy within six weeks, perhaps that is optimistic, but we don’t want to be out of the work and country too long. At least we have some resolution and a direction in which to go, and for that we are very thankful.
We don’t know why God wants us to leave momentarily, or why he has put us through this struggle. However, we are confident that he is still in control and we rely on his peace to guide us through the storm.