Character Visa

I'm applying for a Religious Worker Visa to Australia. Here is what has happened recently:

While traveling through Atlanta, Georgia, we stopped in to get my lungs X-rayed. Done. Went upstairs to Dr. W's office and gave urine and blood and got a physical. Dr. W said I'd probably live to 100. Great. Now I feel like I should take extra care of the body God gave me.

Then, Dr. W tried to contact us yesterday. He's been very helpful. Last night I was thinking, "Maybe he wanted to tell me that, on second thought, I'll live to 110," but we called him back and found out that the radiologist thought my lungs were too full of air or something. So we took a lateral X-ray and expedited it to Dr. W who, as I understand it, will pass the X-rays on to the embassy in D.C. This was already an expensive, bureaucratic process. Thankfully, we knew someone in Memphis who took X-rays for a steal of a deal.

So, as perplexed as we are, I can't imagine what Mexicans feel like trying to legally work for a few years as migrants in America. The difference between us and them is, they are trying to survive. To be as resilient as many Mexicans, it seems I need to reframe how I see this process.

At this point, all I can see are the pains of the system in process, but I know there must be some excellent and praiseworthy things in this process. Let me try to name these . . .

Dr. W said my lungs were probably so full of air because I'm athletic and fit. That was quite encouraging. He also said my heart is super healthy. So, I'm not as worried about the number two highest risk of death--heart disease. The number one cause is iatrogenesis. See Journal American Medical Association July 26, 2000;284(4):483-5

I suppose this process could work to make me more perseverant. Perhaps I'll become more able to complete tasks thoroughly in the future. People will trust me with greater responsibilities than they have in the past. Perhaps I'll be able to help someone else through a similar trial.

. . . Well that's a start. Maybe I'll notice some other excellent and praiseworthy things in this process as it goes along. And, at this point, it seems like it will keep going along until my 100th birthday. Surely by then I will have become a character.