red, white and, hopefully, blue

 ***Update*** I just got the letter today (the Saturday following this post) to make an appearance at the naturalization oath ceremony. The big day is May 20th. This is the last step in the process to becoming red, white and blue! Yeah Jesus!

Deciding to become a U.S. citizen was a tough one. After all, it's hard to say you are going to revoke your allegiance to the country of your birth, especially when you visit said county often, have relatives living there and experience only subtle degrees of cultural differences when moving from one country to the other. It's also hard to commit to citizenship when part of the agreement is that you are willing to bare arms if so called upon.

But last year, I felt God nudging me to reconsider the citizenship question. So in prayer, I wrestled with Him over the fact that I would have to renounce my ties to Canada and asked Him to give me an undivided heart in my desire to be a U.S. citizen. It took awhile, but He finally got me to see I was the one holding myself to a contract/pledge/promise He never asked me to sign. He gave me peace about letting the ties go to my past and the country of my birth. He got me to see how tightly I hold onto the things that were instead of embracing the here and now.

Finally, I felt the freedom to say "yes," that with an undivided heart, I was willing to give up my ties to Canada in exchange for the rights and privileges of becoming a US citizen.

The "baring arms" question was easier to resolve - there is a provision in the naturalization process that allows you to abstain from baring arms for religious reasons (but you have to demonstrate that it's from a recognizable religion and not one you make up on your own :) ).

Yesterday, I had my interview for becoming a naturalized citizen of the United States. I passed the parts of the tests and review of the documentation I submitted. My interviewer recommended I be approved for citizenship. The next step is receiving a letter for the ceremony of becoming a citizen. I'm praying nothing like the fingerprint incident comes up and that I will be officially naturalized in a month or so.

For fun, if you want to see the questions from the citizenship test, here's a link to a PDF at history.com. You need to get 6 out of 10 questions right to pass at the interview.

What are you wrestling with now? Is there anything you are holding onto that God is calling you to let go of? Ask Him to help you release it and immerse yourself in His unsurpassed peace as you give yourself over to Him.