This post is part of a three part series. I started writing and arrived at 500 words, then 1000 then 2000. So grab your beverage of choice, find a comfy chair and let me tell you about the last few months. To read Chapter One click here
It would seem that for us, no matter how much of a buffer we give ourselves, it’s always down to the wire. Here’s what I thought in my head:
We could apply for a visa three months prior to the start date: April 9.
It takes up to three weeks to get a response, which would put us at the beginning of May. Then we could apply for a transfer of residence, which takes up to six weeks. NO PROBLEM!
Silly Krista.
You see, first, the hiring institution has to get a certificate of sponsorship. This application supposedly also only takes three weeks but the only problem was that the application wasn’t submitted until the end of April…
Okay, no problem. Three weeks for the CoS, which would take us to the end of May. Then we could apply for visas putting us at mid-June. Except of course, it took longer than three weeks.
In the meantime, we had given our notice to our landlord and had to be out by June 30th. I had made arrangements for a shipping container to ship some of our things to what would be our new home and had already changed the pick up date once. Registration for fall daycare, Girl Guides, dance and hockey came and went and we still had no confirmation that this was actually happening.
All the while, Ben is finishing up his Candidacy exams for his Doctorate. No biggie. A minor detail, which only slightly compounded the stress in our lives.
Finally, I took the plunge and booked plane tickets because as each week passed the price climbed. I booked the flights for the end of June. No problem right? Lots of time…
So we were now at the end of May and we finally received our sponsorship number. Immediately, we applied for our UK visas online. We still had to go into the Visa application centre but thankfully there is one in Edmonton. So Monday, May 28th with the kids in tow, we crammed into the tiny little visa office, which barely had room for the two desk and three employees, to have our fingerprints and photos taken. Three weeks they said. This should put them arriving on June 18. No problem…
Except June 18th rolled around and still no visas!
Anyone who has known me for all of five seconds can tell you that I am a type-A planner. I don’t do well with the unexpected. I always have a plan—a well thought-out plan. When corresponding with the people who would be hosting us upon arrival, the response to my email was, “What a wonderfully comprehensive, logical, thorough clear email.” You get the picture. I appreciate people who appreciate my attention to detail and yet, it makes adapting to alternate routes especially difficult. I have developed some coping strategies over the years, goodness knows we rarely take the route I had planned, but there are some situations in which no coping strategy is strong enough medicine to treat the anxiety.
That’s where steadfast love comes in.
Just after our visit to the UK, I read Psalm 107. It’s written like a song…after all, that is what a Psalm is. The chorus sings, “Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them from their distress…Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man…” Each verse that precedes this recalls a time of trial (often caused by the Israelites’ own disobedience) and God’s magnificent rescue. The first verse tells the story of how they wandered the desert and then, where the first ellipses is, the line reads, “He led them by a straight way till they reached a city to dwell in.” The chorus ends, “For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.” Verse two tells of the bondage the Israelites faced. Verse three of disease, verse four of peril at sea and on it goes. I think that verse four is my favorite because so often I find myself in the midst of a storm. Perhaps, things seem calm around me, but in my heart and mind a storm rages. I feel tossed by the wind and often I picture myself in the darkness, struggling to keep my head above the waves as the water crashes over me and I gasp for air. But in this beautiful song, the chorus reads,
“Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven. Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!”
I read this Psalm every day and whenever I felt anxiety punch me in the gut, I repeated the words, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Often the term steadfast love is also accompanied by the attribute of faithfulness. Psalm 100 is just one of many examples. It reads, “For the Lord is good: his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.”
The reality was that I didn’t know if everything would work out. I was more confident since we had a Certificate of sponsorship but there was still the issue of visas. What if they refused us? What if the threat of Brexit was making it more difficult for Canadians to come and work in the UK. What if? What if? What if? I could ask myself that question all day, and in fact, if I am honest with you, I still do ask myself that question every day. What if I was totally scammed and all my belongings are on their way to Mexico?
The scriptures remind me however, that I can’t think like that. I can’t dwell on what hasn’t even happened yet but rather should dwell on what already has happened. I need to dwell on how despite the fact that I DID NOT want to move to Edmonton, Ella made some of the best friends I could have ever asked for.
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man
Or how even though I was devastated and heart-broken when I found out that Ella has Down syndrome, through that perceived “brokenness”, God has used her to minister to hundreds of people and to make me a better person.
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man
Or how following a very dark year God sent us to Cambridge for a Sabbath rest.
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man
Or give thanks because after years of job searching, hundreds of resumes and many disappointments God provided at job.
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man
I am not saying it was easy. I certainly was not the best version of myself in June but God’s promise of steadfast love kept me steadfast and finally on June 21st, just five days before we were set to fly out, our visas arrived.
To read chapter three, click here
2 Comments
Is Chapter 3 being posted tomorrow? I can’t wait to read your updates.
Hopefully. 🙂 I’ll see what I can do. Thank you for reading!