Half way there

I am glad that we are half way to reuniting as a family. It’s been 3 ½ weeks and we have 3 ½ weeks to go.  Thankfully, for me, the time has gone by very fast. It helps having a toddler and a baby to take care of every day. It leaves me no time to think about how much I miss my husband. Then, at night, when I should feel lonely, I am so tired; I just want to do nothing.  This lack of energy at the end of the day is slowing down my packing. I have no desire to do anything at night, so I don’t. Impact: nothing has been packed since Greg left.  

One of my big concerns was how Meredith was going to be without Greg around. She is a daddy’s girl. She loves spending time with him and even misses him when he is at work. Thankfully, Meredith has been doing great. Because of Skype and free calling, she can see Greg 2-3 times a day and talk to him just as many times. She sometimes does not say much on the phone, but I think it gives her a sense that He is around. With Skype, it makes her feel like Greg is in the room.  She has taken a very serious liking to my phone and will kiss and hug it when Greg is on. At the start, she would grab the phone from me, run to her room, close her door and sit on the rocking chair and just have a grin on her face and say nothing. This chair is the chair we use every day to rack her before bed and hold her when she is sad, scared, or tired. So, it holds a special place for all of us. Seeing her take Greg there was bitter sweet. I knew that they both wanted special time together and could only have it over the phone. There are times when she says: I want my daddy!! I have a hard time explaining why she can’t see him or be with him, but The Lord has been giving me wisdom about how to answer her during those times.

Even though we all miss each other and wish for the calendar to magically speed up, things are going well. Greg got a job and started last week. We are both very thankful for this. One, because it’s in his field, two because it gives us a stable salary, and three because it gives him something to do everyday besides look and apply for jobs.  Now that the main task of finding employment is done, Greg is looking for a place to live, getting us a family doctor and an OB and getting a church home to start connecting with Christians in the area.

In the weeks to come, we both have lots to do. Those tasks will make the time go by fast. I know that soon enough, we will all be together again. 

Why are you moving?

When I tell people that we are moving to Edmonton, most people ask why. This post is to give an answer to that question.

First, every single one of our actions, plans and steps were brought before the Lord and we truly believe that God has guided us every step of the way. We pray every day for wisdom, guidance and to walk in His will.

Saying that,

The journey started a few years ago when Greg was in a Job in Ottawa and had gone as far as he could go in the company he was working for without moving to Toronto. At that time, we started discussing school options.  

Fast forward to September 2010. Greg started school at Algonquin College in a one year program and would graduate with a journalism diploma.

Fast Forward to April 2011. Greg graduated from college top of his class. He spent the next 6 months unemployed to be then hired at a company for 4 months and then let go.

A week or so before Greg was let go, we found out that we were expecting baby number 2. Before finding this out, we knew that we needed to find a sustainable solution to our financial situation. A solution where Greg could work and get paid a decent salary. As thankful as we were for his previous journalism job, he worked ridiculous hours and got pad very little. We spent months living pay check to pay check and knew that we could not do this for long.

When the news of the new baby came, we knew that we had to do something. Greg had been in Ottawa for 7 years and had yet been able to find a full time permanent job that he was qualified for. We wanted a job for Greg that would pay enough so that I could stay home.  Had we been desperate, I would have gone back to work, but teaching in Ottawa is an almost impossible field to crack into and the possibility of work in Ottawa for me was bleak.

We both love Ottawa. But the more we looked at it, the more we knew that Ottawa had no employment for either of us. We knew that we would have to move. So, Greg started applying for work all over Canada. As he started to do this, he noticed that most jobs he was qualified to apply for were in Edmonton and Calgary.

As we looked at our situation, we did not know what to do. Every day, we live by faith, but we knew that we could not sit around and wait for a job. We had to put a plan in place and see if God would open the doors.

So, we looked at the calendar and set a date. We said: ok God, Greg is leaving for Edmonton May 1rst, if this is not your plan, change our hearts or close the doors. The closer we got to that date, the more we realized that God was going to move us across the country.

There is more to this journey, and I will write about it soon. But, for now, I think this post covers the question: why are you moving?