The Countdown...

The countdown is on!! (drumroll please) WE'RE MOVING TO BC!!!

Befor I go on, I should probably fill you in a little about the steps it took to get here.

In October 2008, after 6 years of debating, discussion, prayer, and hoping, Julien applied to get his Canadian visa. We had been told at that time that it would take about 4-9 months to obtain. So 10 months later when we still hadn't heard anything, we followed up on it. And soon after, we received a rejection letter, stating that the skilled worker category that Julien had applied for was no longer on their list because of the economic crisis.

As you can imagine, I was heartbroken. It was so hard to understand why things were happening the way they were, especially after losing my father. It was so important for me to move back because of the task he asked of me before he passed, which was to take care of my mother. I didn't take my promise lightly, and my awesome husband knew how important it was for me to get back there.

So we then decided to take the hard route, which meant me acting as a sponsor for Julien. I signed a pact with the the government, promising to support Julien for 3 years, as he wouldn't be entitled to any benefits, such as disability or employment insurance. It was a big undertaking, but we knew it was our last hope for coming back.

We sent our huge file in October 2009, and were told that it would take 6-12 months to get an answer if I was accepted as a sponsor. At the beginning of November, I received a letter stating that my sponsorship was accepted, and that the file would be transferred to the embassy in Paris to treat the visa request. Then in January we received a letter informing us that the visa itself would take another 6-12 months. So I decided to go on my little adventure and bring Charlotte to see my family, because another year is a long time to wait seeing as how these little babies just morph into little independant people before your eyes.

About a week into my trip, Julien called me with some shocking news: His visa was ready for pickup. A million thoughts ran through my head. What? How? What do we do now? Holy crap I'm going to have to get myself organized and think about what to send internationally, while watching my little girl like a hawk because she gets into everything everywhere.

So, in total, it took only 4 months.

To be honest, I shouldn't have been surprised, because around Christmas Julien's dad had given us a verse talking about how the wise men went back to their own country "another way". At the time, he had told us that our plans wouldn't go the way we thought they would. For us, we had planned on leaving maybe in September at best, which seemed logical. When JL gave us the verse, we thought it meant we'd end up leaving later. We never dreamed that it would come now.

Julien gave his notice, and our appartment sold on the same day. Everything has fallen into place so perfectly that we can't help but acknowledge God's hand in all of this. I'm trusting now that jobs are waiting for us on the other side of the ocean. And I know that everything is in good hands.