How does one get to this point?

Stupid, stupid, stupid. This is what I kept saying to myself as Jo, the kids, and I drove back from the border on Monday. Let me explain. I'm an American. Jo and the kids are Canadian. In 1999 we moved to Las Vegas where I was a pastor at several churches over the next 8 years. Jo and the kids got their Green Cards. Life was good. Then I decided to get my M.A. at the University of Alberta. So, back to Canada we went. An M.A. turned into a PhD turned into working at a church in Canada while I tried to finish the dissertation. Then a church in Vegas called and said "come back". We heard the call of God and said "yes". What we failed to realize, however, was that after being out of the US for this long (6 years), Jo and the kids had lost their Green Cards and thanks to a trip to the border, we came face to face with the fact that if we had simply applied for their citizenship the last time we were in the US, they would now have it and we could all move back to Vegas together. As it stands right now, we have to begin the process of applying for Green Cards for them all over again AND they have to remain in Canada during this process. I have to move to Vegas to start work September 1, but they won't be able to join me for about a year. This blog is going to be a chronicle of living apart from my family for one year. We are still together for the next month as I finish out my last two weeks here at Kamloops Alliance Church, we pack up our house, and we figure out how to move, and then store, our belongings for up to one year. We discovered that we can't move any of our belongings across the border until my family have their visas. When I move next month, I can bring my own stuff, but nothing that belongs to the family. Immigration has changed since 9/11. There are of course bigger questions that this blog will attempt to address, questions about marriage and fatherhood and leadership and integrity. I have no doubt that this next year will challenge me in all of these areas. I'm sure I'll talk about trying to live healthfully, purely, fiscally, and a million other things that make up life: but this will be a life apart from my family.