all the tiny details will strangle your heart

For someone who has moved as often as I have, you would think that by now I would understand all the small details that need to be taken care of when you move. Now, multiply that by 10 when you factor in that I am moving to the U.S. and Jo and the kid are moving to Edmonton until they get their visas. This means when we pack, we have to pack stuff that can stay in storage for up to a year, stuff that Jo and the kids will need over the next year in Edmonton, and then stuff that I will take with me to Vegas. You can't just throw it all in a box. When you move to the US you have to label and price every item in every box and have a manifest for it. So it feels like we are actually packing three different ways for this move: and yes, we are. Next, we have to be in Edmonton in time for the kids to get registered in school. This is extremely important since Branden and Skye are visually impaired and we need to know a lot about bus routes and class rooms and smart board technology before school starts. Next, we need to figure out how to physically move everything to Edmonton that Jo and the kids will need for this next year. They won't have access to the stuff in storage, so there will be a lot to move. Plus, I'll move stuff to Edmonton that I'll want in Vegas over the next year. Then, each time I fly up to Edmonton, I'll bring some of it back with me. Driving to Vegas isn't really an option since we have one car (which Jo and the kids need in Edmonton) and it is impossible to rent a car one-way into the US. Try it some time. You won't ever try it again. I'll buy a car in the US, but don't want to waste my time with my family by driving back and forth to Edmonton when I see them, when I could fly and save time (and probably money) and be able to spend more actual time with them. Wait, I'm not done yet. Now come all the details in filling out paperwork for the Visas. Form this and form that and form the other and each one is confusing and difficult to understand exactly what they are asking. It would seriously be quicker and easier to just go to the US and apply for asylum and say that we are afraid for our lives because if we return to Canada the winters will kill us.... This whole "bringing your wife of 21 years and your three children back to the United States because you are an American citizen with a good job will take you longer than someone from (insert foreign country of choice) who doesn't speak English, has not discernible trade or skill, but fears for his or her life" is ridiculous. I'm an American for crying out loud and I should be able to bring my family across the border with me without any problems. Oh, in the midst of all of this, I'm writing a sermon on the state of your heart. I think I need to check the state of my heart right about now :) All this stuff, all these details, all this frustration, will strangle your heart if you let it. There is anger over the immigration issue, there is guilt over being separated from my family, there is frustration over all the millions of details and things that need to get done - there are a million things that could come between my heart and Jo and my heart and God. Right now, I need to remind myself that God IS in the details, that He IS working in my life in this transition, and that this life isn't all there is. I'm reminded of Paul's words in Romans 12:12 "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." That is the only way I'm going to keep my heart safe.