I landed in Vancouver airport at 12:05 a.m. Christmas morning, went through immigration and waited 6 hours in a Tim Horton's coffee shop for security to open so I could get on a plane and be home with my family by 9 a.m. Christmas morning to open presents. It was worth it. I arrived tired and happy and spent an amazing day with Jo and the kids and my mom and dad. We ate tons of food. Jo had made everything I love for Christmas dinner. I literally had to crawl from the table to the couch after I ate (I don't think the Bible talks anywhere about gluttony does it? - I didn't think so).
My son Braden's birthday is January 17 and since I won't be home for it, we celebrated his birthday with a great night out at his favorite Italian restaurant.
We had a family day that included our favorite Indian restaurant.
We went and saw the Hobbit 2 in 3-D together.
We went out and sat around a table at Starbucks together one morning and talked about all the things we wanted to do as a family once we were all back together in Vegas.
I led worship at my friend Greg's church on Saturday night and Sunday. I was so blessed to be able to lead my family in worship. I haven't been able to do that since we've been separated.
We celebrated a quiet New Year's eve together at home with the kids.
And then it was time to leave.
It was harder this time.
The first time there was the thrill of the new adventure. The first time there was also the complete lack of comprehension of how difficult this type of separation would be.
The second time there was the joy of being back together again and the hope that the process would somehow magically speed up for us.
This time the reality of how difficult our separation is was staring us both in the face. This time we had no illusion about a quick resolution to our immigration. We still hope, we still have faith, but we are also realists. We can read a website. We can see the case numbers still sitting in the "initial review" phase, where they have been for months now.
The drive to the airport on Friday morning was sombre. Almost holy, in a way.
Being obedient to God's call on our lives, realizing that for us, this call means we are going to endure separation for a while longer. Realizing we are in "holy time" and that we are in the middle of God's will for us, even though we don't understand it fully right now.
The thrill of this adventure is gone. We are now all on this long and difficult road that we must walk with patience and faith.
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