Life and Immigration Struggles

Well, in the last two weeks I've started a new job. I am now a Barista. I'm making coffee all day and talking about coffee all day and smelling like coffee all day. So far I'm really enjoying this part-time-mean-time-job. If only it paid a little better. Hmmm...

In other news: Josh's immigration progress--

We have been in Canada for a month and a half and have basically made no progress. I guess we have made a little as far as figuring out what exactly we have to do, but only by trial and error.

We first tried what Josh's future employer said to do, which was mail in our paper-work. Well that turned out wrong, and by the grace of God, I thought to call and check on the progress. If I hadn't done that we wouldn't have gotten our $150 deposit back.

The next step we took was to tell Toys R Us they needed to get it all together and apply for us. Well after another 2 weeks of that, Josh called them to find out the progress, and they told him to just apply for permanent residency. After a week of back and forth about whether this is the best option we've decided that it is the only option.

So, we for sure can't even turn in our paper-work for his immigration until after November 30th, which is the day that Josh goes for his physical exam (which a person has to get to immigrate to a new country). Then it could possibly be several months before he gets an okay to work.

I'm trying to not be frustrated, and I'm trying to fully trust God in this. Its just been a trying year. I'm trusting that since God brought us this far, he will bring us through these struggles as well.

Prayer Requests:
-That Josh wouldn't be discouraged. He's getting extremely bored and restless not working.
-That I wouldn't stress out about money issues and not having our own place issues, and trust that my God (who owns all the money and all the homes in the world) knows what we need and will provide it for us.

An Answer to Prayer

Its been a long time since I last wrote. A lot has happened since then. We packed up everything into a Penske Truck, said goodbye to all our family and friends, and moved to Kelowna, British Columbia.


Much talk has been made about why we moved. We've said, "Josh wanted to live in the mountains" and "We thought it would be fun" and "We wanted to try something new", but above all else, the very root of why we moved was because we have had a really difficult year because of my health, and poor health insurance. We felt like it would be good for me to be close to my family because it was so hard for me to be away from my family when I was being taken back and forth to the emergency room, racking up loads of medical bills, etc. It just made more sense for us to come to Canada to be with family, and be able to have good insurance that WOULD cover my heart.

So yesterday I got to go to my new Canadian Cardiologist. He introduced himself to us as Peter. He is a very friendly, forty-something, former Czechoslovakian doctor. He asked me to tell him my story about how long I've dealt with tachycardia. I explained my whole story, about how I have struggled with it since I was in middle school--about grade 6. I told him how it didn't bother me that much until I got into college, that I had a bunch of tests done, was put on various kinds of medications to control it, etc. He said, "I'm just waiting to hear if anyone ever suggested that you get a cardiac ablation done." I said, "Yes. It was suggested to me about the 3 years ago, the first time, and my cardiologist in Houston really wanted me to have it done earlier this year." He said that if it was okay with us that he would like to go ahead and schedule the procedure. He doesn't like to medicate people for something that can be totally cured with a simple procedure. He asked if that was okay with us, and we smiled and said, "Yes. We would like to have that done."

So after many months of prayer, tears, blogs, fears, frustrations, and a cross country move, in a matter of a couple weeks to a few months I will go in for the procedure I have waited 3 years for. I will not have to pay $26,000 for it. I actually won't have to pay anything for it above my regular premium that I pay. We will go to Victoria, British Columbia and, Lord willing, I will come home cured.


"For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the Lord."--Psalms 117:2
"In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. "--Proverbs 16:9

We are so thankful that we serve a God who has guided and directed us. Every step of this journey has felt inexplicably directed and ordered of God. Thank you, Lord, for your love and mercies.

Moving

Well, I can now finally tell you that we are officially moving to Kelowna, British Columbia! We will be leaving September 22nd at 6 AM. More details to come!

Well, to start out, today is day one of my diet. I am going to actually follow the South Beach Diet this time around and add in a little of the French mind set. I am beginning with the horrible Phaze 1, which eliminates all sweets, and generally anything with a high glycemic index. I have decided to replace my over-eating with good wholesome things. For instance, today I decided that since I can't have toast, I will write a blog.

Generally I am bad at baby steps. Its either all or nothing with me, so starting a diet isn't that difficult. However, the problem is that a lot of the time I give up too easily. Perhaps baby steps would be better, but I'd rather cut to the chase and get done what I want to get done. If I write about it, perhaps I will feel more motivated.

So today I began my day with a delicious omelet. The ingredients are as follows (keep in mind this is a 2 person recipe):

2 tsp of Olive Oil
1/2 of a small onion, thinly sliced
1 Roma tomato, diced
2 handfulls of fresh baby spinach
Italian Seasoning (to taste)
3 Eggs beaten (I always use free range eggs, for my conscience sake)
Salt and Pepper to taste
A small handfull of whatever white, low-fat cheese you have on hand (I had mozzerella)

So what you do is heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a saute pan over medium heat to medium low heat. Add your onions and italian seasoning. Cook them until they begin to carmalize, then add the diced tomato and spinach. Saute this until the spinach wilts, and then put the veggies in a bowl to the side. Then add to the pan the other 1 teaspoon of olive oil, letting it heat until the oil looks a bit more thinned out. Then add the eggs (which have been previously seasoned with the salt and pepper, ever so often lifting the cooked parts and allowing the raw parts to run back onto the pan. After about a minute and a half the eggs should be set. Then add your veggies and cheese and flip one half of the omelet over itself. And there you have it. A two person omelet. Cut it in half and serve.

Following the French way of being, I intentionally ate my omelet slowly, savoring its flavors. I've realized that I have been scarffing down my food way too fast because I feel like the more I eat the more enjoyment I will get out of it. The fact is that if I allow myself the time to savor the food, I enjoy it much more than when I scarf.

The other funny thing about this horrible phaze of this diet, is that because you are cutting out sugary foods including bread, when you eat you feel satisfied, but not "stuffed full" like some like to feel after they eat. I just remembered this feeling, and I'm trying to get used to it, and not feel like I need to eat more.

The Words are Beautiful

I was reading back over an old blog and read this post from February 2008. Its funny how God comforts us through our own words sometimes. No wonder the old testament is filled with the advice to look back to the days of old, and see what God did for you then. Only then, are we able to see what He might be doing in us and through us now. I hope you enjoy this post as much as I did:

YWH is my Shepherd
I shall not want
He makes me lie down in green pastures
He leads me beside waters of rest
He restores my soul
He guides me in paths of righteousness
For His names sake

Even though I walk through the valley of deep deep darkness
I fear no evil
For You are with me
I am comforted by your rod and staff


--I was studying the literal Hebrew translations in this famous passage last night, and found that I like the alternative translations that I found.... waters of rest, and deep deep darkness. A passage that is so widely known that it almost has lost its meaning for those that have heard it over and over again. We say it without thinking about the words. The words are beautiful. Full of hope, full of rest, full of encouragement. God as a loving shepherd. How do shepherds treat their sheep? Rescuing the sheep from danger, providing food for the sheep--good food, restful places for the sheep to lay down.

At my lowest points, I look back and cannot remember a time that I lacked anything I truly needed. I think of the times when I wasn't really sure where my next meal would come from, and I wasn't sure where I was going to sleep--I never lacked the essentials that I needed. Even in the deep deep darkness.

If God provides clothing for the grass, food for the birds, and knows how to give good gifts to those who ignore and despise Him, He will in turn give me all I need, including peace and rest.

Peace doesn't always mean that we are comfortable. He provides rest for the weary, in the most unusual circumstances.

Yet, my soul will, in fact, be restored.

I love how blogging forces me to seek God about the issue I'm dealing with.

The search for a better insurance plan continues. The problem with ours is that its a "Limited Benefit Plan". This means that instead of having a deductible and the insurance paying 80% while you are responsible for 20%, you end up paying the majority of the medical costs and the insurance picks up only $1500 for major medical expenses. Because it is so limited, you can't make any deals with them. All my doctors will accept this plan, but it just ends up costing me out of pocket more than it costs them.

Now I have come to another hang up in finding an Individual Health Insurance plan (my office isn't part of a group plan, and the insurance offered to Josh at his job offers a group plan, but its the worst, as we now know). I can get on a plan through my office, but the Insurance company they use will not cover my heart at all. I do have the option of finding my own plan and my employer will cover part of it. This is what I'm trying to do. So, to the hang up with an Individual plan rather than a group plan: If I were to get pregnant (not that we are planning on that any time soon, but you never know what God might decide to do) we would have to pay out of pocket for all of those expenses. Apparently all individual plans in the nation do not offer pregnancy coverage. You can get pregnancy coverage through another company that provides only that, which is an additional $120 a month, however, if you get pregnant within 10 months of paying for the insurance, you will NOT be covered (Again, not that we are planning on getting pregnant in the next 10 months, but God does have his own plans, and we don't know what those are).

About His Work

I started to write an update, and I knew what I was going to write. As I was about to make my way this way to write my thoughts down, I was reminded, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." God graciously reminded me that my attitude today was not for His glory. "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2

So I went, yet again, to my old friend Spurgeon and was comforted (yet again) by his words which always point me back to Christ.

"...The holy rest which springs out of faith in the Lord Jesus also greatly helps a man when he is ill.... Let us not be overcome with sudden expectation of death the moment we have a finger-ache, but let us rather expect that we may have to work on through a considerable length of days.... The truest lengthening of life is to live while we live, wasting no time but using every hour for the highest ends." CH Spurgeon

In light of this, I will tell you my story.

I was awakened to the sound of the vibration of my cell phone this morning (my ring is always on silent) at 7 AM. My Endocrinologist was calling to respond to the letter I faxed to him and my Cardiologist (previous blog). Being that I am not a morning person, and I am not really all that aware of what's going on right after I wake up, the conversation did not go as planned.

Basically he told me that my tachycardia had nothing to do with my thyroid, etc etc. In hinds sight, he was responding to the wrong issue. The issue I had was that my family members can't tolerate the synthetic thyroid hormone, causing racing hearts, palpitations, skipped beats, etc (AKA Arrhythmias). I said, "Might there be a possibility that I am not doing well on the Synthroid?" He told me that I would feel much better on the Synthroid and that was the end of the conversation. It left me feeling really confused, as it was like we were not even talking about the same thing.

Josh reminded me that I still haven't heard from the Cardiologist, so the Endocrinologist's answer might not be the final answer. I was still fighting being extremely frustrated and bewildered until Spurgeon reminded me that my hope is in the Lord. He has the answer, and is even now working on the solution. I don't need to worry, but instead be about His work.