After all these years, I have decided to get back on my blog and write. There were many attempts to write but they’re all in my drafts folder and have never seen publishing day.
So many things have happened since my last post last November 2021. Almost two years after, I can almost say life had given us many surprises!
First, my whole family moved to Canada!
We are currently in Calgary, Alberta since November 2022.
We had been exploring the possibility of moving abroad for quite sometime now. The motivation of course, was to give our children the opportunity to live in what my husband Paul calls an “enabling environment” – an environment where they can dream and make things happen and not be derailed by forces outside of their control such as bureaucracy, corruption and small mindsets.
The idea became much more real after my son Seve was accepted at Fordham and moved to NYC to attend his sophomore year in university (see my previous post about this). After Paul experienced how a new student like Seve could be supported in his learning and how opportunities open up for him there, he came back with a resolve to bring the same opportunities for all our children. He promised to work so hard so he could provide the means to be able to send them to good schools. God bless his heart. We now have Seve and Anya both in the U.S. and the other kids planning to pursue further studies as well after they finish high school here in Calgary. With God’s good graces, we lift all of these plans to Him who holds our future.
We came here on my permit as a student. Canada fortunately allows student permit holders to bring their spouses and dependents along with them in order to keep the family together for this most crucial time of their lives. I have completed my first year of studies and have but one more year to go to complete my program. After which, I will be eligible for a post graduate work permit (PGWP) that allows me to work in Canada for a period of 2-3 years. Within that time, we are also allowed to apply for a permanent resident status and this applies for the rest of the family as well. If God wills that all our plans are in accordance with His, then hopefully within the next 3 years, we will become permanent residents of Canada.
For now, we take each day as it comes and enjoy being together as a family in a different place, learning and integrating with a culture different from our own yet being fully aware of our own heritage and values. We can only imagine what the future holds! But hopeful is the word to describe it!
Happy thoughts everyone!
