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The Eagles Have Landed!!
Written by Tamara on April 6, 2009 in News
A 4am wake up, 7 large suitcases, 7 carry on pieces of luggage and a family with many mixed emotions is how we left Townsville, Australia on March 31st, 2009. Right now I am trying real hard to not focus on what we left behind (those memories will be allowed to come out once I am over the jet lag), but on what we have to look forward to. There is plenty…after all, it is with God whom we have made this move.
Our flights and layovers – We had close to 30 hours of these and they all went relatively well…focusing on the positive here, right? Neither of us slept for the entire journey across the Pacific…yep, it was one loooong flight andCaleb and Jessica only just managed to doze off as we were about 
to board our final flight in LA up to Calgary. Needless to say, Bill and I did not sleep a wink and by the time we finally got to bed in Calgary we had been awake for close to 2 days. Now, there is something seriously not good about that. Yes, we are still recovering.
Canada allowed me into their country with no problems at all. We had initially thought the immigration process would have been a more tedious one, but we soon realised that all the hard work we had done beforehand while still in Australia was the tedious part of immigrating. So, when we walked through Immigration in the Calgary airport there were just a few stamps, signatures and checking over of our lists of what we were bringing into country and what was to follow us in our boxes on the boat. And YES! Our Vegemite was allowed entry into the country as well.
We felt like a small outreach team as we travelled between 7 passports in total. Caleb and Jessica had only just been granted their Canadian Passports prior to leaving, so we travelled with Bill and the kids all being dual citizens.
How do we feel? – Some people have been asking us how it feels to know we are not here in Calgary for a holiday this time around, but rather to set up our life in a brand new place. Given the day I am asked that I may just give a different response. Much has to do with how tired we are feeling at the time. There is excitement for what is to come as we venture into the “new”, but also sadness as we remember what we left behind in Australia….our friends, family and soooo many memories and favourite places. But, when we think more about it, we get to make a whole new bunch of memories here in Canada and memories are just that….they never leave you, they can be reached at any time.
The weather since arriving – Bill and I had a good chuckle as the pilot announced upon our decent into Calgary that we were in for a warm day with a temperature of plus 3 degrees Celsius. But, let me tell you that I do know that plus 3 IS warm for Calgary! Prior visits to Canada have seen us embrace minus 23 degrees Celsius. It still made us laugh though. The kids have had enough snow on the ground to entertain us with their squeals of delight and excitement. After all, for a Far North Queenslander, any amount of snow on the ground would provide for a delightful amount of fun and enjoyment. Jessica is obsessed with wearing her new snow boots and mitts and toque (“beanie” – sorry, but I had to translate for some) around inside and then complains quickly when she becomes all “wetty” (sweat
y) from wearing them. And for Caleb…well, he is devastated that he cannot kick a football around outside without his snow boots flying off and through the air. However, get him in the middle of a snow fight and he soon forgets.
Priorities for us right now – Beginning with getting over the jet lag, getting climate appropriate clothes to wear, registering Caleb for school, getting ready for our little girl’s 3rd birthday (April 12th), focusing on the special event of Easter that is approaching, obtaining health care and insurances, researching for a vehicle to purchase and of course seeking God more and more on how to do all of this in HIS strength.
Needless to say we are sooo very keen to get settled and begin this new season of life and ministry in Calgary.
We were reminded the other day by a YWAM friend that the same God we served in Townsville, Australia is the same God who is here with us in Calgary, Canada. We didn’t leave Him behind! As obvious as that sounds, sometimes as humans we need to be told the obvious to receive that revelation that God is so close to us and is so for us no matter where we serve Him. We have enjoyed telling Caleb and Jessica that the same God that they asked into their hearts back in Townsville is the same God that is here with us in Canada. I love seeing the look of delight on their faces when they truly understand the same revelation…that GOD is EVERYWHERE!!
Drop us a line sometime to say “hi”. We would love that!
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April 9th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Love the article -
April 11th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
hey guys! welcome to north america! i’m glad to hear that you made it safely and pray for grace as you get settled and work on getting things in order. many blessings to you, and who knows….maybe we’ll even see you one day ’soon’