Thursday, May 14, 2009

We Never Meant to Leave America....

Many of you have wondered how our family came to be up here in the frozen North, and why we are seeking permanent residency in Canada. I even get that question up here--
"Where are you from?"
"Los Angeles."
"Why are you HERE?" they'll ask with incredulity.

When you're covered in 5 feet of snow, Los Angeles seems like the promised land. It also seems like the promised land if you are in Todd's line of work-- the Entertainment Industry. Most people want to go to Hollywood, not leave it. But after working there for 15 years, we both felt strongly that we did not want to raise our kids in that environment. You can do LA and raise wonderful children, in fact, some of my favorite families live there. But living close enough to Hollywood so the commute is reasonable rules out most of the safe, affordable areas.

Our first stop was Maryland, where Todd's family lives. We thought we might carve out a nice Eastern US life for ourselves while Todd started a portrait business. I love his paintings!
But God closed all the doors and soon after, a studio in Montreal found out Todd was available.
They contracted him for one year.
'We can do Canada for one year, how hard can it be', we thought.
One year turned into two, and then three, and on to five.
Another Montreal studio offered Todd a job perfectly suited to his taste, but it required obtaining permanent residency.
Now in our eighth year here, we are jumping through all the hoops that permanent residency requires. I've never seen so many governmental requirements. I thought my life was complicated when I resided in ONE country. At the same time, we both realize that Montreal is a great place to direct films and not be in the Hollywood climate. The only other choices are New York and LA. Here, you can live in a tiny little town where kids walk home from school for lunch, and still be 20 minutes from the hub of the industry.

We MISS America. It is our home, and in our opinion, the BEST country in the world.
If we hadn't moved away, we never could have appreciated all that America is. There are some very interesting differences between Socialism and Capitalism and I am extremely glad I've lived under both so I can debate informedly. (I have a definite preference-- but that's another post).

One of the greatest assets of living here is having our eyes opened to the religious climate. Did you know that less than .01 percent of the population in Canada has ever heard of Jesus Christ? If you ask them, some will say, "Oh, yes, 'Jesus Christ' is a curse word".

We thought we came here for Todd's job, but now we see God's hand having moved us here for His purposes. And even though we miss and sometimes pine for our country, we both feel strongly that it would be selfish to return home anytime soon. We'll see what God has planned.
In the mean time, Todd gets to make his own movies, we get to live in a tiny, safe town, and our family gets to trip down the path of living in a country not our own.
Herein, read the record of our journey.

6 comments:

Cherie said...

Thankfully, you are not tooooooooo far from your "homeland". We got those same kinds of questions when we moved to northern Ohio (pretty close to where you are, we are actually only about 2 hours from the Canadian border, if you sail across Lake Erie.) "Why would we move to Ohio when we'd been in CA for over 30 years?" I miss my family and friends in California, but I don't miss the crowds, traffic, heat,brown and dust of summer. I love seeing green everywhere right now and all the flowers blooming, having the windows open with no traffic noice, a big yard without cinderblock walls; I love my church and having Alistair Begg as my pastor and all my new friends here and having my sister and her family live nearby. God has surely blessed us.
I DO get homesick to see my kids and grandkids. When I feel sad, I try to remember that this is my "temporary home". Heaven is the home I'm REALLY looking forward to.

(I can't believe I made this so long!) Sorry!! :)

Cherie said...

...and did I mention the fires and earthquakes???

Missy said...

You have Alistair Begg for your personal pastor? COOL!
Your list made me laugh.
And yes, moving here HAS made me realize that any home I'm attached to on earth is really just a temporary one. It's all about the Home waiting for us in the end.

Darlene said...

Missy, I loved this post, hearing your thoughts, and seeing one of Todd's portraits. It changes everything to see yourselves as missionaries.

My word is cheessi: what Canadians say when you take their picture.

4HMom said...

LLLLLLLLLLLLL Darlene!

Betsy said...

Thanks for connecting the dots.
Don't worry about missing Capitalism. We will be Socialized soon enough.
Darlene is so funny!