Why we left Ontario after 26 years!
For 26 years, I had been living in Ontario. It was here, in London, where I grew up, got an education, got married to my best friend and had our daughter. So why did my wife and I decide to just up and go to live in a different province?
Well... there are many reasons for why people emigrate to other parts of a country or to other countries. It's difficult to say that there was solely one reason for our departure from our hometown, because much like any major decision, there is a lot to consider.
Family
At the forefront of our minds was our families, both of which resided in Ontario (within a 1.5hr radius). Arguably, any move out of the province would be a huge impact on family dynamics and interaction. We didn't take this lightly, and seriously considered options to stay close to home. We did however know that in the event that we did move far away; our strongest relationships would only grow stronger and the ones that were weak would make themselves apparent to us.
Job Opportunity
A major driver of our departure was the job opportunities available for us. I finished my Master's Degree in February 2022, and immediately got to work on finding a suitable workplace. My original plan was to find work in a science industry laboratory, but a much deeper passion emerged after sending out dozens of applications. I was not receiving any feedback from employers in the science department. I was however having some success in the field of teaching. Yes...teaching was a passion of mine, but I had wanted to sideline it for good reason: I felt as a scientist that industry experience would make me a more qualified teacher. If I became a teacher now, would I ever have the opportunity to work in a laboratory? Actually, yes! More on that later...
Faith
Ultimately our decision became solidified with the intervention of God in our lives. It was our intention to search God's heart for where He wanted us on His earth. With no source of income, our options were running out for supporting our apartment and vehicle costs. In a moment of clarity, I felt something inside me speak these words,
"If you desperately want to know the heart of God, seek and you will find Him"
I was unsettled. Where should we go to seek Him? Fortunately, my wife (Shyla) reminded me of something...
For the last 3 years, I had been feeling a great urge to go east. Why? That's where I met with God! What? How? Well...
Three years prior, I participated in a field trip with The University of Western Ontario to Nova Scotia for Geological related coursework. I was in my 4th year of the Bachelor's Degree and I didn't quite know what I wanted to do afterwards. I was in no position to take a Master's Degree as my grades weren't high enough. I was about 3% too low. I would have to get the highest average I'd ever gotten in my last year, if I wanted to even consider getting into a Master's Program. It was here (in Nova Scotia) that I heard for the first time God speak to me. I was sitting alone on a rock staring out into the Atlantic Ocean and I felt the wind hit me in the face and then it stopped... What did He say? From what I could remember, it was something like this:
"Go and complete the task I have laid out before you, for I am preparing your future here"
Two things became clear to me in that moment:
The first was that I needed to push myself to try and qualify for a Master's Program. God had laid education on my heart ever since I was young, and it was all that I saw. God was telling me to finish all that I could see, and that meant a Master's Degree. This reassurance led me to achieve my highest mark yet and qualified me for the Master's program.
The second was that God WAS preparing a place for us here. I was further reassured of this feeling as we drove through the city. Much in the same way that I could see my education before me, I could imagine bringing my wife to Nova Scotia. It felt so close...like a future memory.
Fast forward to April 2022, that calling to go was at its strongest since the field trip. So my wife and I took a week and a half to pack and tell friends and family that we would be taking a trip out east to seek God. We drove through New Brunswick, PEI, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia to try to figure out what we were feeling. Did we hear God? Nope. And I began to doubt and believe that we had made a very dumb financial decision in taking our family out here. That's when everything changed...our car broke down! Yikes! While this interruption was financially costly, we were able to meet 3 individuals in Halifax who all showed us valuable character traits that inspired us: Faith, Hospitality, and Compassion. It was also through one of these individuals that we would discover a need for musicians in a small church in Dartmouth (Halifax). The moment we both felt as we walked into that small church was intense, and we couldn't imagine what would have happened had our car not broken down.
One very peculiar occurrence was that just before our car broke down, we had visited a private Christian school in Halifax. I was in contact with the principal about looking for work and I showed up to have a tour of the school. I didn't know it at the time, but I would later find out that my visit was an "interview". So immediately after this interview, as we drove onto the highway to leave the province, the car broke down...
The Final...Yes!
I had two successful interviews to teach at private Christian schools, but which one was the one we were supposed to take? One was about 5 minutes from family, the second was thousands of kilometers away in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I truly did not see this coming. Throughout my entire life, I had never been presented with a choice like this. It had all been relatively straightforward and expected. This was unexpected. And in order to know what to do, I needed a firm yes or no on one of them.
My wife and I couldn't let go of the feeling that we were in Halifax for a reason. So...I decided that if God was going to do something, He would send me an offer from Halifax Christian Academy before the one in my hometown (London). His Mission for our lives would come FIRST and Foremost. And it did, because one day before I would hear word from the job in London, God sent the offer from Halifax. It was a YES!
of the historic Lighthouse location.
A quick note: Upon receiving the offer of employment, I set out to find a temporary job at a Temp agency. They were able to place me in a Chemistry Lab, where I would work for the summer! What a crazy gift from God!
The Final Challenge of Faith: Finding a Place to Live
Halifax around this time was oversaturated with people looking for places to live; both apartments and houses. My wife told me stories of people living in hotels and in trailers because finding a budget-friendly place to live was impossible. We had 4 months to find a place to live, so confidence was high at the start of our search. But time soon began running out, and we had still not had any leads. At one point, we were told that a place was available to us, but that another couple was interested, and they would be given the first offer. Knowing how difficult it was to find a place to live, I prayed for the other couple to get the place because even though we were just as desperate, I knew deep down that if God truly wanted us here, He would provide us with what we needed and it would be in His time. So...with a full trailer packed and a week and half before I would need to start my job, we had no place to live...that is until later that evening when we were offered a really nice main floor apartment in central Halifax. God hand delivered to us our new home and it couldn't have come at a better time.
Our new Home on MacDonald St. Halifax. - My wife, daughter and I standing in front of our vehicle and trailer full of our possessions; parked in front of our house (red and white).
The Conclusion
So what made us leave Ontario after 26 years? I like to say it was God. Of course, the support from Family and Friends, the generous hearts in Nova Scotia, and the unforgiving fluid line on the car all contributed to our final decision. I suppose the knowledge that God would provide no matter what decision we made allowed us the freedom to choose, but we believed that if we stayed in our hometown, the urge or call from God to GO would never go away, and we just couldn't deny what we had seen God do. It was Undeniable.
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