A Dream Unfolds

It was the summer of 2022 when we decided to start pursuing our dream of traveling the world. Barry and I had spent 3 weeks at a retreat with Fatherheart Ministries when we felt the call to prepare for our “big adventure.”  After waiting over a decade we were eager to start planning but this “big adventure” also came with a host of questions. “How would we pay for such a trip? Who would rent our house? Who would watch our dog” And on and on it went. Instead of letting this overwhelm us we felt to take each hurdle bit by bit trusting that if God was calling us to such a big dream then He would surely light the way.. After some praying and deliberating we decided to tackle the first hurdle of increasing our finances.

I would go on to spend the next few months updating my skills and applying for travel nursing jobs either in Canada or the US.  It was a big decision to leave my family for a month but one that we all made together. As always, we wanted to make sure each of our kids had a voice and an opportunity to be heard. With everyone in agreement, I signed on with a travel agency.

In March of 2023,  I took my first month-long travel nursing contract in Miramichi, New Brunswick. I was overwhelmed by the graciousness of the staff to not only take me in but their immense capability to care for such extremely sick patients without all of the luxuries we are afforded in a big city. The team was some of the best I’ve ever worked with and after only 2 weeks the unit felt like home. 

I was taken aback with the kindness of the maritimers.  On one of my days off I stopped by what had become my favorite coffee shop for what I thought would be a quick stop. I left almost two hours later and with a group of new friends. Everyday around 10:00 am a group of retirees would gather to hang out and drink coffee. It wasn’t five minutes before I was pulled into their group and began sharing my story with everyone. I connected with one couple in particular, Pat and Adeline, right from the start. When I told them I was considering returning in June they offered to let me live in their basement. Their generosity was overwhelming. God was opening doors that I didn’t even know needed to be opened. 

The experience was not only beneficial but so positive that, as a family, we decided I would go back in June for a month. Our ideas and sense of adventure began to grow and our plans quickly changed from me just going to considering the idea of us all going. Soon after we made the decision that Barry and the kids would drive across Canada in our Sprinter van and join me after their schooling ended in the beginning of July. 

Within the first two weeks of me returning home in April, we relazied the scope of what we needed to accomplish before we left for the summer. We had also made the decision to Airbnb our home which meant that the last of the renovations we had been putting off needed to get finished. Railings, new decking, painting rooms and purging. You name it, we did it. The two months went by fast as every day was spent on planning and preparing for our time away. We were so incredible grateful to our amazing friends who came over and scrubbed windows, decluttered and helped take care of kids. 

On June 4th I headed out east and started back on the unit on June 5th.. I hadn’t even been working for two weeks  when my  youngest daughter’s appendix burst back home in Alberta. She was incredibly brave but my heart ached to not be able to be by her side. The very next morning I was rear-ended while on my way to work. My time back in the Maritimes was off to a rocky beginning but we were grateful that we only had to wait two weeks before we were together again. I ended up taking two weeks off to manage the whiplash I had incurred while my husband was solo parenting and taking care of our daughter who ended up being hospitalized for the week due to infection. Once again, we were so grateful for our amazing community who surrounded our family and brought by meals, and helped with getting our kids to and from school.

Thankfully the following weeks flew by and I was able to welcome the rest of my clan on July 2nd. We would spend the following 3 months living in Miramichi and exploring the beauty of the maritimes on my long stretches off. 

Even before we had left for New Brunswick we had a sense that this trip would be like a dry run, preparing us for the greater adventure to come. And honestly, it was. Everything we experienced, all the highlights but even more so, the difficult times, not only grew us in resiliency but brought us closer together than we had ever been before. Our time in New Brunswick would prepare us far more than we ever would have expected.

– The future belongs to those who believe in their dreams –