P
pabloSD
Guest
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
It’s been almost two months since my wife and children had to move to the city of Tijuana, and I had to stay for most of the week in San Diego, in order to wait for my wife’s and daughter’s immigration visa to go through. Our lawyer says that right now it is taking the government about two years to process immigrant visas for Mexicans, so I’m assuming it will be about three years that we will be in this situation. I go see them Wednesdays, and then I spent weekends with them. I can apply for US citizenship in three years, so that also gives us a lot of hope.
Although I see them often, at least three nights a week, I’m suffering a lot. My children are 7 and 2, and I miss them so much. We’re a very close family, my children are used to me putting them to bed, reading to them everyday, playing, spending so much time with them. I cry everyday that I’m alone in San Diego. After they moved, I rented a small apartment, and I feel very lonely. I go to a Bible-study group, friends call me often, and I have many friends at work who are praying for me and my family, but I still feel lonely. I read the Bible every night, which is where I’m getting my strength.
I have several reasons why I worry, why I cry.
First, it is being away from my family. I feel that I’m missing so many days from my children’s childhood. My own father moved to the US when I was a kid, and I never thought this was going to happen to me as an adult, and I feel that it is happening again, to a certain degree. I feel I won’t reach my full potential as the good father I’ve always tried to be for my children because I won’t be seeing them everyday. This hurts my heart so much.
Second, I worry that there might be something that prevents my wife and daughter from getting their green cards. My daughter was born in Tijuana, because, since my wife only had a tourist visa, we didn’t want to take funds from the government, and I couldn’t afford to cover medical expenses at the time. My son was born in San Diego, and I paid more than $10,000 out of my own pocket to cover all the medical expenses. I didn’t take a single penny from the US government.
Third, since I’m a teacher in San Diego, it’s really hard to accept that my daughter will not have a higher-quality level of education as the children I teach daily here. Although she will be enrolling in a private school in Tijuana, the level is not the same as in San Diego. She will be attending school in TJ for second, third, and fourth grade. The nights I will spend at home in Tijuana, I will home-school her for an hour or so each day. She is learning English so fast, she reads and writes, and she’s a very smart little girl, in both languages.
Fourth, the double expenses I now have, having to rent an apartment in San Diego, and paying for my family’s housing in Tijuana. Also, the lawyer, who is considered by many as the number one immigration lawyer in San Diego, is very expensive. This month I have to pay him more than $2,000.
I feel a relief writing all of this. I pray several times throughout the day. But I still feel that I don’t completely trust the Lord.
Please advice, brothers and sisters. I feel so desperate, two weeks ago, the paramedics came to take me from my classroom because I was having a panic and anxiety attack. I’m now taking anxiety medication. It is helping, but it is also making me sleepy.
I pray to Our Lord to give me strength, patience, and wisdom, to be able to overcome these, the hardest days of my life.
I say these things in the sacred name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Amen.
It’s been almost two months since my wife and children had to move to the city of Tijuana, and I had to stay for most of the week in San Diego, in order to wait for my wife’s and daughter’s immigration visa to go through. Our lawyer says that right now it is taking the government about two years to process immigrant visas for Mexicans, so I’m assuming it will be about three years that we will be in this situation. I go see them Wednesdays, and then I spent weekends with them. I can apply for US citizenship in three years, so that also gives us a lot of hope.
Although I see them often, at least three nights a week, I’m suffering a lot. My children are 7 and 2, and I miss them so much. We’re a very close family, my children are used to me putting them to bed, reading to them everyday, playing, spending so much time with them. I cry everyday that I’m alone in San Diego. After they moved, I rented a small apartment, and I feel very lonely. I go to a Bible-study group, friends call me often, and I have many friends at work who are praying for me and my family, but I still feel lonely. I read the Bible every night, which is where I’m getting my strength.
I have several reasons why I worry, why I cry.
First, it is being away from my family. I feel that I’m missing so many days from my children’s childhood. My own father moved to the US when I was a kid, and I never thought this was going to happen to me as an adult, and I feel that it is happening again, to a certain degree. I feel I won’t reach my full potential as the good father I’ve always tried to be for my children because I won’t be seeing them everyday. This hurts my heart so much.
Second, I worry that there might be something that prevents my wife and daughter from getting their green cards. My daughter was born in Tijuana, because, since my wife only had a tourist visa, we didn’t want to take funds from the government, and I couldn’t afford to cover medical expenses at the time. My son was born in San Diego, and I paid more than $10,000 out of my own pocket to cover all the medical expenses. I didn’t take a single penny from the US government.
Third, since I’m a teacher in San Diego, it’s really hard to accept that my daughter will not have a higher-quality level of education as the children I teach daily here. Although she will be enrolling in a private school in Tijuana, the level is not the same as in San Diego. She will be attending school in TJ for second, third, and fourth grade. The nights I will spend at home in Tijuana, I will home-school her for an hour or so each day. She is learning English so fast, she reads and writes, and she’s a very smart little girl, in both languages.
Fourth, the double expenses I now have, having to rent an apartment in San Diego, and paying for my family’s housing in Tijuana. Also, the lawyer, who is considered by many as the number one immigration lawyer in San Diego, is very expensive. This month I have to pay him more than $2,000.
I feel a relief writing all of this. I pray several times throughout the day. But I still feel that I don’t completely trust the Lord.
Please advice, brothers and sisters. I feel so desperate, two weeks ago, the paramedics came to take me from my classroom because I was having a panic and anxiety attack. I’m now taking anxiety medication. It is helping, but it is also making me sleepy.
I pray to Our Lord to give me strength, patience, and wisdom, to be able to overcome these, the hardest days of my life.
I say these things in the sacred name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Amen.