Faithful

Last night, Nathan stayed up into the wee hours of the morning, playing Animal Crossing with one of his boys, knowing that he only has a few weeks left to spend with him before we leave. He anticipated sleeping in before a busy day of yard work. We had reached out to friends to help us with the yard work today, in order to get it ready for our landlords. Andrew and Elisa were keen and arrived earlier than expected. Nathan was very tired, but motivated by the love and support of our brother and sister in Christ, he got himself out of bed and off we went to work. Providentially, in the their company, Nathan got an email notification from The Master’s Seminary regarding his scholarship application. We all paused in our work as Nathan read the email out loud. He has been awarded the Richard Mayhue Honours Scholarship. His tuition will be paid for the duration of his studies. What a wonderful and gracious God we have. The final door has swung wide open and we are confident that we will have the funds we need to go now. And what a wonderful moment to share in God’s kindness and grace with Andrew and Elisa. Not more than a few minutes later, more helpers arrived, more family to share our joy with.

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We are close. We only have about $6000 USD to raise. We have our yard sale fundraiser next weekend (June 13th), one final run to the Bottle Depot, and a few more household items to sell. If you would like to contribute please visit our Gofundme page or reach out through our Contact Page

. We will be applying for our Visas very soon. We have given final notice to our landlords and must move out of our home of 7 years by June 30th. We grew as a family here – living almost all of our first 7 years of marriage in this house. We had a birthday dinner recently and it was wonderful to hear the kids reminisce. It will be an emotional departure. 

What then? After we move out, we plan to stay with my dad for a week or so, spend time visiting and saying goodbye to friends and family on Vancouver Island, then we will head to Penticton to visit with my mom for a few days before heading south. We have tentatively secured an apartment in Castaic, CA which is just a few minutes North on the I5 from Santa Clarita. Castaic is home to a huge lake. Our apartment is just around the corner… Nathan is bringing his fishing rod…

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 

Matthew 4:18-20

The other day I came across this poppy gently waving in the wind. It looked terribly out of place in the concrete and chain link fence, but the contrast also made it look all the more beautiful. That is what prompted me to take the photo. I didn’t think much more about it at the time, but when I came across the picture again later, I paused for reflection. This lovely flower exudes grace breaking forth from a prison, the very thing Jesus does on our behalf.

It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

Galatians 5:1

There are many things happening all at once these days. The clock keeps ticking, we are leaving Victoria in 8 weeks, and, as each day passes, we are finding more that needs to be done and less and less time to do it–all of this, occurring during a global pandemic and a great deal of uncertainty as to how this will all unfold. This little poppy, bright and beautiful was like a signpost or flag, waving me down, giving me pause, helping me to notice the little things, the moments of beauty, glimpses of God in His creation, and reminding me of His promises in a busy time: He is with me, my confidence is in Him, He is caring for me, and He will provide for all my needs.

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:10

We are in a critical time for fundraising. In a few short weeks we will be applying for our F1 and F2 visas. It is at that time we need to show we have enough funds to live in California for a year. Nathan is completing a scholarship application that, should the Lord grant it, it will be a huge help towards our visa application. We have raised approximately $14000 CAD to date. We will need about $40000. We have begun the process of selling our personal items (furniture, 2nd vehicle etc.) and continue to collect refundable cans and bottles. We are also selling some of our yard sale donations online and hope BC’s Restart Plan will allow us to have an actual yard sale soon. We have a ways to go in order to have enough funds, but God has already provided in abundance and we trust that He will continue to do so. Would you please consider supporting us as we seek to serve God together, please contact us here or donate through our Gofundme page. Please note, our Gofundme page only reflects a small portion of the funds raised. Keep us also in prayer. Specifically, that our 4 adult children will be settled with their college, university and job plans, that Nathan, Keely and I would find confidence and peace in God as we walk through this uncertain time, that God would make our path clear and remove obstacles preventing us from going, that God would provide for our needs including the funding needed to apply for our visas and most importantly that God would be glorified in our lives. Thank you for your prayers and support.

Nathan and I were talking about food the other night, reminiscing about favourite dishes and how food becomes a part of who we are. For Nathan: borscht, zwieback, and rollkuchen connect him to his Giesbrecht roots. Lasagna, blackberry juice, bran muffins, and roast chicken with gravy remind him of his mom. Pork chops with mushroom soup take him back to his childhood and dinners with his dad and Danny. 

For me? Orange cake, roast beef dinner with Yorkshire pudding, and Manhattan clam chowder claim my heart and memories of my mama and papa. The importance of a good chocolate chip cookie comes from the best chocolate chip cookies maker, Sally, my childhood babysitter. My mom’s raisin cookies take me back to the happiest time of my childhood. Peanut butter toast debates – butter or no butter underneath, Uncle Kriss?!

What food dishes are part of who you are? 

Food holds memories for us, and so do the people we share food with. My mama had an ernie jar in her kitchen. It was always full of something…usually cookies, but if the cookies ran out she would put saltine crackers in it so the grandchildren wouldn’t be disappointed when they put their hands in. Mama danced in her kitchen a lot too. It was more steps and less twirling…. I would call it a step-ity step with this unmistakable laugh, cheeks rosy. I never really saw her mad – though that’s likely due to the fact that I just always got grandma love. (Dad and my aunts and uncles might have seen her upset a time or two! Haha). But I do remember my papa relentlessly teasing her, to which she would say in an exasperated tone.. “Tom!”  Then it was usually back to her rosy step-ity stepping self. I miss her. Not sure how I ended up on this train of thought. But here I am. See how food does that…takes us down these rabbit holes of memories? And just like the food they are associated with, they satisfy us.

And then there is bread. The Bread. The Bread of life. Jesus is the bread of life. 

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

John 6:35

In Him there is life – a deeply rich and satisfying eternal life. When we come to Him in faith alone, and turn from our sin, He gives us forgiveness. By His sacrifice on the cross, He takes away the punishment intended for us, covers us in glorious white robes – forgiven, and makes us sons and daughter to the King of the universe. Citizens of heaven. Eternal life. And until the day comes that He returns and takes us into glory, He satisfies our hearts and minds by the grace and love He has given us and in the hope of our future glory in eternity with Him. By faith in Him we will never be hungry and we will never thirst. 

“My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:19

“But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

John 4:14

Update:

We continue to plan for our move this summer. All signs seem to point to an August start on campus in Los Angeles. Nathan is preparing for his Greek Final and applying for a scholarship. We continue to fundraise. You should see the pile of refundable to return! Praise the Lord for the generosity of others in donating them to us. Ten cent cans add up quickly when they are coming to us in large garbage bags! We are waiting patiently in anticipation of social distancing restrictions to be loosened. As more things open up we will set a date for our MASSIVE moving sale. We plan to ensure health and safety with lots of hand sanitizer at this event. We are incredibly encouraged and amazed by cash and Gofundme donations – they are an incredible blessing to us as God provides for us through so many people. We can not thank you and our gracious God enough!!  Please find our Gofundme here or contact us directly here if you would like to donate. Please continue to pray for us as God reveals His plan for us.

We continue to get many questions about our plans to move for Nathan to attend seminary this fall. People are wondering if COVID-19 has impacted us as we prepare to move to Los Angeles. Many people are wondering if we will need to change our plans – or cancel them. Truthfully, really only God knows what the future holds. We can’t predict how things will unfold. God is sovereign and totally in control – so we are trusting Him and know He will make our path clear. In the meantime, we continue to prepare to move to California for Nathan to attend fall semester. We are excited to report he has registered for his fall classes and we have begun applying for a home to rent. We have also been in touch with the seminary and were happy to learn that the student visa process is actually very simple and we have until JULY to complete the application process! This means we have more time to raise funds-which is very helpful considering current economic challenges with COVID-19. We have received several more items for our garage sale (postponed until it is safe to do so) and the refundable cans and bottles are starting to really pile up again (probably more than $200 worth-we need to count and return this bunch soon). We welcome more donations, just contact us and we can arrange for safe pick up or drop off. We are also very grateful for another $250 in cash donations since our last post. You can find our Gofundme here or email us via our contact page (most funds have been donated directly and not through Gofundme, so it does not reflect total raised which is currently over $12000). We appreciate your prayers as we wait on the Lord for next steps. Continue reading below for Nathan’s thoughts…

From Nathan

Since the exodus, Israel was waiting for their Messiah. David was a man after God’s own heart in large part because he waited on the Lord (props to Ray Meringher!). He could have stuck a knife in Saul’s back; instead, he just gave him a trim off his garment. Thousands of years have passed and now those who have put their trust in the Messiah for salvation are waiting for His return in glory. Nathan waited about 7 years to go to The Master’s Seminary campus, and this year we made the commitment, and we were firing on all cylinders to make it happen, watching God’s marvelous providence unfold and then…Wait! And now we are waiting just to be able to have fellowship with our Christian brothers and sisters in person…and we can’t wait, so to speak… 

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable…Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary”.

Isaiah 38–41

All this waiting has caused us to focus on the patience of God this week. Peter tells us that “the Lord is not slow about His promises as some count slowness”… and to “regard the patience of our Lord as salvation” (2 Pet 3). God endures countless sins against Him each day, in order to continue to offer His free gift of salvation to “whoever believes in [His Son, Jesus]” (John 3:16). I couldn’t help but wonder, is God waiting for something to happen before his Son returns to take his church to glory and judge the world? The answer is in the Bible. 

He is waiting for me (and all Christians) to be faithful to carry out the priority mission of the church: tell people the good news that Jesus Christ alone can save you, and that Jesus Christ alone will save you.

Our main purpose for going to the Master’s Seminary is to gain the best possible teaching in expository preaching and bible interpretation that is available SO THAT, we may be faithful to the call to do the work needed for that redemptive plan of God to be consummated. We want to go to TMS so we can be maximally effective in the work of equipping God’s people for the work of the Gospel (rom 1:16; Rom 10:17). We want to see souls brought to glory through the glorious good news that Jesus is risen, proving that He is the only Saviour of the world, just as He unapologetically and repeatedly claimed. 

When I think of it that way, we can wait. But we are not standing idle, we are preaching the Gospel now, we are serving the Church now. It’s all-hands-on-deck time right now. The chopper is not leaving the jungle until all the troops are safely on. So, let’s get off the chopper and help get them safely on by telling them the truth concerning Jesus Christ, so they may believe it and be saved (Rom 10:17; 1 Pet 1:23; Jam 1:18). We are (by grace) waiting on the Lord, because His timing is impeccable. We pray that the Lord will shower His grace on you as you consider us in your own challenging lives right now. Knowing that we have your support, we continue to pray, now more than ever, that He will bless our ambition with provision (not just materially but in wisdom), and that the reason for any of these activities will be to bring the most glory to the Lord Jesus as is possible with our lives, even if that means waiting. 

Its been 2 weeks of physical distancing. 2 weeks of avoiding close contact with friends, family and loved ones not living in our home. 2 weeks of virtual visits. 2 weeks of awkward grocery store shopping. 2 weeks of neighbourhood walks and going for drives. 2 weeks of projects around the house – my kitchen has never been cleaner! 2 weeks of wondering what work might look like after Spring Break – school buildings are closed but ‘classes’ will continue! 

2 weeks… and its likely to continue for quite some time. Physical distancing and ‘stay at home’ orders have changed the way we live and interact. And for me, this global pandemic has brought to light how I live and interact with God. Not surprisingly, I have been woefully inattentive to my dear Saviour. ‘Life’ always seems so busy! But these 2 weeks have shaken and rearranged the items on my priority list. 

This unexpected shift in my day to day is a welcome change. But change is hard at the best of times. It is easy to get caught up in the news and drama of life in a COVID-19 reality. Worry and fear nip at our heals. We all handle these feelings in different ways. Me? I am finding comfort and assurance in Jesus and the eternal hope I have in His punishment and death on the cross for my sin and His subsequent resurrection in which I was also raised again in new life. 

“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

Romans 6:4

God did not promise an easy life. He did not promise there would not be trials or pain. He did not promise that no bad things would happen. In fact, he tells us that they will – and they would be used to grow us in faith and sanctify us to be more like Christ.

“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

James 1:2-4

This new reality has driven me to prayer, to seek His word and know Him better, and find peace, joy and hope in my standing as a child of God.

“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God”

John 1:12

God has used this strange time, to draw me closer to Him and trust Him more. I hope he does the same for all of you.

Seminary Update

Fishing is an excellent physical distancing activity…no one else was on the lake.

We have had several people ask us what COVOD-19 means for our plans to move to California so Nathan can attend The Master’s Seminary. At the moment, our plans are unchanged. We don’t know how things will unfold over the next weeks and months, and until there is a concrete reason to change those plans, we are continuing to prepare to move this summer. Nathan registers for his fall on campus courses next week and we continue to fundraise. As previously mentioned, we have flexibility in our timelines, so we are waiting to apply for our visa’s and our garage sale has been postponed until later this spring when physical distancing measures are over. Nathan is diligently studying and enjoying his Greek course and he has been grateful for opportunities to preach at our church. We are thankful for your encouragement and support, and for God’s grace to give us this opportunity. Please continue to pray for us as we entrust ourselves to the Lord’s plan for us. 

Psalm 46:1-3

“I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance , I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

Philippians 4:12-13

From Nathan:

I used to get a real kick out of when our worship team made mistakes, or when the soundboard started glitching, or when the power would go out in the middle of a service, or someone would hit a “dubious choice” of chords. Those were the moments when I would experience the pinnacle of worship because I realized how flawed people are and how inadequate we are to be called children of God. The moment we realize our insufficiency we can, and should, turn immediately to the perfections of Jesus Christ who is the Author and Finisher of our faith. When all of our greatest plans just don’t seem to be having the intended result, it should drive us to seek the Lord and to lay down our self sufficiency and trust completely in God’s plan, power and purpose in all things. While we are still motivated and working hard towards putting together the resources and family changes needed to go to seminary this fall, what we used to call “curveballs” on the worship team (in human terms; things that stress us out or become barriers) are arising in life, with the Corona virus fears and the possibility of a delay in our move. Obstacles are not a means to slow us down, or deter us, or even stop us. They are an opportunity for us to exercise true faith in God, turn to Him for guidance and submit to His will being revealed through providence – even when it seems like a tough situation. God is always good, no matter the circumstance and God cares much less about the circumstances we are in, than our hearts as we respond to those circumstances. We remain diligent in our pursuit to accomplish the move this fall, but if there is a delay we know that it is a good thing, because God causes causes all things to work together for good, to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Rom 8:28).

For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not yet see, we wait for it patiently.

Romans 8:24-25

Fundraising Update

Our fundraising is on track, with a few more financial donations, a huge amount of garage sale donations and can and bottle donations. We are also grateful for the opportunities God has given both Nathan and me to have extra work over spring break. The money earned from these unexpected but welcomed opportunities will go directly to our fundraising effort! We do however, think it is wise to extend our fundraising efforts and wait to apply for our visas until later this spring (instead of early April as originally planned). We are grateful that there is enough flexibility in our timelines, that we can be patient to see how this situation with COVID-19 turns out. In an effort to support social distancing as requested by our government, we are postponing the garage sale for the time being. We will keep everyone posted about a new date. We will continue to collect refundable cans and bottles and sell some of our things online. Click here for our GoFundMe.

“for we walk by faith, not by sight–we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.”

2 Corintians 5:7

To say “moving across borders requires careful planning” is an understatement. But if we put the endless details to be sorted out aside, and just consider the transition from 5 bedroom house and years of accumulating stuff for a family of 7 to a small 2 bedroom apartment for 3 people. It is a massive job. And here’s the thing, we really have very little we need to hang on to. We are pretty much selling everything we own. The sale of items will help us raise money for our time in California and take away the burden of figuring out where to store it. For the most part, it has been an encouraging and exciting process.

This weekend, I embarked on a huge project. I began selling things I had collected during my 21 years (so far) as an educator. I have a ridiculous amount of stuff that wasn’t being used in my current position. This has proven to be a bit of an emotional and bittersweet process. For almost my entire adult life I have been a teacher. I have loved my career and each book and each item carries with it cherished memories. It feels incredibly strange to let it go. Christina, the teacher, is no more… Letting go of my old self, and putting on a new self…

Ephesians 4:22-24 says, ” to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,  and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” This whole process of selling our belongings, and ‘putting away’ our old lives and starting fresh, reminds me of the work Christ has done in my life. He has given me a new heart, and a new spirit (2 Corinthians 5:17). My new self is committed to Jesus Christ, my Lord and Saviour. My new self is committed to the path God lays before Nathan and me—a path which appears, at the moment, to end up in California.

My teaching things are just ‘stuff’ and, in the end, the memories and time they represent are safely stored in my heart. But they too will have ‘new life’ with many different people. I am grateful that they will be put to good use and my heart was warmed to receive messages and pictures of some of the books already being enjoyed!

Garage and Bake Sale a Go!

Our Garage Sale is confirmed for Saturday, March 28th from 10-4 at our home. Check back here soon for more details and address. Some friends have kindly offered to bake goods to help raise funds and will sell them at the garage sale, so come with an empty stomach! Please pray for good weather so we can be outside! We have been overwhelmed by donations (Literally! We can barely walk from the bathroom to the bedroom there are so many boxes of items). It is amazing and we are so thankful to God for the many ways he provides for our needs. Our deepest thanks to everyone who has donated.

Fundraising Update

The last few days have been a whirlwind as we have been selling all my teaching supplies. So far this sale has raised nearly $1500! I haven’t had time to do a precise count, but it looks like we have raised about $12,000 so far. We still have a ways to go, but we are feeling very optimistic. God has blessed us with a number of ways to raise the money, including by providing work opportunities for us, garage sale donations, our bottle drive, and through the generous financial support of many people.

We need to prepare to apply for our Student Visas in April, so we hope to have the majority of the funds by the end of the month. There isn’t much time left, but nothing is impossible for God. If you are considering supporting us, even in a small measure, you can find our Gofundme Page here or contact us here.

Waiting is hard and in this fast-paced world, it is very easy to become accustomed to instant gratification. Everything is at our fingertips at a moments notice. But we do have to wait sometimes. In a line up at the grocery store. On hold during a telephone call. Plane delays. Sailing waits at the ferry terminal (for us Vancouver Islanders). Waiting for the cookies to come out of the oven. Sitting through commercials on TV (am I dating myself?). Fishing. There are many reasons we have to wait and the amount of waiting we do is equally variable. But is there a measure for how much waiting is acceptable or not?  Let me give you an example… 

In the first hour and a half we noted that there didn’t seem to be a pattern to the number/letter combos that were being called up. We also noted varying attitudes and expressions by other folks waiting in the waiting area. It was a strange display of stoic, sad, and tired mixed with increasing frustration, tension and anxiety. Parents entertained bored children and many people were transfixed on their mobile phones. 

Admittedly, at around 2 hours I too, became a little agitated. I sighed under my breath. I studied the number board with great determination to try and predict how much longer we would have to wait. Keely sat beside me, head on my shoulder, halfway between napping and playing a game on her phone. Nathan was studying for his Greek course. I had hope. It had been 2 hours…surely we would be soon. I mustered up an extra sliver of patience and quietly waited.

At about 2 hours and 30 minutes I was started to become unravelled. I whispered some complaint. Nathan gave me an encouraging smile and muttered something about some verse he was studying. Keely had begun asking, “how much longer?” with greater intensity. I could feel frustration begin to boil. At quite a loss for what to do next, I opened the Bible app on my phone, and started reading Philippians – the book I am studying with a group of women from my church. It wasn’t long before I came upon Philippians 2:14, “do all things without grumbling or disputing.” That gave me pause, and I considered an earlier verse, Philippians 2:3, “do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”

I looked around and realized there were a lot of people here, and I didn’t know anything about them! I didn’t know why they were here, what their stories were, why they were waiting, what kind of day the employees were having and what was going on in their lives. I was just focused on my desire to get the passports finished and get out enjoy some of the sunshine that had been so rare in the last couple months. But I was reminded of Christ, and His example of humility. That “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men…he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2: 6-8).

God, in His great and unfathomable love for us, is more patient than we can ever comprehend. Enduring our ignorance and rebellion, God is patient with us, so that all whom He has called, can hear His words, Repent, and Believe in the saving work of Jesus Christ.

“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

In that moment I was humbled. Here we were waiting to get our passports processed SO THAT we could move to California for Nathan to complete his Seminary training and commit our lives to serving the Lord in Ministry together – and I was irritated that I had to wait! How long did the Lord wait for me to repent and believe?  36 YEARS. I could certainly wait a few hours with a calm and gentle spirit. 

I was thankful to God in that moment. It was a little lesson in patience and humility. Ultimately we waited almost 4 hours. Perhaps a bit long, but in light of eternity, it is a blink of an eye that brings us one step closer to our move to California, and for me, a glimpse at the incredible Grace we are given in Christ.

Gratitude

We have been blessed this week with 2 very generous donations for our Garage Sale! Below is a photo of a mountain around our dining room table from one of the donations. The other donation is large furniture, so we can’t even pick it up yet! It is very exciting and we know these donations will help make our garage sale a huge success. While we have a couple possibilities, we are still looking for a place to hold the sale, preferably with little to no cost and with a covered area to keep us out of the spring west coast weather. 

There is just 4 weeks left to our deadline! We hope to be close to our $40,000 goal by the end of March, in order to apply for our Student Visa’s. We are about a quarter of the way!! Donations can be made for our Garage Sale and to our Bottle Drive – we can pick up! You can view and donate on our Gofundme Page here or to us directly. Contact us here. Thank you for your prayers!

It was almost 15 years ago on Christmas day that I raced home to see my dad take his last breath. I was not a Christian at the time, far from it. The grief of losing dad devastated me and my family into absolute ruin for three years. One of the greatest regrets in my life was that my dad never got to meet Christina and see me saved. I have fond memories of my dad studying the Bible every night and loving to tell people about Jesus. But I did not know Jesus when my dad died. Last month, a man that I called dad for the last 40 years, David Stewart also passed away. It has been a very different experience. Because with the passing of David, I knew he was going into glory. In 2010 the Lord called me out of darkness and into the kingdom of His dear Son and adopted me as a child of light. God forgave my sin and granted me eternal life on the basis of Jesus Christ’s perfect, sinless life offered in my place 2000 years ago. God gave me, through the powerful Gospel found in the Bible, faith to trust in that sacrifice of Jesus, Who was raised to life from the grave and is alive today.

My dad would be so proud of me now, as David was, right to the end, to see the wonderful wife God has given me and to see that we are now going to the Master’s Seminary to gain the tools to spend the rest of our lives serving the King of glory as a pastor/ preacher. When I reflect on my future, I reflect on my past. I want to praise the glory of God’s rich grace. As I grieve the tough loss of David, I actually have joy. Joy in knowing Christ and joy in knowing David had been saved by Christ. And I know that I am going to see my Heavenly Father, the Lord of all creation and the Lord of sovereign grace in whom I find my refuge…and my greatest delight….and my greatest desire to serve. As we approach moving to seminary I am still feeling the pain of loss but still celebrating the truth of the good news of Jesus Christ which both my dad and David, both of whom were my dads, believed and trusted. Not only will I spend the rest of this life remembering God’s grace in their lives to save them, but I will spend the rest of my life preaching the truth of Jesus Christ as the only means of escaping God’s wrath and entering into glory for eternity.

Christ alone can save. By Grace alone, through Faith alone. According to Scripture alone. for God’s Glory alone. And when my days are done preaching the Gospel, I will enter into eternal rest, worshipping my Heavenly Father in the power of the Holy Spirit and in the name of the son of God Jesus Christ along side of Frank Giesbrecht and David Stewart, two of the greatest men I ever met.

“More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for Whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish, so that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8).

“But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14).

The few of the little things that brought me joy this week… Christina

A Song.

A Verse.

“I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer.” Psalm 18:1-2

A Valentine.

Another Verse.

“in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thess 5:18

A Book.

An Update.

Our Fundraising has taken a big leap this week! We are nearly a quarter of the way to our $40,000 goal with just over $9000 raised. We continue to be amazed at the generosity of others and God’s grace and provision. We are extremely grateful. Six weeks have passed since we began fundraising. It is our hope to be close to our goal by the end of March. That leaves six more weeks!

To view our Gofundme page click here.

We are tentatively planning a garage sale for either March 7th and/or March 28th. More info to come. If anyone is willing or able to help us with this, please let us know! We continue to collect donations as well as cans and bottles.