about me

Thank you for visiting, friends! I’m so glad you've come across this little virtual space of mine. I started blogging in July 2007 when mom-blogging was all the hype. I've written on here about my faith, my family and my favourite things! 

These days, I'm not actively blogging on here anymore. Instead, I am writing shorter thoughts and reflections over on Instagram. I hope to see you over there!

I am a daughter of the King and I love Jesus. I am on a hunt for grace-gifts in my every-days… counting my many blessings, naming them one by one!

I am married to Floyd, my best friend, the man my soul loves. He is the better half, the wind beneath my wings, the grace of my life… a man who “fears the Lord, who greatly delights in His commandments.” ~ from Psalm 112:1 NASB.

I am mama to two amazing young adults, the #twogreatsibs — Alyssa and Jon.

May 1991: When we started dating.

Summer 2017

Summer 2017

Alyssa found her calling as a Communicator when she hosted True Story: What God wants us to do about poverty, Compassion Canada's youth curriculum designed to help teens discover their role in God’s story of restoring the world. She is a graduate of the International Development Studies (Co-op) Program at the University of Toronto's Centre for Critical Development Studies. She now works as the External Communications Manager for a national environmental non-profit.

Jon is the genius of the family. He has held the North American Record for the one-handed solve of the 3x3 cube at 7.57 seconds (2nd best time in the world at that time). He is a graduate of the Engineering Science program at the University of Toronto where he majored in Machine Intelligence. He is now a Software Engineer at a multinational software corporation.

We are a family that seek to live out Micah 6:8 each day… believing that compassion is a command, an act of worship... our song of thanks to our Heavenly Father!

In my spare time, I love to read and I love to garden!

Christmas 2017

Archives of our family's annual year-end newsletters:

1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000

2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005

2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010

2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015

2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020

2021 | 2022 | 2023 

Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly with God.

~ Micah 6:8

************

Eucharisteo means "to give thanks," and give is a verb, something that we do. God calls me to do thanks. To give the thanks away. That thanks-giving might literally become thanks-living. That our lives become the very blessings we have received.

I am blessed. I can bless. Imagine! I could let Him make me the gift!

I could be the joy!

In an endless cycle of grace, He gives us gifts to serve the world. This is how to make a life great and eucharisteo embarks us on the path: "Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave" (Matthew 20:26-27).

It's the fundamental, lavish, radical nature of the upside-down economy of God.

Empty to fill.

Here I can become the blessing, a little life that multiplies joy, making the larger world a better place.

God can enter into me, even me, and use these hands, these feet, to be His love, a love that goes on and on and on forever, endless cycle of grace.

~ Excerpts from Chapter 10, One Thousand Gifts, Ann Voskamp.

************

I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc, is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditure excludes them.

~ C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.