Release & Embrace

Well, after 19.5 years I have decided to let go of this beauty. Some blessed soul gave us this beautiful gift at a wedding shower. I was eager to cook roasts and many other things in it. To be honest, I have used it once...maybeee twice, but definately not more than that. Yet, along our journey I have packed and unpacked this pan with high hopes of using it as I had seen my mother do so many times growing up. Reality is when we had moved up north I thought how wonderful it would be to have my family come for Thanksgiving dinner. My mom printed out a TURKEY 101 recipe sheet with step by step instructions which were accompanied by actual step by step pictures. (My mom knows me well!) As we were about to embark on our journey home the weekend before thanksgiving my mom said, ‘I even bought you the proper sized turkey!’ This was perfect as I had no idea weight was a major factor in cooking. After I loaded our two children in the van and started pulling out of the driveway my mother came running down the road after me. I thought what in the world is the problem?!Then I noticed the turkey in her hands. Yep, I had buckled in children and left the turkey laying in the laneway. I will never forget her words and tone, ‘If this is any indication of what Thanksgiving will be like I will just do it.’ I laughed much harder than my mom that day!Sure enough the day I was to be preparing the turkey, I was following my photo guide while forsaking the worded instructions. The pictures left out one MAJOR point, The giblets! Ew! Fast forward; my first turkey dinner was nothing short of a Heather fest saved by my mamma. To this day the only gravy I make is from ‘Bulk Barn’, it tastes the same and you just add water 😬.
I’m a good cook but an excellent baker. I love event planning, party food and entertaining. I love theme days but cringe at school projects. Everything in my home needs to be neat and organized in order for me to function. Yet, I can’t keep an agenda, I prefer to have everything chaotically filed in my brain. I strongly dislike taking the children to the park and play dates, but I love organizing outreaches that provide programs for my children and community youth and having coffee with my friends. So in writing today’s encouragement I’m encouraging you to celebrate who you are and what you’re good at, while releasing who you aren’t and what you’re not good at! Today I am embracing purging and releasing pot roast pans. After all why would I compete with one of London’s finest cooks when I can just celebrate her gift and sit at her table!! #27to40 #mamascooking #releaseandembrace

Methods Fail God Doesn't

When we first started in our parenting journey our children always went to the local school in our neighbourhood. We loved volunteering in the class room, going on field trips and getting to know the families in our community. About 7 years into our children’s school journey we faced some issues that weren’t being resolved which forced us to look into other schooling options. The only option we had peace about was homeschool. Seriously, Homeschool?!?! Isn’t that for the crazies? Call me crazy, we homeschooled for 8 years. Jamie was traveling quite a bit during this season which allowed the children to go along for many adventures and experience some incredible things. It allowed us to focus on key values and develop a family culture that was necessary. We met and connected with some incredible families whom I am forever thankful and encouraged by. While homeschooling I often heard people say ‘Homeschoolers shelter their children.’ To be honest, there’s a HUGE difference in being sheltered and being protected. Being sheltered is having no clue what goes on in the outside world. Being protected means getting to experience life with boundaries. The children went to Africa, the Arctic, the islands, many places in the US and so many children’s camps and conferences. They played on sports teams, worked at the food bank and worked on the streets with the homeless. They definitely were not sheltered!
Currently the last batch of our children are in an incredible Christian school. We love it! We love the families, the culture and that the curriculum is rooted in the truth of God’s word.

I’ve heard many debates over the years about Christian School vs. Public School vs. Homeschool. Each has benefits and each presents its challenges.

To tell you the truth each one was incredible in some way for our family. Each family is designed differently, and each one is forging out the path they feel is best. When we homeschooled I remember thinking this was the only sure way to produce a strong Christian child. I believed homeschool was the answer. So when we hit a bump along the way with one of our children I couldn’t wrap my head around how this could happen. I remember sitting with friends being completely shaken. We homeschool, how could this happen? What failed me is that I put my hope in a method not in Christ. I thought if I followed a specific formula it would produce a specific product. There is truth in this to some degree, but it’s not a 100% guarantee.
See, trouble comes when we put our faith in our method over our God. This can happen to many areas of our lives, including; marriages, parenting, stay at home mom, working mom, etc. I believe there are definite keys and principals that set us up for success but if the foundation is rooted in fear coupled with a method it will be tested. So I encourage you as I am encouraging myself to realign specific areas of your life ensuring your Hope, Trust and foundation is in Christ first.

Psalm 84:12 LORD Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you.
#29to40 #methodsfailGoddoesnt

Shine BRIGHT!

Don’t let the manipulation of others silence and dim your light. Be propelled by a pure and genuine heart allowing the Lord to weigh your motives. If you’re motives are pure SHINE BRIGHT! #30to40 #jamesgollquote
Matt 5:16

Come As You Are!

There’s nothing worse than trying to measure up or feeling you have to recreate yourself for someone to like or accept you.

One thing I HIGHLY value and love is when people feel at ease in our presence. No show, just the real them. Come excited, come broken, come rich, come poor.... it doesn’t matter to me, but just come as you are.

When I see this mat in front of our house I can’t help but think of Taylor Townsend. Taylor you are a rare gem, one who could make me laugh, cry and make my jaw drop. You’re one that even if someone tried to put you in a box you’d find a way to bust out of it! I’ve said at least 100x that at least with Taylor you know what you’re dealing with! Thanks for always being raw and real...💛💛💛

I encourage you to find those friendships where you can be yourself, where you can come as you are!

‘He’s still working on me, to make me what I ought to be....... How loving and patient He must be, he’s still working on me.’ #31to40

Be a DOER of the Word!

Many times I’ve wondered why I’ve heard the same message repeatedly at specific times in my life, it’s not that it was necessarily one I needed to hear again as much as it was one I needed to put into practice.

Let’s be doers of the Word, not hearers only. James 1:22.
They will know your my disciples by your love for one another. John 13:35#32to40

Fire Within

When the tough times come, and they do. When disappointment settles in, and it does. When I want to throw in the towel, the fire within me burns. It burns hotter than the fire that surrounds me. The fire within me gives me the strength to go through the valleys. The fire within me burns so deep, longing to continue to see the miraculous. Our family isn’t perfect, we too go through trials and testing, but in those times God gives us the strength and endurance to carry on. It’s in these times where the fire around us is so hot, that we need to fan the internal flame. We need to dig in and lean into the promises God has given to us. It’s in these times I declare Galatians 6:9, Do not grow weary in well doing for in due time you will receive the harvest if you faint not!
Why do I recite this out loud? Because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. #33to40

Genuinely Love People

Genuinely Love People. Ahhh looking through photos I can’t help but gush with joy as I filter through them. 
One thing I have learned and value in my husband is his ability to love people, genuinely. When we were first married I would only really hang out and pursue people who were like me. Same age, same interests, same passions, and it’s fair to say that’s pretty standard in our culture. If people aren’t like us, we don’t naturally go out of our way to connect or get know them. It doesn’t matter the shape, size, class, or ethnicity, Jamie finds a way to connect and build friendships with people. While I valued this in him this was originally harder for me to grasp.
Desiring the Father’s heart I asked God to give me the capability to love people and see people like he does. I don’t want to be known as merely helping people, I want to be the one that befriends people. When we see ourselves as ‘helping’ people as opposed to befriending people we place ourselves in a position that says I value and esteem myself more highly than you. While befriending people allows us to say I’ve got your back and you’ve got mine. When you’re walking through a difficult situation you’re not walking through it alone, and when you’re celebrating, you better call me over for cake! This type of pure genuine love and friendship says I value you for being you, and it allows us to find humour in our quirks and celebrate the diversity in one another.
Over the years whatever social box I tried to put myself in God broke it. The Fathers heart for every person, every class, tribe and nation has captured my heart. I never thought I’d be the one going to the hidden places. The forgotten places or the overlooked places. Whether I’m meeting with influential leaders, community families, people in remote villages or families in the ghetto, I’m so thankful the Love of Christ has transformed my shallow heart into one that oozes a little more like his with pure and genuine love.
I encourage you to join me in praying for The Father’s heart, for a genuine love for all mankind and together we’ll continue to grow and meet all kinds of amazing people who are not like us in many ways, but are more like us than we’d ever know! #34to40 #genuineloveforpeople #1John4:7