My goal is to give a brief account of how the Lord has been faithful to keep his promise "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which though knowest not." Jeremiah 33:3, and also "The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth." Psalm 145:18, for as the Apostle John wrote: "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen." John 21:25

I was raised in a family where we were encouraged to follow the teachings of the Roman Catholic church. We were never encouraged to read the Bible for ourselves, nor were "sermons" very elaborate (usually sticking to the same passages of scripture year after year, carefully avoiding anything that would contradict church teaching) thus, we were kept in ignorance of the Word of God's true teachings.

I did; however, always believe the Bible was the Word of God, and since I did not know what it truly taught, I never knew what I was following did not line up with God's Word.

In my early teens, I started reading my Bible (after all, if it was God's Word, I should read it for myself!) As I read, many things gave me great concern, and when I would ask my parents or priest about them, it would always be explained-away, apart from the Word of God. That did not sit well with me. After all, if God said it, it surely must be the truth (or as I now quote "God said it. That settles it!")

A neighbor family on one side was Baptist, and there, I would read the Chick Tract "This Was Your Life!" and the book "The Picture Bible", both of which I devoured repeatedly.

When I was around 12, a friend invited me to a Baptist Youth group. My parents, surprisingly, allowed me to go, probably since our church had no youth outreach.

As I listened, for the first time everything I'd read in the Chick Tract and "Picture Bible" came together and made sense. I am a sinner and I deserve Hell, but Jesus, our Lord, died for me! Jesus paid for all my sins! There was absolutely nothing I could do on my own, or that anyone else, or church, could do to get me into Heaven. Jesus had done it all. I could do nothing to earn it, and I could do nothing to keep it. It is a free gift!

Dying, He paid for my sins. Buried, He put them in the grave. Rising, He proved my sins are paid for. My judgment required me to spend eternity in Hell for my sins, but death could not hold Him!

So at the age of thirteen, by myself, I bowed my head, repented (that means to turn away) from my sins and MY Way of going to Heaven and asked the Lord Jesus to save me and take me to Heaven when I die. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16 "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:" John 1:12

I didn't understand much else about how a Christian was supposed to live, but the Lord was gracious, and kept me out of a lot of trouble. I look back now, and it amazes me how much trouble I could have gotten into, but didn't. I am not saying this to boast because I certainly wasn't perfect, and I did get in some trouble, just didn't seem to be nearly as much as others my age. I know now that the Holy Ghost worked in my heart to take the desire for those things away, but all I knew at the time was that there were certain things I did not want to do.

I've learned a lot since then, but still, like the Apostle Paul, I'll say "But by the grace of God I am what I am:" 1 Corinthians 15:10

Now that I was saved, I read my Bible more and more, and serious discontent as to what the Catholic Church taught (and did not teach) continued to grow. By the age of sixteen (1985), when I met Lowell (my future husband), I began attending Mass less and less, but still wanted so much to know more about God. Lowell had been brought up in the United Church, but had gotten saved through Baptist meetings, and definitely did not agree with Catholicism, so we attended Baptist Services here and there.

By the time we were married in 1989, we settled on a Church, got baptized, but never became members and usually only went to Sunday morning services because we were never taught the importance.

When Lowell graduated from the community college, in 1990, as an Avionics Engineer, we moved to the Northwest Territories, God made it pretty obvious where He wanted us to go. Out of 104 resumes, Lowell got ONE job offer. Not knowing we should have checked out if there was a church there, we went. But, yet again, the Lord's hand was guiding our ignorance. For, lo and behold, we found a bright light in those long black Arctic nights: First Baptist Church of Inuvik. It's in that church I learned why the KJV of the Bible is the Word of God. I know the Lord used that little church as a training ground. We were so unlearned!

Up North, He gave me a dear friend, Lois Donley, the Pastor's wife. She helped me through so much. We became so close we could complete each other's sentences. The Lord knew I needed her. Lowell worked so much; I was on my own a lot. Then when we had our first child, Sarah, I really needed help! Lois was on number three, and had the routine down pat. I've thanked the Lord over and over for sending the Donley's there. They were truly a huge blessing.

While we lived up North, we became property managers, and were in a situation were we had to stick at it, because we couldn't afford rent anywhere else (we had a discounted rent for this position). Knowing we couldn't get out of it, and having tenants that were causing serious problems, drove my stress level through the roof! I knew I was near the breaking point, but I kept claiming 1 Corinthians 10:13 "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." So I knew we would be leaving soon. This was spring 1994.

Coupled with this, was knowing the Donley's would be leaving in June because of Lois' health problems.

February 21st, our twins, Brianna & Cynthia, were born. I was shipped out to Yellowknife to a facility better equipped to handle multiple births. It was truly just what I needed at the time. The Lord provided me with much needed stress relief. It hurt to leave Sarah in Inuvik, but I knew some friends there could look after her while Lowell was at work. As added help, the Lord made it possible for my Mom to come up, and I was released the day she landed at Yellowknife airport, for the short 1-hour layover before the plane headed to Inuvik. Funny how God works out all those little details. Coincidences my foot!

We had sent out resumes MANY times over the four years we lived there, but never had any bites, then back in January, we sent one to Kelowna FlightCraft in Kelowna, British Columbia. Lowell just kept bugging the Maintenance Manager, Tony, every month or so because he had been told there would probably be an opening very soon.

This time, we had a good church lined up.

March 17: We were just about to leave for Church, the phone rang, and even before Lowell picked it up, I knew it was Tony, and that we would be leaving soon. It was all I could do to keep from grinning ear to ear the whole church service. I could hardly look at Lowell.

The only regret I had was leaving so many precious people behind, especially Lois. It broke my heart to have to tell her, but then, true to God's promise to look after His children, they ended up being able to leave just two weeks after us, rather than have to wait till June. My Mom was there this whole time, and I had that added help for the move. What a blessing she was!

Lowell arrived in Kelowna just a little over two weeks later, having driven down. Again, God was watching over him too. He literally just missed a catastrophic avalanche between Inuvik and Dawson City, Yukon. He actually had to wait as the snow ploughs cleared the road.

On Easter Sunday, April 4, 1994, my Mother, and now three children, and I, arrived in Kelowna: A new beginning on a fitting day. All this less than one month after I realized I could not handle the situation we were in much longer.

Within a few weeks of being in Kelowna, we were settled in People's Baptist Church, and what a blessing it has been. We quickly grew more and more, and the Lord has given us a family here to rival any blood ties, after all the church is our family in Christ. I thank and praise the Lord so much for all my "sisters" at church. What a blessing they have been. Again, the Lord knew I needed all of them.

In May 1997, I miscarried, but through it all, God's peace reigned. I know where our baby is! Please read my poem Our Little One. It's not spectacular, but I hope it can be a blessing to anyone else who has lost a baby. In June 1998, I gave birth to our fourth daughter, Abigail, then in June 2001, our 5th daughter, Melissa, and in October 2004, our 6th daughter, Carolyn.

It just always seems the Lord has provided the right job, church, and people in our lives, at exactly the right time, even when we were ignorant of what His Word taught. Then again, if you believe His Word, this comes as no surprise. There's so much else I could write about the blessings He has given us:

Other friends; support through sickness and surgery; wonderful housing (along with the precious friends to help on our arduous moves), the down-payment for our home, pets given to us, but best of all - the peace that comes from knowing and trusting His promises.

Three of our 5 children are now saved; three have surrendered to God's will for their lives: 2 to the mission field, one to India, the other to Germany; the other daughter to full time Christian service as a Christian music teacher.

But the greatest gift God has given us is eternal life through Jesus Christ.

I cannot praise my Saviour enough!

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Updated June 11, 2005

For a thorough Biblical presentation on how to be saved today, please visit Our Foundation and God's Simple Plan of Salvation.

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