I left home at an early age and struggled with low self-esteem and anger.  In my mid 20’s - after a very self-destructive stage fuelled by a search for answers, acceptance and love - I turned a corner and determined to not allow myself to be defined by my upbringing.  I resolved to rise above my past and make something of myself.  I worked very hard to achieve what I thought would bring success and happiness.  By 1991, I was with a wonderful man and we were at the apex of what (by worldly standards) we thought should bring total satisfaction (great job, new home, world travel). But all the possessions and the power and the prestige didn’t satisfy, and we still had a sense that something was missing.  It was in a moment of pondering this, that Christ broke through.  When we opened our minds, hearts and souls to God, he was waiting.  He led us to a wonderful bible-teaching, Christ-centered church and a Pastor who became our teacher and friend.   After a few months of intense bible study with him, we were baptized and married.  God blessed us with a very special church family.  A place to feel connected and loved…as I never did in my earthly family.

Since that time, I would need a hundred more pages to describe all the ups and downs that have occurred, and how faithful God has been through it all.   2002 and 2003 were truly awful years.   My husband Frank passed away after a brave fight with brain cancer and I also lost my Mum, my Dad-in-Law, my Mum-in-Law and our home (in the Okanagan Mountain fire) within 9 months on either side of Frank’s death.  Through it all, I came to the realization that when you experience the depths of darkness, no one else but God can sustain you – or comfort you – or heal you.  There is no strength other than His capable of pulling you back into life.   I discovered an unshakable acceptance of the Lord’s will and timing.  And even though since coming to Christ, I have acknowledged and praised him for his hand on my life, it is only in these last years that I have fully surrendered to Him and fully trusted His mercy and grace.

Since that time, the Lord has also blessed me in a way I never imagined.  He brought an incredible man into my life who had also lost his spouse (Kathy) to cancer.   I married Don Embury May 15, 2005.   From the first time we had lunch together, I saw “the fruits of the spirit” (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control) in him more than anyone else I have ever known.  I am richly blessed to be his wife and a Mum to his daughters.

My life verse is from Proverbs 3: 5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight”.

The Lord has now led us both to KGF and we are so excited to be part of this wonderful church family, to learn and to serve alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ.