ROCANVILLE (Qu’A) — My story doesn’t have a particular light bulb awakening moment, but rather a long process. I won’t get into the long story but I will try to sum it up for easy reading.
When starting my family at a young age, we welcomed our second child to find that they had a congenital heart defect that had put them into heart failure at three months old. After a long road of treatment and surgery we continued to grow our family again, to find that our youngest also was born with congenital heart defect. They too ended up in heart failure.
Thankfully, our two youngest children have had wonderful success in their treatments, but they will need a lifetime of treatments. Our middle child has so far only needed one open-heart surgery as a baby, and is now 13. Our youngest has undergone two surgeries. The second surgery was a miracle fix that has lasted five years already. Even the surgeon and doctors admitted that they have no idea how the surgery worked as well as it has.
Over a short period of time I was faced with the likelihood of incredible tragedies and it seemed that I might lose most of my family. This led me into a deep spiritual journey.
I have witnessed so many miracles that saved members of my family, and even me when, as a teenager, I escaped a house fire with my parents. The miracles just continued to stack up, becoming something I couldn’t ignore, and that’s when I finally gave all of my thanks and gratitude to the Lord.
Thankfully my priest at the time was also a close personal friend, and she walked me into a faith journey with grace, patience and strength. She became my mentor. Rev. Delta Kelly was the most influential spiritual advisor for me. She was the one who piqued my interest in the Scriptures and made me work to look deeper into faith and a calling that she saw plain as day.
Unfortunately she was not able to witness my ordination as deacon. I will always be grateful for her faith in me and the willingness to work through my stubbornness. If it wasn’t for her I would not be where I am today.
The congregations of St. Alban in Moosomin and St. Thomas in Rocanville and Rev. Delta encouraged me to lean into my curiosities and take some classes. This led me to the Qu’Appelle School for Mission and Ministry (QSMM) courses through the diocese.
After a prayer class, I knew without a doubt that God was calling me and I just needed clarity to know how. I was led to some conversations with Archdeacon Catherine Harper and the bishop at the time, Rob Hardwick. They were the ones who got me started in January 2020 towards a local ordination route through the QSMM program. Over the years I took online and in-person classes.
Eventually QSMM joined Emmanuel and St. Chad with the WECAN program. I have completed an LTh program through this process and became locally ordained. I say this because I did not go through typical seminary training, and was completely supported by my congregation and the diocese for the proper education and discernment process.
The Council on Ordained Ministry in the diocese continued to meet with me and help direct me through my education and theological needs. The Diocese of Qu’Appelle is continuing to support me in education as needed.
Through my discernment process I have continued to grow my farm as my husband and I raise purebred Berkshire pigs. We raise dual-purpose pigs for top quality pork but also for conservation purposes. The Berkshire breed is on the Canadian Conservation list for endangered species. I have worked over the years with a multitude of organizations working to continue this breed within Canada.
It is an endeavour of love for these animals, but also a difficult one with a lot of red tape and complications when there are so few people doing this difficult work anymore.
This past year, I have been the deacon in charge of the Saskatchewan Gateway Parish in Moosomin and Rocanville. Being the only clergy in this parish means that I took on more than just deacon’s roles. This past year has allowed me to take on the wonderful opportunity to provide reserve sacrament Eucharist to my congregations, which has been deeply missed for many years.
It has allowed me to provide more pastoral care for those in need now that I am working more with our local ministerial association. I have been able to provide regular services to the local care home in Moosomin and also a devotional Bible study.
I have been able to bring services back to these communities that they have missed for so long. Within this last year I’ve had the joyous opportunity to have four baptisms. It has been a beautiful year with a lot of growth and rejuvenation in my parish. I am pleased to provide a full-time leadership role to my congregations.
I am so honoured to have been supported by so many incredible people throughout this journey. I really don’t think I would have acknowledged God’s calling for me if it weren’t for these wonderful people. Miracles come in ways we don’t even realize sometimes. I am truly blessed to be of service to Christ’s will.
