You didn’t come this far to stop

Sometimes it helps to know someone's story, to know what they've been through. It definitely helps me know if they can relate with me and most of all, vulnerability builds trust - which is the bedrock of healthy human connection. So here we go, here's my life in a nutshell!  I grew up with my mom, dad and older sister in the centre of the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Yup, city girl here!

I grew up in what felt like a single parent home because though my father was physically with us, he was emotionally and mentally absent...and an alcoholic. Growing up with an absent father left me bitter and angry, it didn't help that he wasn't the greatest husband either.

In my teenage years, my home life was volatile and my grades showed it. I began to stand up to my dad more and more until one night, in a drunken fit, I stood up to him and he threatened to hurt me with a knife to my throat. It was that day that my heart grew bitterly dark.

In my early twenties, my parents had thankfully divorced and I thought I was free. During these college years, I flung myself into a life of partying and promiscuity, finding value and confidence in my social status. I remember during these years I also secretly and deeply struggled with homosexuality - and this was before the LGBTQ stuff was so socially acceptable! Having no one to talk to about it, I just quietly wrestled with it for years...

Until I began working with a Christian inner-city urban missionary organization where I met my husband. I had started volunteering there because I hit rock bottom in life and was trying to get my life together. Our story alone is nothing short of miraculous, but I remember for our first date he invited me to his church for a conference!! I was new in coming back to the Lord so wasn't ready for that much Jesus, but I sure admired his pure and passionate worship for God. Definitely had never met a Christian guy like that! I remember not even knowing what peace was back then but I just knew I needed whatever it was he had.

It was through going to his church where I found healing and true freedom. I went to every healing retreat, every conference, every equipping workshop I could get to. I became hungry for the Lord very quickly and consequently grew quickly in my faith! In those years, I reunited with my father who had also gotten plugged into a church and found healing himself.  Sadly, he passed away from leukemia just shy of Jon and I's wedding. I am thankful to have had a good year with the father I had always wanted.

Fast forward to being newly married and our first 6 months were a doozy...Jon of course doesn't see it that way but I know how bad it was!  I feel like any major step I took in life whether in career or personal life usually started out with growing pains!  Growing and maturing does that!  Marriage brought out things that didn't show up while we were dating  - fear of conflict, insecurities, lack of self-worth, performance, the list of brokenness went on and on!

Thankfully there was a Restoring the Foundations (RTF) workshop and they needed a married couple to demonstrate how they pray for healing. I shot my arm up so fast!  I was not leaving there until we got help!  They were able to discern that some of our disagreement was from unhealed areas of our lives (brokenness) and some was from Satan attacking us. They had "eyes to see" like it talks about throughout the Bible (Matthew 13:9-16, Ephesians 1:18-20).  

Since that day I was hooked.  The teacher in me thought whatever that was, I need to learn it for future problems!  I began crying out to God for the gift of discernment, an anointing for deliverance, every spiritual gift and weapon I needed to not only help myself but others. 

RTF has consistenly helped us in so many stages of our lives and marriage...especially parenthood! That was another doozy that brought up other messy parts of myself like I didn't know I had anger issues!  Thankfully I was armed with the resources and tools to know how to work through it.

My Own Story

It was when my husband and I worked at a summer camp being the pastor of leaders that I realized my calling in healing and deliverance. Some of the male counsellors had experienced some deep trauma at the camp and they had never properly dealt with it. I told them I might know something that will work and tried RTF with them and whaddya know!?! They didn't just get healed, they got transformed - which is what the Bible calls wholeness. Healing in their body, soul and spirit. Well, one guy told the next guy and before you know, we were able to minister to a lot of the young men who were affected by the trauma. The deep joy and fulfillment I felt, the way I came alive in helping others come back to life - I knew after that summer that healing was a big part of my life's calling.

I continued to grow in knowledge and understanding through many mentors, conferences, books and training workshops.

It's now been a bit more than a decade of being in full-time ministry as a missionary and being able to minister to people - young and old - all around the world in different languages.  The proven success I've seen working with RTF's healing model is undeniable. The power of God's ability to meet someone in their mess - no matter how big their mess is - is undeniable!  And it has been a humbling honour to truly be the hands and feet of Jesus, a privilege I do not take lightly.

So ya, I don't have any big degrees, no letters after my name.  I did do a counselling school through a missions organization a couple years ago that brought me into another level of understanding, knowledge and experience. But man, being obedient to create this website caused major insecurities to come up because of my lack of earthly credentials. God reminded me that He's called me and equip me, that I have nothing to feel ashamed about.  And honestly, I seem to be the one people call when they've tried every other professional method and I've learned to be ok with that. I realize I help people in a way that is different than most, I don't use a one-size fits all kind of formula.  I also don't specialize in any specific issue, I've helped people with various degrees of spiritual, physical or emotional suffering. 

My desire is to not just help someone find wholeness, but equip them with the tools to stay whole and free. And I am humble enough to know that if I feel I am unequipped to help someone, I am confident I can find someone who can.  Actually, let's be honest, I'm confident in God's ability to help His children more than I ever could! One time I was walking with a family and their daughter in her healing journey and I woke up to a seeing a woman's name in the blackness of my imagination - it was so clear like lit up. I felt like God said look her up in California. Lo and behold, she was a specific kind of doctor who ended up giving this family the right knowledge they needed in that part of their daughter's healing journey!

So God's got you! He's got me! And I'm excited that as we link arms with God, He'll lead us to the freedom His Son Jesus paid for on the cross.  

Whew, that was a novel haha, I didn't mean for it to turn out this long but here we are, that's me!  Thank you for allowing me the time to share from the heart!  If you read all this and feel like I'd be the right fit for you, gimme a shout in the contact page.  Excited to come alongside and support you in your healing journey!