Welcome! It’s 9:41 pm and I still haven’t finished all the work I was supposed to complete for the day. So why, with all the other responsibilities I have do I want to add blogging to the list? Everyday, I come across passages in my Bible, read insightful excerpts from books, and have wonderful conversations with friends that I wish I had kept recorded somewhere so that I wouldn’t forget what I’ve learned. And so, I figured a blog would be a good way of keeping track of not just anything, but things that have helped me to understand God and His word, along with some other fun stuff. I want to bring up topics that I’m learning about or would like to learn about, as a means to help others grow in their love for the Lord. And now I have the joy of blogging alongside my friends Dina, Stacey, Amy, and Georgie. You can read about each of them in their intros below. So this blog is a compilation of all our shared thoughts and experiences.
As for the name, a little couplet that has stuck with me goes like this:
“Only one life, ’twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last”
And so with that in mind, the blog was called “This Passing Life” as a reminder, mainly to myself that this life will pass. What matters most is what Christ has done for us and what we have done in response. So, our prayer is that this blog will spur many on to make their lives count by doing all for the glory of God.
Bios
My name is Maja. I was raised in a Christian home to wonderful Christian parents, Kevin and Margery, and have a younger brother named Paul. By God’s grace I came to believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour at a young age. I can’t remember exactly when I decided to follow Him, but along the way, my faith faced many challenges, especially during high school. For many years, I rebelled against the truth of God’s word and lived my life in a way that pleased myself and dishonoured God. In spite of my sin, the Lord has been so gracious and has done many things over the past years to restore my love for Him, bring me to repentance, and enable me to desire to live a life fully committed to His glory. I love to read, love to teach, and love to spend time with my husband and my family- both immediate and church. Now I can add “blogger” to my short list of hobbies. I thank God for all He has done and I pray that He would use this blog for His glory.
Stacey
So I was hoping to begin my first blog post with some sort of witty or insightful word, but alas, I couldn’t come up with anything, so we’ll just have to dive right into talking about me!
I was definitely very excited when Maja asked me to start blogging with her and with the two other ladies that will be joining us as well. I had a blog of my own back in the day, however, due to a growing family I just couldn’t maintain it anymore. I won’t give the link, because I may steal some old posts and put them up here, for those days when I just have nothing exciting or helpful to share!
Anyhow, moving along, as Maja mentioned, I’m Stacey and I’m a 30 year old wife to Julian Freeman and mom of three beautiful little ladies, Susannah Lynn (5), Caitlyn Adele (4) and Madalyn Joy (almost 2), whom I love with all my heart… so much it hurts.
Jesus Christ is my Lord and Saviour and He saved me from my sin when I was about 12 years old. He is the reason for my joy and hope in life.
I have been blessed abundantly by the Lord as He has given me many good and perfect gifts, like that amazing family I mentioned above. I have also been blessed with an amazing church family at Grace Fellowship Church Don Mills, which my husband planted and has been pastoring at for just over a year.
I LOVE cooking, like way more than Maja even does (that’s a joke, in case it wasn’t clear). I spend too much time looking at food blogs and finding new recipes to try out for my family. I’m always looking to make new traditions in our home and they typically revolve around food! I’ll give you all a list of my favourite food blogs at a later date…don’t worry, I will talk about food again. And again.
I like swimming. Notice I didn’t say love. I like it while I’m doing it; I love it when I’m done. It’s tiring and difficult for me. After all, it is exercise.
I love hanging out with friends. I am a crazy extrovert and cannot say no to being with people. My poor husband didn’t know what he was getting himself into when he married me. I like playing games with said friends, just chatting with them about casual things, but mostly I love talking about our good and amazing God. I love theology.
And finally I love being a mom. I love watching my kids grow and learn and I love snuggling with them and nurturing and nourishing them! I love teaching them about God. I’m not gonna lie though, it’s way harder than I anticipated and there are many aspects that I find incredibly challenging and some aspects that I just don’t love. Like going to the park with my kids in the winter, sometimes even the summer, or playing imagination games. Is that terrible? I do it (when I can), and I love their joy, but it’s crazy hard for me. I don’t love when they disobey, but mostly I don’t love it when I fail miserably. I just wanted to let you in on that. This mom thing is really hard, but thankfully, God gives grace!
I think that’s enough about me for now. I look forward to blogging more and my hope with writing is that somehow something here might be a blessing to you, that you would grow in your love for the only one worthy of our love and adoration, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amy
So how does one begin an intro blog post? I think I need a quick tutorial, because there is no way this is the right way to do it – here goes. My name is Amy. I am a 27 year old child of God, daughter, sister, friend, – excited to say- member of the Grace Chapel family, major Toronto Maple Leafs fan, and full time social worker. I think that pretty much sums it up.
I checked my email a few weeks ago, and I was so pumped to see an email from my good friend Maja titled, “A proposition”. As I read it I became even more excited to accept her proposal to team up with three women I respect and admire a great deal. The idea was to join Maja’s existing blog and take turns writing about topics that are important to us. I have been following This Passing Life since it began, and it has been such a blessing to me over the years; so there was no way I was going to turn down the opportunity to contribute to this blog by sharing some fun and challenging topics along with my friends.
My job allows me the privilege and opportunity to speak to various people from different walks of life, different life stages, different problems, perspectives, ideas, and worries. I love being able to have a job that provides support to people who need it, and are willing to engage in conversation, one hour at a time with a complete stranger. In the process of supporting, I end up learning so much about myself, relational interactions, families, societal expectations, social problems, and the list goes on. I often find myself working to figure out what the Bible has to say about these lessons that arise from my daily conversations. As I share some of my thoughts and readings, I promise to do my best not to relate every post to the Leafs, but quite frankly, I do believe that most life lessons can be directly linked to the Leafs’ journey over the years. So, while our home team works hard and presses on towards the playoffs, I will try to do the same in my contributions to this blog. I am excited to learn more and grow as I follow along with the other posts and contribute my own, and I hope the same for anyone else who may be following along with This Passing Life.
Georgie
So I am the last to introduce myself to you all. I will start with the basics: My name is Georgie, I just turned 30 (yikes) and I’ve been married to Paul McDonald since October 2009. I have a 15 month old son named Caleb and one more on the way (due in July). I am a homemaker, a lover of Jesus Christ and a member of Grace Fellowship Church Don Mills.
I found Maja’s “proposition” very intriguing and, like Amy, could not pass up the opportunity to blog with all these lovely women! It’ll be a new experience for me to try to write a post every week, but one that I’m very excited about. My plan is to write about things that are of interest to me and hopefully beneficial to those who’ll read this blog. Some of those things would include theology, parenting, philosophy, books that I am reading, other posts that I have found to be a blessing or just entertaining…I think the only things I will stay away from are sports (that’s your job Amy), and cooking (I cannot content with the other cooks on this blog!!).
I am reading through a really great book by Dr. Helen Roseveare right now. It has been such a blessing to read about her life and learn from her incredible example of godliness. I anticipate that the next few posts will be related to that…so I hope you are looking forward to it! Here is a taste of her writing, just to wet your appetite. She explains how God met with her when she was beaten by rebel soldiers during her time serving in the Congo:
“In the darkness and loneliness, He met with me. He was right there, a great, wonderful, almighty God. His love enveloped me. Suddenly the “Why?” dropped away from me, and an unbelievable peace flowed in, even in the midst of the wickedness. And He breathed a word into my troubled mind: the word privilege.” (Living Sacrifice, 22)
I am really looking forward to blogging with you all (writers and readers!!).
Dina
Just when you thought you’d gone through all of the introductions…
My name is Dina Saweriss, and I have the privilege of being the Friday Blogger for This Passing Life! Being a Friday blogger has its potential ups and downs…on the upside, everyone looks forward to Fridays, so perhaps by association you’ll also forward to my entry! On the down side, as the final entry each week, I feel a tiiiiny bit pressured to sign off the week with a particularly humorous, insightful or helpful post. I make no promises, but let’s see how I do!
So, a little about me. I am 34 years old (yes, that definitely makes me the YOUNGEST member on this blogging team!). I’m married to Shady Saweriss who I personally believe I don’t deserve, and who I thank God for from the bottom of my heart. We are members of the Grace Chapel family and are incredibly grateful for this body of Christ to which we belong!
Six months ago we welcomed beautiful baby Amanda into our home, and nothing has been the same ever since. I have to admit that one of the best parts of having Amanda was that I was no longer pregnant! I was not a graceful pregnant, and I made sure everyone knew how uncomfortable I was!!! In fact I distinctly remember Georgie calling me after Amanda was born and congratulating me on no longer being pregnant! More stories on that in the future…
Having Amanda has been one of the most life changing experiences! Since her arrival, we smile SOOOO much, yawn continuously, and have mastered the art of getting out of the house in fifty minutes flat. I can’t wait to share some of the stories of being a new mom…even though some of them won’t make me look as put together and under control as I would like!
I’ve always wants to blog! Sometimes as I go through various situations I find myself blogging in my mind (I know, that’s not normal) and have a pages full of blogging ideas that have never come alive. You know how people keep a to do list….well for the longest time now, “blog” has been on my to do list! So Maja, thank you for giving me an opportunity to live out one of my life goals!!!
Aside from writing, I love to spend time with my husband and daughter. We love to be with our family and friends, try new restaurants, go for walks, and I absolutely love to knit. For my birthday, I would reeeeally like a sewing machine, but to be honest I have no clue what I would do with it, especially considering I don’t know how to sew! I also love to worship on the guitar!
I am so looking forward to reading the variety of posts that will come from this dynamic group of women. How exciting to not only read the blog, but be a part of contributing to it. I hope to learn from their wisdom, pick up lots of cooking tips along the way, and perhaps learn a few things about the Leafs….Did I mention that I have zero interest in watching sports? I actually don’t have a competitive bone in my body (Sorry Amy, but wouldn’t it be better if everyone just played for fun??)
So, happy weekend to all…only two more days till Sunday, the best day of the week!
thispassinglife.com 