Mom and Dad, we are full of joy and gratitude that we are all able to be together today to celebrate your 40th wedding anniversary, and your sacred covenant to one another in marriage. It is with much respect and admiration that we stand here to toast our parents together as siblings.
I will start by saying thank you, for who you are and have been, and all you have done for us as your children.
You have instilled in us the value of both formal and informal education, and, more importantly, lifelong learning. From our homeschooling days on this hobby farm, through our years in Christian school, to modeling post secondary education, you have encouraged us to seek/grow in knowledge. Dad, wasn’t it just last summer that Ryan and I attempted to caravan with you to Calgary, but we could never catch up because you just kept driving, engrossed in 11 hours worth of podcasts?
Thank you too for buying this hobby farm. It was the best place to grown up as children. Raising animals together taught us both responsibility and discipline (I think!), and also inspired fun, adventure, freedom, and discovery.
Thank you for modeling and encouraging a love of travel, and value in seeing more of the world than our limited North American experience. Each of us has loved our times overseas, learning from and appreciating other cultures, and growing in gratitude for the privilege and opportunity that comes with being born here in Canada.
Thank you for for teaching us to have some financial sense. From an early age and with the use of a few envelopes, we learned the value of short-term saving, long-term investing, giving, and limiting spending, which also taught us about delayed gratification. You are frugal with yourselves and generous with others.
And finally - but only because I’m out of time - thank you for making family time a priority in every season of life. In the midst of busyness and ministry pressures, you continued to carve out time for connection by consistently having family meals around the table sharing our highs and lows, evening coffee times - and now going on 41 years of weekly pizza nights!
(return)
