Category Archives: life

blogger, Education, encouragement, Goals, God, home learning, homeschooling, Jesus Christ, life, musings, school, Teaching, Watercolour, Wordsmith

Be All In

2 Comments

There is something a little magical about watching more than 400 teachers and educational leaders arrive in one place.

They came from all across British Columbia. Some flew. Some drove for hours. Some packed their bags, left their families, loaded up on coffee and made their way to Kelowna for three and a half days of learning, connecting, laughing, worshipping and growing together.

And then, suddenly, we were all there.

Over 400 people.

One school community.

One conference.

One very full 3.5 days.

And one big question quietly sitting underneath it all:

What happens when we go all in?

Our time together began by returning to the things that hold us together. We were reminded of the mission and vision of HCOS and invited to take a deep dive into our schoolwide goal for 2026/27:

Christ being our Firm Foundation, in every moment through every story.

Not just in the big moments.

Not just in the stories that make it into the newsletter.

Not just when things are going well.

Every moment.
Every story.

That is a pretty big invitation.

And perhaps that is what made this conference feel different.

There were workshops about AI, Seesaw, learning progressions, supporting students, technology and so much more. There were networking opportunities and regional conversations. There were keynote sessions from our Head of Schools that were authentic, heartfelt and inspiring.

There was incredible food.

There were information booths run by our amazing colleagues.

There was laughter.

There were conversations in hallways.

There were people meeting each other for the first time and people reconnecting with colleagues they had not seen in a year.

And there was prayer.

Every morning, I had the incredible honour of leading us in prayer for the day.

We prayed for our students.

We prayed for our staff.

We prayed for our leaders.

We prayed for the stories that we know about and the stories that we don’t.

We prayed for the moments that would happen that day that we could not possibly plan for.

Because that is the thing about being an Educator.

We plan.

Oh, do we ever plan.

But then the real people show up.

And the real stories begin.

Dip your toe in or jump right in?

One of the things I found myself noticing throughout the conference was how differently people experienced it.

Some people were all in.

They asked questions.

They stayed late.

They went to the optional activities.

They introduced themselves to people they did not know.

They went to workshops.

They talked about what they were learning.

They laughed.

They networked.

They participated.

They leaned in.

And they flourished.

Others dipped their toes in.

And you know what?

That is what they received.

A toe dipping experience.

It struck me that this is true about so much of life.

You cannot experience the deep end while standing on the shore.

You cannot build community without being willing to enter the conversation.

You cannot be inspired without being willing to listen.

You cannot grow without being willing to be stretched.

You cannot really experience a conference by simply attending one.

Participation matters.

Engagement matters.

Showing up matters.

Being willing to say, “I wonder what I might learn here today?” matters.

And perhaps most importantly, being willing to say, “I don’t know yet” matters.

There was so much more than a conference

One of my favourite things about these kinds of gatherings is realizing how much invisible work happens behind the scenes in our online school.

A conference like this does not simply appear.

There are months of planning.

There are schedules.

Rooms.

Technology.

Food.

Signs.

Tables.

Workshops.

Speakers.

Names.

Lists.

Emails.

Infrastructure.

And approximately 4,792 tiny details that nobody notices unless they go wrong.

Which brings me to something very important.

Did you know our school has the best maintenance staff in the world?

We never run out of toilet paper.

I mean it.

NEVER.

😂

Friends, that is excellence.

That is infrastructure.

That is leadership.

That is somebody doing their job beautifully behind the scenes so that the rest of us can walk into a bathroom and have absolutely no idea how much thought went into making sure the toilet paper was there.

There are unseen heroes everywhere.

At a conference.

In a school.

In a family.

In a church.

In our lives.

Some people stand on stages.

Some people pray in basements.

Some people lead interactive workshops.

Some people organize regional dinners.

And some people quietly make sure there is toilet paper.

All of it matters.

And then the sun went down…

Because apparently 3.5 days of professional learning were not enough.

We also had a family BBQ.

Mini golf.

Watercolour painting.

Trivia night.

Disc golf.

Regional dinners scattered throughout Kelowna.

More food.

More conversations.

More laughter.

More stories.

And this is where I think the magic really happened.

Because learning is important.

But belonging is powerful.

There is something about sitting around a table with someone you have only ever seen on Zoom.

There is something about discovering that the person who always has the perfect answer in a staff meeting is actually hilarious.

There is something about painting with watercolours together.

There is something about cheering when someone sinks a mini golf putt.

There is something about sitting across from a colleague at dinner and realizing that their story is much bigger than the role they play at work.

We were not just learning together.

We were becoming a community together.

Firm foundations

As I drove home at the end of the week, I kept thinking about our theme.

Christ being our Firm Foundation, in every moment through every story.

A foundation is not usually the part of the building people notice.

You don’t walk into a beautiful house and say, “Wow. What a foundation!”

But everything depends on it.

And maybe that is the invitation for this year.

To build our work on something deeper.

To remember why we do what we do.

To notice the story underneath the story.

To pray before we plan.

To listen before we respond.

To champion the people around us.

To be curious.

To make our work visible.

To care about the unseen things.

To show up.

To lean in.

To go all in.

Because our students are going to bring us their stories this year.

Some will be beautiful.

Some will be messy.

Some will surprise us.

Some will stretch us.

Some will break our hearts.

And every single one of them deserves to be met by people standing on a firm foundation.

So, here’s to the 2026/27 school year.

Here’s to the teachers who jumped in with both feet.

Here’s to the ones still standing at the edge, wondering whether they are ready.

Here’s to the leaders who planned for months.

Here’s to the people who prayed.

Here’s to the people who stocked the bathrooms. 😂

Here’s to every story still waiting to be told.

And here’s to remembering that beneath all of it, holding all of it, is the One who is our Firm Foundation.

Christ in every moment.
Christ through every story.

And maybe that is enough.

Thanks for joining me here. I have a feeling this next chapter is going to be a good one.

Have an amazing September long weekend folks.

Love what you do.

xoxo Joanna

author, blogger, Book, Boys, God, home learning, Jesus Christ, life, musings

Be Juggling Flaming Bowling Pins while Riding an Unicycle

2 Comments

If you asked me how life is going right now, I’d probably laugh before answering.

Picture someone juggling flaming bowling pins while riding an unicycle. Now replace the bowling pins with a master’s thesis, the end of another school year, conference planning, countless emails, family life, an ever-growing list of ideas and health issues that stop me from falling asleep. Welcome to my current season.

Some days I feel like I’m absolutely thriving. Other days I can’t remember at 11:30am where I left my breakfast… or whether I actually ate it.

This spring has been one of those “full” seasons. I’m researching homeschooling and online learning to prepare to start my Masters thesis, comparing Grade 9 and 10 student achievement across different learning models. It turns out I genuinely enjoy looking at spreadsheets and statistics, which surprises no one who has ever watched me colour-code or create summary fields in a Google Sheet.

At work, another school year has wrapped up. There’s something deeply satisfying about seeing students finish well, teachers catch their breath, and families celebrate another year of home learning. It’s also a reminder that education has never been one-size-fits-all. Every student carries a different story, and every family chooses a different path.

At home, life continues to remind me how quickly time moves. Our boys are teenagers now, building lives of their own and travelling around the world. (As I write list, JC has just landed in Lison, Portugal to compete in his first International trampoline competition representing Canada! CC is getting ready to go to the World Cup in taekwondo and our youngest is a practice players on the BC summer games team!) It’s a strange and wonderful transition, from packing lunches and driving to sports to cheering them on from the sidelines of growing into adulthood.

Somewhere in the middle of all this, I keep coming back to the reason I started Be Enough.

Not because I’ve mastered contentment.

Not because I’ve figured everything out.

But because I need the reminder as much as anyone else.

The world constantly whispers, “Do more. Be more. Achieve more.”

God quietly says, “You are already loved. You are enough. I am enough.”

I’m learning that my worth isn’t measured by another degree, another accomplishment, or another perfectly checked-off to-do list. Those things are good, but they were never meant to define me.

So if life feels a little chaotic right now, you’re in good company. Mine certainly is.

Here’s to unfinished projects, overflowing calendars, unexpected joy, abundant grace, and learning, one ordinary day at a time, that we have always been enough because of the One who made us.

Thanks for following along on the journey.

Have the best week!

Love ya, xoxo Joanna

Aging, blogger, Grief, life, love, positivity, women

Be Having Grandma Hands 

3 Comments

I was hanging out with twin three years old last week and one of the sweet souls grabbed my hand and exclaimed, “You have grandma hands!” 

I wanted to cry as I looked down at my hands. 

I realized in this moment that I have MY MOM’S HANDS! 

I almost bawled. 

I cannot even put into words the pure JOY that I felt. If I can pour a portion of the love that my mom poured into the world through her life AND her hands, I will be blessed.  

Grandma hands. 

To bless. 

To give. 

To share. 

To love. 

Thank you Jesus for giving me this vision about my hands. 

Thank you for the privilege to live long enough to have Grandma hands.

Happy Saturday lovely folks and love what you do. Xoxo 

Joanna 

author, Christianity, encouragement, Family, God, life, Wordsmith

Be Sleepless in Edmonton

Leave a comment

Last week, I returned to the town where I went to University as our oldest was competing in his first trampoline nationals. (Sidenote: You can see his journey unfold starting tonight on his Youtube channel: jcanflip) I hadn’t been back to the University of Alberta in at least a decade and I was giddy with excitement for this trip. Our oldest was going to be staying in the Lister Hall residence, where I spent two “University years” of my life. JC was competing in the Butterdome, where I did many courses and also spent time working out. We managed to stay at the campus hotel about a ten minute walk from the venue which was the hotel where my mom cooked many Thanksgiving dinners when I was playing volleyball. Did I set the scene on what a special trip this was going to be?

I spent the whole week of our time in Edmonton, sleepless. My mind wouldn’t shut off at night and I often woke up feeling unsettled and unrested. I have never had a stretch of sleeplessness this long in my entire life. Previously, after a few nights of sleeplessness, I would often fall asleep out of pure exhaustion, but this never happened last week. I didn’t sleep well and wake up rested until eight nights later when I fell asleep in our bed at home.

These were my few lessons from these eight days and nights:

✅ It is one hundred percent okay if I have sleepless nights. It didn’t affect my mood or any of my relationships with myself or others. I shouldn’t have “worried” about my lack of sleep so much when I was lying in bed nor when I was awake during the day.

✅ It is really important to be excited about the things we are able to do, but to also manage my personal expectations. I was excited to “go back”, but my expectations didn’t line up with reality. Can we ever really “go back”?

As I continue to recover from these eight days away, I know that more lessons will come my way, but I wanted to encourage anyone that may be having “sleepless nights” right now. Your body will get the rest it needs and it’s okay to lie in bed resting and awake. Our bodies and minds are truly incredible. Plus, you know me and I believe that God’s got us and can work through these sleepless nights. I know He did some deep work in me through these nights.

That’s all for this Friday night folks. Have an amazing weekend and love what you do!

xoxo Joanna

author, Christianity, God, Jesus Christ, life, musings, Self-help

Be Knocking Off the Big Chunks

2 Comments

Overwhelm? Have you ever felt it?

Our family has lived the last few years in overwhelm with a plethora of multi-faceted situations

Death of multiple family members and then grief.

Moving.

Full on jobs.

Changing jobs.

Boys growing up and the adjustment that takes.

Health issues.

And now here I sit today miraculous typing on my computer about what shifted for me.

No longer overwhelmed.

No longer feeling that my life is overwhelming.

Here is what changed:

I knocked off some “big chunks” in my life.

First and foremost, prayer, the bible, thoughts about God and weekly church services became a priority.

Second, I cleaned up my sleep hygiene. My phone went into the bathroom. I started a wind-down time before bed and I only brought my book and Sexy Neck to bed with me. (I wrote about this back in February.)

Third, I started moving. I have a good friend that is a physiotherapist that says “motion is lotion”. I really do believe that by simply walking, I helped myself move in a positive direction. It also have me time to think and ponder my life. In February, I started off with walking for 30 minutes per day. I added on cycling in May and my husband and I started a 30 minuted 3 times per week boot camp two weeks ago. I cannot tell you how much better I feel. This big chunk hasn’t been easy. You can see where I was at a few months ago here. I am proud to say I have been again walking around in a tank top this summer and feeling confident (and safe!) to be me.

Lastly, I am sure you have read this before, but part of my journey on this earth has been to be a “human being” rather than a “human doing”. I once got a trophy from my book club for being an “Actionator”. Yes, I make things happen and relaxation is not my strong suit! haha. My last big chunk has been to really notice things and attentively listen to what people are saying, especially the boys. This has been huge for me. I have felt calmer and more peaceful simply by looking and listening.

(Sidenote: One random other thing that didn’t fit into any of my four points that helped me a ton was I decluttered my front entry. You know that part of the house that everyone sees when they come to the door? Mel Robbins in a podcast about decluttering mentioned this and it has been a GAME CHANGER! Weird, but true. So satisfying!)

Spiritual life.

Sleep hygiene.

Movement.

Immersed in the world around me.

Those were my four big chunks that helped me shift so that I can now focus on the little chunks (work/life balance, emotional health, decluttering my home, meeting up with friends, fixing a watch battery that has been sitting on my dresser for years, organizing neighbourhood block parties… plus jumping into a new job on August 1st.)

What chunks would you like to knock off to start your healing journey?

Have a wonderful Wednesday and love what you do.

xoxo Joanna

author, Grief, health & fitness, life, Self-help, teaching, Wordsmith

Be Restarting Your Health Journey – vroom vroom

11 Comments

I can count on my left hand those that know that in 2019, before Steve’s mom died, that I was training for an Ironman triathlon. My goal was to swim almost 4 kilometres (2.5 miles), bike 180 kilometres (112 miles) and finish it all off with a Run/walk a marathon (42 kms and 26 miles.). I gave up on that dream when she died and we spent every few weekends in Vancouver for a few months. 

I can count on no hands nor fingers those that know the depth of my physical and mental health struggles the last three years. Here’s the honest truth on what the big picture looked like for me:

🔆 Two summers of not wanting to get out of bed even when the sun streamed in my window. 

💪🏻 Two plus years of sheer willpower and “push” to get off my butt to exercise, which has been a first for me in my entire life. 

🧥700 days of hiding under extra-large clothing, even in 30 degree Celsius weather. 

🙈 700 days of hiding, to be honest. Not wanting to see people, run into people I know or even reach out to friends. 

🙏🏻Tried two different counsellors, neither were a good fit. (or is it “neither was”? hahha)

😩Reached out to no one nor shared with anyone the depth of the pit I felt that I had dug for myself. 

👀The heaviest weight I have ever been in my life, even more than my three pregnancies or after my mom died. (This sure doesn’t feel good!) 

And why I am writing about this now and what changed for me? 

Did I lose weight? Finally found a professional counsellor I could trust?  Started seeing other human beings, outside my work, on a regular basis? None of these things happened for me!  

Four things did changed for me and they all involved random conversations with other people when I stepped outside my four walls. The message I am going to share with my stories is simple: If you relate to any of the six points I wrote down above, don’t wait 700 days to reach outside of your four walls. Right now, listen to a podcast, text someone, go for a walk, ask your neighbour for an egg or simply reach out to another human being in any way that feels good for you. 

The four things that finally helped me make some really HUGE personal shifts took place over a six month period of time. 

First, I have always been someone who listens to podcasts when they do laundry or when I drive or go for a long solo walks. In October, I was introduced to a podcast that began THE shift. Mel Robbins, your twice weekly podcasts have been something that have given me so many tips, moved me to take some small steps and gave me the shovel that started my dig out of my mental and physical hole. Your life journey is powerful and I am grateful that you share with us all. I gave your ideas a try.

Second, in October, I was at my lowest point of this two plus year journey. I was in Vancouver and a friend knew I was in town. We went for a walk and she shared about an App that helped her with her eating habits and overall health. I gave it a try. 

Third, in April, Steve and I were out for our evening walk and we ran into some neighbours.  They shared that they were doing a “Couch to 5km” walk/run program that was simple and tailored to what you want to do. (This was humbling to consider as four years ago, I would run 20 kilometres for fun on a weekend!) I humbled myself and gave it a try. 

Lastly, at the end of April, I was at a teacher’s conference and three of my colleagues were sitting around a table. Suddenly, one of them shrieked about a job that was available at our school and said, “You would be amazing at that!”.  They immediately called over my boss and she wholeheartedly agreed.  I decided to apply. 

In all of these instances, I was showing up in the world as my unhealthiest, unhappiest, down in the lowest point in the second most challenging spot in my life.  (My mom’s death was and is still number one!) 

But, I just showed up and walked. 

I showed up and walked some more. 

And I simply did my job to the best of my ability! 

Now, things are shifting in radical and profound ways (more on that in a later post!). 

Be you. 

Exactly where you are. 

Show up, how and when you can. 

Reach outside those four walls around yours. 

And watch things unfold. 

Let my life be a testimony that there is always hope. 

The best is truly YET to come for me, Sexy Neck and our boys. 

And the best is YET to come for you too! 

Strap yourself in folks for what is to come and love what you do! 

Xoxo Joanna 

Aging, God, life, love, men, Wordsmith

Be Married for 26 Years

Leave a comment

May 3rd, 2023

Today is our 26th wedding anniversary plus two days of me being 49 years old. The best part is that Sexy Neck’s birthday is two days from now, yes it is a fun week of celebration, at least this is what we thought when we were university students on our semester ended in April and Steve was getting ready to head to the National Team.

When Sexy Neck and I got engaged in November of 1996 at the West Edmonton Mall we were talking about a possible wedding date. We thought it would be hilarious if May the 3rd fell on a Saturday in 1997 so that could be our wedding date! Well, God knew that our brains would think like that and yes, you guessed it, our wedding day was on Saturday, May 3rd, 1997.

Sidenote: Sexy Neck was going to propose at the top of the rollercoaster at WEM, but we ended up getting in a disagreement because I didn’t want to go on it. He ended up putting the personally-designed ring in an ice cream, which I thought was the sweetest thing ever! I was shocked.

May 1

May 3

May 5

The beginning of May is a week of celebration!

On top of thinking about the date in which we decided, or God decided, for us to be married, I have been reflecting on being married for more than a quarter of a century.

It’s all about “choice”!

Yup, choice.

Not sex, love, infatuation, coercing, settling, changing someone, manipulation… it’s simply about a personal choice made daily by each person in a marriage.

I remember in the pre-marriage counselling that we did before May 3rd, 1997, the counsellor talked about marriage as being about a “daily choice”. As I sit here today, I couldn’t agree more.

My personal choices that I think about often are:

  • Do I bring out the best or worst in my husband?
  • How do I listen and also feel heard?
  • How do I show love even when I don’t feel the emotion of love?
  • How do I support my husband’s personal life journey even when it adversely affects my own life?
  • Do I want to be my husband’s biggest cheerleader or the “bring him downer” in his life?
  • How can I share my needs and also consider my husband’s needs?
  • How do you live with someone who has very different standard of timelines and schedules? (We shared a computer when doing our Bachelor of Education degrees. It worked beautifully because I always finished my projects a week ahead of time and he did everything the night before. And guess who always beat me in the marks department, yup Steve! Probably because I always stayed up with him and proofread all of his work. HAHA)

Choice.

Love.

Partnership.

Best friend.

Marriage.

Choice.

26 years baby!

Have a wonderful Wednesday folks and love what you do!

xoxo Joanna

blogger, Grief, life, love, Self-help

Be Leaning Into Pain and Moving Towards Pleasure

4 Comments

I have had quite a few lessons in life where I have had to lean into pain. How about you? Any pain coursing through your body and mind these days?

As a 15 year old, I had a very close friend who decided to hangout with older friends that partied, smoked and drank. I had to literally walk away from her as we discovered we no longer had anything in common as I pursued my athletic goals and knew that health was my future. It’s painful to lose people who you have been friends with you for years.

As a 21 year old, I was injured in my third year of university volleyball. Right after I hoisted the cup as the captain of my university team declaring we were the best team in Canada, I had to make a choice. I made a very painful decision to retire from volleyball after deciding not to do a surgery with a questionable outcome.

As a 39 year old, I grieved deeply as we moved from Vernon to Kelowna. I said goodbye to my parents living ten minutes away. We lost the routine of preschool pick-up seeing friends who had known us since before we had kids and having the beautiful Vernon Music School and the “Peanut” park just down the road. No longer could we drive 25 minutes up the hill to be at both world class downhill and cross country skiing.

Now in 2023, I am watching quite a few people in pain around me right now: Dealing with deaths, or divorces or illnesses or poor choices by those around them or …. just plain and simple pain.

What I want to say friends is: LEAN IN! Lean fully into the pain. I don’t believe that ignoring it, drinking it away, binge watching netflix or not fully acknowledging pain helps us as human beings in any way. Denial and distraction don’t really help us move through the pain. These two D’s help us get stuck!

Right now, we are personally having to lean into some pain, some uncomfortableness and a lot of uncertainty. I know that leaning into these feelings will help us move towards pleasure and not make any rash decision based on pain.

Not one single decision based on the pain we have experienced have been good ones.

Lean into the pain, then seek the pleasure and run towards it.

Sit against that wall in the darkness and feel that pain going through your body and then know the sunshine of pleasure will be just around the corner.

I have experienced it.

I know it.

I choose it!

Lean into the pain.

Feel it.

Soak in it.

Feel.

Deal.

Heal.

Then you will be able to truly make a decision based out of pleasure and not pain with the added bonus that you won’t make any rash or “bad” decision based on that pain alone, like we have done in the past!

Now, go have an epic Thursday and love what you do!

xoxo Joanna