The Thiessen's in 2025

Amber Thiessen
6 days ago
4 min read

As we look back on 2025, we’re struck by how full the year has been—full of growth and milestones, ordinary faithfulness, deep sorrow, and sustaining grace. Here’s a glimpse into the ways the Lord met our family throughout the year.

Growing & Milestones

We rang in 2025 with friends at the lake—cozy fires, shared appetizers, kids scattered watching movies. The holidays gave us space to rest and enjoy each other, with skating, sledding in hoodies and ski pants, and hot chocolate always within reach.

Growth showed up in tangible ways this year. Our oldest, Eliana, joined a club volleyball team, and from January to May our calendar filled with practices, tournaments, Provincials, and Nationals. Watching the team learn, persevere, and grow together was genuinely a joy for our whole family.

Toby played rec hockey with friends, jumped into spring flag football (to his absolute delight as an NFL fan), and made a catch so good it earned cheers from the opposing team’s parents. All of us continued with Awana—memorizing, learning, and helping—something that remains a meaningful rhythm for our family.

We celebrated Samara’s 8-year transplant anniversary, a milestone that still humbles us. Each year stands as a testimony to God’s mercy through one of the hardest seasons of our lives. We met her new transplant doctor (a little nerve-wracking), but her bloodwork was great.

This year also marked 20 years of marriage. It feels surreal—older, yes—but deeply grateful. We see the ways God has grown us in maturity, teaching us to serve one another more faithfully as our seasons continue to change.

Eliana graduated Grade 8, and her class celebration was full of laughter and encouragement. A playful exchange with one of the teachers turned into an unexpected speech at her diploma presentation—hilarious and heartfelt, and very “her.”

As the year closed, milestones kept coming: school sports, JV volleyball and basketball, Toby’s debut on the junior high volleyball team, and one of the most meaningful moments—his baptism this fall.

Calling & Faithfulness

One of the great joys of the year was traveling to Kenya for leadership meetings with Africa Inland Mission. I’ve served on the Canadian board for several years, and this year was also elected to the international board—something that felt both humbling and daunting. (See I Can’t Believe I Get To Do This)

Sitting among leaders we once served alongside while church planting stirred up gratitude, awe, and a deep conviction about prayer. Those meetings were saturated with prayer and dependence on the Lord, and I came home with a renewed commitment to make prayer not just a reaction, but a rhythm. (That season resulted in a series of articles on prayer that flowed straight out of that experience:

Closer to home, I had the opportunity to speak at a women’s worship night at our church. Expecting a small, cozy gathering, I was surprised to see the room filled with over 100 women. It was a beautiful evening of shared encouragement and worship—one of those moments where you sense God’s kindness in letting you participate.

In the fall, I also led a Bible study through the book of James, and we’re looking ahead to beginning a study on Abraham in the winter session. Serving, teaching, learning—faithfulness continues to look both ordinary and sacred.

Sorrow & Sustaining Grace

This year also carried deep sorrow.

On what seemed like an ordinary evening—Brent at Bible study, kids playing at the neighbors, heading out to jiu-jitsu—we received the call that Brent’s mom had passed away. Sudden hardly captures it. Shock, disbelief, and grief followed swiftly.

Though she had some chronic health concerns, nothing prepared us for the abruptness of her passing. She left behind a legacy of faith and a deep love for the Lord, which brings us peace even as we grieve. The months that followed were marked by caregiving, checking in on Dad, and learning to carry loss together.

Dad is moving into a seniors apartment by the end of the year and feels good about the transition. He has trusted the Lord through it all and is well supported, for which we are grateful.

Brent also faced physical challenges this year, learning that the disc between his C2 and C3 vertebrae is gone. Regular physio, massage, and daily stretching have brought improvement. The stiffness remains, but the pain has eased—SDG.

Grief and weakness have reminded us again that God’s grace is not theoretical. It sustains.

Ordinary Faithfulness

Much of life this year unfolded in faithful routines. Summer days were spent at the lake, with kids attending Bible and sports camps—Athletes in Action locally, and a week at a Bible college volleyball program for our oldest.

In the fall, our kids entered Grades 4, 6, and 9. Our youngest continues at the local elementary school, while our oldest transitioned to high school, where we’re grateful for faith-filled leadership. There have been bumps along the way, but also growth—just as the Lord intends.

Samara continues piano lessons, we’re still involved in Awana, and sports practices and school events continue to shape our weeks.

Brent has worked faithfully in logistics and sales at a local manufacturing company, while I’ve continued part-time work in the ER as a mental health nurse and counseling with a faith-based non-profit. We’re thankful for workplaces that allow us to live faithfully and competently in our callings.

Looking Back with Gratitude

This year held both celebration and grief, hustle and rest, heartache and heart-full moments. Through it all, we’re grateful for the Lord’s presence and the grace that sustains us. For, “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” (Ecc.3:1).

Thank you for walking alongside us in prayer, encouragement, and friendship. We wish you a very Merry Christmas, and may the Lord bless you in the coming year as you live with hearts devoted to Him.

“Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand” (Prov.19:21)