I used to write the annual Christmas letter when Tim and I were beginning our family as a way to touch base with family and friends. I’d fold it up neatly with the Christmas card and mail away to loved ones in the US and Canada. Once Social Media arose on the scene, that practice seemed to be waining. As family updates were shared throughout the year, I didn’t make letter writing a priority. It seemed kinda strange to do so when most of my information was kinda ‘out there’. At the same time, there lacked a convergence of who I truly am- my heart, my family and calling. An “at a glance recap” is good practice. So here I go with an update on where 2021 found me and our family, along with some fun photos from a photo shoot on our acreage with a friend of our family Claire Friesen of Doxa Photography:

This year, I felt a nudge in my spirit to post my 2021 Christmas letter online here.

I do so for loved ones near and far, but also for new friends who are passerby’s on this blog. May this letter find you well no matter what 2021 threw at you.

There, I said it.

Life can throw us some curveballs at times. Be it Illness, relationship conflicts, or any number of issues we are directly or indirectly exposed to. Life can be rough, confusing and sometimes cruel at times. It’s tough for many of us to say a cheery Merry Christmas to one another when so many have lost their sparkle or spunk for the holidays. PLUS, It breaks my heart to hear how families have been divided on the various polarizing views we have faced this past year- from politics, justice issues, vaccination decisions etc..., I have not seen this much division in all my life. How’s that for a cherry Christmas letter intro? Hah! Just keeping it real.

Grateful for those friends and family that are near and dear to me who have pressed into God’s eternal hope- joy- faith- peace available to us now and forevermore. We need it. I am cranking up the Christmas songs/ worship songs to counteract the fears all around. Fear fuels more fear, where faith fuels greater faith. Like “O Holy Night” where the lyrics go “a thrill of hope, a weary world rejoices”. It is futile to put our full hope in governments, systems or political leaders to lead us perfectly. They do serve a purpose as” delegated authority,” and the word encourages us to pray for our leaders, (1 Timothy 1:1-2) but they cannot govern the human heart, or transform our mind to live the way God intended.

I don’t have all the answers, but I’m confident in the One who holds the keys to our soul. In Christ, there is joy -peace-love-faith-hope to be found for us all. For me? Jesus is the reason for the season, and I choose to put my hope in and through him:)

“A thrill of hope, a weary world rejoices”

— O Holy Night

Maybe someday I’ll get back to the good old fashioned Christmas letter writing with pen in hand. Until then, here is a little update on the Kozan Family, from our house to yours, from my laptop to your device (iPad, cellphone, computer):

From Left to Right clockwise starting in the top left corner:

Our youngest daughter Justine and our son in law Kaden are rocking the parenting journey as our youngest grandson Kylen turned one this summer. They are working hard, playing hard and his rubber concrete business Rubber Stone that Kaden co-owns with his friend Joel. Justine finished her maternity leave, (We are so grateful Canada has at least 1 year to enjoy this sacred time as many countries rush parents to get back to the work grind). She is currently working part time as a substitute teacher, a Lululemon employee and Ryde (spin) Instructor. She was interviewed at the studio on September 8th with Global TV to help inspire people to get active and consider spin Classes, how fun!
Top Right, Jessica “Jess”, is an RN and is currently serving in the NICU at the new Children’s Hospital in Saskatoon. Working with babies has been a dream of hers. We’ve loved hearing some stories of her caring for the littlest people. She has enjoyed being closer to the FamJam this year and playing with her nephews as she worked in the states the previous year in Moab, Utah. She is an adventurer as she loves to hike, snowboard, surf, and skydive, so she definitely has the travel bug when home on the Praries. Nursing is a great career to give flexibility to travel.
Bottom Right: Jaclyn is also an adventure seeker and loves the great outdoors. She moved to Vancouver Island in January 2021. and is working as an RN in Cardiology. She too loves surfing, hiking and snowboarding, and the island has all of that and more. Tough on a parents heart sometimes to live long distance (as I know that too well from my own experience), but I can see the appeal. It’s gorgeous there. While it’s tough to be away from family and SK friends during this season, she is enjoying it there.
Amanda/ Kevin and Kolten: Our first grandson is turning 3 on New Years Eve 2021! Amanda and Kevin are doing great in this toddler parenting chapter. With each stage comes lament of missing the baby stage, but finds newfound joys of watching him ace the twisty slide, ride a trike and make crafts at his preschool. It was a thrill to take him to the premier of Paw Patrol, the movie, he was pumped to see his favourite pooches on the ‘big screen’. So fun for these grandparents! Kevin continues growing his business as owner of Kadco Electric while Amanda works in the area of marketing at ESP among other endeavours of this go getter couple!

It’s GRAND Being Grandparents!

Adding these two little men to our growing family has been pure joy. We are now even with 5 girls and 5 boys- a welcome change for us all being a family of 4 daughters! Love the song from the classic Spot cartoon of when he takes his grandparents to the carnival- we’ve found ourselves singing that song lots these last 2 years “It’s grand-grand-grand being a grandma (grandpa)..” We love getting the call from them, “hey mom and dad we’re coming over for a playdate”- or “hey, what are you doing today from 3-5, can you watch Ky?” or “Hey mom and dad, we have a wedding coming up, can you take Kolten for a sleepover?” We love being accessible most times and answer with a resounding YES!

Love and Marriage

Tim is enjoying this retirement phase and so am I. Although I primarily volunteered 25 years of the 31 years of marriage launching/ leading HRC and WJOF, I too am enjoying a more relaxed pace with my own transitions. The Bible doesn’t talk about retirement though (the way our world sees retirement to be), as we will always have “work” to do until the day we pass from this life to the next. Our life vision, mission and values drive us to do better, be better and that includes meaningful work (in service to others in some way) for the rest of our lives. Yet, there is a balance. I realized a few years back that I was dealing with my own brush with “Compassion Fatigue,” (as well as some vicarious trauma & triggers when learning about the topic at a conference I hosted a few years back where our keynote speaker spoke on the topic “When the Helpers Get Hurt”. More on that later). Greater awareness of the mind/ body/ spirit connection, the need for self care and more boundaries were in store for me. I am so grateful for the lessons learned, healing and freedom experienced as a result. I am a work in progress, as we all are. Grateful for the support of Tim and family on this journey to restoration.

A special occasion that happened this year? My younger brother got married to the love of his life Caitlin and I had the honor of officiating their private wedding ceremony in Lutson/ Tofte Minnesota area in August. The ceremony was near Bluefin Bay Resort on the shores of Lake Superior.

Other travels this past year was seeing Tofino for the first time on Vancouver Island as we went to visit Jaclyn in Victoria and headed out west. I had to see it to believe it. Canada is diverse, and the Island’s majestic landscapes was a sight for our us all. It was also a JOY to visit our extended family too, after a year of lock downs, restrictions and all the complex and often confusing guidelines between the US and Canada. It was pure joy to visit Tim’s folks and sisters and their families in Manitoba, and my parents and sister in North Dakota. So very grateful. Wish we lived closer, but we do what we can to stay in touch. Tim still goes on his annual fishing trips with his friends in Northern SK and loves every minute of it! This month, we were blessed to see the ocean again as we visited our favourite Hawaiian Island- Kauai. Although we’ve been here before, it felt surreal given these last two years of restrictions

So Very Grateful!

Outside of family life, I do enjoy staying involved with my passion of writing, speaking, sharing my faith and helping others where I can. I graduated from Briercrest Seminary with my Masters Degree last year and I look forward to where God is going to align my steps as I move forward in faith. This year, I am finishing my final term with the HRC Board of directors. That transition too is bittersweet, but I will continue to advocate for the cause of ending sexual exploitation and bringing hope and restoration to all, including those who are sex trafficked.

(If you’d like to learn more about Hope Restored Canada, click here. If you’d like to “Give a Gift of Hope” this Christmas season, click here! Every donation counts and can help bring hope, healing and restoration to a woman in transition.)

What I continue to learn in life is the “greatest commandment” of Loving God with our whole selves- (heart, soul, mind, strength..), AND loving our neighbour as ourselves is a lifelong journey!

New Chapters in Life

Transitioning out of the Non-Profit leadership hats and relinquishing all the oversight there to others has given me more joy in celebrating/ appreciating others in their leadership journey. I’ve also enjoyed linking arms with others. To name a few where I engaged in this past year:

I enjoy serving with the Sisterhood YXE Rooted program as a mentor to younger women. Fabulous offering with the coach approach inspired by my friend Betty Mutwiri.
I joined team Urban in their vision to craft awesome wedding ceremonies to reflect who couples are. I love weddings and am fascinated by the God ordained call and commitment of marriage.
While in Hawaii, we’ve found a connection with Kauai Christian Fellowship. I am blown away by their leadership and vision there. I will be joining their guest speaker team as they launch their Bible School The Anchor House in the fall of 2022. More on that soon!
I have found myself having more time to write during the pandemic. The golden thread in each one of these projects is the importance of one’s personal testimony, our own life journeys. This includes:
- Contributing to the Obaahima Magazine/ Journal. Their current issue, I wrote on “My Heart, a Wellspring of Life”
- I was honoured to write the forward for my friend Becky Thomas’ new book “Isha, She Will Be Called” released in November. Lord willing, I’ll will be hosting a women’s retreat with her in early February 2022 in Saskatoon on the theme of “Because you Matter: A Celebration of Women’s Voices”
- Most recently working with my Dad to help him finish his memoir of his 76 years of life thus far- through Storyworth. I look forward to receiving my copy by Christmas! It will be a family heirloom for years to come! (Interested in doing the same for someone? Click here if you are interested for a discounted rate!)

Everyone has a story. What I am discovering in life, is that when we embrace God’s story, our personal life stories make more sense. Through Him, I learn from his “unforced rhythms of grace” (Matthew 11:28-30) I hope to be a lifelong learner. During the challenging times, I blogged about in “Learning to Lament” where I interviewed a few friends in ministry at the start of the pandemic. The spiritual discipline of Lament has been a gift to me in our own journey of faith and challenges our family has faced over the years, but also when going through bearing burdens with others. For example, when when the lead pastor of our home church resigned, I grieved. I often process through writing. Bruce’s decision to resign inspired me to write “Thankfulness through Brokenness”. The book of Job and all his sorrows brings perspective on our personal challenges. The wisdom of Solomon in the Book of Ecclesiastes also sheds a light on what’s really important: Life giving relationships-with God and others. More often than not, our lives are a process of letting go and letting God. Transitions are good and necessary for our personal growth.

Leaders come and go. Our assignments change, but our calling remains the same: to know God and to make God known. A scripture that has been ringing loud and clear in my spirit these last 2 years, is from the book of Isaiah in Chapter 9 verse 6, (which was written around 700 years before the time of Jesus walking this earth), that in the end of days, the government will be “upon His shoulders”:

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

— Isaiah 9:6

It’s this hope that I hold near and dear to my heart. It gets me through the challenging times today and is the only answer to my soul for what lies ahead of us tomorrow. Need reminders to put the focus of Christ into Christmas to focus on faith and grow in greater hope for 2022? I’ll be sharing online resources Christmas Eve for you to consider incorporating in your traditions now or in the future. Until then, may you have a very Merry Christmas this year, no matter how you celebrate it my friend. Wishing you great faith and abounding hope in 2022 and always.

From our house to yours,

Jodi (Tim & and family)