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Come and sit with us as we share our stories.
Rachel T. Joyce
Rachel Joyce is the founder and leader of Living Loved Today Ministry as well as a monthly writer and editor. She and Lisa Peat are co-leaders and speakers at LLT’s Woman to Woman Ministry.
Rachel received her BA in English from the University of Southern Maine, equipping her with strong writing skills and an eye for detail. After graduating, she married the love of her life, Bryan Joyce, and moved to live with him in Newfoundland, where she volunteered in a public high school, assisting children with reading difficulties.
A few years later, her husband became a full-time traveling evangelist, and she dedicated her time to assisting him and raising their children. The ministry required a number of moves and time spent living in remote locations and with every move,
Rachel felt that she left a little bit of her heart behind with the people and church she had grown to love. All of this gave her a deep compassion for women who live in isolated places without a good support system. And it also gave her a broader perspective of the needs of her Christian sisters around the globe.
Although Rachel had trusted Jesus as a little, seven-year-old girl, and had grown up hearing about God's love, living in the good of His love was something she struggled to do. Cognitively, she knew He loved her, but somehow she still felt unlovable, and much of her Christian service was done out of an earnest desire to please God coupled with a nagging sense of never measuring up. Grace was a word in her vocabulary, but not in her heart.
To help her learn how to live out of the abundance of His love and grace, God gave her the gift of chronic pain. It has not been easy for her and there have been many days she has longed for Him to take it away, but through it all, He has drawn her close to His heart and filled her with the strength to endure. Best of all, she has come to cherish His nearness and delight in His lavish love.
Through all the years of pain and disability, Rachel has been grateful for the support and gentle devotion of her husband. She and Bryan take great joy in serving God together.
They are deeply thankful for their grown children: Abigayle, Theanna, James and his lovely wife Janneylee, and Benjamin and his beautiful wife Daniela and their precious daughter Elena. Added to this mix is a sweet pooch who cuddles up close to Rachel through every flare-up. He looks like a little white fluff ball but has a huge heart and a mind of his own. God has used each one of Rachel’s family to teach her more about His tender love and how to live in the abundance of it daily.
Lisa Peat
Lisa Peat is a writer and advisor at Living Loved Today. Together, she and Rachel lead and speak at LLT’s Woman to Woman ministry. Throughout 20+ years of Bible study, Lisa is still learning about God’s amazing love and grace.
Lisa is grateful to have been raised by loving, Christian grandparents who took her to hear the good news regularly and taught her about her need for Jesus. At the age of 5, she told her grandmother she was saved, but knew she hadn’t trusted Jesus. The Heavenly Father kept working in her heart and when she was 13, she cried out to God to save her and placed her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Not having experienced a father’s love, Lisa wrestled with doubts at times. Would God ever say she was not His? How could He truly love her? Did she believe right? She is so thankful for her Heavenly Father who spoke peace to her through His Word, assuring her that because of Christ she was His forever (Romans 5:9).
From the time she was a little girl, Lisa always wanted to be a nurse. She graduated from the RNA program in Orillia in 1987 and retired from her nursing job at a pediatric office in 2015.
Throughout 35 years of marriage to her husband Rob, his unconditional love has been a tangible expression of God’s love and has helped her learn more of her Heavenly Father’s heart.
They are both so thankful for their son Kevin and his wife, Hope, their daughter Meaghan and her husband, Jordan, and their 3 sweet grandchildren, Remington, Callahan, and Walker.
Through Lisa’s trials of suffering with depression after her grandmother passed away and with having cancer, God continued to draw her closer to Him. He taught her more about herself and more about His amazing love. She learned that she didn't need to hold back her feelings. She could bring everything to Him — her fears, her past, and her future — and let Him work in her life.
He is a gracious, Heavenly Father who has redeemed Lisa’s past and she knows that she can rest securely in His love and faithfulness.
Sharon Snooks
Sharon Snooks is a writer, advisor, and editor for Living Loved Today. As a content editor, she works to ensure that our articles nourish our readers’ mental and emotional health. Through her writing, she shares how truths from the Bible demonstrate God’s care for our minds, bodies, and souls and how He has made provision for the healing of each of these.
Caring for others has been a part of her life since she was young when she dressed up as a nurse and took care of her little dolls. Soon, she was reading counseling books and (in her teen years) helping friends in crises. Her post-secondary education was in the Social Services field and after raising her children, she provided pro bono counseling while continuing to receive additional professional training. In 2016, she began her own private practice, New Song Counselling.
Growing up in a Christian home hearing about a God who loved her impacted her life in such a profound, hope-filled way. She learned that He provided a way of salvation and eternal life through His Son’s sacrifice on the cross. She was almost 10 when she took this truth personally and accepted Christ as her Saviour. She has appreciated living in this
freedom of unconditional love, acceptance, and grace for over 40 years sharing with others the freedom that God intended us to live in. We are fearfully and wonderfully made and we have been bought with a price. We are of immeasurable value to Him!She has been married to her husband Chris for over 30 years and they have four adult children and two daughters-in-law who are like daughters. She is so grateful for them. She has also been incredibly blessed with four precious grandsons and a darling granddaughter.
In her professional trauma training, she has learned how God designed our bodies to not only heal from physical trauma but also emotional trauma. This has caused her to be in greater awe of God’s design of the human body and it has equipped her to help our writers as they seek to meet the needs of our readers. What a tender and compassionate Creator who provides and cares for all of us!
Dorothy Stewart
Dorothy Stewart is Living Loved Today’s prayer warrior and encourager. She delights in the goodness of God and is grateful for the peace and joy she experiences daily from His gracious, nail-pierced hands. Her life has not always been so tranquil. God has taken her through many years of spiritual growth to enjoy His continual presence in her heart and mind. She is indeed thankful for learning from the Holy Spirit on a daily basis as God refines her for His glory.
On September 1, 1931, she was born in Bellville, Ontario, to Christian parents who loved God and taught her the good news of the gospel. Aware of her sin and realizing her need for the Saviour, she became serious about salvation at the age of 16. There was an empty place in her heart that only Christ could fill.
When she had come to the end of her own resources, she prayed for God's forgiveness, and, at that moment, Acts 16:31 flashed through her mind: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” At that moment, she knew she was redeemed, saved for all eternity. What joy flooded her anxious soul, what relief from sin! What a life-changing experience!
Since that memorable day, she has learned to love her Lord through the endless challenges of normal life. She married Don Stewart on December 1, 1951, and they were blessed with six children: Joan, Jeff, Bradley, Susan, Andrew, and Robert. When Brad was six months old, he developed influenza meningitis and suffered brain damage.
They had an active, busy household that revolved around their assembly on Eglinton Avenue. Their children all came to know the Lord while they were young. For that, she thanks God every day.
Her role during the 70s to 90s was organizing the kitchen and food preparation for events, showers, weddings, and funerals. They had a tract band, young people’s meetings, ladies’ coffee hour, special meetings, and picnics. For 20 years, she did features and devotionals each winter in many southern Ontario assemblies where she was blessed to know many godly women.
Her husband died in 2013 and she moved to Bethany Manor in 2015. She enjoys her home there and being useful in Bethany Lodge as a volunteer. Her best role in life now is to pray for family (including her grandchildren and great-grandchildren), friends, and God’s work among His people.
It was not always an easy life, but through it all — financial reverses, health issues, and difficulties — the Lord has been her strength, her rock, her peace, and her joy. She would not have changed her journey with Him in the least.
The older she gets, the more she values the lessons learned in adversity. Her Lord gave His precious life for her; God is good, and she counts herself blessed.
Hayley Buckler
Hayley Buckler serves as a dedicated editor within the Living Loved community. Her spiritual journey took root in a loving Christian home, where the message of God's grace and love surrounded her. At a young age, she embraced Jesus as her Savior and embarked on a faith-filled journey to know Him better.
With a 16-year marriage and the lively presence of two daughters, her life is full of love, adventure, and, yes, a healthy dose of mischief. Beyond her family life, Hayley is an artist at heart, channeling her creativity through a variety of pursuits, including knitting, embroidery, painting, and calligraphy.
As a professional editor, Hayley doesn't simply see it as just a job; it's her way of helping others to communicate with clarity and authenticity. She holds a deep belief in the transformative power of words to inspire, educate, and connect us.
Whether editing heartfelt messages for the Living Loved community or using her skills for her employer, Hayley is committed to ensuring that every word she touches carries its intended impact.
Angela Watson
Angela Watson is a monthly writer for Living Loved Today and a speaker and administrative support for LLT’s Woman to Woman ministry. She has developed a unique perspective from her education, work, and life experiences, and those combined with her strong organizational and problem-solving skills and comprehensive thinking ability have equipped and enabled her to be a blessing in this work.
Angela grew up in a Christian home in a small town on the East Coast. Often questioning things, she came to know the truth of Christ as her Savior at the age of 13 through Paul‘s words to the Philippian jailer: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). This changed her outlook and appreciation for life and brought her into a permanent relationship with God.
After graduating with her Bachelor of Commerce and working in a fast-paced environment in data analysis for several years, she developed strong decision-making skills, which led her to take on management roles. She spent most of her career managing people and processes, through which she honed her coaching and project management skills.
Theanna Joyce
Theanna Joyce has recently joined the Living Loved Today team and is thankful for her role as a writer because she loves to write and share her discoveries of God and His goodness with other Christian women.
This is one of her favorite things — unearthing truth in God’s Word. He is so much more than she can fathom, and with all of eternity before her, she knows she can forever learn more.
Theanna grew up in a Christian family and trusted God as a young girl of 10 when she stopped trying so hard to believe and simply rested in the work of Christ. Since that day, her relationship with God has grown — through fear and doubt as well as in joy and faith.
Right now, she is pursuing a Master of Divinity at Moody Theological Seminary in Chicago and God has been very faithful to her. She seeks to learn more of His truth
from the Word and strengthen her own relationship with Him so that she is equipped to carry out His purpose for her faithfully.
Her goal in studying there is to be like Mary, who sat in the position of a disciple at the feet of Jesus and listened while He taught. His words about Mary affirmed that she chose what was good and that it would not be taken away from her (Luke 10:42).
When Theanna is not in class or at the library, she enjoys walking and biking along the lakefront trail. Her cat, Lucy, and her sister’s cat, Bella, keep her company at home (aka they wake her up horrendously early every day of the week, including Saturday).
She loves reading and more reading…and she probably wouldn’t notice her house falling down around her if she was in the middle of a good book. Her 3 siblings can attest to this, because growing up, they never hesitated to snatch the current book out of her hand and hide it from her.
God has been very gracious to her and she looks forward to seeing how He will use her and her words to be a blessing to others.
Michelle Snippe
Michelle Snippe is a writer for Living Loved Today and a speaker for LLT’s Woman to Woman ministry.
Michelle loves words — writing them, talking them, and digging deep into the ones God wrote to uncover the treasures of truth hidden within them. She unashamedly admits to being a Bible enthusiast, ever learning and loving to share what God is teaching her along the way.
Teaching has been a big part of her life. She homeschooled her three children, taught Sunday school for years, and now teaches the Bible to women through various avenues, aiming to inspire and equip them to grow their roots deep into God’s Word and flourish in their faith.
In addition to her passion for the Bible, Michelle believes powerfully in community among women — as peers and across generations. Not having been introduced to the gospel and saved until the age of 13 (only a short time after her parents became Christians), Michelle struggled to find her way spiritually. Looking back, she wishes there had been someone to come alongside her to help her grow in God’s love and grace. Due to the felt lack in her own life, she now seeks to be that someone for the young women God brings into her life.
Fun fact: Michelle will soon be a published writer! In February 2024, one of her devotions will be included in a devotional book being published by Proverbs 31 Ministries.
Michelle is grateful to be married to her devoted husband Bert, who is a full-time evangelist and so full of passion for sharing the gospel and building up the church. Together, they have served the Lord, in His strength, in many locations across Southwestern Ontario, for over 28 years. Their grown children Megan, Brandon, and Owen and his beautiful wife Brea, all bring life and love and joy to her family.
Michelle greatly values that it is God who continues to write her story, working in her life through the mountains and valleys to shape her and call her closer to Him so He can continually pour upon her His limitless love and grace.
Heather Marshall
Heather Marshall is a monthly writer for Living Loved Today and a speaker for Woman to Woman. In addition, she’s an occupational therapist who has also had specialized training to be able to instruct others about stretching, breathwork, and Biblical meditation: all very important practices for connecting to our body, soul and spirit. She particularly enjoys writing about the integration of all aspects of our being as we move towards wholeness and closeness with God.
One of her first childhood memories is of coming face-to-face with the love of God and feeling so overwhelmed and blessed by His love that she had to accept it.
She vividly remembers being a little girl and quietly singing to herself the song “Jesus Loves Me.” In her childlike way, she stopped momentarily and thought, “Wow, Jesus loves ME!” She had learned in Sunday School that Jesus wanted to come and live in her heart and so that is what she asked Him to do right at that very moment.
As she grew and developed, her caring and faithful Christian parents poured the gospel into her. She came to understand more deeply the great love that Jesus had for her when He took her sins in His own body on the cross (1 Peter 2:24).
She is so thankful to have been raised in a home where God was honored. She was particularly close with her godly grandmother who left a huge impression on her life.
In recent years, she has been blessed to share her life with her loving husband, Curtis, and their three sons, Ethan, Jaxon, and Zachary.
When Ethan was nine months old, they were shocked to learn that she was having twins. The Lord was gracious and provided them with the strength and help they needed! She truly learned the truth of Philippians 4:13, “I can do everything, through Christ who gives me strength.” The Lord has used being a boy-mom to teach her many things, especially enjoying a good adventure and laughing!
From a young age, the Lord gave her an interest in helping others and led her to her career as an occupational therapist in the area of stroke rehab. She has a true passion for seeing those that she works with meet their goals and reclaim their lives after a severe illness and injury.
The Lord has also done a work in her own heart as it relates to wholeness in body, soul, and spirit. In His tender and gracious way, He revealed errors in her thinking regarding body image, and He lifted the cloud of guilt and shame she had been living under.
She is now passionate about helping other women see themselves the way God sees them and live in the truth that they are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14).
Janneylee Joyce
A few years ago, Janneylee Joyce discovered her latent gift for design, and she has been working for Living Loved Today creating lovely workbooks for the Woman to Woman sessions, as well as reels for LLT’s Instagram account.
Janneylee grew up in a small town in Washington State where her upbringing was full of barn animals and cowgirl boots. Her childhood consisted of big family gatherings where she ate all her tías’ delicious Mexican cuisine.
Coming from Mexico, everyone in her family identified as Roman Catholic. From a young age, Janneylee was taught about who Jesus and God were, but never fully understood what it all meant.
At the age of 14, she accepted Jesus as her Savior through 1 John 1:7. From then on, God has taken Janneylee on a beautiful journey full of refining, self-identification through Him, and redemption.
Throughout the years, Janneylee has learned that obedience in everyday life, even in the little moments, truly glorifies God. One of her favorite verses is, “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).
Emily Klein
Emily Klein is a designer for Living Loved Today and the manager of our Pinterest account. Designing, painting, and drawing beautiful things has been a passion of hers for as long as she can remember. Over the years, she has learned digital artwork design as well as web and graphic design. She has helped create workbooks and digital downloads for LLT’s Woman to Woman sessions and the Living Loved community. She has also curated a lovely collection of pins for our Pinterest account. She is humbled and thankful to be a small part of this outreach and to support women on their faith journey.
God saved her by His grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ when she was 8 years old, trusting and resting in the Lord Jesus as her personal Savior. That decision changed her life and set her on a course to live faithfully for His glory. Her favorite Bible verse is, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to
an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23). She is grateful for God’s faithfulness to her and her family.
She and her husband, Jesse, met when they were children, and God brought them together in marriage in 2009. A couple of years later, God called them into the full-time work of the Lord in Mexico, and they have continued there ever since.
God has blessed them with 4 young children. Her first ministry and gospel work is in her own home with them. She also has the privilege and responsibility to homeschool them, which has been a blessing.
She has started 2 small businesses to help support their local community in their gospel and ministry efforts in Mexico: Scripture & Grace, and Bible Story Creative. It is her hope and prayer that these extensions of their ministry efforts will also bless individuals and families across the world.
She loves using creativity and technology to share the message of hope and salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ with as many people as she can. She loves to support the Living Loved Today and Woman to Woman ministry efforts in drawing women closer to the Lord.
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