About

Nice to see you here. Take a few minutes to skim through my story and even check out a few blog posts.

My name is Pirkko (pronounced ‘pier-co’). The name is not uncommon for people of Finnish descent. I was born in Finland and immigrated to Canada with my parents and siblings when I was 9 years old.

I’m a wife, mother and grandma. A disciple of Christ. I’m a retired high school teacher, and currently working on my memoir and engaging on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Some facts about me:

1. lived in 3 countries, 10 cities, about 33 dwellings/houses
2. love to travel to warm places to escape our Canadian winters
3. visited Finland, Sweden, Russia, Georgia, Estonia, Mexico, Cuba and Caribbean Islands (cruising), and most of the States (road trips)
4. educated (long ago) with B.A. and B.Ed. and Bible school diploma
5. a life-long learner with more knowledge to acquire to keep my brain functioning
6. repeated grade 3…first in Finland and then in Canada (language barrier)

About this blog

Subject: Everyday choices

Theme: God’s grace for everyday

Objective: to inspire, encourage and inform others to live in peace through tough situations and grow in His grace.

My purpose is to support you to live happy regardless what curve balls life throws at you. Even though I’ve been a Christ-follower since childhood, I’ve had to trust God’s grace to be there when circumstances were beyond my control. I had to let go and let God!

Letting go of control over others is not easy. But there had to be some purpose in pain. Growing through trials has brought me closer to God. I want to share healing and life lessons along the way.

Why this blog

Although I’ve always liked to read and study I didn’t grow up storytelling. Unlike many successful writers, I didn’t dream of writing as a career nor even as a sideline.

The idea of this blog was birthed during a period of life struggles when I was encouraged to write a journal. I even asked my therapist, “What do I write about?” I had no idea!

I was numb. I had stuffed my feelings for so long. Surprisingly, I began to experience feelings that I never thought I had. I had to be stoic regardless what family issues were happening at the time. Breaking down in front of 30 teenagers would have been disaster so my emotions were always in check! Being a control freak helped tremendously.

Through it all, I kept the truth of God’s word in my heart, and believed my Heavenly Father would sustain me. His grace is enough. I’ve learned that God is good and He loves me! That’s a huge breakthrough when the knowledge drops from the head to the heart.

We know that God is always at work for the good of everyone who loves Him. They are the ones God has chosen for His purpose. (Romans 8:28 CEV)

My journey in life so far has been multifaceted by many standards. As an immigrant child who struggled with low self-esteem along with poverty, I made it my purpose in life to get educated and get out of poverty by marrying into money. Seriously. That didn’t happen!

But my life is rich now on many levels. I have a wonderful husband who loves me plus two precious gifts from God who’ve flown the nest, and the blessing of two granddaughters. Plus God supplies my needs and wants abundantly, and I have good health. Thankful to God for His mercies.

Let go of control

Since I’m the first born child in a large family, I’ve always been responsible and caretaker of younger siblings. I was given adult responsibilities as a ten-year-old girl because my parents didn’t speak English. I vaguely remember doing things like banking, dealing with schools and serving as a translator at doctors’ offices and at grocery stores, and anywhere where communication was needed.

Life was hard for my parents as they had to make a living. I had a lot of freedom to take charge.  I became known as the ‘boss’ to my siblings. I wanted to control everything and everyone!

I’m still in the process of healing from control issues as I rest in God’s grace. I’ve had to let go of things I cannot change, but wish I could, and trust God to bring about change in the lives of others.

One more thing about me

There are characters in my head who cry out. “Put me in your novel.” It’s been a work in progress and the story keeps building, and calling for my attention. So I had to promise myself that I will be more intentional in writing now and learn all intricacies of writing a novel. Someday it may come to fruition. I may include a character or two in one of the blog posts in the future. Dream accomplished! UPDATE: The Other Child was published November 2017.

And I trust you, the reader, will be inspired and given hope especially during tough times. Self-esteem, control issues, depression, addiction, codependency are topics that are close to my heart so they will fuel some of the content of my blogs. I’ve had to do research on these topics to have more knowledge to encourage others to walk through life’s disappointments with dignity and grace.

Choice

That’s what it’s about. Freedom to choose…sometimes we choose right and sometimes choose wrong, or then we don’t choose at all. I now have the choice to be happy and enjoy my life regardless of the chaos around me. I hope to encourage you to make the right choice to live in peace during difficult times when the cares of life overwhelm.

Sometimes I will host guest bloggers with links to their websites. I hope to include some redeeming stories of people who live in God’s grace.

What you can do

Now that you know a little about my story, would you tell me about yours? I would also love it if you would post this link on your favorite social media. Or for those who are unplugged, you can spread the word via email. I’m not perfect nor do I claim to have expertise but I would love to know your thoughts. You can share your thoughts right on the comment section of the blog or by private email.

I invite you to follow my blogging journey and be inspired. You can sign up in the Subscription Box on the side bar of this page. You will get new posts right into your email inbox. I will keep them short and sweet to the point (maybe not).

Thank you for reading this. Be blessed with peace and goodness. Stay safe.