1990

Let’s kick things off with my (Shaun) first milestone- my birth. October 17th 1990 I was born in “sunny” England, the place I would call home for the next 26 and a half years. Next milestone…

1993

As you may have guessed, 1993 was the year I (Elisabeth) was born. May 16th, I was born to my wonderful parents in our first home. I started off the first half of my life in one city in Holland, and when I was five, we moved to another city.

2003

Making a big jump forward – 10 years – as you may have read in a previous blog, my family and I moved to the USA. By this time, I had given my life to Christ. Although I can’t give you a precise date, I know I was very young, and have genuinely wanted to live for Christ as long as I can remember. It wasn’t, and still isn’t, always easy; but by God’s grace, He has given me the desire to obey and glorify Him. Thank You, Lord, for choosing me!

2012

Now another big jump forward, but don’t worry we will start slowing down, the following years are packed full, so buckle your seatbelt and let’s go. September 2012…I believe the 13th? You would find a sobbing 22-year-old man who had been confronted with his sinful heart. Yes, this is the day I believe that the Lord opened my eyes to the true knowledge of the Gospel and enabled me to come to Him and call upon Him for His grace and mercy. I consider everything before this point in time to be worthless and am eternally grateful to Jesus for His saving work in my life.

2013

At this point, the Lord had lead me (Shaun) to a godly Bible believing Church called GraceLife London and was setting the stage for Elisabeth and me to meet. So roll on June 24th, this wonderful woman is here in the church on a mission trip from her church in California. You guessed it. This woman was Elisabeth. Even though we first saw each other on the 24th, we didn’t first “meet” until the next day – when I literally “jumped” into her life. As she stood there, pondering on how to capture the well-known landmark “Buckingham Palace,” she chose her shot, lifted her camera, and then…cue Shaun, I jumped through her shot. You can think of better ways to meet your future wife, but this was mine, and purely by God’s grace, this act of bravery on my part worked and two years later we married…but we’ll get there soon.

2015

It’s Elisabeth again. So, 2014 was eventful and had lots of fun memories nothing major as far as milestones…although there was one leading into one. Shaun came and surprised me for my 21st birthday, and a few months later he came back and asked for my hand in marriage. Of course, I said “YES!!!” And that brings us to 2015. March 7th we got married. March 17th I moved to England! It has been a crazy ride and amazing milestone. The Lord has been so gracious to us in so many ways. He provided two places for us to live in England, a change of jobs, and a group of believers with whom we could grow and mature with together in Christ. Back to you, Shaun.

2016

2016 started off with what I would call a pretty huge milestone, as that is what brought us to where we are. It may have even been at the very end of 2015 but none the less, the Christmas/New Year break was the time when this took place. I used to have quite the obsession with video games, and even though I wouldn’t have admitted it back then, looking back now, I can see that I had made it an idol in my life. I would justify this by reasoning: “I have done all my responsibilities today so I can play now.” Truth be told, I was valuing it higher than it should be and the more important things in life had almost become a chore, and for any true genuine Christian, this is not a position you want to be in, nor is it a place the Lord will leave you in. He is faithful and will always draw His people to Himself. The way the Lord did this was through my wife; she challenged me to evaluate my time spent on games and suggested I started a hobby that would benefit me in some way. So low and behold, I chose whittling/wood carving. That was the birth of our ideas for FGG Designs. Mom was already doing her greeting cards and crochet work and very soon after, Michael got a lathe and Elisabeth started Pyrography, and from here we formed the business. It may have just started out as the quitting of an addiction, but the Lord used that to bring about all this, and for that, we are hugely thankful.

2017

What can I (Elisabeth) say! This year has held a huge milestone already, and it isn’t even the end of the year. The Lord, in His will, brought Shaun and me to the USA…to live…permanently!!! Having been here nearly two months, we can still say…it feels unreal. There are moments, for me personally, that I can’t believe I’m living in America as a married woman. (Remember, I moved to England right after we got married.) God has been so gracious to lead us here in an incredible way. His provision in every way was not of us but purely because He willed it. You’ll have to ask us about our “moving day” story! To this day, it still brings me to tears.

Now that we are here, we finally have someone working full time for the business. By God’s grace, Shaun has the opportunity to pursue FGG Designs as a full time job; there are exciting times ahead for us.

Each of these milestones brings us to where we are today. It has been nothing of our doing, other than seeking to do the will of God in our lives. It has only been His leading and by His grace that we are where we are today. We both hope that through reading this blog, you are able to get a little snippet into our lives, both separately and together. Also seeing what the Lord has done in us; bringing us and the business to where we are today. All this is only possible because of His choosing us in salvation, that truly was and is the starting point of everything in our lives.