Although Amber grew up in a Christian home in Stratford and made a personal commitment to Christ in secondary school, her faith was tested when she went to university. “When you leave home you have to make choices yourself.” But by her mid-twenties she became disillusioned with trying to be like everyone else and realized, “I couldn’t do it on my own. I needed to go back to church.”

Amber and Dave met at the University of Waterloo when she was doing an Applied Health Sciences degree in Kinesiology. Dave’s degree in Health Sciences was followed by law school. They married in 2008 and have two daughters: Kennedy (almost 13) and Reagan (10).

Amber and her family began to attend Gateway in 2016 after moving from Ottawa, and loved it immediately. “I love Gateway’s heart, with so much focus on sharing love and giving back to the community.” Amber has volunteered with the Gateway Kids ministry since then. “Kids are such an important part of the church, and helping with Gateway Kids is a great way to meet people.”

In 2020 Amber went back to school for a Master’s degree in Food and Nutrition, and loves her job as a clinical dietician at Blue Water Health in Sarnia. During the COVID pandemic Dave made a major career change, and finds that his current position as a lawyer for Western University permits a much better work-life balance.

During her faith journey, one of Amber’s favourite verses has been 1 Peter 5: 7: Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. “It’s easy to get stressed out—to want to control everything. This verse is a reminder to ‘let go and let God’.”