EP Member Spotlight ~ Janice Nikkel: You Can Do It All...Just Not At The Same Time
“Those who honour me, I will honour...” 1 Samuel 2:30
There are seasons in life, and God will honour you as you seek to honour Him. I’ll never forget the day a boy from the football team turned around in Grade 11 Math class at Oakville Trafalgar High School and asked me what I wanted to be when I got older. I told him what I really wanted was to be a mom. And I’ll never forget when he replied, “That is so cool.”
What I didn’t tell him was that I also wanted to be a TV broadcaster, earn a million dollars by the time I was 30, and get married at 28. I didn’t know how to do it all, but I felt determined. The tensions came quickly when life took a different turn. I was married on the eve of my 22nd birthday, worked in Christian ministries until I had kids, and literally missed my millions when I shot for a million dollars during the 1994 Stanley Cup playoff game and missed the tiny hole by an inch.As women, we have a lot of pressure to have it all: the beautiful family, the successful career, active involvements, and the perfect home. Comparison is a real thing and typically the root of much of our discontentment.My perspective changed with some words of wisdom from a family friend, Dee Jepsen. Dee had raised six kids and then went on to become liaison to women’s groups in the White House. She said, “I believe women can do anything they want to do. . . just not all at the same time.”It was like a light went off and I felt released as I realized there really were seasons in life. I felt freed from many of the expectations I was putting on myself and felt from society around me. I knew I had leadership capacity and realized that for a season, that would primarily be lived out in my role as a wife and mother.
After we started having kids, I put my personal ambitions on hold, and stayed home for 12 years until my youngest of four started kindergarten. We were financially tight, but rich in things that we felt mattered most – raising this next generation of children to love Jesus. And the truth is, I absolutely love being a mom. It is my greatest joy. And I really felt that God did honour my desire to honour Him.God planted me on a small farm in Langley, BC, Poplar Hill Farm, and while we have been here 21 years already, I know God still has me here for a reason and this season. When we had just two small kids, there was a six-month season where we couldn’t afford insurance on our second car. I was home with the kids and we lived in the middle of nowhere. I remember thinking, God, how can you use me while I’m stuck on this farm? Would you use me anyways? Within a week of asking God to use me, six women started coming every week for a Bible study, lead by another local mom. It was incredible to see God working and meeting my desires to be used by Him as I held my hands out in surrender.
When the time came to launch back into my career, I chose only part time work so I could be home before and after school for my kids. God opened the door for me to produce a TV show that aired on Global (I pitched it to PBS and it was soon carried coast to coast in the US too). I wasn’t in front of the camera as I’d once envisioned, but I was able to use my knowledge and connections to get some awesome guests. Not only that, God knew Peter and I had been going through some stuff in our marriage, and you can’t even make this stuff up. . . I had been offered a job producing a Christian, marriage talk show! I was getting free marriage advice every episode! *As a pre-teen, I was on the Christian kid’s TV show, Circle Square, and this is what fueled my desire to be a TV broadcaster.When the show was cancelled, I prayed for what was next. God allowed another one of my dreams to be realized – going to Africa. I have had a heart for Africa since high school, but never imagined I would really go. Married to a high school teacher and busy raising kids, I tucked that dream away. But this next part time role was as a fundraiser for Wellspring, a non-profit educating a new generation of Rwandans with quality, Christian education, and yes, my role involved a few trips to Africa.
Within a few years, I was wooed to a role at Trinity Western University that once again opened doors for leadership and connection. I head up the Parent & Family Network and love growing this department. Three of our kids have attended TWU, too. My eldest, Tori, just graduated from TWU this spring, and my youngest, Lewis, is still in high school, and from all his antics on snowboards, bikes, and trampolines, I’m pretty sure he just wants to be sponsored by Red Bull.I don’t have it all. But I have seen God’s faithfulness when I’ve trusted Him on this life journey, and realized I am doing it all. . . just not all at the same time! 
Janice Nikkel is a mom of four, and wife of one. She left Oakville, Ontario at 18 to attend Trinity Western University, and ended up marrying her college sweetheart. She graduated with her MA in Leadership in ’08 and absolutely loved that program.
These days, Janice is the Associate Director of the Parent & Family Network at Trinity Western University. Her vision is to help parents have a remarkable experience while their sons and daughters study at the university. She loves what she gets to do at TWU, but also derives much joy from connecting people to great causes and great people.
Her specialties are marketing, sales, writing, promoting, and fundraising, but she has also been a world traveler, a summer camp director, and a farmer. Janice and her family live at Poplar Hill Farm and you will often see posts of her farm animals on Instagram.
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