Meet Jo-Anne – A Single Woman With A Heart For God

There are things to be learned from every person I interview for this column. Jo-Anne Lavigne is no exception. I’d like to share a few bits of life wisdom from this dear woman in our church.

Jo-Anne on singleness----
Jo-Anne has a distinction of being a single, never married middle-aged woman. She says, “I have been single all of my life. There were times when I felt lonely and left out, self-conscious of being single, of being different from other women my age. I felt that I didn’t fit with the young singles or the married women. However, as I continue to mature in Christ, I am realizing that I truly have no regrets about my singleness. It gives me a great opportunity to freely serve the Lord without having family responsibilities. I had to deal with a degrading stigma in being single, to accept that, to let go of my feelings, and let God be my husband.

Isaiah 54:5 “For thy Maker is thine husband...”

Jo-Anne on salvation--
“In the 1970s my sister Donna, whose husband was stationed at Grand Forks AFB, received Christ as her Saviour and began telling me in phone calls and letters, of her new found faith. Being a strong Catholic from a strong Catholic home, I struggled with many questions about what was the real truth. Unconditional love was the biggest issue for me because I had neither received it from my parents nor
my church. I came to Grand Forks for a visit, attended my sister’s church, and in September of 1975 renounced the Catholic Church and received Jesus into my heart. ( My sister Donna and I were baptized on the same Sunday.) I returned to my home in Massachusetts 8 or 9 months later.

My next two years were physically draining and painful. During the first year I had no church to go to and during the second year I attended two different churches, in an attempt to find a good Bible preaching church. I then decided to return to ND for the next 9 years. After that I returned to MA and stayed there about 15 years. During that period of time, I also went to Pensacola, FL for three years. Part of that time as a part time student studying Christian Education, and one year as an order line operator for ABekaBooks”. In all these moves, the Lord was molding and teaching Jo-Anne.

Jo-Anne on supporting herself financially--
“Back home in MA I decided to continue my education. I hold an Associate’s Degree in Religious Education from Covington Theological Seminary in Rossville, GA, and a BA Degree in History from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams, MA. I have held several retail jobs, temporary jobs, and elder care jobs. My most enjoyable job was at Hancock Shaker Village in MA , a museum full of local history, complete with a working farm. There I learned, demonstrated, and worked in Shaker cooking, gardening, and farming. I gave tours dressed in period costume. There I also learned basic spinning of wool and have continued spinning through the years. I was interim curator there for awhile. The Lord tremendously blessed my time there and gave me many opportunities to witness for him. I can honestly say that I could not wait to get to work there each day.”

At the present time Jo-Anne’s full time job is with Amazon.com in Grand Forks.

Jo-Anne on service to God—

“Finally the Lord convinced me that I should move to Larimore and join NTBC which I did in in 2002, knowing that I had found God’s perfect will for my life. This is my home where God would have me stay and serve. He has blessed me tremendously here. I want to be a faithful servant of God, loving and obedient, having compassion and making a difference in the lives of others. I want to see a need and meet that need if possible.”

God gave Jo-Anne talents which she uses for the Lord. She makes the lovely greeting cards used by the Lydia Ladies group for their missionary correspondence. Jo-Anne loves her involvement with our Guardian Angel program and enthusiastically and creatively gives of herself to whomever she is assigned at the time. She grades our Christian Home Bible Course lessons for the church. She also works in Nursery, Sunday School, and Children’s Church. Each year she looks forward to being a Science Fair Judge for our Christian School.

Her Pursuits-
When she is at home Jo-Anne, accompanied by her special cat Princess, pursues several of her passions. She loves organic gardening and seed saving (including heritage seeds), history research, being outdoors, and her home business Heritage Home Arts which she began in 2009, and which involves spinning and using yarns as well as presenting workshops on that subject, and card making. When she was young, she rode horses in competitions but does not now have a horse.


Jo-Anne on Scriptures

One of her favorites is Isaiah 26:3, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”

“I had moved back and forth so many times in my life and needed God’s peace, security, and stability…. of which I had none at the time. If I had had His peace back then, I would not have moved so many times.”

Prov. 3:5,6 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.”

“Summed up in these two verses is the greatest lesson that I’ve learned in my life.”

“My desire is to “Stand fast” as it states in Galatians 5:1.”


Let’s all pray for Jo-Anne as she seeks to finish her course faithfully, to be a good reflection of Christ , and to practice unconditional love toward others. It is always a pleasure to see her as one of the first people to arrive at every service. That speaks well of her love for the Lord and His house of worship. We love you Jo-Anne!