Celebrating Multicultural Marriage: Logan and Olive Jost

Logan and Olive Jost

Ethnic backgrounds: Canadian and Filipino

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For Logan

Tell us what you do for:

Work: Masonry Foreman

Hobbies: Running, and a family man. Likes to watch my kids doing their sports,   bring son to soccer, and girl to gymnastics. Climb mountains and do running, including marathons. Have adventures.

Name of your kids, and age:

Christopher, 11

Kaira, 8

Your favorite activities with your kids: Camping and hiking

Birthplace: British Columbia, Canada

When did you meet Olive: 2002

How did you meet Olive? Met her in a church.

First impression Olive: Very nice, and quiet. Didn’t know if she’d notice me at all. Thought I’d like to get to know her first. She was a friend of a friend, and I got a chance to see her often.

How did you propose? I proposed to her, but there were immigration issues with her papers. We did not want be scrutinized as a “marriage of convenience.” Through a lot of prayer and persistence, her immigration problems were resolved. After that, we got married.   It was a stressful time for us but was followed by a lot of joy.

Three things you admire about Olive:

1. She’s an incredibly kind and good hearted person. She always looks for the good in everyone. She’s not quick to find fault in people. She’s got this kind
2. She’s very enthusiastic when she enjoys something; she’s very lively and passionate about it.
3. She’s beautiful!

Your favorite family activities:

• Definitely not the mall!
• Family snowshoeing. It’s a nice adventure with kids.
• Running events with the kids. Kids really like running with me and Olive.

Biggest challenge regarding multicultural marriage: There are different cultural values. Different concepts of respects that need to be learned. Different concepts of time. Parties are very different culturally. There are bigger and extravagant parties in the Filipino culture.

Your advice for men on resolving conflict in marriage: It’s simple but complicated at the same time. Selfishness and unfair expectations are the root causes of a lot of conflict in marriage. Considering your spouse’s needs over yourselves helps immensely.

Who are your biggest influences in your life and why? As the years go by, I appreciate my parents more and more. I appreciate the wisdom I get from them in making family decisions. They have a moderate approach to life which I find valuable.

For Olive

Tell us what you do for:

Work: Childcare provider and a day home operator

Hobbies: I love cooking, baking, running, snowshoeing, mountain scrambling (combination of hiking and mountain climbing). I have stood on about 80 mountains summits, all with my husband.

Your favorite activities with your kids: I like baking with my kids, doing craft with them. Running, snowshoeing and wall climbing with them. I love spending time with them and camping. Bringing them to small mountains. They’ve done six summits now. I just love spending time with them and enjoying fun, outdoor activities with them.

Birthplace: Bicol, Naga City Philippines

When did you arrive in Canada? December 2001

First impression of Logan? First time I met him was in a Bible study. He had beautiful eyes and was so cute. We became close friends.

Three things you admire about Logan:

1. His love to spend time with his children. He values family first. He works hard for us. His love for me and our kids.
2. He’s my self-confidence builder. He cheers me up when I’m down. Some days I don’t feel confident, but he’s always there to build me up. Logan is my best friend. He is my favorite running and mountain adventure buddy. He is the best GPS I ever had.
3. He loves my mama and my family. And he loves God and shares it with his children.

Your family’s happiest moments:

• When mom decided to join us here in Canada. Mama has 11 children. She could stay with any of them, but she decided to stay with my family, and that makes me happy.
• Camping is always fun. Kids love to be in the forest. Camping gets us unplugged from society. We bond and create memories as a family.

Biggest challenge regarding multicultural marriage?

• Differences in parenting regarding the disciplining of our kids. When my son was born, I wanted him to stay with me in our bed. But my husband wanted him to sleep in his bed.
• Food preference was a challenge at the beginning. Now, I cook all Filipino food in the house.

Your advice to women on resolving conflict in marriage?

• I always go back to what the Bible says in Ephesian 4:26 “In your anger, do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are angry.” Never go to sleep when there’s an unresolved problem. You will not get a good sleep anyway!
• Empathy- put yourself in their shoes, by focusing on the actual problem not on your husband as a problem.
• By compromising and figuring out what matters most to each other. Sometimes it’s a win-win situation for not being selfish.

Your advice for raising kids?

• Spend time with your children. It’s the key to everything. Build their self- confidence.
• Let them know how much you love them and how special and important they are to you.
• Discipline them. Be a model. That’s the best way to teach your children.

Who are your biggest influences in your life and why?

• My mother. I’ve seen how she loves my father. How she worked had for her family, and she loves us unselfishly. She amazes me with her unselfish love. Many times I say “I want to be like her.” She has a golden heart.