‘Be still and know that I am God.’ Psalm 46:10, NIV Nearly three years ago, I started practising stillness on a regular basis. Inspired by Julia Baird’s luminescent book, Phosphorescence*, and the constant noise inside my own head, I set myself a goal of becoming still at least once a day. It didn’t matter if […]
God
My Weird Testimony
‘I’ll pray for your healing,’ smiled the young woman. ‘Actually,’ I smiled back, ‘I think God has told me he’s not going to heal me.’ The woman frowned. ‘That’s not the God I know. My God would never deny me healing.’ ‘OK, let me tell you my weird testimony…’ In the not-too-distant past, I was […]
A Recovering Perfectionist Finds Joy
It’s been a difficult morning. A difficult month, actually. Nothing special, just the general busyness of work and life. Lots of appointments and medical things going on, all important, all worthwhile, but taxing. And it’s catching up with me. At times like these, I often hear the voice of the Perfectionist bellowing in my ear: […]
Beyond Yoga
Last weekend I participated in a first-time Indie Author Book Festival in Adelaide. I had so much fun talking to customers and chatting to fellow authors all day—the conversations were nearly non-stop! Lots of people stopped by my table to talk about chronic illness. One thing that came up again and again was how often […]
Useless
Three years ago I became useless. I had acquired a cold and, along with it, problems breathing. All tests for COVID-19 etc. came back clear. It was just a cold—but I couldn’t talk for more than a few minutes without severe shortness of breath. I couldn’t walk very far. In fact, when I went to […]
Lingering with a Lime Tart
Here I am, sitting in a little café just a few hundred metres from the beach, relishing the opportunity to sit and write. The fresh salty air comes wafting past, washing the last of the autumn leaves off the trees, and I inhale the wind like it’s my last breath. There is something so cleansing […]
Lazy (in Moderation)
In reading Allen Arnold’s deceptively short blog, Operating Below Capacity,* I found what my soul had been looking for. It was invitation from the Holy Spirit to slow down already. I’ve been slowing down for a while now, or attempting to at least. I may be succeeding a little: Arnold’s blog took me about twenty […]
Myths of Singledom
I met my husband later in life: I was twenty-nine. OK, that may not sound like a ‘late’ marriage, but in my church circles everyone was married by the ripe old age of twenty-one. At twenty-nine, I was considered practically retired. Or a leper. During those years of singledom, I encountered some interesting myths and […]
Survival Skills: Grace in the Flames
Three years ago I became disabled by illness. I don’t know whether it was lupus or not; the illness was never diagnosed. But it was a doozy of a flare-up and I was off work for about six months. During that time, I was virtually house-bound, going out only for medical appointments. I had to […]
Survival Skills: It’s Not Fair!
There are times when I get super jealous of able-bodied people. There, I said it. As much as envy is not exactly a fruit of the Spirit, this try-hard Christian experiences jealousy on a semi-regular basis. I feel it watching other people climb stairs without a problem. I experience it when friends regale me with […]