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Myths of Singledom

19/06/202519/06/2025 Steph Penny Leave a comment Surviving 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 […]

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Survival Skills: Grace in the Flames

12/06/202512/06/2025 Steph Penny Leave a comment Surviving Chronic Illness

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 […]

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Survival Skills: Scriptures for Illness

29/05/202529/05/2025 Steph Penny Leave a comment Surviving Chronic Illness

‘Doubled up with pain, I call to God All the day long. No answer. Nothing. I keep at it all night, tossing and turning… I’m a bucket kicked over and spilled, Every joint in my body has been pulled apart. My heart is a blob Of melted wax in my gut. I’m dry as a […]

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Prayer of a Disfigured Christian

18/04/202518/04/2025 Steph Penny Leave a comment Worship

“The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling, a scrubby plant in a parched field. There was nothing attractive about him, nothing to cause us to take a second look. He was looked down on and passed over, a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand. One look at him and people turned away. We […]

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Survival Skills: Beauty and Breath

28/03/202528/03/2025 Steph Penny Leave a comment Surviving Chronic Illness

In the cool of the evening, I walk down the winding street toward the lake. The sunlight is fading gently into deep yellow and orange, the feathered clouds tinged with pink. There are a few joggers and dog walkers about, and we exchange a nod and a soft greeting. I pass gum trees, bottle brushes […]

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Survival Skills: Upending Ableism

14/03/202514/03/2025 Steph Penny Leave a comment Surviving Chronic Illness

‘You need to do more squats,’ said my friend. ‘When your muscles are stronger, your knees won’t hurt as much.’ I stared at her. ‘Yeah, no,’ I snorted. ‘I can’t actually do squats at all.’ ‘Well,’ she said, the cogs in her brain clearly struggling with the concept of someone being unable to do squats, […]

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Survival Skills: Grieving Spaces

07/03/202507/03/2025 Steph Penny Leave a comment Surviving Chronic Illness

I woke up with a niggle in my chest. It’s fine, I told myself. I took pain killers anyway. They I laid down to rest, but the pain became rapidly worse. So I got up, sat on the couch, and began praying that the pain killers would kick in really soon. Twenty minutes later I […]

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Am I Brave?

31/01/202531/01/2025 Steph Penny Leave a comment Surviving Chronic Illness

‘I don’t know how you cope with your illness,’ said my well-meaning friend. ‘You must be really brave!’ I flinched inwardly. I knew she meant it as a compliment, and I took it in the spirit in which it was given, but something in me reacted involuntarily. The notion of surviving chronic illness being reduced […]

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Surviving Chronic Illness Has Arrived!

15/11/202415/11/2024 Steph Penny Leave a comment Surviving Chronic Illness

‘I’m think about writing another book,’ I said to my friend. We’d just been shopping and we were walking along the platform of the train station, talking about my second book which had just been published. ‘I’m feeling the itch to start my third book. It seems I can’t stop writing!’ I laughed. ‘Any idea […]

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Blessings of a Writer’s Conference

04/10/202404/10/2024 Steph Penny 2 Comments General writing

I walk into the main conference auditorium, dragging my keyboard with me. (Actually, a friend is dragging my keyboard. I am dragging the stand.) The room is set up with rows of chairs facing the far wall, where a table sits. I set up my keyboard beside the main table, testing the sound. I will […]

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    Recent Blogs

    • Myths of Singledom 19/06/2025
    • Survival Skills: Grace in the Flames 12/06/2025
    • Survival Skills: It’s Not Fair! 05/06/2025
    • Survival Skills: Scriptures for Illness 29/05/2025
    • Prayer of a Disfigured Christian 18/04/2025
    • Survival Skills: The God Who Allows Pain 11/04/2025
    • Survival Skills: Beauty and Breath 28/03/2025
    • Survival Skills: Find Your Illness Tribe 21/03/2025
    • Survival Skills: Upending Ableism 14/03/2025
    • Survival Skills: Grieving Spaces 07/03/2025
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