Apples of Gold

We Call on Him

For a number of years, Peter and I shared a quiet ritual with our dear friends, Stephen and his late wife Wendy. We each brought a song — something that spoke to us in that season of life — and took turns playing them, sitting together in conversation, letting the lyrics lead us to places…

To my grandson

You made me a nanna —from the very first moment your dad placed you gently in my arms,just a minute old, soft and new,you stole my heart completely.And you’ve held it ever since. You, my little ray of sunshine,with that huge smile that stretches all the way to your shining blue eyes.Eyes that sparkle with…

Storyteller

My phone flashes the warning again: Storage almost full. Again. I take a lot of photos. Not for an audience. Not to curate a flawless life. I take them to gather crumbs — breadcrumbs scattered through the forest of my days. Each image a small, shining proof that I noticed. That I felt. That I…

Miss You Most

When the lilacs begin to bloom and the forest floor turns into a sea of white lily of the valley, that is when I miss you most of all. The air grows heavy with perfume, drifting through my memories like mist through birch trees — soft and persistent, quietly calling me back. When your nights…

Life is Precious

Every single day we wake up is a gift —wrapped not in paper, but in possibility. We often move through our days as if they are endless,as if time owes us more,as if we can press pause on what truly matters. But deep down, we know the truth:each sunrise is a miracle,each moment a fleeting…

The Strength of a Bridge

Some days it rests quietly within me. Other days it rises gently to the surface — not asking for attention, simply asking to be acknowledged. I was eleven when I stepped off a plane into Australia. The sky felt impossibly wide. The light sharper. The language fast and unfamiliar. I sensed very quickly that survival…

All I Wanted

When I was a little girl and someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I never hesitated. I didn’t dream of empires or impressive careers. I simply said, “a mum.” That was all I ever wanted. Not just in name, but in the deepest, most wholehearted way. To love. To…

Breathing Again

Autumn is my spring. While others come alive with the first blossoms and the lengthening days of spring, I stir awake with the falling leaves — with the crisp bite in the air and the golden hush that settles gently across the world. It’s as though something deep within me has been lying dormant through…

The Sacred Pause

To grow, we must rest. It’s a truth woven deep into the rhythm of life — so obvious in nature, yet so easily forgotten in the noise of our busy days. But the earth remembers. Even the richest soil must needs to take a break. Rest is not the end of life — it is…

Hold on. Hope wins.

On Easter Sunday, there’s a hush in the air that always moves me. The dawn feels quiet and golden, as though the whole world is rising together into the same soft light. Shadows stretch long across the ground, the birds seem louder than usual, and in the Christian calendar it is the day that quietly…