We cannot decide how many years our story will contain, but we can choose what we write into the years we are given. This weekend, as we celebrate fathers here in Australia, I find myself looking into the eyes of a man I never had the privilege of meeting. My paternal grandfather looks back at…
Tag: faith
Through Every Season
We cannot expect our younger selves to have understood what only a lifetime of experience could teach us. I have often heard it said that the year before a major milestone becomes a reflective one. A year of looking backwards as much as forwards. Of taking stock. Of remembering who you were, who you became,…
Never Abandoned
Our vulnerability does not diminish our faith; it reminds us how deeply we need God. Five years ago today, I received news that changed my life. But two days before that, on an ordinary Monday morning, my body gave me the first terrifying sign that something was terribly wrong. Nothing about the morning itself felt…
More ordinary days
Sometimes the greatest relief comes not from having all our questions answered, but from being given a little more room to breathe. There are weeks when the whole world feels unsteady. This has been one of them. So much in the wider world feels fragile at the moment, with economies shaking, nations on edge, and…
Dad’s Fading Light
Perhaps some of life’s deepest sorrows are inseparable from its greatest blessings. My 90-year-old dad is slowly slipping away. Day by day, the flame in his candle grows dimmer, and I find myself watching that light with a grief too deep for words. There is something so heartbreaking about loving someone for your whole life…
He is Risen!
Sometimes we arrive at a moment believing we know how the story ends, only to discover that God has written something we never imagined. There is an ancient and joyous Paschal greeting that has echoed across generations of Christians, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ and proclaiming hope, new life, and the victory of life…
Love Kneels Down
Sometimes the most ordinary acts of service carry the most extraordinary love. On Maundy Thursday, I find myself deeply moved by the thought that love kneels. Not proud.Not distant.Not hurried.But low enough to wash feet.Low enough to serve.Low enough to remain tender, even with suffering already gathering at the door. There is something about that…
The Gift of Lament
Sometimes the greatest kindness is allowing someone to be honest about their pain without asking them to find the bright side. I was probably in my early twenties when I read a book that would leave a lasting impression on me. I cannot remember every detail of what was written, but one thought settled so…
Writing While Able
Sometimes we forget that what we are able to do today is itself a gift worth treasuring. For some years now, I have lived with a certain kind of uncertainty, the kind that quietly follows me even on ordinary days. It is not always loud. Sometimes it sits far enough in the background that I…
Water over Rock
We are constantly being shaped by what we repeatedly allow into our hearts and minds, often without realising it. There are some places that seem to hold a feeling for you, so that when you return, something in you settles before you even understand why. Marysville is like that for me. This summer, on one…
