Ok, so not really. I know no-one has been expecting an update but I do love a Lord of the Rings reference. Aaaanyway, back to the long-deceased artform of blogging! You might be here because you heard me on the I Was Teenage Fundamentalist Podcast (air date Friday Sept 2, 2022) – in which case, …
A Letter to My Daughters
My Dear Girl, One day you will be grown. Right now you are small, and crazy-beautiful. All too soon you will become a teenager, then a woman. (You will still be crazy-beautiful). You will grow breasts, you will lose your button nose, you will get pimples and then grow out of them, you will probably …
Because of Rachel
We get on with it. I have procrastinated long enough trying to find the right words, when really what I need to do most to honor Rachel’s life and influence is to simply share my heart. Rachel was a force to be reckoned with, and in so many ways she still is. Her words survive …
On Belonging.
As a reasonably normal child — observably at least — I did all the things other children do: I climbed trees, gathered fallen branches for fires, made tiny fairy tepees out of twigs. I used to play at the base of an ancient, wise oak in the schoolyard with my best friend. I gathered fruit …
Untitled Ramblings
I’ve been thinking quite a bit over the last nine months since I last dropped some words in this space. Things come up that I want to say, then I can’t work out how to say them. I’m stung again by the nagging lie of perfectionism . The kind of thinking I’ve been doing has …
Of Heretics and Pharisees
Pharisee. Heretic. Wolf in sheep’s clothing. Legalist. Backslider. Fundamentalist. Jezabel. I’ve named and been named. I’ve called out, been spat out. I’ve spurned others, I’ve been branded. What are these labels, and why do we use them? We self-identify, and we deride others with their usage. We pigeon-hole others into …
The Con of Christian Achievement (and learning to find my own path)
I came of age in the era of excellence in the Pentecostal church. Maybe we weren’t explicitly told we had to go out and change the world, but still, the implicit expectations were there – in the worship songs, the rhetoric, the subtle messages, the cult of christian celebrity. We sang about being history-makers, planet-shakers; …
Let the River Flow
I wrote this post over a year ago and never published it. It is still 100% true, but It’s time to break the dam, let the river flow where it may, let the water carve out space in the places that give way to it. I’m learning to give in to the softness and simplicity, …
Of Old Things and New Things
Well hey there! Three and half years ago when I started this blog under the name ‘Failing Joyfully’ I was in the midst of some undiagnosed post-natal depression, as well as some pretty heavy faith deconstruction. I’ve mostly come through the PND, and the faith stuff – well – that’s ongoing (it’s a work that’s …
Blooming
My maternal grandmother – my Beloved Mama – passed away in May 2016. I wrote these words by her bedside, during her last few days. She was the eternal optimist, her joy and laughter were infectious (even when nobody knew what she was laughing at), and she epitomised unconditional love – endowing everyone around her …
