My earliest memories are of a childhood filled with bike riding, board games and hot summer afternoons spent at the beach. For the first nine years of my life our family lived in Cyprus, an island nation in the Mediterranean Sea. My Dad worked in publicity for a mission organisation and my Mum was also active in the organisation and our church, while managing our home life and caring for my two older brothers and …
The tension had been building for months. At first, I thought that it was a hormonal surge, then teenage angst; the inevitable rebellion of a 17-year-old against anything that resembled authority. But, as the moodiness escalated and the arguments intensified, it became clear that something more was going on. Our eldest child was alternately sad and withdrawn or angry and aggressive. There was very little laughter, smiles were increasingly rare and the little boy who …
I come from a happy home; two loving parents, an older sister and a childhood shaped by the comforting rituals of family and church activities. I have always been a sociable person and I expected that school would be a place of fun and friendship. Sadly, this was not my experience. During primary school, I was the victim of bullying and teasing that undermined my confidence and self-esteem. Life was already proving to be challenging …
‘The sickness isn’t the scary part; the healing is.’ To commit to healing means that I will lose my safety net, my coping strategies that allow me to tune out the truth and turn a blind eye to the things staring at me in the face, breathing down my neck and trying to get my attention. It means not retreating to the comfortable and familiar sadness. ‘Choosing to heal is not easy, but it’s an …
I will never forget our first morning in Australia. The previous day my family and I had boarded a plane in rainy, grey England to fly to the other side of the world. We landed in Australia at night but the following morning we woke up to the most blinding sunshine. It was incredible. Parrots of vibrant colours flitted by our apartment, filling the air with their raucous screeching. In the garden below an enormous, …
