by Australian Christian women. Since September 2015

I got a tattoo on my wrist this year, of the word joy. I could tell the tattoo artist thought it was a boringly cheery middle-aged woman tattoo to get, and his colleague teased him about it. But it wasn’t coming from a place of superficial positivity. I thought long and hard about what tattoo to get, as I’m faddish and fickle. But it ended up a no-brainer. I chose a word of great significance to me. It is a family name on both sides of my family, and thus reminds me of my lov

Where do you live? Nashville, TN, USA - Music City. What do you love about living where you do? I love that the city fiercely supports their local artists and businesses like none other I’ve seen. I am still fairly new to the city and I’ve loved the community I’ve found myself in, and hope to see many of those relationships continue to grow in depth and strength and laughter…. Tell us a little about yourself Well… where to start… I grew up in North Carolina and miss th

Martha, Martha, Martha. She gets a bad rap. She is perhaps most famous for the story told in Luke 10 of what happened when Jesus visited her house, and her sister Mary sat at Jesus feet and left Martha to do the housework. Mary has chosen what’s better, we learn. Silly Martha, over there in the corner with her big bowl and broom, mouth open in protest. We want to be a Mary, not a Martha! Martha is the furrowed brow to Mary’s bright, expectant eyes. She’s the white sliced to M

When I was fourteen, I took a friend to see Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo & Juliet. I had seen it before. She hadn’t. Entering the sunlight afterwards, she looked at me with mascara sodden eyes and shouted in a voice wrought with horror, “You didn’t tell me they died!” I still wonder at the thought of watching Romeo & Juliet without this knowledge; it rends the heart enough without anticipating a happy ending. But few people get to experience the story afresh —the tale looms large in

Have you ever felt completely spent? Like you have nothing left in the tank to give? And the energy you do have you use to just get yourself out of bed in the morning! You’re living life to the full but you are continually left feeling empty and drained. I have been there too many times than I would like to admit. Cramming my life full to overflowing with things like family, work, friends, church, study…and then there’s all those unexpected things that pop up seemingly out of

Why can’t Christians just agree? Or, when they must disagree, why can’t they disagree quietly? Many people, both inside and outside the church, feel impatient and frustrated with in-fighting and dissent in the body of Christ — even over critical issues like racial and gender justice or domestic violence. See the recent response to Australian journalist Julia Baird’s coverage of domestic abuse in the Christian church. Many of the initial responses accused Baird of undercutting

Preaching, and therefore writing sermons, is great privilege! As a preacher you know that you are serving God; serving God’s people and learning from God’s word all at the same time. And that makes it a really hard job, because you are representing God and his word; and you are wanting to be a faithful servant. So, as we preach we keep in mind that what God wants is his people growing, and learning so they can honour Jesus in the way they live their lives. This means that rel

Last year over a million Australians traveled to Bali for a holiday.[1] What many of them don't know is that behind the beautiful beaches, the rich cultural experiences, and the friendly Balinese hospitality is a set of social justice issues, illegal child labor and commercial sexual exploitation (sex trafficking). Australian believers who will be spending time in Bali this summer have a unique opportunity to use their tourism dollars for the benefit of the Balinese children