Tell us a little about yourself My name is Sally Abboud and I live in Sydney, Australia. My husband Rob is currently studying at bible college and we are interested in full time ministry in a multicultural setting. I am a trained Drama & English teacher and love working with kids of all ages and sharing what Jesus has done for them. I am also a photographer, mainly specialising in weddings and families but I generally love taking photos of people enjoying life. What's your favourite bible passage and why? My favourite bible passage at the moment is 1 John 4:7-19 as it lays out the gospel clearly and our need to respond to it. In a world where the definition of love is thwarted and temporary
Who likes predictability? You just like to know what’s happening, where and how? When you find a way that something works do you stick to it? Have you ever heard the saying “IF IT AINT BROKE, DON’T FIX IT”? The only problem is that we can become so set in our own ways or in the way it’s always been done that we can struggle to see when something is broken! But what if there is A NEW WAY? A different way? Would we be open to hearing and learning a new way? I love routine and I love knowing what things will and won’t work, but sometimes that way just isn’t getting the same results anymore and we wonder why. The way we use to approach work isn’t bringing the same results it used to, the way we
As autumn slides unrelentingly into winter, getting up in the morning gets harder and harder. The air outside is cold and under my blankets it is both warm and uncomplicated by the demands of the day. As the comfort of my sleep is interrupted by the sound of my alarm, I ponder ignoring it and instead remaining in bed all day. I need a reminder of why I get up in the morning. I get up in the morning because I can. Not everyone gets to and it is a blessing. I get up in the morning because there is beauty in this world that God has provided for me to enjoy. It might be the feeling of winter sunshine on my skin, a moment to catch my breath and look around, a joke with a colleague, a cup of coffe
Dear Church, we are letting down the body of Christ when we suppress, silence and minimise the women in our church. Dear Church, this should not be, we should do better, we can do better, we must do better. When we don’t amplify the voices and stories of women in our churches, in our bible studies, in our conferences and in our Christian groups then we all miss out. Our women, especially our young women, all of our women need to hear these voices and stories and our men, especially our young men, but all our men need to hear the voices and stories of women. We need to hear their challenges and triumphs, their sorrows and their joys, their experience of faith and their experience of doubt,
I have two sons. One is 13, the other 11. We wanted to have at least one boy and one girl. But difficult births led to a decision to stop at two. And so, no girl. This has been a grief, though one tempered by delightful relationships with nieces and friends’ daughters. However, as I have been thinking through the revelations of #metoo, and talked to friends considering the implications of it for their teen girls, I have found myself relieved I’m not parenting teen girls. Because the reality these parents face is terrible. Knowing that they cannot protect their daughters from their own #metoo incidents. What a horrible and selfish relief to feel. That I am not faced with this anxiety. Especia
The 2018-2019 Australian federal budget is being released as I type. And, if you’re a budget geek like me, you’ll know there’s a dedicated budget website with its very own countdown to b-day. Each year, for the last few years, I’ve eagerly awaited the budget announcement and kept an eye out for any commentary from my favourite financial journalist, Alan Kohler. (Yes, I have a favourite financial journalist. Did I mention I’m a huge budget geek?). Usually, my rationale for the interest (pun intended) is to be informed on the foreign aid budget. But this year I’m adding a peculiar little tax cut to my reasons for paying attention. Finally, the outdated and ridiculous tax on feminine hygiene pr
Some of you might have wondered what the FHE contributor team are like as people. Though some of you got to meet them up close and personal at the inaugural FHE conference (and yes, that is a thinly disguised plug for the next one!). Let me let you in on a secret: they are all amazing. Some of us even think Jen Barker, the founder, has a special gift for finding amazing women. How do I know this? Well, some of them I knew before they became FHE contributors. But others I have come to know through the FHE contributor Facebook group, and then online friendships developed from that. Yes, there is a group. This started as an efficient way to ask for submissions and discuss article ideas. It has
After an almost 20-year hiatus, I’ve returned to dance. My jazz and tap shoes, much like my muscles and my moves, aren’t quite what they used to be. I tried my favourite Op Shops to see if I could pick up some second hand shoes but, alas, no luck. I had a quick look on eBay (the second stop for my style-revivalist needs) but no love there either. There’s a Bloch store at my local shopping centre but, before I bit the buying-bullet, I checked their rating on the Baptist World Aid (BWA) Ethical Fashion Report Card. Bloch received a failing grade. I won’t be getting my dance shoes from them. But that begs the question: where does one find ethically-made dance shoes? I turned to Professor Google
