5 minutes with Leisa

Tell us a little about you.

I’m a clinical psychologist in private practice, hope researcher, speaker, wife of an Anglican minister, mother of two beautiful grown daughters and now grandmother.

Do you have a favourite Bible passage? If so, what is it and why?

Hebrews 12:7, 11-13 Endure hardship as discipline (formation); God is treating you as his children…. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

I love that no hard time is wasted, that its normal to have times of feeling wobbly and weak and even finding life painful but that wisdom means forging a path that enables us to keep persevering with God.

How do you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus?

At the moment, I’m reading some of the church fathers (such as Gregory of Nyssa, Athanasius and Maximus the confessor) who provide wonderful fresh ways of being astonished by Jesus.

You've published a chapter within a fantastic book, God's Yes to Women. What would you like the next generation of Christian women to know?

To have confidence in the use of their gifts and not allow disappointment with church to hinder their relationship with Jesus.

What’s one thing that you love about your local church?

It is a place that embraces people from a range of backgrounds and theological positions in a community that strives to love. Our minister has had the openness to re-think his views on the role of women and the courage to begin having women preaching at church.

What did you learn about God during a time in your life that you found hard?

He is not just with me in my present but also in my future: I've had to learn to view life from the New Creation backwards.

What are you passionate about?

Exploring the big questions at the intersection of psychology, philosophy and theology and staying curious about ideas that challenge my assumptions. I love discovering unexpected connections.

What do you enjoy doing when you rest?

I paddle an ocean ski on the beautiful harbour or northern beaches of Sydney.