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The blessed of Bundeena

I had a really lovely church experience at Bundeena recently. Bundeena isn’t even 20 minutes’ drive out of…
An Irish wolfhound cross sniffs a man sitting cross-legged on the grass.
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A dog’s faith

My in-laws have a sweet Irish wolfhound cross named Logan. They adopted her as a rescue dog when…
A cracked heart shape on pale blue sand, with light shining within.
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Perfection vs Redemption

I’ve struggled to write over the last month and a half. Life has been kinda hard and I…
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My real-life miracles

Nowadays, we use the word miracle figuratively. Either we don’t believe miracles really happen (at least, not anymore)…
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Chasing wonder

Concepts create idols. Only wonder grasps anything. Gregory of Nyssa This quote struck quite a chord with me…
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Turning on TED

It was only 18 months ago that I publicly wrote that one of my deepest dreams was to…
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An awkward romance

About a month ago I heard a talk about how God made the first move with us and goes to crazy lengths to woo us. Yet framing my relationship with Jesus as an epic romance is a bit, well, off. Friend, yes. Father, yes. But this?
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Made to wonder: string theory and the resurrection

What does string theory have to do with the Resurrection? What's the difference between wanderlust and "wonderlust" (is that even a thing?)? Why do adverb particles matter? This Easter I really went down the rabbit hole ... String theory and the Resurrection I was listening to a podcast the other day, an interview with a physicist who was explaining the holographic principle. Based on string theory, one of the concepts is that our lived reality is two-dimensional data expressed in three dimensions. In other words, reality is a hologram. It made me think about dimensions in general. If two dimensions can express three, and it's generally accepted that we inhabit four dimensions (the fourth being time), what would 5D* projection mean? Because I'm convinced the material world isn't all there is to existence. As a person of faith, I believe we exist in more than four dimensions. But for most people - Christians, followers of other faiths and those of no faith alike - our active engagement in the fifth is limited. This Easter I was reminded that the Resurrection invites us to walk beyond the four dimensions and live a bigger, richer reality.
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Love and ashes

Happy Valentine’s Day! Happy Ash Wednesday! Not since 1945 have both occasions fallen on the same day. And…
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Converse and convert

I stumbled upon an interesting website this week. In the wake of the failed plebiscite and planned postal…
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Lavish Friday

Unconditional, eternal, lavish I was reading about how God loves us unconditionally, eternally and lavishly. Unconditional, I get…
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The problem with American

Last week, on my flight from New York back to Sydney, I binge watched Season 1 of The Newsroom. It’s a series created by Aaron Sorkin, the guy behind The West Wing, with Jeff Daniels playing Will McAvoy, an anchorman on cable news. In the opening scene of the series pilot, Will is on a panel with a Democrat and a Republican at a university, when a student asks the panel: “What makes America the greatest country in the world?” The question triggers an epic and rousing outburst from Will, who dresses down both major political parties and rails about why America is no longer the greatest country on earth. “But it could be”, he then says in softer tones. That first season of The Newsroom aired in 2012, before Donald Trump ever campaigned for president, promising to “make America great again”. Coincidence? I doubt it.
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Re-entering the darkness

I wasn’t procrastinating – I actually wasn’t planning on ever reading the book. It was going to be one for the mantelpiece, to adorn the bookshelf. After all, I spent a year working for the organisation founded by the author, so I didn’t just know the content – I was living right amongst it. It was a surprise, then, how much the opening chapters of The Locust Effect moved me. Two months back on board with International Justice Mission (IJM), now in Australia, and we’ve talked on a number of occasions about vicarious trauma. I’ve shared with my colleagues some of what I went through that year in Bolivia. They’ve shared about how advocating against cybersex trafficking has had a toxic personal effect on them.
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From Advent to Adventure

It’s the second week of Advent and I’m not really feeling it. Generally speaking, people slide easily into one of three distinct categories: (1) those who absolutely love Christmas; (2) those who find Christmas super stressful; and, (3) those who are indifferent to Christmas. I love Jesus but I am planted firmly in the third camp. So I scour the season, I scour Scripture, both for magic and for logic.
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Crazy Baptist Girl

Apparently among some of my classmates, I had a reputation as the Crazy Baptist Girl at school. After…
Re-entry. Still from the movie Gravity.
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367 days after re-entry

Ten years ago, a lady named Debbie asked me if I was studying Spanish because I wanted to be a missionary in South America. At the time it was a seriously long bow to draw - I in fact had no better reason for studying Spanish other than Age of Empires and the Spanish national football team. Once I started learning the language, I discovered how beautiful it was to the ear, the mind, the tongue. But even then I didn't have any particular interest in Latin American culture. I had even less interest in becoming a missionary. Debbie and I are unlikely to cross paths again, but what she said turned out to be rather prophetic.
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How to grow ambition

I grew up with a lot of positive reinforcement and believing in Jesus has both shrunk and supersized that. On the one hand, ambition can be a bad word because it implies arrogance. I have become less self-effacing, more confident, over the years, but I doubt anyone I know would describe me as ambitious. There is still this idea that ambition is a cut-throat attitude, seeking to elevate yourself regardless of the cost to others. Um ... not me. But y'know what, I am ambitious. And I'm going to start owning that.
Daniel in the lion's d
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Which Bible expat are you?

Thought I'd share something different this week. Here's a quiz for anyone who's ever lived abroad. Which Bible expat are you? Below is a quick questionnaire about your experience overseas. Each response links to one or more people from Scripture.
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Don’t give up on perfection

I am not a perfectionist. Not in the traditional sense of the word - I decided a long time ago that it was too difficult and painful to live that way, that I wasn't going to be needlessly harsh and demanding on myself, trying to get everything right down to a tee. But I am, in my own way, a perfectionist. Deep down, I still believe in and long for perfection.
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Pieces of heaven

"How can you not like dumplings? They're little pieces of heaven!" Okay, so this post isn't really about dumplings. But I'm going to talk a little about dumplings to launch into some thoughts about the little pieces of heaven on earth, the fragments of eternity around us.
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Six Spanish words that changed my faith

It's hard to explain how learning Spanish has amplified and enriched my understanding of God and the Bible. But I'll try. In this post I'll teach you six Spanish words to show you what you're missing by only reading the Bible in English.
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The worst thing about unemployment

Now that I'm more than a month into my current unemployment, I’m starting to find it all a bit overwhelming. But not for the reasons you might think. It’s 10am on a weekday and I’m sitting in a café, sipping my on-the-whole-pretty-decent large flat white, writing this. It’s not a bad life, really.
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Just another earthquake?

I didn’t think much of the earthquake, to be honest. And I’m going to be very honest about this.…
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Defrag this

In the days before I converted to Mac, defragging my PC was a standard part of my life. I…
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Easter Peace-ster

I’ve never been one for fireworks. So when she went ballistic I shrunk and tried to zen myself…
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Something about Mary

Apparently Margaret Thatcher was my hero. When I was in Year 6, each kid in our class had to nominate a female role model and I chose the Iron Lady. I don't know why I didn't pick Aung San Suu Kyi. Way cooler. And I mean, I'm possibly part-Burmese. Maybe. Meanwhile, Alex - the boy I had a crush on - chose English nurse Florence Nightingale. My heart fluttered and sighed. This guy is beautiful and deep! He chose a compassionate, determined, God-fearing woman. I chose a conservative politician (in)famous for being a hard-ass. To this day, I think Alex had the right idea. And I'm starting to think I need to have better taste in women.

Mission made possible

In honour of IJM Bolivia’s incredible month of July (4 convictions, a long-awaited arrest, 60 therapies completed, churches…
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An attempt at solitude

How do you like the idea of spending an entire workday alone to chill, pray, meditate, read, and…
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Out of Egypt

Draw me out of stormy water My first breath is marked by grace Make me someone else’s daughter Heart that doesn’t match its face There is a blueprint to my heart Chase it up my family tree Peel away this royal mask Disarmed, now trace me back to Eve Fire within and it consumes me Lift my hand, in for the kill Fire before my eyes I see Instantly the world falls still Pack my bags and leave the road Suddenly I’m homeward bound Might and mercy that was showed A destiny, a new hope found Even pain it had a purpose Rejection taught me who to trust Didn't see it at the time The diamonds being formed from dust Here before this multitude Seas will part and nations fall Incongruent heart refreshed, renewed Tuned in to the celestial call
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Travel delusions

Note: I was pleased and privileged to have this post published on A Life Overseas. In that process, I was…

Coincidence vs Providence

I have a friend who used to say that there's no such thing as luck, only statistics. It's all just a matter of chance and probability. What we're really saying when we say something that happened was bad luck is that the improbable (but not impossible) negative outcome happened. What we're really saying when we wish someone good luck is that we hope probabilities work in their favour. Then there are those moments when you really see how the stars have aligned. Yes, it's still probability at play - but I don't believe statistics preclude God's involvement; indeed I believe God can work with probabilities and against them. B, one of our clients, was diagnosed with cancer and given a 60-70% of responding to treatment and a 40% chance overall of recovering. Hospital A doesn't generally provide chemotherapy. They were going to send B home to free up a bed, and put her on the three-month waiting list at another hospital. It's Monday.
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Self-censored

I’ve always valued my education, and I know a significant part of my identity and beliefs are shaped…

boring Christian music

This afternoon, for the first time in a long time, I listened to Christian radio.  And tried to…

down and up again

Settling back in had been going pretty well. It was good gradually catching up with friends rather than…

Tapestry

I have a sadness that does not want to be sung She says to me, “I am deeper…
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Yo soy mujer (I am woman*)

In preparation for this Saturday’s pijamada (slumber party), I’ve just started reading Mentiras que las jóvenes creen (Lies…
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A good place

One of the things I’ve noted is that we don’t pray all that much together, neither us four…