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Showing posts from May, 2024

Growing into Truth

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There is a running joke I have with my husband. Whenever we do something that is completely predictable, or on brand behaviour for someone we know well, we say with affectionate humour “Classic Peg!” (It’s a SNL skit that we’ve adopted). I get a ‘Classic Jo’ every time I forget to set a timer and end up burning food. There are some things I still do, even though past experience or sheer logic would teach me to change my ways. While it’s good to be able to laugh at oneself with someone who knows and loves you well, there are some things I do which are ‘Classic Jo!’, which I really do want to change. Personal makeovers are most certainly a long game, but effort alone isn’t the solution, there are some things that can only be changed by God, his truth and in his good time. When I was younger I erroneously thought I would have worked through all my issues and learned all I needed to know to do life well come middle age, but growing older has only meant encountering a whole new set of situ...
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Fibromyalgia: My Health Journey

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Recently I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, a multi system chronic condition that is characterised by chronic widespread pain, extreme fatigue, brain fog, digestive complaints and depression. For a sufferer of Fibromyalgia, stress is a major driving force in exasperating symptoms. It is a lifelong condition (there is no cure) but with a range of therapeutic care, symptoms can be managed and even improved. It sounds like a lot, and it is. It has felt like I’d stumbled into a dimly lit tunnel filled with physical and psychological challenges coupled with medical puzzles that needed a large brains trust to solve. I’ve been in this tunnel a long time, but have now stepped into some sunlight. Rather than being completely devastated by this diagnosis, I felt a huge sense of relief, validation and overwhelming gratitude. For my persistent struggle with extreme fatigue, insomnia, digestive complaints, low moods and pain have for the past 7 years made me question my sanity, and doubt my capabil...
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Weakness as my witness.

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When it comes to raising teens, I’m becoming a seasoned traveller. The journey with them throughout high school is quite the emotional rollercoaster. With the desire to raise a young adult better prepared to face the demands of the adult world, it’s no small job to get them across the Year 12 finish line. In the 10 years I’ve had the privilege of parenting teens, I have observed there are some commonalities in the challenges they face. One being, that many young people desire the approval of their peers… standing out as different is something they avoid where possible. Another being, that grades and comparison to peers can become a personal definition of success or failure - no matter how much you tell them it is not. As a mother, I not only want to have words of wisdom for them, I also want to model to them what a life looks like that is shaped and defined by Christ and who I am in him. But here lies a struggle for me - the older I get the more I am aware of my weakness, sometimes to ...
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