Hello, my name is Amy.

I am not a Superwoman.

My house is a mess most of the time, except for when I have visitors in which case piles are hastily shut in cupboards and plates are shoved in the dishwasher. I am not fat, but I am on the wobblier end of a Size 12/14. I like to run – in theory. I like to eat healthy food – but I love to eat chips. And chocolate. I oversleep about 90% of the week. Yesterday I followed my dog into some undergrowth and came out pollen-covered, looking like a yeti and with the grumpiest morning scowl in the world. My weekends are not glittering with social events and my evenings are generally spent watching TV. I have few ambitions in life. My husband and I are happily married, but have been trying for a baby for almost two years and have failed to conceive.  I try to ‘be positive’ about this, ‘take the vitamins’, ‘focus on something else’, and ‘reduce my caffeine intake’, as advised, but really I am skeptical about how meaningful these suggestions really are and sometimes I’d rather just be sad about it. I actually quite enjoy trips to the garden centre. I could go on…

My life is not perfect.

Hello, my name is Amy.

I like to be with my friends and family, to walk my dog, to read, and to be outdoors. I’m learning to play the violin. I would love to be a *real* writer.

Someone once told me about the South African National flower, the Protea. This flower can flourish through dry, hot summers and harsh winters and is adapted to regrow after wildfires. It is known for its diversity of colour and appearance. Like that flower, I have discovered that, by the grace of God, I too can persist in barren, hard seasons and I can resurrect after being swept down.

I have simple hopes for my life – to be less selfish and more compassionate, to have a family of my own, to have a home where other people are always welcome.

I think that sometimes we put far too much pressure on ourselves. We feel we need to look slim, healthy and well styled. We feel we need to be the best in our profession, have the most beautiful homes, and be the ‘perfect’ parent/sibling/friend/partner. But life isn’t always neat and tidy. We are not always neat and tidy. Ambitions are often good, and hopes are always good – – but we are not meant to be slaves to our culture, desperately trying to keep up appearances or trying to fit a mould defined by the media. We are meant to be diverse, persevering, ourselves.

There are always going to be times when we don’t feel our lives match up to the lives of others, but the reality is that our beauty and our interestingness are not found in uniformity or in any perception we create of perfection. Our beauty is found in our resilience, our relationships, and mostly in our uniqueness.