I was born in Seattle

My Bible: reasons to believe in the power of the Bible

‘I was born in Seattle, and met my husband when I was on holiday. We had a long-distance relationship for nine months and then married. 

‘My eldest daughter turned 13 a few days ago and when I was in hospital with her the day after she was born I wandered out of my room with her and sat down by a radio. It was tuned to our local radio station and the very next song to come on was “Turn, Turn, Turn” by the Byrds. Those words are taken directly from chapter 3 verses 1–8 of Ecclesiastes. I love that the first piece of music that she heard was this, as my life and hers had just started a new season together. We now have four daughters, aged 13, 10, 6 and 4. 

‘These are verses that come back to me, especially at major life changes. I have just turned 40 and my youngest daughter is off to school – “for everything there is a season”.  

‘2017 was the year I wish hadn't happened. We'd started major renovations in our house when my youngest daughter was three months old. We lived in a tent in the summer, with a newborn and three other children. But the people we chose to do the work did a terrible job – we're still finding mistakes. Then I fell pregnant again and in August I lost the baby and nearly died. My husband emotionally shut down; we were not in a good place. We're still getting back to normal, slowly.

‘The fact that there are verses like Ecclesiastes in the Bible – and it's not just the little Bible stories you read as a child – all of the characters suffer and fail and have miserable times, and yet they're still celebrated. The Bible doesn't gloss over that. It's real about the struggles but there's so much hope, and joy, and light, and love.’

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