Who am I?

I need to explain a little about myself. In a few days I celebrate 24 years of ordained ministry in the Uniting Church. This is one of the ways I connect to the text Luke 1:39-45, because I was six months pregnant when I was ordained. 1987 - a unique year, and I was all set to embark on two big adventures at the same time - being a minister, and being a mother. Both of these dreams had seemed unlikely. The ordination was to follow nearly ten years of theological education, with some time out for travel, the death of my father (and the pilgrimage with his ashes) and a couple of years spent nursing, and then teaching. I had come a long way from the girl with the plaits to the woman with the belly. There were some who thought I shouldn't make it, even right at the end - that I should choose only one way forward, and that God was clearly showing me the way to choose. I was truly blessed with an understanding Congregation and family support!
I became a Christian, despite of hours and hours of Sunday School, when I was 14, sitting alone in my room, reading the Bible. I had begun earlier in the year, at Genesis, determined not only to read through the Bible, but live the rules. This was costly – no more bacon sandwiches! I gave up part of the way through Numbers, but something drew me back. This time I began at Matthew, and by the time I had finished John, I knew I wanted to follow this Jesus. I understand the immense power of the written word, not as a list of rules and instructions (remember I had tried that already), but as direct access to the Person of Jesus. The gospels enabled me to stand in the presence of Jesus, to see how he interacted, to read between the lines his motivations, and his Great Love.
I am building a house in the hills, (shed goes up tomorrow!) and I live with the turmoil and peace of an aging but open congregation, a bunch of young adults that live/call in at my place, a long-suffering partner, and a chocolate laborador cross called Mousse.