Below is a brief introduction to the regular contributors to the Invitations to Ascend blog. In the future, we hope that many more voices will join this conversation. But for now, let’s begin where we are.
Alicia Elder
This blog came as a surprise to me. Some months ago, while we were in strict lockdown, I felt compelled to start writing, and so here we are.
I met someone once who said we are defined by our relationships, not by what we simply do. If I were to describe myself in such a way, I would say I am a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a granddaughter, a cousin, a niece, a friend and a neighbour. I find great joy in each and every one of these relationships. But above all else, the relationship that defines me is that with my God. I long to know him, to serve him, and to bring him pleasure.
A.W. Tozer once wrote,
“To have found God and still to pursue Him is the soul’s paradox of love.”
That is my experience. For I have both found and been found by God. And yet, I long for Him. That longing has marked and defined my life, and I hope it always will. This blog is simply an exploration of the adventure that we call discipleship. A journey closer and deeper to the one who crafted each of us and calls us into being – that we would know him and that we would make him known.
I attend the superb Dunedin City Baptist Church (DCBC), in Dunedin, New Zealand. It is a church that longs to reach out to the least. To live as Jesus hands and feet in our world, and to become increasingly like Christ. I am incredibly indebted to each person who calls DCBC home. And to all those who serve tirelessly in that community.
In what spare time I can find I also paint. You are welcome to have a look at my website if you are interested.
Marion Clifford
I am a wife and mother to three young children (a toddler, a preschooler and new entrant). I work part-time as a lawyer, writing the law, a job I love for it’s blend of precision, problem-solving and creativity. And I am a follower of Jesus, worshipping and serving with a community of believers at Hosanna Porirua, a beautiful, diverse, creative, multicultural congregation that is committed to being a light to those around it. Writing helps me to translate my inner life, thoughts and feelings, sometimes even in a way that, by the grace of God, can serve others and serve God.
As well as sharing a set of grandparents with Alicia (we are cousins), she and I seem to share a similar lifelong desire of the heart to live all of our lives in the presence and pursuit of God. For this I am so very grateful. She has always been a kind, wise and inspiring voice in my life and it is a rich, true blessing for me to be able to converse with depth and understanding about things that matter so much, but that it is often difficult to convey outside of my head.
Along with Alicia, and much of the world, the immediate season I am in is one of immense disruption and uncertainty. We are in lockdown. I am safe and well and so are my family. We have jobs and all we need, and so much more. There is much to be grateful for. But certainly life is off-kilter. I am desperate that this season lead me no where else but the greater depths of God’s presence and heart, and that its changes in me are lasting and good. And for me right now this looks like saying yes to writing here, to making brave choices, to having faith that God is at work.