My Story

My name is Mirjam. I am married to Lusa, an Anglican minister, and we have three children. We live in Leicester, England. I love being a mum, work as Discipleship Officer at Leicester Cathedral and am training as a Spiritual Director at the London Centre for Spiritual Direction.  

Our family life is a mix of cultures and languages: I am from the Netherlands while my husband was born in DR Congo and grew up in Belgium. Our family lives all over the world and our children grow up speaking Dutch, French and English. So far this has been a very positive experience!

How I ended up on the other side of the sea

I lived in the Netherlands for the first 22 years of my life. In 2007, I came to England to read a Master in Theology at Durham University. This was only supposed to be for one year…

But, that same year I met my now husband Lusa and my life changed completely. I did never go back to my beloved country and family, but instead started a new adventure.

Chasing the Dream

Leaving my country behind was not easy and it took me some time to adjust. For a while I lived with the fear of never being able to achieve what I would have been able to do back home. I was a keen writer and communicator and even published several books, but struggled to reach the same level in English.

As time went on, I slowly gained confidence in both public speaking and writing. One day, I decided to set myself a goal of publishing a book in England. This blog is my way of chasing my dream and starting the writing process, sharing what is on my heart while at the same time improving my skills and getting feedback from my readers.

Where the Ordinary Meets the Extraordinary

I have always had a passion to write about both personal and faith related issues. I love sharing about my ordinary life as a mum, wife, faith development worker, and spiritual director but also enjoy writing about things that inspire my heart and turn my normal days into opportunities to grow and learn as a person. I hope this combination will make this blog into a unique one, where the ordinary daily life meets the extraordinary through inspiring words and encouraging stories.

A LITTLE COURAGE

Learning to speak and write in English took me some time and a little courage. But more than just speaking and writing, I have the desire to open up and be real. This blog is my way to challenge myself to take a little courage every day, in many different aspects of my life. Brené Brown said:

“Courage is a heart word. The root of the word courage is cor – the Latin word for heart. In one of its earliest forms, the word courage meant “To speak one’s mind by telling all one’s heart.” Over time, this definition has changed, and today, we typically associate courage with heroic and brave deeds. But in my opinion, this definition fails to recognize the inner strength and level of commitment required for us to actually speak honestly and openly about who we are and about our experiences — good and bad. Speaking from our hearts is what I think of as “ordinary courage.”

I hope I can speak from the heart in this blog, whether it is about my new slippers, sleep aids for little man, issues related to being a multicultural family, questions about faith, or my search of being useful in my local community!

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