This Thursday, Nana Gwen reflects on religious stereotypes, tradition and the false images of God by using Jesus and the Gospels as our lens.

Maybe the internet hates everything. I don’t. A ramble about Star Wars, Avatar, He-Man, nostalgia, and letting people enjoy stories again.

A Photo Essay by Gwen Leane

A few weeks ago, I was asleep, and I presume I was in a deep sleep at about 2am in the morning. Suddenly, I woke up, and I sat up. Charcoal tumbled off me. It had hit me, the plotline of a novel inside a world that I had been sitting on for over a decade.

It’s still very clear in my mind, the day I walked into the Pain Clinic at Flinders. I was in my early twenties, and I immediately felt unsettled. The walls were rotting and peeling, and I felt squished and oppressed from the low ceilings and tight spaces. It was as though everything about the corridors and waiting area was designed to be as uncomfortable as some post-modernist Foucauldian institution.

I still remember the day I saw the poster to become a Host Parent hanging on the oddly placed community notice board at Aberfoyle Hub. I say oddly placed because it was near the toilets, but I suppose, I always did stop to read it - so perhaps it was correctly placed...

Today is Wednesday. Which means it's Cleaning Day in the Writer's Cottage. It is also Christmas Eve. So, I am cleaning on Christmas Eve. Which is very - normal.

Digital photography has changed the way we snap our photos.  My wife takes photos, many photos and I cry, ‘The cost, the cost, the cost!  What about the cost of film and development?’  But she laughs, and says, ‘This is the digital age, don’t you know.’ and continues on her way happily snapping.  If the snaps aren’t good she just deletes them and that is that. 

Kylie reflects on the loss of her long-time cafe sanctuary, and the struggle to find her creativity again in a new space.

‘Look that’s a lizard isn’t it, sitting on the guide’s shoulder?’ The children stared in fascination and amazement, having never seen such a creature before. Drago is an Inland Bearded Dragon and looks like a miniature dinosaur. He doesn’t look very handsome and is downright fearsome when he puffs out his and body and beard.

We’re so excited to have Sharon joining us again to deliver our next Baby & Child First Aid Course on Tuesday November 18th at 6:30pm at First Aid Training Group Ballarat.

Visiting Culloden Battlefield became a profound spiritual moment that changed how I see the world. A story of grief, ancestry, and God’s quiet presence.

A heartfelt reflection of the masks we wear to hide our pain, and how God calls us to live unmasked and truly known.

I grew up dreaming of robots and rockets. Now I’m watching humanity step into its own sci-fi story.

I don't like ranting online. Let's get that cleared up. But lately, I’ve been seeing something that really bothers me, and as someone who’s been writing fanfiction since the days of dancing to dial-up internet tones, I’ve got a few thoughts.

My daughter, Diane, found a picture of a patchwork quilt and loved it, many years ago. The feature of the quilt consists of twelve crocheted squares, twelve inches square. Diane did not crochet but I did and so I made the squares for her.

From the Jesus Revolution at Flinders Uni to teaching in remote South Australia, Alison Laslett shares her heartfelt journey of faith, calling, and classroom adventures — a story steeped in courage, kindness, and God’s gentle guidance.

A heartfelt reflection on the span of eighty years compared with eternity, and how our choices shape where we spend forever. Gwen reminds us that five months of prayer and church in a lifetime is not enough — true life is found in a living relationship with Christ, who offers us everything as joint heirs with Him.

A heartfelt Tea & Whiskers reflection on living with chronic pain, the difference between despair and depression, and how Pilgrim’s Progress and Acts 16 remind us that God’s promises are the key out of Doubting Castle.

A reflective Thursday Brew with Gwen about her 1978 writing class — faith, free will, and why God allows suffering. A testimony of how everyday encounters can strengthen faith and inspire writing.