Dwelling in Presence

That first encounter was not an isolated moment. It became the beginning of an intense, beautiful and powerful season of transformation.

During the six months that followed, the Holy Spirit continued to reveal truth to me with remarkable clarity — while I was reading the Bible for the first time, during prayer and fasting, through dreams and visions, and within the ordinary circumstances of daily life.

Again and again, I was shown things about my life that I had not previously been able to see. Deep wounds, false narratives and partial truths were brought into the light. With each revelation came an overwhelming awareness of love.

Repentance was not something I had to force. It arose naturally and completely in response to the truth I had been shown and the love in which that truth was held. I simply wanted to come into agreement with God.

It was as though the Holy Spirit was lovingly gathering the fragmented pieces of my story and showing me how they could be understood from a different place.

One of the most remarkable parts of those early months was discovering that the Holy Spirit had begun revealing biblical truths to me before I had encountered them in Scripture.

Before I had started reading the Bible seriously, I experienced visions, dreams, symbols and revelations that I did not yet have the knowledge to understand. Later, as I read Scripture for the first time, I began to recognise themes and spiritual realities that related to what I had already been shown.

These experiences strengthened my trust that the Holy Spirit was leading me. Before I understood the language of Scripture, I believe the Spirit was preparing me to recognise its truths.

To me, it felt less like striving to follow a set of instructions and more like walking upon a path that had already been laid before me.

This journey eventually led me to baptism and to publicly declaring my faith in Jesus Christ. I now consider myself born again.

Yet, eighteen months on from my baptism, I am discovering that I am still being reborn. New life may begin in a moment, but transformation continues as every part of who we are is brought into relationship with God.

My identity has altered so deeply that I can no longer approach life in quite the same way. The way I understand relationships, work, home, pain, purpose, truth and love has changed because I am no longer seeing them from the same place.

Within the most profound encounter I have experienced with God, I was asked a question. The question was deeply personal, and its full meaning continues to unfold.

I knew that my answer could not remain a matter of words alone. It would need to be expressed through the way I lived, the choices I made and the things I became willing to build.

The Dwelling is one expression of that obedience. It is not the completion of my answer. It is part of an answer I am still learning to live.

One offering of the heart. One way of saying yes.

The Dwelling is the natural fruit of a life being transformed by the presence of God. My experience as a therapist, my love of homemaking and creating sanctuary, my life within family and community, and the gifts I have been blessed with throughout my life are now merging with my relationship with God.

What once appeared to be separate is becoming one offering.

The Dwelling exists to encourage people to create sacred space for communion with God and to develop rhythms that support an abiding relationship with Him. The practices are not the destination — prayer, worship, fasting, Scripture, reflection and stillness are ways of becoming attentive and available to God.

My prayer is that this place will encourage more of the Holy Spirit among us — that it will help others recognise His presence, receive His truth and welcome His transforming work within the realities of everyday life.