Fenny to Fran

I now deeply know that

I am not just Fran -

female, Dutch immigrant,

Christian, wife, mother,

and grandmother.

I am still Fran, but now I see myself as a person, a global citizen whose everyday life has opportunities to be a part of making this world a place of flourishing.

I am still even Fenny, connected to my Opoe and my ancestral roots and extended family on both sides of the ocean.

I am still female, raised in a patriarchal culture, trying to live more fully as an egalitarian while holding my complementarian residue with understanding, respect, and a recognition that while you can learn and embrace new ideas, it takes a while for the body, habits, and emotions to adapt.

I am fully Canadian, and I am actively participating in a diverse, multicultural, multi-ethnic, democratic nation that is, hopefully, beginning to deal with its settler colonial history.

I am still Christian, though my understanding of what that looks like has, as it should, matured considerably.

And I'm still a wife, mother, and grandmother. These labels help define me and give me place and context.

Mostly, I'm an image bearer of God, a vessel through which the love and truth of Jesus can flow freely.