I now deeply know thatI 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.
