5 minutes with Lorien ...

Tell us a little about you

My name is Lorien. (Yes, my Dad was a Tolkien fan. No, my brother’s name is not Aragorn). I grew up on three continents, and currently live in Sydney with my husband and three children. I am a Special Education teacher by training, and have recently and unexpectedly ventured into the world of published scripture illustrating. It’s an amazing joy to be able to make and share art with others while encouraging people to sit with God’s word. I love to sing, and make beautiful things. I don’t love folding washing. Sometimes singing while folding washing can make it more bearable.

What's your favourite bible passage & why?

It’s too hard to choose one! I have always loved the part of Psalm 139 (v9 -10) that describes how God’s hand leads and holds us no matter where we are. Nowhere is out of God’s reach. As I’ve moved around the world, and plan to do so again soon, it is a comfort to me to know that God is there and his hand will continue to guide and protect me. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.

How do you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus?

Having three little children, I try to use the small moments to re-fix my eyes on Jesus. It’s so easy to become completely absorbed in the little things day to day and forget to lift my eyes to look to Jesus. When I’m hanging out washing I’ll take a moment to breathe and appreciate God’s creation, thanking Him for it. I’ll sing a praise song when I’m driving in the car with my kids. I try to have scripture up around my house to remind me of God’s character and to spur me on towards godly living. I have an app on the home screen of my phone which updates daily with a new Bible verse, which I will try to read in the morning, to have running around my head as I go about the day. Sometimes it’s hard, but I try to use these things to lift my heart focus day to day.

I also make it a priority to get to church and Bible study every week, and for a few years I have also been meeting with a friend one night a week to pray, which has been a great help in maintaining a focus on Jesus.

What would you like the next generation of Christian women to know?

As women in the world today, we get told that we need a lot of things to be of value. Need a husband, need a fabulous body, need to own a home, need to succeed at a career, need to be the perfect mother, need a new ___ that will dramatically improve ___area of your life. Ladies, what we actually need is to know that our value lies in who we belong to, not in what we own, do, or look like. As adopted daughters of God, we are precious to Him, and He is what we need. God didn’t chose you because your name is on 7 columns of your church roster, or because you can do 100 sit ups in a row, or because you only ever puree organic vegetables for your baby. He made you and loves you and sees you as perfected through Jesus. His opinion is the one that matters.

What's one thing that you love about your church?

I love that we are a diverse but loving family.

What did you learn about God at a time in your life you found hard?

I learnt that God’s timing is different to mine, and that’s ok. His timing is better. I also learnt that we are not entitled to an explanation from God about why particular things happen, and that we have to trust God anyway.

What are you passionate about?

I am passionate about using creativity as part of daily worship of God, about God’s people caring for refugees and about chocolate.

What do you enjoy doing when you rest?

Sleeping, reading, drawing, being out in nature at the beach or in the bush.

Lorien's beautiful book, Meditations can be purchased here on her site or via Koorong here Lorien also shares the story behind the designs here on her blog.