So where were we...
Here's the thing, I have a big story with many layers. While I knew my story could help other women, I wasn't overly excited about reliving it daily. It was painful and messy, and I still had some very deep wounds that hadn't healed yet.
I grew up mainly with just my mum after she and my dad divorced. I was the only child from their marriage and life during those childhood years were quite lonely and isolating. My mum was battling with depression and and ongoing dependency on prescription medication, leaving me to do many nights and days alone if I wasn't at school or my dad's house.
That's when I began to write, well journal more specifically.
I found it was the one place I could be completely honest about what I was feeling and thinking about. As the years went on and I said yes to a relationship with Jesus, often thses journal entries would turn into prayers. To this day, 39years later, I still journal.
It was when the world stopped because of *insert the word we are sick of saying* when I finally discovered what I wanted to do in life. I wanted to write. I wanted to share this gift with others and hopefully inspire other women. This really hit home after my second aunty took her life in 2020. This was the third daughter my nanna had lost to suicide and mental health, and enough was enough in my heart and mind. I couldn't undo what was done, but I could hopefully be the reason someone else chose differently in the days ahead.
And so I created Words by Claire Roberts.
Like most people in 2019, Claire's life was turned upside down due the pandemic and had a lot of time at home to think. She had spent the majority of her working career in retail, events and tourism, and took this chance to re-think what she was doing with her days. From all that time to think, she did something she'd wanted to do for about 10 years. She wrote a book!
Words by Claire Roberts began as a blog to encourage women with bible verses and offer free daily devotionals. It never occured to me that it would be anything more than that. It was purely a way for me to be creative and do my bit to help others on my days off. But as it normally turns out, God had other plans!
I have become incredibly passionate about sharing my story, and celebrating the victory that has come from it with others. I'm determined not to let pain have the final say in my life or anyone else's!
Words by Claire Roberts celebrates each person's story, no matter how it looks. It's been my absolute joy to gift the words from my story so that others can find the strength to write theirs.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to use my gift of words to carefully create encouraging books, candles with quotes and free resources that help you create the life you have dreamt of. My blogs aims to offer positive affirmations based on verse from the bible that aimed to encourage and comfort.
A story of finding faith & living a beautiful life
I wrote a book that shares my story in much more detail. There isn't much I hold back - family breakdowns & suicide, mental illness, surviving an eating disorder and a very long fertility battle that hasn't ended in joy of a child.
None of that was fun or easy to go through but necessary in order for my story to take shape. I am beyond thankful for the faithfulness of Jesus Christ who has never left me or abandoned me in it all. I wish my story was different at times and I have spent many of my days questioning God's reasons, but in the very seasons I hated I discovered who He was. My hope is this space becomes a community, a safe place to be supported, encouraged and prayed for.
