Claire’s story about her Hawaiian dream appears in the 2017 anthology, The Gecko Renewal. Hear her read her story here:

Here is the backstory to how Claire entered the Stories of Life competition last year:

I love Stories of Life! Christians giving witness to God at work in their lives is powerful – strengthening faith, sharing insight, giving us a sense of being in it together. As a storyteller who has known Jesus for over forty years, I have many experiences I would love to share, and this competition and anthology gives me that opportunity.

I have to confess to leaving my run a bit late this time, submitting the story in the last hours before the deadline! I am grateful that ‘God believed in our dream’ was given a place in the anthology. And then the opportunity came to share it over the airwaves so that more people could be encouraged – that was irresistible! It was my first time recording. I like reading aloud, but I felt nervous. I stood in front of an old-fashioned-looking microphone alone in the room, seeing the recording engineer and his bank of equipment through a window, while I tried to hold the book where I could see it without turning away from the mic.

We all have stories to tell, and we need each other’s stories. I don’t live an adventurous life but even in the ‘ordinary’ of my life, God does extraordinary things that are worth writing about. 

Claire is also the author of a short, taut novel about identity, trauma and transition, The Golden Hour.