ABOUT ANNEMARIE CROSS
A Journey of Curiosity, Discovery & Faith
Exploring the extraordinary design of the human body, the healing within God's Creation, and how we can wisely steward our health and wellbeing.
A JOURNEY OF
Curiosity & Faith
Looking back, I can see that the seeds for Restore Rophe were planted long before I recognised where they might lead.
My curiosity about health began through my own experiences and continued through the health journeys of those I love. Again and again, I found myself asking questions, seeking greater understanding, and becoming increasingly fascinated by the human body and the many ways we can support our health and wellbeing.
What began as curiosity eventually became something much more.
1. The First Seeds
AN EARLY ENCOUNTER WITH HOMEOPATHY
One of my earliest experiences happened after falling from my horse and suffering a concussion.
The headaches that followed continued despite numerous appointments and investigations. My parents kept looking for answers, eventually taking me beyond the approaches we had already tried.
That experience planted an early seed in me:
When you don't yet have an answer, sometimes it's worth continuing to look.
Interestingly, Homeopathy also entered my story around those early years, although I didn't recognise its significance at the time.
As a young teenager, a family member (my sister-in-law's mother) introduced my sister and me to Homeopathy. If Mrs B. was visiting or looking after us while our parents were away and one of us developed a cough or wasn't feeling well, a tiny little pill would be popped under our tongue.
I didn't know much about those little pills then.
Today, of course, I know they were Homeopathic pillules.
Looking back now, I find it quite remarkable that something I would eventually feel led to study had quietly entered my life all those years before.
Later, as a young mum, I found myself naturally interested in aromatherapy and other ways of supporting my children's everyday health and wellbeing.
I still didn't know where that curiosity would eventually lead.
2. When Health Became Personal
REAL-LIFE EXPERIENCES AND A GROWING AWARENESS
Years later, health became a much bigger part of our family's story.
When my husband became unwell, we spent a long time searching for answers and working with different health professionals before he was eventually diagnosed with cancer.
Our journey brought us alongside conventional specialists as well as integrative and natural-health practitioners, each contributing different perspectives and forms of support.
I learned so much during those years. I also became increasingly curious.
Curious about the human body. Curious about the things that influence our health. Curious about the plants and natural substances people have used for generations. And curious about what else there might be to learn.
3. Back the the Garden
A DEEPER APPRECIATION FOR CREATION
During the years that followed, that curiosity increasingly found its way into my garden, kitchen and study. I studied medicinal herbal tea blending, herbalism and the preparation of medicinal tinctures.
I began growing more of my own herbs and medicinal flowers, learning about the plants themselves as I propagated, harvested and used them.
My collection of books grew. So did the garden. And eventually, a copper alembic distiller joined the family too. I began distilling hydrosols and essential oils and experimenting with natural preparations for personal use.
The more I learned, the more I realised how much there still was to discover.
And again and again, I found myself marveling at the extraordinary complexity within something as seemingly simple as a plant.
4. Rediscovering Homeopathy
A RETURN TO A FAMILIAR PATH
Years after those first little pillules, Homeopathy became a significant part of our family's story once again. This time, I encountered it differently.
We worked with Homeopaths who supported members of my family during times when we were searching for additional help. Those experiences brought me back to something I had first encountered decades earlier, but now with very different eyes.
I wanted to understand it.
What is Homeopathy? How does it approach the person and their health? And why had something I first encountered as a teenager found its way back into my life all these years later?
Over time, and with what I can now recognise as the gentle nudging of the Lord, curiosity became conviction.
I didn't simply want to read about Homeopathy. I wanted to study it properly.
5. Where the Journey Has Led Me
STUDYING, EXPLORING, AND SHARING
Today, I am studying Homeopathy as I work toward becoming a qualified Homeopathic practitioner, while continuing to explore Anatomy & Physiology and the extraordinary design of the human body.
And I am loving the learning. There are plenty of rabbit holes. Plenty of questions.
And plenty of moments when something I am studying causes me to stop and marvel again at the extraordinary design of the human body and God's Creation.
I also bring another part of my professional background to this journey. I am a trained Counsellor and Master NLP Practitioner.
As I prepare to work with clients, I'm beginning to recognise how valuable that training may also be. Conversations about our health can sometimes touch on experiences, emotions and difficult memories as we explore the whole person and what they have been experiencing. My counselling background has equipped me to listen carefully, ask thoughtful questions and approach those conversations with sensitivity and care.
I'm not interested in pretending I have every answer.
I am interested in continuing to ask good questions, investigate thoughtfully, learn deeply and faithfully steward what I am learning.
And, in time, use that knowledge to support others.
6. Why Restore Rophe
GOD AS HEALER AND RESTORER
Rophe speaks of God as Healer.
Throughout our family's health journeys, the Lord has been present. Through uncertainty. Through the people who came alongside us. Through what we learned. Through the questions.
And through the doors that continued to open.
Restore Rophe grew from a desire to build something that ultimately points beyond a practitioner, product or approach and back to the One who created us.
Because while there is so much to discover within creation, our wonder belongs ultimately to its Creator.
7. Come Along for the Journey
STUDYING, EXPLORING, AND SHARING
Restore Rophe is still growing.
So am I.
For now, you'll often find me studying, disappearing down another research rabbit hole, growing something in the garden, experimenting with herbs, making tea, distilling something in my copper alembic or discovering yet another remarkable thing about the human body.
And I'll be sharing some of those discoveries along the way.
Perhaps they'll encourage you to become curious too. To ask another question. To investigate something further.
Or simply to look again.
