Day 5: Dropping Blessings like Breadcrumbs

May 3, 2017.Reading time 4 minutes.

Her sturdy frame was hunched as if the bag in one hand and the purse in the other held bricks not books. She reminded me of pictures you see of women from other countries, bent low beneath the weight of baskets or swaddled children…

Day 4: Leaving Anger along the Path

May 3, 2017.Reading time 4 minutes.

Several years ago, a study of 70 million posts on China’s version of Twitter mapped the interactions of users and four key emotions expressed. They found that “anger spreads wider than any other emotion.”

Day 3: Wandering into Surprise

April 30, 2017.Reading time 5 minutes.

I had barely mixed the pancake batter before my three year old had launched into her morning ritual. Indifferent to breakfast, and blonde, wispy hair still looking like a homeschool experiment in static electricity, she pointed at the back door and tugged at my hand…

Day 2: Finding Courage as We Wander

April 29, 2017.Reading time 5 minutes.

My grandmother could have a fearful spirit. At the same time she was taking me for walks in the woods and keeping my early wanderlust satiated with pricey subscriptions to National Geographic magazine, she was sticking newspaper clippings about murders and kidnappings beneath our State Farm refrigerator magnets.

Day 1: Finding Healthy Habits as We Wander

April 28, 2017.Reading time 5 minutes.

That first walk in the woods with my grandmother ushered me into the “wild,” into an environment that was not my neatly mowed yard with the metal swing set and chain link fence.

Wander on Purpose–A Collaborative Film Project

April 9, 2017.Reading time 4 minutes.

By Amanda Cleary Eastep UPDATE: Episodes 1-4! Episode 1: Healthy Habits Episode 2: Joy, Anxiety, Trust, Hurt Episode 3: Surprises, Purpose, Worthlessness Episode 4: Meaning and the Mundane Day 1: Finding Healthy Habits Day 2: Finding Courage, Giving Up Fear Day 3: Wandering into Surprise Day 4: Leaving Anger Along the Path Day 5: Dropping […]

Taking the Warrior Bus to the Mount

February 21, 2017.Reading time 6 minutes.

About 10 high school students disembark from their “Warriors” mini-bus, like they’re stepping onto a questionably constructed swing bridge over a gaping chasm.

Do I look this unsure when I enter unchartered territory?

I can almost guarantee a deer-in-the-headlights expression when I step out in my faith, into unfamiliar spiritual terrain that demands something more of me, that stretches my trust muscles.

The Joy of Snow Eaters — Defining the second half of life

January 24, 2017.Reading time 12 minutes.

By Amanda Cleary Eastep The young girl was standing in the snow, wearing only pajamas and snow boots. My car had just rounded the curve in the road that separates our condos from the apartments. The girl, about 8 years old, stood in the strip of yard beside the apartment building, her hands cupped and full of snow, […]

We, Like Sheep: On being shepherded into the new year

January 2, 2017.Reading time 4 minutes.

By Amanda Cleary Eastep As I travel the roads through the Scottish countryside, acres of pastureland carpet the space between my rental car and the horizon. Sheep meander across the green like earthbound clouds, and the setting sun turns their fleece golden. But I see no shepherd in this idyllic still life that has hung in […]

A Communion of Chocolate and Generations

December 29, 2016.Reading time 6 minutes.

By Amanda Cleary Eastep I break the chocolate wafer into pieces while it’s still in its holiday foil wrapper. Caramel oozes from the cracks as I carefully unwrap it and offer it up to my great aunt. “It’s like communion,” I tell her. She chuckles and says it’s sticky. We are visiting her in the […]