Day 6: “Wander” what your purpose is?

May 3, 2017.Reading time 7 minutes.

I’ve been oddly obsessed with the concept of “purpose” since I was a kid. I had what I would call an “encounter” with God at about the age of nine, and I was convinced that when God “called” you, that meant you had to be a missionary to cannibals. Cannibals eat people. So I just lay in my bed and balled my eyes out.

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 […]

I Will Welcome Winter as a Sabbath

December 5, 2016.Reading time 8 minutes.

By Amanda Cleary Eastep I have two memories of snow. They stick like individual snowflakes to window glass, their intricacies blatantly announcing God’s mathematical genius…his ability to condense the universe into a melting, faceted jewel (or the savior into a newborn)… I am nine and caroling with my parents and their friends and children. The sky is […]

Going Dark–or at least Going Dim–to find your way

June 21, 2016.Reading time 5 minutes.

By Amanda Cleary Eastep I love going to the movies. I love sharing an overpriced pop, gorging on Good and Plenty smuggled inside my “movie purse” because it makes up for the pricey Pepsi, and watching people wander into the theater and spend that awkward 15 seconds making their personal seating preference known to an audience of […]

Turning Up the Dark

April 19, 2016.Reading time 3 minutes.

By Amanda Cleary Eastep This is about the time of year I start writing about spring and gardening and the anticipation of warmer days. And hope. But just because the earth is stretching and ready to start a new day doesn’t mean we are. As much as I’ve been thinking about what to plant in my flower pots, […]