Why Advent Hope Is Way Better than Junior Prom Hope

November 30, 2015.Reading time 7 minutes.

By Amanda Cleary Eastep I REALLY wanted him to ask me to prom. I waited. And waited. And. Waited. Until one day, when it seemed all hope was lost, a nervous young man twitched his way over to my locker and sweated out an invitation to our junior prom. Except it was the wrong young […]

“Ordinary” Jesus Loves Turkey and Sinners

November 28, 2015.Reading time 5 minutes.

By Amanda Cleary Eastep As I looked around our family table at Thanksgiving, I imagined Jesus sitting there. Probably at the head of the table. . .and after dessert, in Dad’s chair, because my father would so give up the microfiber recliner for his savior. We would have offered Jesus one of the drumsticks (before […]

Peace Is Giving Me that Look

December 8, 2014.Reading time 5 minutes.

By Amanda Cleary Eastep “You have that look.“ My daughter says this as we hold each other in an embrace that sighs, “Don’t leave home,” and responds, “I have to go.” She’s taken to glancing sideways at me when we hug to make sure I’m not crying. I am on the inside. Wailing like a mad […]

The Advent of Impact

November 30, 2014.Reading time 3 minutes.

By Amanda Cleary Eastep We are parked in the middle of a dark road in the Wisconsin countryside on our way home from my first ever grown-up New Year’s Eve party in my cousins’ basement. Cousin #1 is wondering why cousin #2, who may have sucked down a few too many Pabst Blue Ribbons, isn’t behind us […]