The power of your naming…
As much as I hate the “tell us your name and something about you” exercise, I planned for this time of introduction with teen writers to be a little more creative . . .
Read MoreTag: Faith
Day 6: “Wander” what your purpose is?
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.
Read MoreWander on Purpose–A Collaborative Film Project
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 […]
Read MoreWe, Like Sheep: On being shepherded into the new year
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 […]
Read MoreOf Warp and Weft…and being Deeply Rooted
By Amanda Cleary Eastep A few days ago, I joined about 100 other women at Wilson Abbey in Chicago for Deeply Rooted: A Gathering. My 20-year-old daughter was with me, and aside from a few friends, I didn’t know anyone. I didn’t know their credentials, their triumphs, or their sins. I didn’t know if they were longtime […]
Read MoreThe Terror of Our Blank Pages and Days
By Amanda Cleary Eastep Nothing is more exciting, or more terrifying, than facing a blank page. That’s true for more than writers. Today, my lifelong friend faces a blank page each day. It seems to her that little is left of the story she spent so many years painstakingly writing in blood tears prayers struggles. […]
Read MoreGoing Dark–or at least Going Dim–to find your way
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 […]
Read MoreWho died and made you King of the Jews?
By Amanda Cleary Eastep “That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies.” Luke 23:12 Did you ever notice this verse in the crucifixion story? It hit me like a Roman brick this morning. We can pretty easily recall the scene in the Good Friday story where Jesus is brought before Pontius Pilate […]
Read MoreWhat happened to the Year of Living Courageously?
By Amanda Cleary Eastep Feeding chemotherapy meds to your three-year-old, knowing it may not make a difference, takes courage. Honestly talking out that painful subject that sticks like a burr up under your heart takes some courage. So does running into a burning building, walking into divorce court, preaching the gospel to cannibals. Fill in the ________. […]
Read MoreBeing Bob Cratchit: What Should You Carry into the New Year?
By Amanda Cleary Eastep Bob Cratchit got fired from his low-paying job on Christmas Eve. Sure, it was a miserable job–the office was freezing in the winter, the hours were long, and he had only one day off each year. Christmas Day. And then there was his boss, Ebenezer Scrooge. As I watched A Christmas […]
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