gradient blue graphic with pictures of Penny, Marilee, and Amy Julia sitting on a jet ski

An Introduction: Things I Love (or Not!)

There are lots of new people in this space lately, so I wanted to pause for a minute and introduce myself and share a few things I love:

I love words.

I love words. Reading, writing, talking. I loved the linguistics class I took (to get out of my science requirement) in college. I love playing Bananagrams with our kids. I love reading books out loud with our kids (which I still get to do with our daughter Marilee). And I love editing, which is a good thing because right now I am in the “copy edit” stage of editing my most recent book, To Be Made Well: An Invitation to Wholeness, Healing, and Hope. I am amazed at how even after dozens of rounds of reading through this manuscript there are little changes that need to be made on every single page!

I love Christmas.

I love Christmas. The story of Christmas. The glitz of Christmas. The joy, love, hope, peace, light into darkness, disruptive grace, unexpected beauty of Christmas. All of it. It’s my favorite season of the church year. 

I do not love thrill-seeking.

I do not love thrill-seeking. Ever since I read the book Grit and learned about the idea of having a “growth mindset,” I have tried to become more open to new opportunities, more willing to take risks that feel to me like “failure,” and more willing to endure discomfort. So I’ve gone for runs in the rain, the dark, the cold. I’ve eaten alligator bites (not my favorite) and all sorts of things from the sea (which I avoided at all costs well into my thirties). But I also said “Sure!” to the idea of jet skiing (see pictures above) as a family on our last vacation, and I hated every single second of it. 

I also love…

I also love ice on the trees in the wintertime. I love the unexpected conversations that happen when I say goodnight to our kids. I love the quiet beauty of the Connecticut hills. I love the way the Spirit of God works in and around me. 

How about you? What do you love?


Learn more with Amy Julia:

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