My latest thoughts on
faith, family, disability,
privilege, and healing
Gratitude Is a Part of Healing
Is gratitude a part of healing? This past week, I read a healing story in Luke 17. Ten men with leprosy cry out to Jesus
A Practical Guide: How to Heal Our Divides
What do we do to heal our divides within our nation and our relationships? We take small steps towards healing. What does it look like
AJB Recommends: Podcasts About Segregated Schools and Social Healing
What should we do, corporately and individually, about the reality of America’s segregated schools? How does engaging the truth of our horrific past help lead
A 3-Day Civil Rights Tour Itinerary for Families
Send me the Civil Rights Tour Itinerary! Planning a family vacation? In 2019, our family embarked on a mini Civil Rights tour in Louisiana and
The Most Important Work Is Repair
I said something to Penny a few days ago that made her cry, which makes me think today of the important work of repair. I
The Rescue I Need When Life Doesn’t Fit
Trying to get through my week feels like trying to put on a wet sweatshirt, like life doesn’t fit. I look at my to-do list,
Dear White Peacemakers Book Giveaway!
The title Dear White Peacemakers sums up the content and intention of this book so well—it’s an invitation to white people like me to enter
Girls Just Wanna Run
There are so many things to love about Marilee running her first 5k with her friend Lexi. One, they got to participate in a pretty
AJB Recommends: Spiritual Practices for Personal and Social Healing
It’s hard to heal myself. It’s hard to even admit I need healing, much less figure out how to do whatever it takes or what
Free Resource: 5 Ways to Experience God’s Love
5 Ways to Experience God’s Love resource If you’re anything like me, right now you feel weary. Weary of COVID and wearing masks and keeping
First Draft, Writing Retreat, and Construction
Writing retreat day to work on my next book. So far we can call this the “s—tty first draft” (as Anne Lamott puts it). Hopefully
S4 E16 | Dear White Peacemakers with Osheta Moore
Can peacemaking dismantle racism? Osheta Moore, author of Dear White Peacemakers, offers a warm and welcoming invitation to White people as she talks with Amy
The Means We Employ and the End We Seek
“As you continue your righteous protest…Be sure that the means you employ are as pure as the end you seek. Never succumb to the temptation
Social Justice Work Requires Spiritual Practices
You can’t pursue social justice and healing over a long period of time without a source of spiritual sustenance, found in spiritual practices. I don’t
AJB Recommends: The Hiding Place
A single, middle-aged woman living with her sister and father in Holland does not sound like the makings of a riveting story. Add to this
Agents of God’s Healing and Grace
“We are being shaped into either the wholeness of the image of Christ or horribly destructive caricature of that image…We become either agents of God’s
Surprised by Our Teenager With Down Syndrome
In the past few weeks, I’ve been surprised by Penny, our 15-year-old daughter who has Down syndrome. I was surprised when she recited the Gettysburg
S4 E15 | Reparations: Imagining Ways to Repair and Restore with Duke Kwon and Greg Thompson
Why should Christians in particular participate in the work of reparations? Duke Kwon and Greg Thompson, the co-authors of Reparations, talk with Amy Julia about
Let Me Introduce Myself
Let me introduce myself! Four things to know about me. I am: Mom to middle-aged children. Both spiritual and religious. A polite activist. Loving and
AJB Recommends: One Book You Must Read, and Five More That I Recommend
If you’ve been tracking with me for a while in this space, you’ll want to go buy Dear White Peacemakers (or ask your library to
Justice Makes God’s Earth Rejoice
For many years, I learned more about how and why we should honor God’s earth from people outside the church than those within it. I
How Can White People Respond With Love to the Derek Chauvin Verdict?
How can white people respond with love to the Derek Chauvin verdict and the recent police shootings of teenagers? The guilty verdict for Chauvin was
S4 E14 | Searching for Racial and Religious Identity as a Potawatomi Woman with Kaitlin Curtice
“What does it mean for me to actually be a Potawatomi woman? To be a Christian? To be human?” Kaitlin Curtice, the author of Native
Strength to Love: Words of Hope and Challenge
Sometimes I forget that Martin Luther King Jr. was a preacher and a pastor, concerned about the practical, real-life, soul-health, spiritual well-being of his congregation.
Baby Steps Towards Growing Up
Marilee definitely regrets the fact that she got excited when I told her I was filling out forms for summer camp because some unexpected words
AJB Recommends: Watch, Read, Listen
Looking for something to watch, read, and listen to this weekend? Here’s one of each that I recommend: 1. We just started watching The Chosen,
Science for the Church: Becoming Like Trees
BECOMING LIKE TREES-“Nine years ago, my family moved near a few thousand acres of protected forest. Hiking the nearby trails has become a weekly practice.
Great or Grateful?
Penny expresses gratitude with abandon. Every Sunday morning throughout the pandemic, we have each written down our thanksgivings on an index card (see picture above).
S4 E13 | Disability, Friendship House, and Interdependent Community with Matt Floding
What does thriving, interdependent community look like? Rev. Dr. Matt Floding talks with Amy Julia about Friendship House, a sustainable housing model where graduate students
Prayer: Mad About, Sad About, Glad About
What are you mad about, sad about, glad about? My friend Sarah told me yesterday that she had started using a new method of prayer
