RECENT POSTS
![Marilee smiling at the camera after getting her first covid vaccine shot](https://amyjuliabecker.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/AJB-marilee-vaccine-1024x1024.png)
Fully Vaccinated: Almost There!
The final one out of five Beckers on her way to fully vaccinated!
![Advent devotional and materials on a wooden table with Christmas lights](https://amyjuliabecker.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/AJB-advent-printables-1100-x-628-px-1024x585.png)
Reflection Questions to Accompany Advent Devotional
We are already making plans for Christmas. The kids have given me their gift lists, via Google docs, with hyperlinks. The girls have started working
![wheat field](https://amyjuliabecker.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/ajb-Ruth-and-the-Quartet-of-the-Vulnerable-1024x585.png)
Ruth and the Quartet of the Vulnerable
I never knew the book of Ruth was a book about social justice. I’ve been reading it recently with a small group Bible study, though,
![a stack of books that includes: When the Body Says No, Life of the Beloved, God's Hotel, No Cure for Being Human, Becoming Friends of Time, The Very Good Gospel, Disability and the Way of Jesus, Reconciling All Things, Hurting Yet Whole](https://amyjuliabecker.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/ajb-books-to-be-made-well-1024x585.png)
FINAL Final Draft of To Be Made Well
My current stack of books: When the Body Says No Life of the Beloved God’s Hotel No Cure for Being Human Becoming Friends of
![A couple on a walk through autumn leaves. One person is in a wheelchair. They are both throwing leaves.](https://amyjuliabecker.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/ajb-health-absence-illness-1024x585.png)
Is Health the Absence of Illness?
I’ve been working on a new introduction for my next book (To Be Made Well: An Invitation to Wholeness, Healing, and Health). My editor felt
![Marilee wearing a Thing 1 costume and, with a scared face, sticking her head inside of a dinosaur mouth that is part of William's costume. He is wearing a cowboy outfit and sitting on top of a dinosaur.](https://amyjuliabecker.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/1-2-1024x1024.png)
And Then They Grew Up…
And then they grew up, and each went off with their respective friends, and they came home with lots of candy. (Here’s what happens when
![autumn leaves](https://amyjuliabecker.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/ajb-ugly-or-Gods-good-creation-1024x585.png)
God Didn’t Create Any Ugly Humans
A prominent pastor and theologian spoke at length earlier this week about why God might make some people unattractive. He lumped together “ugliness” with disfigurement
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Grateful I Get to Do This Work
When I receive responses like this, I can only feel grateful that I get to do this work: “My daughter and I thoroughly enjoyed your
![dark blue waves of water](https://amyjuliabecker.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/ajb-fullness-of-god-love-1024x585.png)
Filled with the Fullness
A font of overflowing water. That’s the image that comes to mind when I read Ephesians 3 and Paul is praying that we could grasp
![gradient blue graphic with the podcast logo for Love Is Stronger Than Fear Podcast with Amy Julia Becker and a cutout picture of Suzanne Stabile](https://amyjuliabecker.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/AJB-featured-10-1024x402.png)
S5 E5 | The Enneagram: A Tool for Healing with Suzanne Stabile
In a society filled with disconnect and division, how can the Enneagram guide us toward compassionate living within our communities? Suzanne Stabile, teacher and author
![dived rock formation curving towards and away from each other](https://amyjuliabecker.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/1-16-1024x1024.png)
We Are Not as Divided as We Think We Are
We are not as divided as we think we are. Climate Change Katharine Hayhoe, a climate scientist and an evangelical Christian, mentioned on a podcast
![William and Amy Julia standing under a rock formation with their arms around each other's shoulders](https://amyjuliabecker.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/AJb-intro-to-aj-oct21-1024x1024.png)
3 Quirky Things About Me!
Three quirky things to know about me: My wardrobe is becoming entirely composed of white and navy blue. When I traveled to Florida to speak
![Gradient blue graphic with podcast logos for On Being and Everything Happens and film cover art for The Best of Enemies](https://amyjuliabecker.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/tw-AJB-FAVORITES-best-of-enemies-1024x585.png)
Friday Favorites: The Best of Enemies
If you like true stories that are also inspirational and suggest that love really can overcome hatred and fear, you have to watch The Best
![Amy Julia and her children sitting on a rock wall. Amy Julia has her arms around her children, and they are all smiling. This photo is from several year ago. There is a picture of the book cover of Small Talk in the bottom right corner.](https://amyjuliabecker.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/1-15-1024x1024.png)
Small Talk Book Birthday
I got to hold a baby yesterday. A bright-eyed baby who smells soft and sweet (I know—how does someone smell soft, but she really did)
![stained glass Black Jesus](https://amyjuliabecker.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ajb-black-jesus-1-1024x585.png)
Why I Need to Follow Black Jesus
For years, the idea of “Black Jesus” confused me. I understood why we needed to subvert the all-too-familiar image of Jesus as blonde-haired and blue-eyed.
![Three girls kneeling beside a campfire. They are roasting marshmallows. There is a lake, boat, and autumn forest in the background.](https://amyjuliabecker.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ajb-dsa-month-awareness-is-enough-1024x585.png)
Down Syndrome Awareness Month: Awareness Would Be Enough
I used to think that “awareness” was too small a word for what we need in order to change the perceptions and reality for people
![gradient blue graphic with pictures of Amy Julia speaking at Palms Pres Church](https://amyjuliabecker.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ajb-palms-church-1024x585.png)
God Works in Small, Hidden Ways
Slow, local, messy. Small, hidden, unnoticed. Patient, gentle, kind. These are the words I tend to use to describe the work of God’s Spirit in
![child's hands on computer keyboard](https://amyjuliabecker.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/AJB-waiting-patience-1024x585.png)
Waiting and Sharing and Parenting
“I really need my own laptop for school.” I’m not going to name which child uttered these words, because they each feel the same way.