RECENT POSTS

Pointe Shoes and Developing Perseverance
Penny got new pointe shoes last week. For a long time, I thought pointe—which requires strength in both the feet and ankles that I didn’t

Love Your Enemies
Imagine being a leader of a school or a church or a community with a staff that included a white man wearing a MAGA hat

AJB Recommends: How to Love Across Divisions
I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to love people across the various divisions we experience right now, and these podcasts and articles

Coming Home to Love
In this season, can we say we are coming home to love? One of the commands in the New Testament is to “abide” in God’s

My High Schooler’s Independence
I was recently reminded of my high schooler’s independence. Last week I left the girls home alone together while I went to the grocery store.

S3 E20 | When Love Is Our Home, Healing Begins
Do we want to get well? Within the reality of the harm of privilege and ongoing division, Amy Julia concludes this season of the podcast

Am I God’s Puppet?
Am I God’s puppet? What about free will? I was reading a book about prayer the other day where the writer told a cool story

AJB Recommends: Podcasts Processing the Election
On election day, I felt as if a band of pain had stretched itself above my eyes and across my forehead. It wouldn’t go away.

Inviting God Into My Constraints
This is a season of constraints. Remote learning at home. Social distancing. Celebrating holidays during a pandemic. Navigating a contentious election. This week, our kids

Advent Reflections: Prepare Him Room
I’m excited to let you know that the revised edition of my devotional Prepare Him Room: Advent Reflections on What Happens When God Shows Up

S3 E19 | Loving Our Enemies in a Nation Divided with David Bailey
The presidential election does not change the church’s assignment. David Bailey, the executive director of Arrabon, talks with Amy Julia about the practices of reconciling

I’m Scheduling Speaking Engagements for 2021!
A class of high school students studying bioethics. A small group of church members. A smattering of writers from across the nation. A spiritual book

AJB Recommends: Three Things That Have Brought Me Peace This Week
Are you looking for some healthy stress relief? Ways to turn your mind, heart, and attention away from discord and division and towards something more

Election Aftermath
It’s been a stressful week for most Americans when it comes to the state of our nation in the election aftermath. Even without a final

Uncertainty, Control, and the Election
We awoke to uncertainty, and I find myself wrestling with uncertainty, control, and the election. There is a part of me that wants to say,

S3 E18 | American Politics, Power, and Human Flourishing with Andy Crouch
As Americans vote in the 2020 national and local elections, is there hope for power, politics, and privilege to foster human flourishing? Andy Crouch, the

Prayer, the Presidential Election, and Acting Justly
After the 2016 presidential election, I wrote this about prayer: A heaviness hangs over our community. Most of the people I know are depressed by

Amy Coney Barrett, Down Syndrome, and Abortion
I have a new essay about Amy Coney Barrett, Down syndrome, and abortion (really light topics with no controversy!) up at the Religion News Service

S3 E17 | How the Church Can Support School Reform with Nicole Baker Fulgham
Do we, as a society, truly think that every child can succeed in school? Nicole Baker Fulgham, president and founder of The Expectations Project, talks

Hardship Is Not a Competition
I have so many friends who are struggling with dramatic hard stuff right now: cancer diagnoses and chronic illness and addiction. Then there’s me, struggling

AJB Recommends: Writing for Your Life Conference
I am so honored to join people like Philip Yancey, Diana Butler Bass, Parker Palmer, Sophronia Scott, Vivian Mabuni, and others as speakers at the