Amy Julia Becker's Blog, page 127

Speaking at the Festival of Faith & Writing

Years ago, I saw an ad in an issue of Books and Culture for something called the Festival of Faith & Writing. The name of the conference alone caught my eye, even though I had literally never attended a professional conference before. And then the list of Festival speakers, which is to say, the list of authors, convinced me that it was worth it to travel to Grand Rapids, Michigan, by myself, with an unpublished manuscript in hand, pregnant with child number two, and see what happened.

Festival of Faith and Writing

A lot happened there, as it turned out. I signed up for a group discussion about memoir writing, and while I was there, I met a new author who said she’d love to introduce me to her editor who had recently become an agent. That editor-turned-agent is still my agent today.

I also began to learn about the business of writing, and I loved sitting through sessions from a host of authors who were anywhere from just getting started to literary giants. I’ve returned every time the festival has happened since then (it’s an every-other-year conference), and over the years I’ve heard Christian Wiman, Marilynne Robinson, Anne Lamott, James McBride, Kate Bowler, Rachel Held Evans, Rob Bell, and more and more. 

Speaking at the 2020 Festival

So it is truly an honor to be invited to speak there myself in April. I’m one among many, and I will probably regret saying yes to speak because, while I am speaking, I will miss out on hearing some other fantastic person sharing something of their own. But I’m also thrilled to participate. I hope you’ll consider joining me at the 2020 Festival of Faith & Writing. It’s an enriching few days for anyone who loves to read or write. 

My Speaking Schedule

I’m slowing down on speaking in general, but I’m also going to be in Raleigh, NC, Richmond, VA, and a few local venues here in Connecticut in the coming months. I’d love to meet you in person if you can come to one of these events. And I’m available to speak in person or via video conference throughout the year. Check out my speaking page here and my speaking policy, which includes talk topics and fees, here. 

I hope to see you in Grand Rapids at the Festival of Faith & Writing in April!

If you haven’t already, please subscribe to receive regular updates and news. You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and you can subscribe to my podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify, as well as other platforms.

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#26: Jesus Came from a Dysfunctional Family

Episode #26 — Jesus Came from a Dysfunctional Family: I’m sneaking in one more bonus episode of the podcast because I couldn’t resist and because it’s about family, and, well, as we approach the end of the holiday season, sometimes we need to be reminded of the title of this episode—Jesus Came from a Dysfunctional Family.

Family

We had Marilee’s parent/teacher conference a few weeks ago. We heard about her leadership in the classroom and the play she is writing with her friend Nathan. She’s kind to the other kids. She loves math. And she loves writing—especially acrostic poems.

At the end of our time together, her teacher pulled out one poem written to the theme of FAMILY. It begins as expected—sweet and happy, something any child of the 21st century might write and share on social media. As it continues, it builds to a crescendo of perfect-family-ness with the line “Inviting love into my house and giving love away.” I must admit my heart swelled when I read it, and I thought, Maybe we are doing something right as parents!

And then I read the conclusion:

“Laughing as a family. Yelling at my brother.”

The end.

I love this poem.

The Family We Are

Why? I love it because it isn’t the fake version of our family–I love it because it represents who we are. We are family that laughs and yells. We are a family that sometimes thinks nasty thoughts about other people. We are a family that prays for other people. We are a family with high ideals and expectations and also a family that recently watched the movie Major League together (definitely NOT one for the seven-year old!). We screw up sometimes; we get it right sometimes. We laugh. We yell.

Family is often on my mind this time of year. The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is rife with decisions about which family members we want (or are obligated?) to see. For so many of us, going home for the holidays means walking back into old patterns of teenage petulance, codependency, resentment, and snarky remarks toward siblings. We laugh. We yell.

Dysfunctional Family

I’ve taken comfort in an unusual Biblical text as I’ve thought about our little band of dysfunctional human trying (and often failing) to love each other, love God, love our neighbors. As I wrangle with extended family about who is going where on what day, who is disagreeing with who about how the presents should be purchased, who is offending who by not staying long enough or staying too long, or who is worried about this person’s drinking problem and that person’s parenting and that one’s passive aggressive nature—in the midst of it all, I take comfort in Jesus’ family tree.

Jesus’ Dysfunctional Family

The Gospel of Matthew begins with a rendering of Jesus’ lineage that ends with Joseph. While this is a list of names I am tempted to skip past, I have been pausing to consider them and the truth they offer: Jesus came from a dysfunctional family. He emerged out of people who yelled at each other. He, light and life, came from people who betrayed one another, who had adulterous affairs, and who turned their back on God.

Furthermore, these weren’t just Jesus’ distant relatives. Jesus was born as an illegitimate son, to an unmarried mother, with a human father who had considered divorce. Jesus was born as an outcast from society, with parents who seem to have been cut off from their family. It seems likely that the rest of the clan thought Joseph and Mary were delusional, since they claimed that God himself had put a stamp of approval on what seemed to be Mary’s obvious sexual sin.

So in the midst of the intrigue and rumors, Jesus is born. Jesus, the one who will “save the people from their sins.” The one who fulfills the promise that God will be with us. God will be with us in the laughter and the yelling, in the sin and in the glory.

Light That Enters Our Dysfunction

I take great comfort and great hope that Jesus can be born in our midst day after day. That light and life and salvation, good news for us and for all people, can enter into our dysfunction and pain, enter into our extended family’s dysfunction and pain, enter into our world’s dysfunction and pain. Advent is a season of waiting, a season of longing, a season of anticipation.

In the midst of the argument over who needs to sit next to Aunt Gertrude and listen to her stories, the pain over loved ones who aren’t here to gather around the table, the unhealthy decisions about food and drink, the glitz and glitter and spending too much and caring too much about appearances, Jesus promises to be God with us. He promises to welcome us, as we are, into the family of God.

Visit my podcast page for all of this season’s episodes. And you can read along with the entire Prepare Him Room podcast season by downloading my FREE ebook!  If you haven’t already, please  subscribe  to receive regular updates and news. You can also follow me on  Facebook ,  Instagram , and  Twitter,  and you can  subscribe to my podcast on  Apple Podcasts ,  Google Podcasts , and  Spotify , as well as other platforms.

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#25: Merry Christmas

Episode #25 — Merry Christmas: Our children will open presents today, and their joy at receiving gifts that they cannot buy for themselves will remind me of the extravagant and free love of a God who comes when we don’t expect him and shines light and hope in the darkest corners of our lives and our world.

Over the course of the past three weeks, we’ve read through the opening chapters and verses of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, these four books of the Bible that record Jesus’ life and ministry. Today I want to begin by quoting the Christmas hymn that inspired this podcast season and the ebook it comes from. 

Joy to the world, the Lord is come, 

Let earth receive her king

Let every heart prepare him room

And heaven and nature sing

Idealized Version of Christmas

My idealized version of Christmas comes from Little House on the Prairie, where Christmas involved treats and presents that weren’t a part of every day life. Laura and Mary couldn’t imagine anything better than a stocking with a tin cup, a peppermint stick, and a shiny new penny.

I would love for our Christmas celebration to approximate that simplicity along with their corresponding sense of delight. But I can only imagine one way for Christmas morning to become a time of celebrating the material world and humbly receiving gifts from one another. We would have to live more simply for the other 364 days of the year.

In our household, we eat oranges in January, and if we want to, we enjoy dessert every night and buy clothes whenever we please. For Christmas to be a day that is set apart as a feast, a celebration, our patterns of consumption would have to change. Instead of…

Merry Christmas Episode

I’d love for you to listen to this podcast episode via the player above or on your favorite podcast platform. Visit my podcast page for all of this season’s episodes. And you can read along with the entire Prepare Him Room podcast season by downloading my FREE ebook!

If you haven’t already, please  subscribe  to receive regular updates and news. You can also follow me on  Facebook ,  Instagram , and  Twitter,  and you can  subscribe to my podcast on  Apple Podcasts ,  Google Podcasts , and  Spotify , as well as other platforms.

The post #25: Merry Christmas appeared first on Amy Julia Becker.

#24: Birthday Party for Jesus

Episode #24 — Birthday Party for Jesus: Our tradition on Christmas Eve is to throw a birthday party for Jesus. As we approach the mayhem of Christmas morning, we remind ourselves that the gifts Jesus asks for are those of a humble heart, a contrite spirit, and a willingness to give ourselves in love to those in need…

On the Podcast!

I’d love for you to listen to this podcast episode about our birthday party tradition. You can listen via the player above or on your favorite podcast platform. Visit my podcast page for all of this season’s episodes. And you can read along with the entire Prepare Him Room podcast season by downloading my FREE ebook!

If you haven’t already, please  subscribe  to receive regular updates and news. You can also follow me on  Facebook ,  Instagram , and  Twitter,  and you can  subscribe to my podcast on  Apple Podcasts ,  Google Podcasts , and  Spotify , as well as other platforms.

The post #24: Birthday Party for Jesus appeared first on Amy Julia Becker.

#23: Light That Guides Us

Episode #23 — Light That Guides Us: Living with Jesus, living in the light, means we start to see the things that God hates in this world. Injustice to people who are vulnerable and needy might be at the top of the list of things God hates. But light doesn’t just expose. It also guides us and shows us how to reflect the light that brings healing and change in the world.

The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

John 1:9-13 (NIV)

Light Exposes

Light exposes the darkness in our own hearts. Light also exposes the darkness that is around us. Living with Jesus means we start to see the things that God hates in this world. Injustice to people who are vulnerable and needy might be at the top of the list of things God hates. So when we start to turn towards the light, we will start to see the things God hates, the things that break God’s heart. And those things will break our hearts too.

Response to Light

Beyond heartbreak, God will ask us to respond. And again, sometimes our response will make all the difference in the world. Christian history has plenty of black marks, but it also has the beautiful achievements of abolishing slavery in Great Britain and in this nation, of feeding the hungry and healing the wounded, of caring for those in prison, of bringing hope and light to the world.

Here’s the thing—the whole point of exposing the things that were hidden—the things that were hidden inside our own darkness, the things that are hidden from sight even though they are on plain view in the world around us—the point is to guide us out of the darkness and into the light.

Light That Guides Us

Yes, light exposes things we might rather not see. But it also shows us where to go. Light helps us to walk with sure feet. Light offers comfort, and safety, and peace. Light offers hope and healing and good news.

The joy that comes to us at Christmas is the joy of God entering into the messy darkness of a broken world.

The peace that comes to us at Christmas is the peace of Jesus entering into conflict and discord and pain.

The hope that comes to us at Christmas is not ignorance of the trouble in the world but hope in the face of that trouble.

Jesus is the Light

This passage from John about Jesus’ birth reminds us that we are not the light. We are the ones who look for the light. We are the ones who follow the light. We are the ones who reflect the light of Jesus. We don’t generate that light ourselves. Just as Jesus is the one who can clean up our messes (or not), so too Jesus is the one who is responsible for healing and changing the world. Jesus is the light in the darkness, born on Christmas morn. We are the ones who have been invited to walk in that light.

Visit my podcast page for all of this season’s episodes. And you can read along with the entire Prepare Him Room podcast season by downloading my FREE ebook! If you haven’t already, please subscribe to receive regular updates and news. You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and you can subscribe to my podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify, as well as other platforms.

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#22: Seeing the Darkness

Episode #22 — Seeing the Darkness: In today’s episode I talk about our options when we see the darkness inside our own lives, like a ketchup stain on a shirt. We can turn off the lights and go back to ignorance. Or we can ask Jesus to help us clean it up. But what do we do when some stains don’t disappear?

On the Podcast!

I’d love for you to listen to this podcast episode about seeing the darkness via the player above or on your favorite podcast platform. Visit my podcast page for all of this season’s episodes. And you can read along with the entire Prepare Him Room podcast season by downloading my FREE ebook!

If you haven’t already, please  subscribe  to receive regular updates and news. You can also follow me on  Facebook ,  Instagram , and  Twitter,  and you can  subscribe to my podcast on  Apple Podcasts ,  Google Podcasts , and  Spotify , as well as other platforms.

The post #22: Seeing the Darkness appeared first on Amy Julia Becker.

#21: Darkness and Light

Episode #21 — Darkness and Light: The darkness of the human heart. We don’t like to talk about that darkness, not at Christmastime, and really not ever. But if Jesus has come to be a light in the darkness, then the reason to talk about darkness is so that we can turn toward the light.

Darkness and Light

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 1:1-5 (NIV)

So far, we’ve looked at what Matthew, Mark, and Luke had to say about Jesus’ entrance into the world and into ministry. Now we come to John, the final Biblical narrative of Jesus’ life and ministry, the one that scholars assume was written last and the one that drew upon an overlapping but distinct set of stories and memories of Jesus.

Here, John gives us a more poetic, more abstract take on Jesus’ birth. It’s also kind of a wide-angle lens, as if the camera has panned out and out and out, from the stable to the countryside, to the hemisphere, to the globe, to the heavens. And as if the scope of time has expanded, as if it has stretched out to include this moment in Bethlehem over two thousand years ago as well as a history that goes farther back and father forward in time than we can even begin to imagine. It is as if John has Luke’s and Matthew’s stories in mind, and says, Yes, and more.

Darkness in the Beginning

So John pans up and out and across the ages, and starts with the words, “in the beginning.” In the beginning was the Word, John writes. By using those three words—in the beginning—he takes us back to the beginning of the book of Genesis, the first book in the Bible, the book about the origins of the entire creation. In Genesis 1, we find darkness, deep darkness, and a God who comes to that darkness and says, “Let there be light.” John tells us that the Word, the logos, was with God in the beginning, in the darkness, in this moment of calling forth light into creation. John tells us that the Word, the logos, was God.

And then John goes on to say that “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” For John, that’s another way of writing, “Baby Jesus was born.”

Light Shining in Darkness

So on the one hand, John is telling us that through the birth of Jesus there has been a new beginning, a new action on God’s part that is just as significant as that first act of creation back at the beginning of time. And on the other hand, John is telling us that what God has done in Jesus is consistent with what God has always been doing. In Jesus, God has shone light into the darkness. God has always been shining light in the darkness. First it was the darkness of the universe. Now it is the darkness of the human heart.

So here’s the part we don’t like to talk about, not at Christmastime, and really not ever. Doesn’t a phrase like “the darkness of the human heart” make you want to close your ears? Wouldn’t you like to get back to singing “Joy to the World”? But if Jesus has come to be a light in the darkness, then the reason to talk about darkness is so that we can turn toward the light. The reason to name the darkness is so it can be exposed for what it is, so we can be set free from it, and so we can offer the light of the world to the world.

Visit my podcast page for all of this season’s episodes. And you can read along with the entire Prepare Him Room podcast season by downloading my FREE ebook! If you haven’t already, please subscribe to receive regular updates and news. You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and you can subscribe to my podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify, as well as other platforms.

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#20: Joy All Year Round

Episode #20 — Joy All Year Round: When I sing Christmas hymns to my children at night, I am naming something that runs deeper than peppermint ice cream and mistletoe, and yet it is through baking and decorating and gifts that I communicate the spiritual reality contained in those Christmas church songs.

Listen to the Podcast!

I’d love for you to listen to this podcast episode about joy all year round via the player above or on your favorite podcast platform. Visit my podcast page for all of this season’s episodes. And you can read along with the entire Prepare Him Room podcast season by downloading my FREE ebook!

If you haven’t already, please  subscribe  to receive regular updates and news. You can also follow me on  Facebook ,  Instagram , and  Twitter,  and you can  subscribe to my podcast on  Apple Podcasts ,  Google Podcasts , and  Spotify , as well as other platforms.

The post #20: Joy All Year Round appeared first on Amy Julia Becker.

#19: Light in the Darkness

Episode #19 — Light in the Darkness: The light shines in the darkness. Today’s episode looks at how the glitz, parties, and gifts of the commercialized Christmas can serve as very physical reminders of what, of whom, we celebrate this season.

Light in the Darkness

We started our Advent calendars on Sunday. Penny read the opening poem from our Advent book:

 There is a star in Bethlehem, bright shining as the sun,

 Announcing that the Light of God shines here for everyone.

 Let’s look upon the star this year, as God wants us to do,

And welcome God’s great gift of Light, born now for me and you.

As she read, William seemed mostly intent upon the stickers. Marilee held onto a purple egg filled with beads that she had made earlier in the day. No one seemed particularly attuned to the spiritual lesson at hand.

When It’s Dark

So I asked, “Hey guys, what do you feel like when it is dark?”

“I can’t see,” William said.

“Frightened,” said Penny.

“Right,” I said. “And what did we just read about Jesus? Is Jesus like the darkness that makes us not be able to see and feel afraid?”

“No!” William exclaimed. “Jesus is the light.”

Jesus is the Light

A few minutes later, we were walking over to a friends’ house for dinner. In front of us stood a forty-foot high evergreen, resplendent with white lights.

“Every time you see white lights, what can we remember?” I asked.

“Jesus is the light!” Penny said.

I often want to disparage the Christmas season, with all its…

There’s More!

I’d love for you to listen to the rest of this podcast episode via the player above or on your favorite podcast platform. Visit my podcast page for all of this season’s episodes. And you can read along with the entire Prepare Him Room podcast season by downloading my FREE ebook!

If you haven’t already, please  subscribe  to receive regular updates and news. You can also follow me on  Facebook ,  Instagram , and  Twitter,  and you can  subscribe to my podcast on  Apple Podcasts ,  Google Podcasts , and  Spotify , as well as other platforms.

The post #19: Light in the Darkness appeared first on Amy Julia Becker.

#18: Not Prepared

Episode #18 — Not Prepared: I’m more or less ready for Christmas. But am I ready for Jesus? Not really. I’m not prepared for Jesus to show up, and perhaps that’s exactly as it should be. Today on the podcast we’re talking about how Jesus is ready to enter my life—just as it is.

Not Prepared

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 

Luke 2:8-12 (NIV)

Have you bought all the presents? Have you wrapped them all? How about the cookies? The movies? The cards?

Maybe you are like me and most of the physical preparations for Christmas are complete. And maybe you are like me and this season of Advent, meant to be a time of spiritual preparation, has instead been a time of parties—with overeating and overdrinking and not-enough-sleep—and concerts and some measure of stress and distress. Maybe you have an ideal of a quiet heart, a still and peaceful anticipation of the wonder of this time of year, and instead you feel harried and off-kilter and weary from it all.

Am I Prepared for Jesus?

I’m more or less ready for Christmas. But am I ready for Jesus?

Not really.

We skipped church one morning this month because the week had been so full. The next week, we sat through the service, but we were tired and cranky and the kids were squirmy and I had trouble paying attention. I’ve managed to look at my Advent devotional, which I love, all of four times. As for the kids, we’re on day 12 of Advent on one calendar and day 7 on another, and that’s even after we “caught up” multiple times.

On a more significant level, I’ve been grumpy and discontented and not very attuned to God’s work around and within and among us.

I’m Not Ready

I’m not ready for Jesus to show up, and perhaps that’s exactly as it should be.

I think of Mary, unexpectedly visited by the angel. She wasn’t ready to become a mother.

Or of Joseph, feeling shocked and saddened and betrayed to find out his bride-to-be was pregnant. He wasn’t ready to be a stepfather.

Or the shepherds, dozing in the fields until the host of heaven showed up. I can’t imagine they were prepared for glory.

Jesus Just Shows Up

Even after his birth, Jesus was always unexpectedly showing up. To the disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Inviting himself over to Zacchaeus’ house for dinner. Barging in on Mary and Martha. In fact, I think one of the reasons Martha was so peeved with Mary was that Jesus hadn’t given them time to prepare the house properly for his arrival. He just showed up. In the midst of the dishes and the empty refrigerator and piles of laundry. He just showed up, and he told them that he didn’t care about the meal or the clean house or the piles on the countertop. He just cared about them. He wanted them to ignore the dust and dirt and focus on him.

Perhaps this is the point. If I try to make myself ready for Jesus, I will never be good enough. But just as he was willing to enter the mess of a stable, he is ready to enter my life as it is.

I will never be fully prepared to welcome God into my life. 

But He is always ready to come in.

If you haven’t already, please  subscribe  to receive regular updates and news. You can also follow me on  Facebook ,  Instagram , and  Twitter,  and you can  subscribe to my podcast on  Apple Podcasts ,  Google Podcasts , and  Spotify , as well as other platforms.

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