Reimagining the Good Life with Amy Julia Becker

What's the difference between limitations and brokenness? What does it mean to be blessed? How can a dual diagnosis of Down syndrome and autism be a part of a flourishing life? Micha Boyett, a writer, poet, and mom, joins Amy Julia Becker to talk about her new book Blessed Are the Rest of Us. They explore the intersection of blessing, limits, and longing within the context of the Beatitudes, including:The meaning of 'blessed' and how it relates to the gifts and challenges of being humanFlourishing in the midst of grief and hardshipThe importance of insisting on presence and inclusion for people with disabilitiesHow to recognize and accept limitations without equating them with brokennessUsing our imaginations, minds, and bodies to move toward a new vision of the good lifeWorkshop with Amy Julia: Reimagining Family Life With DisabilityGuest Bio:Micha Boyett is the author of Blessed Are the Rest of Us: How Limits and Longing Make Us Whole. She is cohost of the award-winning The Lucky Few podcast, creator of The Slow Way podcast and newsletter, and has written for publications such as the Washington Post and Christianity Today. Micha lives with her husband and three children in northern New Jersey and works part-time as a youth pastor at Good Shepherd Church in New York City.Connect Online:Website: michaboyett.comInstagram: @michaboyettThreads: @michaboyettOn the Podcast:{The Transition to Adulthood} Amy Julia on the Lucky Few Podcast{Living into the Really Real} Micha on Amy Julia’s podcastThe BeatitudesThe Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing: A Theological Commentary by Jonathan T. PenningtonNick Cave on Krista Tippett’s On Being podcastAmy Julia’s book White Picket FencesThe Slow Way podcast and newsletterWorkshop with Amy Julia: Reimagining Family Life With DisabilityTRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/micha-boyett/YouTube Channel: video with closed captionsLet’s Reimagine the Good Life together. Find out more at amyjuliabecker.com.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

{Please note that we discuss abuse in this episode.}How do we love people across our political and social divides? What are the costs and gifts of loving our political neighbor? Nancy French, author of Ghosted: An American Story, talks with Amy Julia Becker about:Her experiences as a ghostwriter for GOP politicians and her decision to leave the industryPolarization within the church and the political landscapeInadequate responses to abuse from both the church and the cultureThe cost of speaking outFinding hope and connection in surprising waysNew Workshop with Amy Julia: Reimagining Family Life With Disability_GUEST BIO:Nancy French has collaborated on multiple books for celebrities - five of which made the New York Times best seller list - and written books under her own name.  She has conducted a multi-year journalistic investigation, written commentary, and published for the nation’s most prominent newspapers and magazines. Her memoir, Ghosted, is a story of poverty, success and the rise and fall of political influence. She lives in Franklin, Tennessee with her husband – journalist David French – and family._CONNECT ONLINEWebsite: nancyfrench.comInstagram: @nancyjanefrenchFacebook: @NancyAndersonFrenchTwitter: @NancyAFrench_ON THE PODCAST:New Workshop with Amy Julia: Reimagining Family Life With DisabilityGhosted: An American Story by Nancy FrenchThe Washington Post: What it’s like to experience the 2016 election as both a conservative and a sex abuse survivor by Nancy FrenchNancy’s Kanakuk Kamp investigationDavid French at the New York Times_TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/nancy-french/_YouTube Channel: video with closed captions_Let’s Reimagine the Good Life together. Find out more at amyjuliabecker.com._We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

Why does it matter that most churches don’t welcome people with disabilities in leadership? If a church excludes people with disabilities, is it really a church? Rev. Dr. Andrew Draper, coauthor of Disabling Leadership, talks with Amy Julia Becker about:Ways in which churches exclude and marginalize people with disabilitiesWhy it’s essential to centralize people with disabilities in church life and leadershipHow disability inclusion benefits the whole congregationReimagining church employment practices to create opportunities for people with disabilitiesWhy churches are tempted to pursue efficiency and productivity, and the invitation to a different wayHow to minister in the midst of humannessWorkshop: Reimagining Family Life with DisabilityEVENT: Festival of Faith & Writing__Guest Bio:Rev. Dr. Andrew T. Draper (PhD, University of Aberdeen) is founding teaching pastor at Urban Light Community Church in Muncie, Indiana, and adjunct theology faculty at Anderson School of Theology and Winebrenner Seminary. He is the author of A Theology of Race and Place, Christian Mission and Poverty, and numerous articles on race, disability, and the church. He is the coauthor of Disabling Leadership: A Practical Theology for the Broken Body of Christ._Connect Online:Read Andrew's blog.Follow him on Twitter: @AndrewTDraper_On the Podcast:Disabling Leadership: A Practical Theology for the Broken Body of Christ by Andrew T. Draper, Jody Michele, and Andrea MaeBrian BrockI Corinthians 12Friendship House (Western Theological Seminary)Friendship House (Aberdeen)Workshop: Reimagining Family Life with Disability_TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/andrew-draper/_YouTube: video with closed captions_Let’s reimagine the good life together. Find out more at amyjuliabecker.com.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

Why would a Christian author immerse her stories in darkness? Why would she use violent imagery that directly relates to Christianity, race, class, disability, and illness? And how can this darkness guide us toward the importance of love in the flesh, of personal connection and vulnerability? In this conversation, Dr. Jessica Hooten Wilson, author of Flannery O’Connor’s Why Do the Heathen Rage? A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a Work in Progress, and Amy Julia Becker explore:Flannery O'Connor's unique perspective on faith and darknessThe portrayal of disability in O’Connor’s storiesLove in the abstract versus love in the fleshChallenges of publishing an unfinished manuscriptHow the prophetic imagination in O'Connor's work confronts the dominant culture's illusions about the good lifeRegister for the Festival of Faith & Writing__Guest Bio:Jessica Hooten Wilson (PhD, Baylor University) is the Fletcher Jones Endowed Chair of Great Books at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. She is the author or editor of eight books, including Flannery O’Connor’s Why Do the Heathen Rage? A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a Work in Progress, Reading for the Love of God, The Scandal of Holiness (winner of a Christianity Today 2023 Award of Merit), and Giving the Devil His Due: Demonic Authority in the Fiction of Flannery O’Connor and Fyodor Dostoevsky (winner of a 2018 Christianity Today Book of the Year Award). Wilson speaks around the world on topics as varied as Russian novelists, Catholic thinkers, and Christian ways of reading. __Connect Online:Website: https://jessicahootenwilson.com/Instagram: @drjessicahootenwilsonFacebook: @JessicaHootenWilsonTwitter: @HootenWilsonOn the Podcast:Flannery O’Connor’s Why Do the Heathen Rage? A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a Work in ProgressRegister for the Festival of Faith & WritingTRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/jessica-hooten-wilson__Let’s Reimagine the Good Life together through the lens of disability, faith, and culture. Find out more at amyjuliabecker.com.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

Is blindness an incidental characteristic, like hair color? Or is it an identity? What language should we use to talk about disability, and why does it matter? Andrew Leland, author of The Country of the Blind, joins Amy Julia Becker on the podcast for a conversation examining:Blindness and identityThe importance of language and the use of metaphors in relation to disabilityHow the experience of disability can involve beauty, power, and lossThe role of allies in advocating with disabled individualsHow Andrew has reimagined the good life_Amy Julia’s upcoming events_Guest Bio:Andrew Leland is a writer, audio producer, editor, and teacher living in Western Massachusetts. His first book, The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight, about the world of blindness (and figuring out his place in it), was published in July 2023 by Penguin Press. You can find links to order a copy here._Connect Online:Website: www.andrewleland.orgInstagram: @quailty_On the Podcast:Amy Julia’s upcoming eventsLeland’s New Yorker essay “How to Be Blind”National Federation of the BlindSara Hendren’s book and podcast episode with Amy JuliaAmy S. F. Lutz’s Chasing the Intact MindDeath Panel podcastJohn McWhorter’s NYT essay: “When We Do, and Don’t, Need a New Phrase to Describe Reality”Disability Language Style Guide TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/andrew-leland/_YouTube: video with closed captions_Reimagine the Good Life with me through the lens of disability, faith, and culture as we challenge assumptions about the good life, proclaim the inherent belovedness of every human being, and envision a world of belonging. Find out more at amyjuliabecker.com.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

This podcast has a new name: Reimagining the Good Life. If you’re asking, “Why a name change?” and “Why now?”—I have answers! Author and teacher Patricia Clarke talks with me about:How disability challenges assumptions about the good lifeAccepting limitations and finding freedom within themHow faith and culture shape our understanding of the good lifeThe power of reimagining what’s possibleWhat all of this has to do with changing the podcast name!_GUEST BIO:Patricia Clarke is a speaker, teacher, and writer who brings people from different backgrounds together to talk about faith. She holds a master’s degree in English Literature, a Barnabas Counseling Certificate, and is currently enrolled in the Master of Theology program at Fuller Theological Seminary. In her new workbook, Lifted by Love, Clarke weaves her personal faith, love of storytelling, and teaching skills together to bring the wisdom of the Bible into daily life. She currently lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband and four children. For up-to-date information, follow her on Instagram @patriciaclarkestudies or visit her website to subscribe to her updates: patriciaclarke.org._On the Podcast:Patricia Clarke’s book Lifted by LoveSteve Perkins at Greenhouse CoachingAmy Julia’s book White Picket FencesAndrew Leland’s book Country of the BlindMicha Boyett’s book Blessed Are the Rest of UsTreasures in the Dark by Katherine Wolfe and Alex WolfJohn McWhorter’s misunderstanding of disability Subscribe to Amy Julia’s updates_TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/podcast-reimagining-good-life/_YouTube Channel: video with closed captions_Reimagine the Good Life with me through the lenses of disability, faith, and culture. Find out more at amyjuliabecker.com.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

Is faith something that should always stay the same? Or is it something that evolves by necessity? Sarah Bessey, author of Field Notes for the Wilderness, talks with Amy Julia Becker about:Her evolving faith journeyHow to adapt and thrive in an evolving faithMaking room for change, in ourselves and othersNavigating the intersection of anger and joyHow to discover what we're hoping for, not just what we’re againstHow to embrace the gifts of an evolving faith__MY LENTEN RESOURCES:LENTEN DAILY DEVOTIONALLenten Small Group Guide & Video Series_Guest Bio:Sarah Bessey is the author or editor of five books, including the New York Times bestseller A Rhythm of Prayer. Her latest book is Field Notes for the Wilderness: Practices for an Evolving Faith.. She also leads Evolving Faith, a conference and online community for people who are reimagining their faith with hope. Bessey lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, with her husband and their four children._Connect Online:Website: sarahbessey.comInstagram: @sarahbesseyFacebook:@sarah.styles.bessey_On the Podcast:Jesus Feminist: An Invitation to Revisit the Bible's View of Women_TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/sarah-bessey/_YouTube Channel: video with closed captions_Season 7 of the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast connects to themes in my latest book, To Be Made Well, which you can order here! Learn more about my writing and speaking at amyjuliabecker.com.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

Holiday culture wars and consumerism bring more chaos than joy to the world. But there’s hope. The countercultural season of Advent offers a different way to prepare for Christmas. Tish Harrison Warren, former New York Times columnist and author, talks with Amy Julia Becker about:How the practices of Advent disarm the culture warsWays that Advent helps us grieve and hopeWhy waiting to celebrate Christmas mattersPLUS why Tish chose to leave the New York TimesGive a book for Christmas!__Guest Bio:Tish Harrison Warren is a priest in the Anglican Church in North America. She is a former New York Times columnist the author of Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life (Christianity Today's 2018 Book of the Year) and Prayer in the Night: For Those Who Work, or Watch, or Weep (Christianity Today's 2022 Book of the Year and the 2022 ECPA Christian Book of the Year). Her latest book is Advent: The Season of Hope. She is a founding member of The Pelican Project and a Senior Fellow with the Trinity Forum. She lives with her husband and three children in Austin, Texas.__Connect Online:Visit Tish's website at tishharrisonwarren.comFollow Tish on Instagram: @tishharrisonwarren__On the Podcast:Advent: The Season of HopeMore of Tish's booksTish’s final essay at the TimesAmy Julia's books__TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com//tish-harrison-warren/__YouTube Channel: video with closed captions__Season 7 of the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast connects to themes in my latest book, To Be Made Well, which you can order here! Learn more about my writing and speaking at amyjuliabecker.com.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

Anxious parents. Anxious families. Anxiety is contagious. How do I know if I’m an anxious parent? And if I am one, how is that affecting my kids? What can I do about it—for their sake and for mine? Therapist and author Sissy Goff, LPC-MHSP, joins Amy Julia Becker on the podcast to talk about:How to identify and stop anxiety loopsWhy failure is good for parents and kidsCommon parenting strategies that DON’T workPractical tools for changing thought and behavior patternsPLUS you get to listen in to Amy Julia’s own parenting therapy session when she tells Sissy the hardest thing for her as a parent right now! Advent Devotional: Prepare Him Room is available now!__GUEST BIO:“Sissy Goff, LPC-MHSP, has worked as the director of child and adolescent counseling at Daystar Counseling Ministries since 1993. She speaks to parents and children's ministers across the country, is a frequent guest on media outlets, and is the author of 13 books including her latest, The Worry-Free Parent. She also co-hosts the chart-topping Raising Boys and Girls podcast, with fellow Daystar Counselor David Thomas.”__Connect Online:Website: www.raisingboysandgirls.comInstagram: @RaisingBoysandGirls and @sissygoffFacebook: @raisingboysandgirlsYouTube: @raisingboysandgirls__On the Podcast:The Worry-Free Parent: Living in Confidence so Your Kids Can Too (Bethany House)The Worry-Free Parent Workbook__TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/sissy-goff/__YouTube Channel: video with closed captionsSeason 7 of the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast connects to themes in my latest book, To Be Made Well, which you can order here! Learn more about my writing and speaking at amyjuliabecker.com.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!

How do we show up for each other in the midst of pain? Is it possible to hope when we’re suffering? Psychiatrist Curt Thompson, author of The Deepest Place, joins Amy Julia Becker to talk about:How to identify the denial and shame we’ve connected to sufferingHow to form durable hope in the darkest placesHow to help a friend in the midst of suffering__Guest Bio:“Inspired by deep compassion for others and informed from a Christian perspective, psychiatrist Curt Thompson shares fresh insights and practical applications for developing more authentic relationships and fully experiencing our deepest longing: to be known. He helps people process their longings, grief, identity, purpose, perspective of God, and perspective of humanity, inviting them to engage more authentically with their own stories and their relationships. Only then can they feel truly known and connected and live into the meaningful reality they desire to create. Curt and his wife, Phyllis, live outside of Washington DC and have two adult children.”__Connect Online:Website: curtthompsonmd.comInstagram: @curtthompsonmdFacebook: @CurtThompsonMDTwitter: @curt_thompsonmd__On the Podcast:The Deepest Place: Suffering and the Formation of HopeAmy Julia’s book: To Be Made Well: An Invitation to Wholeness, Healing, and HopeHope Heals CampHebrews 12:1-3The Bible ProjectGenesis 2Genesis: The Story We Haven't Heard by Paul Borgman__TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/curt-thompson/__YouTube Channel (interview video with closed captions)__Season 7 of the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast connects to themes in my latest book, To Be Made Well, which you can order here! Learn more about my writing and speaking at amyjuliabecker.com.We want to hear your thoughts. Send us a text!Connect with me: Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Thanks for listening!