Based in the desert of West Texas, Amara Bratcher is a full-time student minister who also writes, takes pictures and volunteers with at-risk children. She has written a book entitled The Bridge That Love Built for adopted kids who have gaps in the early years of their lives. She likes her coffee French Pressed and wears her hair curly 365 days a year. 

Remembering How to Write

I am a recovering word flinger.

Years ago, I wrote fairly regularly - both online and off, but then...my words got worn out and used up and tired.

In a world where more is equated with "better," I found myself gagging on the excess.

Jesus said, "And when you pray, do not go on and on, excessively and strangely like the outsiders; they think their verbosity will let them be heard by their deities" (Matthew 6:7, The Voice translation). It strikes me, as I read the gospels, that maybe He wasn't just talking about prayer. 

"I want to nurture an awareness of the sanctity of words, the holy gift of language, regardless of whether it is directed vertically or horizontally. Just as Jesus did," (Eugene Peterson, Tell It Slant, 4). 

I am back and I am not. I don't know how often I will write or what the content will be, but I will strive to use words the way Christ did - with intentionality and meaning and grace.

Amara Bratcher

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