Amanda Shaffer

One of the things taught in a wilderness survival course is that, if you find yourself lost, without a map, a compass, or other navigational device, the best thing you can do is pick an immovable object on the distant horizon, and keep that object always in view as you walk toward it. A…

There’s this expression among hikers, “trail magic,” which doesn’t mean what you might think.  Now, this term is actually most commonly used by long-distance hikers like those who traverse the lengths of the Appalachian Trail or the Pacific Crest Trail. Your girl is NOT a through-hiker; more of a short-spurt and stop-and-smell-the-roses (or pet…

I heard these song lyrics the other day, and they struck a chord: “Been lookin’ for You in the still and safe But I feel You most in the wildest place.” (Rebels, Influence Music & Michael Ketterer) If you know me, you know I’ve always loved wild places — the farther from people, noise,…

On a recent hike, conversation slowly fell away, and what remained was silence. A big part of hiking is noticing. It’s early January. Snow still lingers from the New Year’s Eve storm, untouched in places; smooth and white, unbroken by footprints. Evergreen rhododendron leaves push through it, dark and glossy against the pale ground. …

“Now this is what the Lord says— the one who created you, Jacob, and the one who formed you, Israel— “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and the rivers will not…

They say the way you spend your New Year’s is indicative to how your year will go. Last year on this day, I was alone in a rental cabin I had booked 2 hours away from home. I had called it a sabbatical – but it was really a last-ditch effort to finally quiet…

I identify greatly with King David in this season of my life….how he goes from being a “man after God’s own heart” to being a disobedient wretch and back again. This cycle seems to happen with him over and over again throughout his life. Just read through the Psalms. Most of them start with…

The chisel. Merriam-Webster defines it as “a metal tool with a flat, sharp end that is used to cut and shape a solid material (such as stone, wood, or metal)”. The chisel. God defines it as the tool He uses to break the hardened, stone-cold-dead parts off of His people, in order to refine us and make us…

Sometimes the smallest things can trigger the biggest spiritual revelations… well, for me, at least. This is how God talks to me. I call them GODSLAPS – where I’m just going along, minding my own business when BAM!…something knocks me upside the head with its weighty Biblical truth. The name makes it sound like…