#randomdevothoughts with Amber: Reflections on the Jesus Heart from the ADHD Mind

It's basically been the Fourth of July for a month straight, and I've got thoughts. This episode started with bottle rockets on my childhood cul-de-sac and ended up somewhere I didn't expect We spend three billion dollars a year lighting things on fire for four seconds of glory, and I think we're doing the same thing with our opinions. This one's not really about politics...

I’m dropping this in lieu of my regular podcast: Paul Ladd’s Refiner’s Fire interview with me from NRB in Nashville. Paul is the senior correspondent for World Christian Broadcasting, a reknown veteran of the multimedia world, and a great friend. We talk about neurodivergence and mental health, what it means when your brain is wired differently, and how that can intersect with anxiety, depression,...

Yes, I said five dimensions. Stay with me — you'll understand soon. Here's what nobody tells you about intimacy: we mistake it for vibes. And vibes are deceiving. You can vibe with someone for years and never actually be known by them. So what does it look like when someone loves all of you — even the invisible parts? I'm pulling from almost 32 years of marriage to my very reliable...

Hey friends, it's Amber. Ever wonder why your ADHD friend says "me too" in the middle of your story? Why do they interrupt? Why are they always late, even though they swear they care? Honestly? I've been trying to explain this for years, and it keeps coming out wrong. So today, I'm holding the mic for my people—your fully marinated spaghetti friends—because I have somethin...

Hey, this is Amber, and today I am owning something I kept quiet for a very long time. I had an eating disorder. And just like many of my sisters, I still struggle with body image — every single day. I have to shake it off myself, continually. I'm saying that out loud because someone needs to hear someone else say it first. We're talking about your big but today — the thing hiding behind...

This is the official kick-off of Season 2 — celebrating the release of #sisterhoodoftheshortyellowpencils: Mental Health Mayhem, One Sticky Note at a Time. Today I just happened to be doing some normal book promo stuff — digging through old photos — when I found a picture from May 2012 and my whole body just went weird. Dizzy. Like the floor shifted. Because I almost didn't recognize her. Not...

Hey friends, this week we're doing something different. It's launch week for my brand new book #sisterhoodoftheshortyellowpencils: Mental Health Mayhem, One Sticky Note at a Time and I am reading straight from Chapter 4 — "You Meet the Most Unstable People in Lockdown (Then You Realize You're One of Them.)" From red scrubs and sporks to sticky note poetry on a psych ward f...

What does it actually mean to be strong? Because if I’m honest… I didn’t learn it from a book. I learned it in a kilt. In this episode of #RandomDevoThoughts, I’m going back to a place that started building me long before I had language for what it was doing—a sisterhood of girls, the Central High School Kilties Drum, Bugle and Bagpipe Corps from Springfield. Missouri, who showed up, stood shoulde...

What happens when God unlocks you at 50-something and you realize the key was there the whole time — and you're both laughing and crying? That's exactly where we're landing today. This is the finale of the Revealed in the Making series, and honestly? It's the one I didn't know I needed until I said it out loud. We're talking about the difference between healing and un...

What if the thing you've been calling humility is actually just fear in a really cute outfit? Yeah. We're going there. I spent years handing the mic to other people and honestly? I was really good at making it sound noble. Servant-hearted. Humble even. But God has a way of pulling back the curtain on the stories we tell ourselves, and this episode is about the moment He pulled back mine....

No motivation? Same. I’ve been in a fog lately—the kind where your get up and go doesn’t just slow down… it disappears. And if I’m being honest, sometimes it dips into something heavier—like putting up the shutters on life itself and closing out everything of light on the other side. And the tricky part?  Sometimes, it doesn’t feel like giving up.  Sometimes we think we are getting the time out we...

In this episode, I’m kicking off a new series called Revealed in the Making, because I couldn’t shake the question: what happens when the thing God carefully wired in you feels like it gets broken? I talk about what life felt like after my season in the psychiatric facility—how I came out feeling like a stranger in my own skin, grieving the silence after being a writer whose words used to pour out...

You thought parenting would feel different by now. Like somehow, by the time you were the responsible adult in the room, you'd have it figured out. But what if you're not standing above your kids' struggles — what if you're right there in the playground with them, just with 20 more years of coping mechanisms and a driver's license? In Episode 3 of I Fear How Much I'm...

In part two of my “I Fear How Much I’m Wonderfully Made” series, I’m talking about the ADHD “curiosity engine”—that thing in my brain that locks onto an idea, digs until I know everything, and then pushes me to chase the next rabbit hole before I’ve finished what I started. I share a few of my most unexpected hyperfocus trails (yes, including the ones that make no practical sense), what they’ve co...

In part one of my new series, I Fear How Much I’m Wonderfully Made, I’m talking about ADHD, faith, and why believing Psalm 139:14 still feels scary for me. I share a real-life moment (yes, my glasses were literally in the washing machine) and the bigger story of growing up feeling like I was “too much” before I understood how my brain is wired. I also clear up the difference between being neurodiv...

Hey friends, it's Amber, and I'm about to get myself into good trouble again. Fresh off surgery and recovery (praise God for answered prayers!), I've been wrestling with something I can't shake: What does real advocacy actually look like when it costs you something? Martin Luther King Jr. said the biggest obstacle to justice wasn't the hardcore opposition, but people who a...

Hi friends, it's Amber here. In this episode of #RandomDevoThoughts,' I dig into the rich history behind the Watch Night service, which goes far beyond a simple New Year's tradition. Together, we'll uncover its origins from Freedom's Eve on December 31st, 1862, and reflect on how enslaved people awaited their deliverance—the Emancipation Proclamation.  It’s an invitation f...

Hey friends, it's Amber here! Ever mix up your art history and accidentally stumble into a profound truth? Yeah, me too. That's basically how this entire episode was born. I'm digging into what it means to be a person before your time, how to cut off the voices of critics (metaphorically, friends!), and why your "random" brain connections might actually be divine downloads...

Hey friends! Welcome back to another episode of Random Devo Thoughts with Amber. Today, I'm diving into the messy world of writing my book #sisterhoodoftheshortyellowpencils and all the chaos that came with it. I'll share how I almost gave up, the struggles with editing, and why I decided to break all the rules to stay true to my neurodivergent readers. We'll talk about how even Jes...

Hey friends, it's Amber! In this episode of Random Devo Thoughts, I dive into the universal experience of hitting your limit—that moment when your brain says 'That's enough.' Let's talk about the different ways we react when we're overwhelmed and explore how these moments can be invitations from God to rest in His presence. Instead of fighting our meltdowns, what if w...

Hey guys, I'm literally sitting in a Walmart parking lot composing this episode with Stanley, my Great Pyrenees, and he's got his head out the window doing what he does best—seeking discovery. And it got me thinking in the neurodivergent spaghetti of my mind about wonder, about a tiny wooden piano from Christmas 1979, and about how we've lost the art of unwrapping presents in God&ap...

Ever feel like we're living in a Planet of the Apes sequel nobody asked for? In this episode, I'm talking about the spiritual bananas the world keeps handing us and why vacuum-sealing rotten fruit never turns it into something good. Spoiler: fear doesn't become peace with time, and bitterness won't turn into banana bread. I'm getting real about how to anchor yourself to sa...

Ever feel like you're drowning in a mud puddle while acting like you need a life raft? Yeah, me too. In this episode, I'm tackling that gloomy voice in our heads that sounds suspiciously like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh—you know, the one convinced everything is conspiring against us. Here's the thing: COVID turned us all into Eeyores somehow, normalizing a victim mentality where we&...

I'm getting real about life with a buckshot brain—you know, the kind that walks into the kitchen to make dinner and ends up reorganizing the hall closet while something burns on the stove. This episode tackles the guilt, the chaos, and the grace of living scattered, including a very honest confession about my legally blind husband tripping over things I've left in random "logical&qu...

Ever feel like you're fighting for a seat at tables where nobody actually wants you there? Yeah, me too. And honestly? I'm exhausted. Here's the thing: I spent way too long trying to prove I belonged at the "important people" table—the leadership table, the ministry table, that table where everyone seems to have their act together. But something shifted for me recently. Wh...