We were lucky to catch up with AMANDA SCHAEFER recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi AMANDA, thanks for joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

Taking risks is an integral part of following one’s calling. We won’t go into the unknown if we are not bold. To remain complacent and comfortable is not what being alive is truly about. I took a recent risk that I would love to share with you.

I am a Christian author, speaker, and global podcast host. I also currently care for my elderly father. Because I chose to be a caregiver over the past four years, I have given up the opportunity to travel and connect with others in my field. One of the great resources for writers to get new books published is to attend a writer’s conference. Not attending them left me thinking that another book deal would have to wait until this season was over. But an opportunity came to me as if God were bringing it on a silver platter.

A guest on the show and I were talking, and I mentioned in passing that I had written a new book focused on helping people learn to share their stories and understand their value. At the end of our conversation, my guest asked me if I had a publisher yet for my book. I told her I did not, but I was beginning to put the book into book proposal form. She immediately asked me to send it to her when it was done.

I was willing to take the risk of putting together a proposal quickly and sending it to the publishing world. If she said no, perhaps it would be a step in the right direction towards eventually publishing the book. If she said yes, I would have a direct-line opportunity to finish the manuscript I had felt God prompt me to begin.

At 60, I still feel uncertain and distressed when I send my writing out for critique. I think all creatives feel unsure and vulnerable when others review our work. Somehow, I managed to get the proposal done in only 20 days! (the normal process takes months). I could only do so because I obeyed God and stopped all my other projects to begin writing this new book. That alone was such a big risk.

I was already working on deadlines for stories accepted for publishing in anthologies. I had deadlines to meet, yet I put them aside to finish this proposal. This was not what anyone would normally do, but I knew this was a risk worth taking.

As with any story that God writes in the lives of His children, this one was filled with miracles. Not only did I get the proposal out, but I heard back the same day! (Typically, one waits three or four weeks for a response from an acquisitions editor.) We set a meeting time the following week to discuss it.

That was the longest week of my life. I waffled back and forth between thinking the publisher was just so kind that she wanted to let me down easy on a Zoom meeting instead of emailing me with a no to trusting and believing that this story needed to be told, and this was my way to do it.

I spent every day intentionally dismissing the outcome and praying for peace. When our meeting finally arrived, I was delighted to be offered a traditional publishing contract with Abundance Books! My vision for this book was met with equal excitement and support.

When I couldn’t go out to pitch the idea God had given me, I was sent a direct link to fast-track the publishing process. To anyone who is an author, you know that this is not how these things typically happen.

If I had kept on track with my deadline projects and waited to take this opportunity, who knows what the outcome would have been? My heart knew this was a “right now” chance to jump in faith, so I leaped, not knowing where I would land.

Not only was I offered the contract, but the book is also slated to be released as soon as early 2025! If I hadn’t stepped out of my comfort zone, my book may never have made it to print.

You’ll never know what you could have accomplished if you don’t try. Fear has slowly suffocated many dreams to the point of demise. If you have a dream, pursue every chance to achieve it. This, my friends, is where we exist fully alive!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I began as a writer. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t telling stories. Writing has always been a daily practice, from journaling to blogging to my first book, published five years ago.

After writing books, I began to speak and teach the Bible. I use everyday experiences to help cultivate the understanding and wisdom found in God’s word.

I share my story to connect with those currently suffering through similar difficulties. My life has become an open book. My greatest joy is sharing the hope found in my relationship with Jesus with others.

I had thought that was all there was; writing and speaking had always been on my heart to do, and I was satisfied. Then, I moved during the pandemic to care for my parents (my mom passed away in January, and I still care for my 94-year-old father).

After the move to care for them, I was sequestered. I was completely shut off as we did not yet have vaccines, and my parents were considered the most vulnerable. I had to cancel any book signings or speaking engagements that were scheduled. During this time, I missed the purpose I felt when sharing the gospel.

After time praying and journaling, I found myself drawn to trying to produce a podcast. I didn’t even listen to podcasts then, but I purchased a microphone online, converted an old closet, and set out to share. That was three and a half years ago.

Since then, my podcast “A Cup of Gratitude” has been listened to in 109 Countries and 3000 Cities worldwide. The podcast is ranked in the top 1.5% out of more than 3 million podcasts globally. My podcast is a place to encourage people to share their stories. We begin in their childhood and work up to the present, finding the beautiful threads of God working in their lives. Not only do we get to share our stories, but amid that fabric, we share God’s story.

This podcast has been a platform for many to reach new audiences. I believe in collaboration, and my podcast has allowed me to connect with and support other creatives worldwide.

I am a cheerleader at heart, an encourager through and through. This podcast allows me the opportunity to help others get their message out.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My creative journey’s mission is to share the gospel and empower people to share their personal stories. Everyone has a powerful story, but many don’t consider their lives valuable.

When we understand that we were created uniquely for a purpose, we can begin to believe that we are valuable and essential. The world needs each story. Every one of them has been written to interact with and affect the lives of others. As they intersect, they create a great weaving, a fabric of connection meant to bring humanity hope and joy. Instead, levels of comparison and inadequacy currently hinder people from seeing who they really are and how important their lives are.

The world needs you and your story! I aim to help as many people as possible see the power and purpose of their unique perspectives.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For me, the greatest reward of being creative is the process of making something out of nothing. It is both daunting and exhilarating. In addition to writing, I also draw and paint. Putting words and color on a blank page enthralls me. When I sit down to express myself, I feel most alive.

Could it be that this is how I was created to live? Am I walking in my purpose by creating content through the gifting I have been given? What happens when a painter doesn’t paint when a dancer doesn’t dance when a singer refuses to sing? I think the answer is that not only does the artist fail to contribute their gifts, but the world is deprived of them, too.

Painters are meant to fill the world with color and expression. Dancers are meant to leap and twirl, agile, graceful, and skilled. Singers are meant to be virtuosos of sounds reverberating into a frequency released in only the way their voice can enter the world. Each of us using our God-given talents deposited in us from birth meant to catapult us into meaning and purpose and to help knit together the world around us into a beautiful community.

Knowing that I could harness and focus the millions of thoughts and words inside my heart to convey my feelings and intentions makes me feel my most authentic self. I am me. I am free. I am able.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.acupofgratitude.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/acupof_gratitude
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Amanda.f.schaefer
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/acupofgratitude

Image Credits

Janine Truppay