For Amanda Rechsteiner, finding her purpose wasn’t a straight path — it was a journey shaped by faith, unexpected detours and learning to surrender control. In The Crossing Place, Rechsteiner draws from pivotal moments in her own life to explore what it means to recognize God’s calling and trust His direction, even when the road ahead makes little sense. In this Q&A, she opens up about the experiences that inspired the book, from a life-changing recovery and financial uncertainty to the calling that ultimately led her and her husband to create Stillwater Ridge Ministries. She also shares what she hopes readers who feel lost or uncertain about their own purpose will take away from her story.
The book opens with you saying writing it felt “ridiculous” at first. What finally moved you from resistance to sitting down and putting your story on paper?
As my personal relationship with God was growing, He began flipping my life upside down in the best way. He was speaking to me in all areas of my life, and there was no doubt in my mind it was all real. Along the way as I was growing closer to Him and learning and experiencing many lessons that I write about in the book, God then had it heavy on my heart to write the book. I knew that idea could not possibly be from me and was out of my comfort zone. God then confirmed it through countless people and situations, and at that point I had to make the decision to be obedient and trust that He has a plan and knows best. He shut down my final excuse when I was on a walk and praying about it. I told him I was not qualified for such a task. At that point, I immediately felt Him say, “I am the one who qualifies.” At that point, there was no more resistance on my end and no more excuses. He knows best. I then sat down to put it on paper, and He showed up to work with me on this book every time.
You write about hearing God’s call to start a wedding venue while driving home from your internship in 2019, but you ended up in real estate for years first. Looking back, what did that “detour” teach you that you couldn’t have learned any other way?
I learned that God knows me better than anyone knows me and better than I know myself. He already had the whole plan figured out and every step along the way. I learned trust and dependence over the course of many years and now want everyone to experience the same.
The ultimate calling was always Stillwater Ridge Ministries, a nonprofit and retreat center in the heart of Michigan, for people to come rest, rejuvenate, spend time with the Lord, and find purpose and direction through seeking Him. Knowing the person I was in 2019, if God would have told me that at the time, I would have had no interest. As I began spending more time with Him, He began revealing more and more along the journey after every step of obedience throughout the years. He showed me the beginnings of a possible wedding venue or event business to capture my attention and confirmed it in 2019 so I would hold onto it but knew I needed development along the way before revealing what was actually in store. Through the years and different steps along the way, including real estate, He led Logan and me to Stillwater Ridge Ministries. It still has everything I love about events and people but is much more intentional and serves a greater purpose.
Looking back now, I see the path, and it blows my mind how God is in every single detail. It started with a general love for business, people, and the idea of a wedding venue. He then brought me into my own love and passion for real estate, although it had been in my family for generations (which was clearly not by accident, just a seed planted). Every step along that real estate journey with Logan working on investments and rentals then led us to this log house that was in need of repair. In the middle of that project, God then revealed to us that it was going to be a retreat center for His people and His glory.
It started as my wedding venue project and turned into a calling that God has trusted both Logan and me with that is much greater than ourselves. God knows best. God knows the development that we need along the way and the journey we had to take to be entrusted with something special that will impact generations to come.
The chapter on your knee surgery and recovery is one of the rawest parts of the book as you connect your physical healing directly to a spiritual surrender around money and control. Can you walk readers through that moment on the floor of your apartment?
This will always be one of the most pivotal moments in my life that I will never, ever forget. It’s almost difficult to put into words how life-changing it was. Painful, eye-opening, heart-opening, complete surrender… I saw God in a new way and myself in a new way.
After finding out I have arthritis in my knees at the ripe age of 22, I had an osteochondral allograft (donor bone replacement) in my right knee after part of my femur broke off and was causing daily pain and poor mobility. Being young and healthy, it was assumed by everyone, especially my doctors, that this would be a quick recovery. After months of daily physical therapy and absolutely zero progress of the bending of my knee, concern started to arise. We had gotten to the point of a knee torture device that I would lock my leg into almost daily. After cranking it as much as possible, it would press down on my shin to try to break up scar tissue and get my leg to bend for a few minutes at a time. With zero progress for weeks, I was told in my appointments that if my knee did not start bending in the slightest soon, it was going to heal locked out straight, and I would pretty much be handicapped that way. There were talks of going back into surgery and cracking it like a glowstick, but that raised other concerns. Everything then seemed helpless and hopeless.
My husband had been working from home a lot because it was 2021, but this day he just so happened to need to go into work. During my daily devotional time on our mattress on the floor (we were newly married… furniture is expensive!), I could no longer focus as I began to panic about my physical situation again. I was 22 and did not want to live this way.
For quite some time leading up to this point, God had been speaking into other areas of my life and showing me that I needed to surrender my poor relationship with money, a poverty mindset, and complete control to Him. As I was panicking and praying about my knee at that moment, He reminded me of that again. I knew that was not from me because it was not the immediate problem at hand and not at the forefront of my mind. God and I had some back and forth about what problem was more important, and He won.
I then said I surrendered it just to appease, but they were only words. God knew it was not sincere, and I felt in my heart, “Get on the floor,” and not just sit on the floor. I knew I had to be in a position of full surrender, lying face down on the floor before the Lord.
I remember looking down at the same full-leg brace that I had been staring at for months at that point and thought, “You can’t possibly want me to do that. This has got to be a joke.” But it wasn’t.
I obeyed and flipped myself over onto the floor of the apartment and began panicking about my nearly handicapped position again until God redirected my mind again.
In the midst of my panic, “I am going to be handicapped for the rest of my life. None of the doctors can do anything, none of the physical therapy or devices are working…” He stopped me and made the connection between my physical and spiritual states. Once I was in this physical position of surrender, it’s like He hit me with a ton of bricks. In that exact moment, He made it so clear to me that if I didn’t surrender this money insecurity and need for total control to Him, that was going to handicap me for the rest of my life, and that is not how He desires for me to live. Not only would it affect me, but it would affect those around me, my marriage, and the plans that He has for the future. I had been “working on it” for some time, but He was the only one who could truly heal me, and I needed to bring it to Him.
I can’t explain what a revelation like that from God is like. While lying face down on the floor in a full leg brace, I then wanted nothing to do with these other problems I was facing and wanted nothing more than to throw it all at the feet of Jesus. I knew how miserable I was in my current physical state and did not want that in every area of my life too. Just like God is the only one that could heal me physically at that point, He was also the only one who could heal me in every other way, but I had to willingly surrender it all to Him.
I am visual, so I held out my hands and imagined my poverty mindset and poor view of money in my hands and sincerely asked Him to take it because I wanted nothing to do with it. I fully understood at that point that I could not do it myself. The biggest weight was lifted off of my shoulders at that moment. Relief. Peace. Understanding. Also… “Woah, God just did that.”
Spoiler for those of you that have not read this part of my book yet or don’t know the story… The next day in physical therapy, my knee bent a few degrees, and then a few more every appointment after that. It barely moved 1-2 degrees for months leading up to that, and yes, they literally measured and physically pushed on it for months. They asked me what had changed; I said it was all prayer and surrender and pointed to God.
You lay out patterns like busyness, discouragement and pride as tactics that derail people from their calling. Which of these has been the hardest for you personally to stay guarded against, even now?
Busyness, busyness, busyness. Without a doubt in my mind. I think part of it is the chaos of American life, hustle culture, and social media that we have accepted as normal. We praise those who do everything and seem to handle the whole world on their shoulders without asking for help. We sometimes boast about it on social media, which can cause others to feel as if they are not doing enough. Sometimes it is easier to always be “ON” and distracted than to settle down, relax, spend time with God and your thoughts, and listen to hear His voice and direction.
The other part of this is how God created me. I am very eager and always ready to get things done. I am a very Type A, always on, and an ambitious workaholic. That can be great when boundaries and discipline are in place and a wildfire when not controlled.
This is why God modeled the Sabbath for us from the very beginning and also made it a commandment in the Bible. He knows how He created us and what we need to succeed and not become too busy, distracted, and then burn out. He also knew we would need it to be a requirement, so He commands it and models it throughout Scripture.
No matter what path may seem to derail you, it is important to take note of it and combat it with the Bible, time with God, and other practical steps. Personally, when confronting my busy nature, I have had to set boundaries for myself and be intentional about rest. Stopping that cycle of working 24/7 and spending time with God has kept me on track in everything He has called me to, and I am able to serve Him and others better because of it.
You and your husband went through a stretch of being essentially homeless between closing dates on your Hartland property. What kept you both grounded when the promise seemed to be falling apart in real time?
The promise seemed to be falling apart for months, which was a rollercoaster experience. This man of mine is truly my favorite life partner, and no matter how difficult things get, he will always be a rock and tough it out through faith with me.
For Logan, he said, “I just had faith that it was going to work out how God intended it, whether that looks like what we were hoping for or not, and that it would ultimately be for our good and His glory.”
For me, I remained close with the Lord daily and journaled. I have always written down what I believe God is telling me and every way that it is confirmed. Although there were times it seemed like it was all going to fall apart, there were even more times when He showed or confirmed elsewhere that it was going to work. I constantly reminded myself of His character and power and had faith that He would do what He said He would do. My job was not to figure it out or know the timing but to trust Him and have faith. Whenever I started to doubt where I thought He was leading us because it was not making sense, I would go back and look at how many times God was pointing to the Hartland property and keep on.
Funny side note, in one of my first journals during this time, I even drew the Hartland property with two houses on it and the connected driveway. I drew little stick figures representing us there. I’m no artist, but I know Habakkuk 2:2 (“Write the vision, and make it plain…”), that I am visual, and I needed to see our little stick figures there before we could actually be there.
After months of not giving up, telling Logan in faith that it was going to work even if it seemed impossible, and staying strong in faith, God did it, and the property was a blessing to us for years. It kept a roof over our heads during trying financial times, allowed us to bless our renters, and began our real estate journey that ultimately led to the retreat center.
If someone picks up The Crossing Place feeling completely lost about their purpose what’s the first practical step you’d want them to take?
I once was in that exact place and felt more distraught than ever. It seemed as if everyone either knew what they wanted out of life and were chasing it head-on, or they hated where they were at but were not willing to do anything about it (more the latter). Being ambitious, resourceful, and young, I started searching everywhere that I could to find what my purpose and calling in life are. I did this for years. I took personality tests, tried out different jobs, classes, etc. No success to be found on my own.
Until Jesus.
I gave up my own search when I had nothing left and finally turned to the only one who had the answers. I wish I had not wasted so many years trying to find my own answers. He was waiting all along and immediately started filling my life with everything that I could not find on my own (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control – Galatians 5:22-23).
Seek Him. Seek a personal relationship with the God that created you.
You were created to have a personal relationship with Him, glorify Him, and live a purposeful life. He will take you into some of the greatest things you could not do on your own. Once you know Him, He will show you your purpose and walk with you alongside the journey of calling.
Trust me. I’ve been there and experienced it. Through every high and low, I would have had it no other way.
Chapter 2 of The Crossing Place, titled The First and Most Important Step, will tell you more. I hope you embark on the life-changing journey.
