August | 2018 | Book Chatter

Sunday Matters

They say time marches on and they are right. It’s August and I don’t even feel as if my summer ever got started. It hasn’t been bad, just not the summer that I imagined for myself. Summer school packets and the constant nag nag nag of me telling her to do them has killed the spirit.

I am ready for fall.

Right Now:

Nothing remarkable. Church. Roaming our town for something to do. Staying cool.

This Week:

No pressing appointments so that’s good. The big kid has jury duty and it’s the last week for these independent study classes. I shall celebrate when they end.

Oh, 10th grade registration is this week. I haven’t decided if I will take the day off or not to help with that. She is old enough to do it herself but then there is the financial aspect of it to consider.

Reading:

I finished The Immortalists. I really enjoyed it. I should have the review up soon.

I am tempted to start Baby Teeth. Everyone says it’s a crazy read with some weird, scary kid. I could get into that right now.

Watching:

I have time to watch things but I am uninterested in most anything I turn on.

Making:

Today? Probably nothing. I am still craving a good burger but don’t feel like making my own. Lobster sounds pretty good but probably won’t make that either. I need a personal chef.

Grateful for:

Covered parking lots. Ever since we had that 120 degree day, it’s been averaging about 103 which means that after 25 years at this university I am finally taking advantage of covered parking. I opted for closer, over covered before because well… earthquakes but I’ve decided that my poor car’s black leather interior is just too much to take when it’s 103 out.

What are you up to today?

Soul Keeping
By John Ortberg
Zondervan Publishing Company, 9780310275978, April 2014, 210pp.

The Short of It:

If you’ve ever felt disconnected spiritually, there’s a good chance your soul was at the heart of it.

The Rest of It:

My life group read this book for our study and it was an interesting read. These kinds of books always seem to fall into my lap at the right time.

For the past few months I’ve felt “broken”, for lack of a better term. Just run down and ragged. I do all the right things and yet still feel empty sometimes. It’s the day-to-day routine that gets me. Waking up at 4 a.m., going to bed at 11 p.m. Same. Same. Same. I’v had enough. This book attempts to address this type of thing. If your soul is not good, the rest of you won’t be either.

I thought my soul was okay. Pretty good, actually. But after reading the book I see that my soul is not the center of my focus. I am now attempting to correct that. Did I get everything I wanted out of this book that I expected to? No. It left me feeling a little unsatisfied and flat. What Ortberg says, I agree with 100%. The important stuff needs to come first and the other stuff falls behind it. But the voice seemed off to me. It was a little repetitive and didn’t sound all that sincere even though Ortberg struggled with the very same thing.

All in all, I’m not sure my life group got a lot out of it. I think it would have worked better as a short video series or a podcast.

Source: Borrowed
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