Tag Archives: Self-Care

Review: Stretched Too Thin

Stretched Too Thin

Stretched Too Thin
By Jessica N. Turner
Fleming H. Revell Company, 9780800723491, September 2018, 240pp.

The Short of It:

Geared towards working moms but really any mom, whether working inside the home or out, can find some useful takeaways.

The Rest of It:

At the end of 2018 I was wrecked. I was tired, utterly depleted in mental capacity and physically hurting ALL OVER. Over the holidays I had a good three weeks off but that first week, oh my goodness, that first week was spent healing. I had all the things to do (shop for holiday parties, meals, gifts) but I could not function. I finally told myself that it had to wait and wait it did.

I slept, It helped but didn’t fix me like I thought it would. It actually took days of rest, careful eating, and a lot of vitamins to feel somewhat normal. That’s why at the beginning of the year, I picked up Stretched Too Thin. A podcast I was listening to mentioned the book and then I decided to following Jessica Turner on Instagram. This book called to me, for obvious reasons.

Now, a little about the book. It’s short and simple and hits on all the trouble spots that us moms fall into. Working too much, over scheduling ourselves, not building in time for self-care and the like. Each chapter covers a specific area of focus, and then includes a workbook portion where you write down responses and begin to pick apart how you’ve been living and what you can do better.

I will say this, Stretched Too Thin did not tell me anything new but it gave me permission to focus on myself for once. I would have preferred to have the workbook portions at the end of the book so that I could have focused on each short chapter without having to stop to answer questions. I felt that the format made it a little choppy but I liked the voice behind the message. Ms. Turner is very genuine and real. She has lived the “stretched too thin” life and doesn’t want anyone else to fall into that trap.

I think this is an important book because it really does remind you that life can be lived a different way. You do not have to run from appointment to appointment. You have choices. This is where I am now. I’ve been changing some things around to make my life more serene and less chaotic and besides this week of the show, I’ve been improving and tweaking and even allowing myself time to investigate other passions.

At the time of this writing, the Kindle version is only $1.99. Here is the link if you’d like to buy it! Some of you might say that you do not have time to read a book like this. You do. It’s easy to pick up and put down and read when you can.

Source: Purchased
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Review: Soul Keeping

Soul Keeping

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
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.