We live in a world of constant movement, and our day-to-day lives seem to get busier by the hour. Our days are full of information, full of obligations, full of friends and family, full of everything . . . except fulfillment. And rushing has become a national epidemic. Even when we’re rushing to and from the good stuff—like a rewarding job with wonderful colleagues, or quality time spent with loved ones—we can still end up feeling drained and exhausted, overwhelmed by the sheer volume of life.
In Full Cup, Thirsty Spirit, psychologist Karen Horneffer-Ginter helps you understand that it is this volume, this busyness, that creates a disconnect between your outer life and your inner self. This separation can cause your soul to wilt, preventing you from experiencing joy and hearing your own wisdom about what needs priority in your life.
With an elegant narrative voice that inspires both laughter and compassion, Horneffer-Ginter shows you how to live a fuller life rather than simply filling your time. She focuses on six shifts to make in your daily life—teaching you to honor your rhythms, turn within, fill up, fully inhabit your days, remember lightness, and embrace difficulty.
Through a weave of personal stories, client experiences, and practical exercises, she shows you how to find balance in the swirl of daily life, so you can reconnect with what matters most.
I don't think that anyone will argue when it's said that in today's world, life has become more stressed. Where we used to be able to get in the car and we were away from phones, we are now always available. Wifi has even made it so that it's not necessary to be near a computer to access email. Our lives are busy and sometimes that busyness is good things. But that busyness affects our souls and our peace of mind.
When I had the chance to review Full Cup, Thirsty Spirit, I jumped. This is a practical book filled with insight and suggestions to slow down and nourish our souls. The author addresses six areas to look at in your life and each chapter is filled with insights and suggestions. This isn't a book that you quickly skim and come away enlightened. It's a book that you take some time with and a book that you take time to reflect on and mark passages or pages. My copy is full of post-it tags from pages I want to reread or refocus on.
There was some surprising profanity, but nothing that really detracted. As it was used, it seemed to fit the situation or example. Something I really appreciated was how the holistic and spiritual elements of life were discussed and merged together: meditation as a way of turning inward and offering kindness and forgiveness as you embrace difficulties; and finding lightness in frustrating moments and seeing God's hand in your life and surroundings.
Thanks to Trish at TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to review this book. You can learn more about Karen Horneffer-Ginter here. You can purchase your own copy here . You can see other reviews and tour stops here.
It's time for another Mailbox Monday which was created by Marcia at The Printed Page, and this month is hosted by Susan at Suko's Notebook.
Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week... Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish list
Cheaper, Better, Faster: Over 2,000 Tips and Tricks to Save You Time and Money Every Day by Mary Hunt (for review, from Baker Publishing)
7 Years Younger: The Revolutionary 7-Week Anti-Aging Plan by The Editors of Good Housekeeping (giveaway win from Suko's Notebook)
Looking outside...it's cold. There is still Christmas snow on the ground and a chance of more snow tonight.
Listening...to The Boy as he works his way through Star Trek Voyager on Netflix. Love that he has become a Trekkie like me.
Loving...that we had a wonderful, quiet Christmas. I loved seeing the joy my children had as they gave their gifts to each other. So grateful for the blessing of Jesus Christ and the opportunity to celebrate his birth.
Thinking...about what this new year will bring to us: experiences, people, blessings, opportunities.
In my kitchen...probably grilled burgers for dinner. After all, it is snowing and our family tradition is to have Snow BBQ.
Needing...to finish the Cousin's Book. Each Christmas my sister and I put together a Cousin's Book. The grandchildren (14 living) are asked questions (same questions each year:) and we include a new photo. Each family gets a copy. My children love to look at the Cousin's Books. I love seeing how my nieces and nephews change each year and how some of their answers stay the same.
Today...some family time. We got a couple of new family games for Christmas and we're dying to play them. Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Monopoly and Star Trek Scene-It.
Hoping...for The Doctor to work on my back some more. I sprained/strained my sacroiliac region (backside) on Christmas Eve and it's a really nice perk being married to a chiropractor who has the equipment and knowledge to treat me at home. It's much better now, but still has some residual achiness.
Planning...for New Years. The Boy will be attending a big youth New Years Eve dance at church and he's looking forward to it. I'm not sure what the rest of us will do. We're not big party people. Perhaps a rewatch of the Doctor Who Christmas Special is on order.
From my world...Les Miserables was wonderful. Absolutely amazing. I am still reflecting on it. I loved it the first time I saw it on stage 23 years ago. I loved the film and what they did. So beautiful, so raw, so moving. I sobbed during Valjean's death scene. Well cast. Well done. I will be seeing it again next week with The Doctor.
Lady Eliza Sumner is on a mission. Her fortune was the last thing she had left after losing her father, her fiancé, and her faith. Now, masquerading as Miss Eliza Sumner, governess-at-large, she's determined to find the man who ran off with her fortune, reclaim the money, and head straight back to London.
Mr. Hamilton Beckett, much to his chagrin, is the catch of the season, and all the eyes of New York society—all the female ones, at least—are on him. He has no plans to marry again, especially since his hands are full keeping his business afloat while raising his two children alone.
Eliza's hapless attempts to regain her fortune unexpectedly put her right in Hamilton's path. The discovery of a common nemesis causes them to join forces and, before she knows it, Eliza has a whole retinue of people helping her. Eliza's determination not to trust anyone weakens when everyone's antics and bumbling efforts to assist her make her wonder if there might be more important things than her fortune and independence.
When all of Hamilton's and Eliza's best-laid plans fall by the wayside, it will take a riot of complications for them to realize that God just might have had a better plan in mind all along.
Sometimes you read a book that just makes you laugh. Sometimes you meet a heroine who is simply a joy to get to know. Sometimes you meet a hero who is not only handsome and charming, but generous and kind. And when all three of those things merge together in one book, you have a delightful story and one you hate to see end.
Lady Eliza is on a quest to discover the whereabouts of the cad who stole her family fortune and title. That quest brings her to New York City from England and into a job as a governess. When Eliza's antics get her in trouble, her path crosses that of Hamilton Beckett who comes to her rescue and their adventure begins. With fantastic supporting characters and two adorable children, this is a delightful story. Witty and humorous, it's a comedy of errors and was a story that I didn't want to see end.
A terrific debut from a promising author and I am anxious to read more. I'm thrilled that the next story involves the Hamilton family and I hope that there is a future story planned around Zayne!
Thanks to Bethany House for the opportunity to review this book. You can learn more about Jen Turano here. You can purchase your own copy here .
A deceptively easy question for this week (easy to ask but possibly hard to answer): What are/were your favorite book(s) of the year? (Bonus points if you know how many books you read.)
Currently, I'm at 108 with 2 DNF, I will have a couple of more books read before the end of the year. That's less than normal (last year I read 160), but I had major surgery this summer and it disrupted every aspect of my life. I keep track of what I read, but I don't have any real goals, nor is it a competition. Too many challenges and deadlines make reading less fun for me. So 108+ books for the year is fine by me.
I've already received their mailing information. Thanks to all who entered! Check out the sidebar for other giveaways.
I tend to keep my private family blog separate from my other blogs and I don't often post personal things here. But, I thought it would be fun to share some of our family Christmas with you.
There are certain traditions to Christmas and one is that our tree goes up the day after Thanksgiving. It's just what I do.
Another tradition is that we each get a new ornament for the tree. My mom always gave my sisters and me a new ornament every year, often commemorating an event or trip. While we all lived at home, we'd have a girls day trip to San Francisco for lunch and to see all the Christmas windows on Union Square. Back in the day, that was the thing to do and those windows were spectacular. Macy's always had a Christmas store on their top floor and it was so fun. Those ornaments went with us when we moved out.
I have kept the tradition of new ornaments and my boys look forward to choosing a new ornament each year.
Because of that ornament tradition, our tree is very eclectic, but it's also very much us. We have dinosaurs on our tree and a pink flamingo. We have world monuments like a pyramid, L'Arc d'Triomphe and Colosseum. We have a star fish and a coke can. And we love it!
I have collected Christmas stories for years. We read them all season long, but on Christmas Eve, we each share our favorite story and then we read the biblical account of Christ's birth.
On March 18, 1990, thirteen works of art today worth over $500 million were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. It remains the largest unsolved art heist in history, and Claire Roth, a struggling young artist, is about to discover that there’s more to this crime than meets the eye.
Making a living reproducing famous artworks for a popular online retailer and desperate to improve her situation, Claire is lured into a Faustian bargain with Aiden Markel, a powerful gallery owner. She agrees to forge a painting—a Degas masterpiece stolen from the Gardner Museum—in exchange for a one-woman show in his renowned gallery. But when that very same long-missing Degas painting is delivered to Claire’s studio, she begins to suspect that it may itself be a forgery.
Her desperate search for the truth leads Claire into a labyrinth of deceit where secrets hidden since the late nineteenth century may be the only evidence that can now save her life.
From an art perspective, this is an educational novel. The portrayal of how modern forgery is accomplished with methods and techniques was fascinating and I loved that Degas was the artist in question. The author has definitely done her research and the story reads as authentic, although I do not have an art history background. I didn't love the characters and found them somewhat stereotypical. The story wasn't a quick one for me and it took a long time to get through this one. The art history standpoint was terrific.
Bottom line: I liked it, I didn't love it. I could have done without the moderate, unnecessary profanity. I hate the "F" word.
Thanks to Amazon Vine for the opportunity to review this book. You can learn more about B.A. Shapiro here. You can purchase your own copy here .
Any books you’re particularly hoping to be gifted this year? Any that you’re giving as presents this holiday season?
It's actually a lean book year when it comes to Christmas presents. I have one specific book on my list. Banana Split by Josi Kilpack. It's part of her culinary mystery series and I received the one after it for my birthday. My son has been wanting two books on reading facial expressions (think Lie to Me) and he will find those under our Christmas tree. Other than that, books are the one thing we tend to get and give year round.
Breaking the Code: A Father's Secret, a Daughter's Journey, and the Question That Changed Everything by Karen Fisher-Alaniz (giveaway win from CMash reads)
Thinking...about the tragedy in Connecticut. As a parent, it just hits you right in the heart. I hate seeing headlines that autism was partly to blame or that gun control is the answer. Connecticut has some of the most restrictive laws and gun bans won't stop senseless violence and autism isn't a mental disorder. My heart is very tender thinking about those children and families.
Gratitude...for the ~200 lbs of beef I picked up from the butcher that is now in my freezer and I am grateful to my mom for her help in defrosting it today.