Schlepping the Shelf: January 2025

 

The five of you who read my stuff semi-regularly will know that I’ve had a regular entry (really, my only regular long-form post) called the “book of the month.” I stole the idea from Doug Wilson, and I like to think it has gone fairly well. But you also probably noticed that the series died right around the time school started, and before that, scheduling had gotten very irregular. This was partially due to the usual writing discipline problems, but it was also partially due to my desire to make up a respectably lengthy post for my readers. With certain books, I had difficulty doing that—some books really only do warrant a blurb or a sentence.

Retiring the Book of the Month

So I am retiring the “book of the month” feature, at least for the moment.

Adoption Update: January 2025

Enough of my friends and acquaintances have asked me lately how the adoption process is going that I decided to write this up. That way, if you don’t know, it’s your own fault and not mine!

The basics first, to forestall any excitement—we are still waiting and have not matched with anyone. But I thought I would take the opportunity to describe a little bit about the modern process of adoption for those of you who don’t know. That way you’ll better know what to look for, and how to pray for the folks in your life in our situation.

ADMMXXIV Retrospective

 And so we bid farewell to the Year of Our Lord 2024. It was an interesting year, a unique year. Dare I say there will never be its like again.

Photo by me. You can't have it unless you ask nicely.

It was not a banner year for the Goode household, but it wasn't the kind that you wince when somebody names, either. 2024 is like that one friend we all have that we don't remember to even think about until he appears across the room at the party and waves. A good fellow, but not very flashy.

So this little retrospective will contain nothing more earth-shattering than normal life. Of course Chesterton would remind us (were he here) that there is nothing less normal than normal life. For is it not in the everyday round of sleep, meals, germs, fellowship, work, and food that immortal souls are forged? So let's work through some areas where God was doing some forging.