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Sacred Rest: Recover Your Life, Renew Your Energy, Restore Your Sanity by Saundra Dalton-Smith
librarianinperiwinkle's review
I really wanted to like this book. I requested my library purchase it so I could read it. But...it is WAY too preachy, repetitive, and lacking in useful content. I enjoyed the brief scientific parts. I enjoyed some of the parts where she talked about her own struggles and those of her patients. However, I needed there to be much more science and much much less evangelism. I'm fully on board with the idea that rest is sacred, necessary, and as God intended. Stop quoting Bible verses at me, though, especially when they are taken out of context and irrelevant. I wanted to read the book to get tips/ideas for how to manage my life so that I feel more rested, present, joyful, and calm. In the end, I realized that reading the book was annoying me so much I was skimming it while rolling my eyes and muttering impolite responses, so when my checkout expired, I didn't bother to renew and finish the last few chapters. She wasn't saying anything new. In fact, the book might not have been too bad had an editor removed all the redundancies, nearly every Bible verse, and every attempt to convert the reader to her particular brand of evangelical Christianity.
kdenten's review
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
2.0
Every single page just felt like "God is my rest" without providing much else. It felt overbearing
odenwesd's review
2.0
The ideas are interesting. I don’t mind a religious bent but this was quoting the Bible constantly.
judithdcollins's review
5.0
A "Must Read" for your well-being. SACRED REST is a perfect guide to empower you, and jump-start your New Year! Review to follow.
kilinandi's review
2.0
I'll give it two because the framework is good but the "God is my rest" just felt forced.
fearlessknitter's review
4.0
A friend of mine chose this book for our book club to read over the summer, three of us jumped in. I'm glad I did. Saundra provides concrete action items and a good breakdown of areas in your life that can be improved (or radically overhauled) by getting rest there. I need to re-read the book because of the impact some of the chapters would have, they kept intruding as I moved forward. Each chapter brought out a little "oh!" as I dug in and each section brought a big "OH" - I think I wasn't paying attention in the introduction as to the layout of the book and what was coming, or the concepts are so foreign it didn't mean anything to me at the time.
If you take the rest assessment, don't focus too much on the results. I found my score for social rest was in the middle of the pack and not much cause for concern. I didn't really identify with the symptoms list she provides. But when I got to that chapter it really resonated (and that's the one that kept intruding).
Also, I would not recommend bopping around the chapters based on assessment results. Saundra reveals some deep details of her life and experience on this road to sacred rest and these revelations build trust as you move through the book. That coupled with my experience above would have me go straight through.
If you take the rest assessment, don't focus too much on the results. I found my score for social rest was in the middle of the pack and not much cause for concern. I didn't really identify with the symptoms list she provides. But when I got to that chapter it really resonated (and that's the one that kept intruding).
Also, I would not recommend bopping around the chapters based on assessment results. Saundra reveals some deep details of her life and experience on this road to sacred rest and these revelations build trust as you move through the book. That coupled with my experience above would have me go straight through.