Casual Catch-up — August 2021

The Casual Catch-up is a monthly-ish note I send to my more traditional mailing list, The BRC Communiqué, so I figured that I would share this Month’s Catch-up with substack Subscribers as well. I send a few notes a month to this list and will share them in the notes/chat, but you can also subscribe directly.

August 6, 2023

Greetings Bruce —

I hope this note finds you doing all that you can to find joy, know rest, and fight that which is causing pain in the world!

As for me, it has been a really rough summer ;-)

For the past few weeks, we have been in New Zealand - Aotearoa - Australia, and despite the recent loss by the US Women's National Team, it has been great. As I shared on FB,

We are a little over halfway through our Australia - New Zealand - Aotearoa trip, and the saying is totally true, "Great place to visit, but I would totally want to live here" :-) Obviously, no place is perfect, but visiting these places and talking with local friends has been a great reality check and catharsis to the current political and cultural climate of the United States.

Don't worry, we're probably maybe not moving.

Plus, footy.

We are here until the end of August and enjoying the flexibility and privilege of work and resources that have made this possible. If you want to catch up, I've been working on my reels skills.

Once we return, we return to empty nest status with the youngest back at school and the other two out on their own. I'll start traveling a bit in the Fall doing more preaching and speaking and getting ready for the book launch in the Spring.

Speaking of the book. I just received close-to-final design, and I am thrilled. I love the look and vibe and I cannot wait for you to get it into your hands. You can preorder Everything Good About God is True: Choosing Faith from all the places, but publishers always like direct ordering, so head on over to Broadleaf Books and order a copy or 20. I also just noticed that the Kindle Version is also now available for pre-order.

As far as my new shift to more writing. I have been posting a few things over on my Substack Newsletter, The Amalgamation. Even though changing platforms is never awesome, and I am still learning best practices, I am digging the format and vibe. I have been posting weekly Pop-Culture Monday, including my thoughts on Barbie as well as sharing a bit about a Church Growth for Progressive Churches project that I'll workshop on Substack. You can always subscribe for free where you will get most of the things or click the button below for a free 90-day subscription, where you will get all of the things.

My friend Tiffany Flaming and I have launched a Clifton Strengths collaboration to add some playfulness to the tool. We are taking on different activities through the eyes of each of the four domains and 34 themes. Our first month is about Vacation and you can see the first week on Instagram or on Facebook.

I think that's about it for now. Thanks again for hanging out and reading the latest in the life of me and the crew!

Until the next Casual Catchup, peace be with you! — Bruce