Midsummer Favorites

Summer goes FAST. Here are some of my reviews of what I've seen/heard/read this summer (so far - there is still plently of fun to be had).

• Movie:
  I didn't expect this, but Ratatouille is by far my favorite movie of the summer. I had heard it was good, but I enjoyed it SO. MUCH. If you have seen it, I would love to talk to you about it and see what you thought. If you haven't, then I highly recommend it. I thought it was a beautiful film with a lot to ponder and enjoy. I am not into cuisine/food that much, but I connected to it as an artist quite a bit.
• Worship CD:
  I got a worship CD from Mars Hill Church in Michigan (where Rob Bell preaches) a few weeks ago. It is a breath of fresh air. It's a recording from a local church - there's lots of spiritually rich content, the music is good and designed for congregational singing, it's fun (lots of different styles), and there are a lot of great original songs. You can listen to it streaming online - and all of the chord charts/lead sheets are available online for free. Great great great.
• Book:
  This one's harder - because I've started several books - and have finished very few. (I'm still working on Harry Potter - and the Dan Kimball book I mentioned a few posts earlier.) I'm still going to say Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton - though I'm not far into it. I've already discovered that Rich Mullins had to have read this book (there are some definitely references to Chesterton in his lyrics).

And while I'm at it, here are some other things I'm excited about lately:

• Playing in the municipal band. While this is a major time commitment, it has felt good to get back into the groove of playing with an ensemble. I'm also getting to meet lots of new people. It's amazing to play alongside people who have played their instruments and played in this ensemble for decades. We've played a wide variety of music so far & it's fun to play for the family (grandparents!) and friends who are loyal enough to endure the heat!
• The Africa series at church. I knew it would be exciting, but it really is cool to be challenged by what's going on in another part of the world and pray together as a church about how to respond.