Tips for using the Bookmarks Bible Reading Plan

It's been really fun to hear from people who are getting excited about Bible reading! For those who are going to use my no-dates, you're never behind,  Bookmarks Bible Reading Plan (my five bookmark lists can also be found at the very bottom of this post), I thought I'd copy in Grant Horner's Secrets to Success from his original Professor Grant Horner's Bible Reading System. I do recommend his original Ten Bookmarks plan though I'm not able to do that much reading during this season of my life. And his entire original article is worth reading for inspiration and understanding how I am using my bookmarks.

And now... Grant Horner's "The Secrets to Success" (I use the system more freely!) 

• Read one chapter from each list each day; in one sitting or two. At the end of a book; go to the next book. At the end of the list; start it again. Do it in the order of the numbers on the bookmarks...1...2...3, etc. (Sara's note: He has stated other places that the order of the bookmarks is the least important aspect. I do like the order as it starts and ends in the New Testament and has poetry in the middle.)
• Read quickly (without “speed-reading”) in order to get the overall sense. Read as fast as you comfortably can with moderate retention. You’re not studying deeply or memorizing; shoot for 5–6 minutes per chapter. At the end of a chapter, move immediately to the next list.
• Get through the text— no dawdling, back reading, looking up cross-references!
• There are different ‘kinds’ of reading: super-quick skimming, careful moderate-paced, studying the text, deep meditation. You should be between the first and second kind.
• Most people decrease their time spent and increase their retention after just two-three weeks! I now read and retain the entire text of Matthew in 35 minutes, Romans in 20, Genesis in one hour!
• Don’t look up anything you ‘don’t get’ — real understanding will come through contextualizing by reading a lot of scripture over time. Get through the text!
• If you miss a day or two — ok, get over it, then keep going. Don’t cover yourself in sackcloth and ashes and quit! Move the bookmarks along, to find your place(s) quickly next day.
• The goal of this system is simple, and twofold: To know scripture, and to love and obey God more!

SOLI DEO GLORIA

Professor Grant Horner

My favorite line is "no dawdling, back reading, looking up cross-references!" I've found my retention actually increases when I take that drastic advice. :)

And remember, my personal rule of "No catching up... and no guilt!" Just find the bookmark, read, and dwell in the Word right there where the Lord has led you for this particular day. Abide with Him and enjoy His unmerited grace!  Many times in the past few months, I've only headed for my "favorite" bookmark or whichever one sounds most interesting, and just read one chapter right before total exhaustion hits at bedtime (or I'm interrupted mid-afternoon as the case may be). I think that is fine! The Lord is speaking to us through all of His inspired Word–one verse, one chapter, or five chapters at a time. The Bible wasn't written with a calendar and schedule attached. The bookmarks are designed to be ongoing and rotating no matter the pace of reading.  I started this plan originally in July. . . no dates and no pressure. I just love that part.

Again ~ anyone who'd like my five bookmarks (see the bottom of this post), just please email me at sara.junkdrawer@gmail.com and I'll be happy to send you a pdf to print, cut out, and use (including instructions).

By the grace of our Lord Jesus, may we all be eager to enjoy the privilege of reading and dwelling in the Word, for our joy and His glory.

Blessings!

                                       ~Sara~

Sara's Five Bookmark lists, and the no-dates, you're-never-behind Bookmarks Bible Reading Plan can be found here . . .  Bookmarks Bible Reading Plan.

My original post on why FIVE Bookmarks, where the idea came from, and my thinking on it... can be found here.

(Sara's Five Bookmark Lists can also be found right below this picture of the bookmarks!)

Sara’s Five Bookmarks • 

Read one chapter per day, per bookmark. At the end of a book, start the next book on the bookmark. At the end of the bookmark list, go back to the beginning.  Use one bookmark, two bookmarks, or five - just keep moving the bookmarks a chapter at a time. If you miss a day or more… no catching up! Just find your bookmarks and dwell in the Word right where He has led you.

1. Gospels and Acts •  Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts ( 117 chapters) 

2. Books of Moses and Psalms • Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Psalms • (337 chapters)  

Note: I recommend starting with Psalms if you are beginning this in January and you've tried many plans over the years - just to avoid reading Genesis again first, in the dead of winter.

3. Poetry and Prophets • Job, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi  • (312 chapters) 

4. Wisdom and History • Proverbs, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther • (280 chapters) 

5. New Testament Epistles • Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1, 2 & 3 John, Jude, Revelation • (145 chapters) 

Email me at sara.junkdrawer@gmail.com if you'd like the Five Bookmarks .pdf  to print and cut out at home (plus instructions).

Bookmarks adapted from:

Professor Grant Horner’s Bible Reading System – Ten Lists Plan

(Which I highly recommend if you can read ten chapters a day!) His system is fully explained in this document…. He encourages the sharing of his system and his bookmark lists :
 

http://www.scribd.com/doc/12349985/Professor-Grant-Horners-Bible-Reading-System 

Romans 15:5 ~

 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.  

'Tis the Season...for Bible reading plans?

'Tis the the season for me to try to figure out what plan to use for Bible reading in 2012.

Earlier this year I wrote about discovering, using, and enjoying Professor Grant Horner's Ten Lists system.  He has Ten Lists which can be turned into ten bookmarks that have you reading one chapter from ten different places in the Bible each day.  It's sounds chaotic and overwhelming at first, but there were many things I liked about his system.

A few favorites...

•No dates, so no feeling behind. No guilt for missed days! Just find your place, read, and keep going.  

         I repeat...no guilt!

•Variety of Bible book genres each day. (Gospels, Poetry, History, Prophets, Epistles, etc.)

•The "lists" are all different lengths so the Bible readings line up differently with each other over time, speaking to me in new ways and showing new (and exciting) things about God and His redemptive plan that is revealed and woven all the way through all the books.

•The lists put books in different seasons over time, again because the lists are of varying lengths. 

     If, like me, you have tried many reading plans over the years 

        and are quite tired of reading Genesis in January, 

             it is a real treat to have a plan that varies seasonally! 

•Plus, I really did enjoy reading in ten places.  It captured my attention and, surprisingly, I didn't have any trouble following the flow of things even in so many places.

BUT... I totally failed at finding (making) the time to read ten chapters a day once Summer ended.  And that was even before I discovered I was pregnant and had extra fatigue and (all day) morning sickness for the first time in many years.  Every time I did pick up my Bible, I was very happy to find the faithful bookmarks sitting there waiting for me so my fuzzy brain knew where to read, but I hardly ever got through all ten bookmarks in one day. 

Often, though, I could manage half the lists and finish up the next day.

So that gave me an idea.  What if I made my own book marks, my own lists, and I was only reading five chapters a day and still no pressure if I miss a day from time to time (or more often)?  Something that takes 20-30 minutes a day?

Just. Keep. Moving. Instead of giving up and thinking I need to wait and start all over again with Genesis and Matthew in January!

So, 'tis the season for me to make a plan to be in the Word in some systematic way this upcoming year and I've decided to stick with the bookmark type plan. I'm quite a ways in and will keep my place where I've been reading, but I've modified it to Five Lists which I've made into Five Bookmarks.  I'm giving all credit to Professor Grant Horner, because all I've done is combine his lists in a way that seems good to me, and possible during this upcoming season of my life.

For those who might be interested, I'm going to share my lists here - along with my no-dates, you're-never-behind, Bookmarks Bible Reading Plan.

Sara’s Five Bookmarks • Read one chapter per day, per bookmark. (Or whatever you can manage - just keep moving the bookmarks at your own pace - one bookmark, two bookmarks, or five)

1. Gospels and Acts •  Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts ( 117 chapters) 

2. Books of Moses and Psalms • Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Psalms • (337 chapters)  (I recommend starting with Psalms if you are beginning this in January and you've tried many plans over the years - just to avoid reading Genesis again first, in the dead of winter)

3. Poetry and Prophets • Job, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi  • (312 chapters) 

4. Wisdom and History • Proverbs, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther • (280 chapters) 

5. New Testament Epistles • Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter 1, 2 & 3 John, Jude, Revelation • (145 chapters) 

Email me at sara.junkdrawer@gmail.com if you'd like the actual Sara's Five Bookmarks .pdf  to print and cut out at home (with these instructions).

Note: One thing I have done this past year in using the bookmark system is make a tiny dot (.) at the end of each chapter when I finish it, so that if the bookmarks fall out (or are taken out, chewed, and ripped by a baby–as happened more than once to mine) or if I miss several days of reading, I can easily find my place and get going again. One of Professor Horner's strong suggestions is using the same Bible for reading all the time, and I like to read a paper (rather than digital) Bible so this (the tiny dot markings) works well for me.

My goal is NOT to get through these lists in one year, but just to read widely and consistently this year (and always) in the Bible.  Although if one did read these five bookmark lists consistently, one would get through all the Bible at least once, and the New Testament books at least twice ~ even skipping 28 days entirely. But, one of my own personal rules is "never try to catch up" just pick up and read where the bookmarks are, and abide in the Word that day by His grace.

I thought this a wise comment on Bible reading...

"I don’t want to master God’s Word. I want God, through his Word, to master me. And I’ve got a long way to go." ~Bob Kauflin, in his excellent and encouraging explanation of why and how he is using the Ten Lists plan. 

Most important to remember is that our Lord has called us to abide with Him, and yet nowhere in the Bible is there any requirement that anyone read through the Bible in one year or with any particular plan.  I do believe being in the Word brings joy, and allows us to abide in Him, and for this reason (among others) I desire a great hunger for the Word so that I may pursue it for love and joy, and not for duty.  


(For more tips on using the bookmark system...click here)

Lord, 

...In Your presence is fullness of joy. Psalm 16:11. 

         Please, grant us that gift. 

                                                                 ~Sara~

*Professor Grant Horner's Original Bible Reading System, and his thoughts on it can be found here.

For a "just the plan, please" explanation my no-dates, you're-never-behind Bookmarks Bible Reading Plan (Basically, Sara's Five Bookmarks plus Instructions) go here.

Email me at sara.junkdrawer@gmail.com for a pdf of Sara's Five Bookmarks with instructions.

No Child Left Inside

We had a bit of fun yesterday on Facebook, of all places.  For those of you who missed it, and for the sake of posterity and remembrance, I'm going to share it here.   ~Sara~

ps. a big thank you to more than a dozen friends who chimed in on the original conversation, adding much delight to my afternoon. 

Status Post:

Younger kids aged 8,6,5,3 and 2 outside enthusiastically and cheerfully building a village with outlined foundations of leaves, artifacts gathered from here and there, and much imagination. In light of the six months of winter just ahead and the coffee on the table in my peaceful dining room... having trouble mustering up the will power to call them inside to "do school." 

Comments:

Ms. Shull, 

I see that your students are not in their classroom today. 

Could you please explain... ;-) 

Sincerely, 

Mr. Shull

Principal Shull, 

You'll please notice that I have followed the guidelines set forth by your own policy established in 1998, entiltled "No Child Left Inside" - item 503.1 (Not Squandering Autumn in Minnesota). :) 

Sincerely,

Ms. Shull


Ms. Shull, 

I am well aware of item 503.1 and grateful for your close adherence to this most important value in our schooling system. My significant concern was that you had failed to follow through with subpoint 503.1.34 ensuring that, and I quote, "students will be appropriately dressed in pajamas and barefoot during outdoor activities when said activities occur before the school day has commenced." Can you please explain?

Sincerely,

Mr. Shull


Oh, dear. Mr. Shull, 

I do see that I failed in that respect. I had insisted on outdoor clothing prior to letting them go outdoors - thus the confusion regarding whether I was in fact complying with and appealing to 503.1 or intending to "do school". The majority however, were indeed barefoot, and a good time was had by all which I believe was the original spirit, if not the letter, of the law. I promise to review all the subpoints of 503.1 so as to ensure that all the children have the most benefit of the No Child Left Inside policy as established in 1998. 

Sincerely, 

Ms. Shull.


Ms. Shull, 

It was a relief to hear your response and to know that you are indeed complying with, as you say, the spirit of our "No Child Left Inside" initiative. Thank you for kindly seeing to full compliance in the future. And what pleases me perhaps most in this matter is to know that you will still be eligible to be nominated by your students for the Teacher of the Year award. 

Sincerely, 

Principal Shull

Living happily-ever-after

In honor of the twenty-fifth anniversary of our first date, I'm re-posting this poem...written on a perfect day for remembering.  So thankful to be celebrating the first quarter-century of Happily Ever After with my true love.  Very Thankful.









An Anniversary Day


Skipping leaves and half dressed trees
     seem pleased about the warmish days.

The sun grows soft and big while sailing deeper to the south.
     Evening's long shadows escape to chase our feet at noon.

That same sun spins out golden strands of memory
     that bind me to a day just like today.

Warm sun, warm hands, warm cookies
       dripping ice cream on a cozy hill.
    Kaleidoscopes of dazzled light shift across our jeans
          and draw our eyes to red leaves up above.

The leaves that in their lazy way
     drift down and down to make mosaics
          on the bright green all around.

The golden strands that day wove hazy screens
       to push out time and place and people all around.
           A golden day that witnessed bonded hearts
                 those many years ago.

Those golden strands this day wrap warm memories
       around and leave me feeling seventeen and loved
           while standing in the grass.

Eyes closed with face set toward the reddish glow
     . . . for moments I could be both here and there.

His ringing laughter calls to me across the years,
       and also strong and real around the bend.

Smiling, warm, beloved still
    . . . I turn around and walk into today.



                                       ~Sara~


"O, magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt His name together!"
                                        ~Psalm 34:3

Days of gold

Golden days, few and precious.

Roads are made in leaves under the tree.  

     Trucks, rakes, balls half-buried in the piles.

           

Orange, reds, and yellows curl and crisp and turn to brown.

And still the trees are full of blazing flags... 

       their rustled thankfulness is on the wind.

My soul quiets to the sound.

Sunbeams filter down in Autumn angles 

     through the canopy of leaves.

Kaleidoscopes of brilliant, dancing patterns on the grass. 

     The baby laughs and tries to catch the light.

Moments to treasure when the color fades 

      and all is gray…

          or is this Joy a gift for just today?

O soul, rejoice!

My whispered praise is added to the wind.

                                      ~Sara~

A story of giving thanks

Last month, in the midst of having so much to do, I decided to read a book. Although I had plenty to do in every area of my life, including pre-reading a stack of books for my 8th grader's school year, I was really longing to use some of my Summer down-time reading something good, just for me. At the same time, I started hearing about a book called Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry. Now, I had never even heard of Wendell Berry or his eight novels, including this Hannah Coulter which was published in 2004. So when, within a two-day-period, I saw this book recommended in book reviews by three people I respect it, I sat up and paid attention. I don't believe in coincidences. It seemed as if this book was being handed to me by a gentle hand, as I was lovingly urged to read.

Hannah Coulter was sitting on the shelf at the library, waiting for me.

Oh, what beautiful writing. Fully prose, but striking deep in the soul like poetry. This is the story of Hannah, born in 1922, a child during the depression, mostly raised by a remarkable grandmother, widowed young by WWII, finding a new life after and widowed again, old after a 50 year marriage. A story of community and connections and generational change. Early in the telling she says, "This is my story, my giving of thanks." I'm not even going to try to make a summary, but I will say that I can't remember any other book where I so identified with the narrator: falling in love as she fell in love, grieving as she grieved, hoping as she hoped, disappointed as she was disappointed, present to the reality of her life, lived fully in her present, and yet always remembering and looking forward, too. Smiling, even laughing out loud in many places, and at other times crying quiet tears down my cheeks, tears of joy and of sorrow. Nodding my head at her wisdom.

Afterwards when I was sharing some of this with Kevin and my older girls, Grace commented (not really knowing whether this was a true story or not), "But, Mom, she's not really real, right? I mean, it's fiction?" For a few seconds, I felt a little confused. She had become very real to me.

I'm not quite sure why this book hit me so deeply, perhaps it is where I'm standing in my own life. So easily remembering my youth and the beginning of our love now continuing in happy marriage while the fullest of years of child rearing and the urgency of life presses in on all sides, I usually think of myself as young. And yet, my oldest daughter, Grace, started college last week. And though she is living at home and tightly bound to my heart, I start to understand the season that begins for a mother when children test their wings out of the nest, and finally fly away. I think I felt my age for the first time as Kevin and I stood side by side, hands upon her, praying for her, at the Celebration and Commitment Service that officially began her college years––even though later that same night I snuggled and nursed my young baby to sleep. I also can see forward to the growing old together and the seasons to come. I'm standing in the middle of it all. I want to live my life, like Hannah, like a story of giving thanks.

I also became interested in Wendell Berry. What man can write a woman's story that makes another woman weep and laugh through tears? His story is interesting as well: Kentucky born, academic, writer who doesn't own a computer, sustainable organic farmer who uses horses instead of machines, husband of 54 years plus, activist, conservationist, consistently pro-life from womb to grave, anti-war, a progressive thinker accused of archaic traditionalism...and a Christian. I plan to read all of his novels . . . perhaps (if I can stand the wait) after I get a few more of those school-prep books crossed off of my list.

I said good-bye to Hannah just this morning, and I won't forget her soon.

                                          ~Sara~

These are the good old days. (Part 2)

(Continued from Part 1)

The Barn Removal Project.

Or as we've come to call it, the Barn Razing (as in completely destroy and remove all traces of existence).

When we moved to this house and property, seven years ago, there was an old barn standing on its last legs. A barn with a leaking wooden roof, rotten beams, and due to the (now wet) straw insulating the walls, rotten everything. When we had our inspection prior to buying this house, the inspector told us the barn was condemned and we should not let anyone go in it. As a matter of fact, I never did go in it. We put a barrier of snow fencing around it to keep the kids away. Our insurance company had no problem with having us sign an "exclusion" of that building and so over the past years we've let trees and grass and weeds grow up around and through that old barn while it slowly and then finally sank to its knees. Old steel siding folded in, then covered the fallen barn as if with a blanket for its last sleep. In the Summer, it was hidden by the wild of green. In the Winter, it was covered with snow. Other than glancing at it over in a corner of the now non-existent farm yard in a nostalgic sort of way, we never thought of it at all.

Until the letter came. The letter explaining that we had 30 days to remove (or rebuild!) the barn or our insurance would drop us. Really? What about that exclusion? Well, that was then and this is now. The barn must go.

This letter coincided with a letter from our insurance agent telling us that our insurance company had become difficult to work with in the rural areas, she would no longer be representing them . . . and would we like to switch to a new company, one that would save us hundreds of dollars in the process?  "Why, yes indeed.  How convenient!" we thought.  Then we discovered that the new, friendly company also required removal of the barn––in fact all companies were now in agreement that the potentially dangerous old building would need to be removed.  And soon. Within 30 days of our new policy's start date.  By the end of August.

We literally stood staring at that thing, completely hidden by overgrowth, wondering how on earth we could solve this problem. Our preference for an easy answer . . .  professional demo, sorting, removal, hauling and dumping was looking to cost many thousands of dollars. So that was not an option.  We heard lots of advice . . . "People love that old barnwood! They'll even remove it for you!" Or . . . "Dig a big hole and just shove it in there - that's what the old farmers do." Or . . . "Have the fire department burn it for practice! That's only $600-800." Or . .  "Wait until winter, push it all into a field and just burn the whole thing."  Dear Mr. Friend suggested shoving it just ten feet north of the property line (through a few trees) and then claim it was his problem!  All intriguing ideas, but things we couldn't well achieve on a shoe-string budget, no large equipment, nearby flammable buildings and trees, those pesky new environmental rules about burying things, and a 30-day timeline.|

Finally, we thought of one possibility. It seemed a bit too easy and so probably wouldn't work. Could we burn it gradually on a campfire sized fire, piece by piece, sorting and saving the good to give away, and burning the bad? Working on it all of August? With a five-dollar burn permit? At times we thought- "Yes! We can do it!" A minute later we thought of other details - "No! This is impossible!" After all, this was completely not on the agenda this year. How could we spend that much time on it, all of us working, even if it worked? Three weeks ago, just before the date we were set to begin, we were very discouraged. The type of discouragement that makes your eyes fly wide open in the middle of the night with anxiety, but also causes you to cry out to the Lord for help.  The type of discouragement you see in each other that makes you want to smile and be brave and say out loud "It's all going to be OK."

I started mentioning this "barn project" to friends and the response was always the same.  A surprising enthusiasm, encouragement to ask others to help, and even to think of it as a party. A definite intrigue with the idea of an old barn whether it was going up or coming down. A universal desire to be a part of such old-fashioned, hard, manual work. A desire for their kids to have a chance to do that sort of "real" work. An outpouring of love and offers from many, and genuine sadness on the part of those who had other plans and couldn't come help. After all, that barn was put together by hand (and we imagine with the help of friends and family), why not pull it apart piece by piece with the help of friends and family? It sounds like The Good Old Days.

So we asked for help. And help came.  Mr. Friend came with his backhoe and his skilled use of it, and what we would have done without him I don't know. He has come early (accommodating us by waiting until 6:30am, when he'd been up since 4:00), and late–when Kevin got home from his city job. Whenever the big machine and his expertise would be of assistance. Fathers and sons have come to help, moms and a kid or two, entire families, and men alone or in pairs.  One day of particular progress we had two adult men in the morning, rain in the afternoon, and then a family with six children came to help in the mud of the evening. All these friends along with our own work crew did remove that barn.  I expected it to take every bit of that 30 days.  I was expecting to be rushed in the end. But that's not what happened.


In just six days the major work was done––and we had even taken one day off for sheer exhaustion, and the good excuse of rain. We breathed a sigh of relief and scheduled one more work day and more help arrived, just at the right time, even after we turned a few away because we thought rain would ruin the day. Now, just the odds and ends of splintered wood and dirt remain. Sorted wood, still good for use, is sitting here and there, but the barn is gone. We can prove it with photos for our insurance file. We are so thankful for the answer to our prayers that came through our Brothers and Sisters and good hard (but doable) work for our family.  The type of answer that teaches us all (not just the children) that the Lord still moves mountains.

Which is what reminds me that these are The Good Old Days, the days the Lord has planned for us. I want to recognize it as we go along, and not just with hindsight of years to come or through the romantic lens that doesn't see the grit in these good days.  I want to see it all and still feel the goodness.  The days of family, friends, and children still at home. Of hard work, too, and impossible needs. The days full of challenges that answer our prayers that our children will be prepared for lives of their own. Lessons provided by floods, and vans breaking down, and mothers on crutches when the house guests arrive, and hard work on barns, and depending on Brothers and Sisters when we'd rather not be in need. Lessons from hearing mom and dad praying for something to work out, with a feeble sort of faith. Praying themselves because they know it's something we really need, something really important that we can't make happen on our own. And then seeing the answers come one after another. And after that, seeing the greater provision of the Lord's design in all of these things, better than any plan we would have made for this Summer––back when we thought coffee on the deck, family bike rides, and maybe building a tree house (to teach the kids how to work a bit) was the best plan. The plan that defines and meets our needs, burns away the chaff, and draws us closer to Him.

I've looked at that barn coming down, looked at the friends coming together to offer hours of hard work, looked at the pieces of old wood and the old-time nails, looked at beams of the barn made of unmilled logs, and thought of that time of tremendous hard work on this farm 100 years ago when that barn was new. Work without machines and nearly without rest.  Work without a hot shower at the end of the day. An exhausted sleep on a hot summer night without fans or A/C.  A tenacity to build from the ground up, with no guarantee of success, that we can hardly imagine. Building projects, hoping for a good crop, investing in animals and newfangled machines.  Thousands of days preparing meals and feeding animals and cleaning up and making do. Marriages and children. Gains and loss. Hard times and good times and daily chores. Times spent on knees in prayer and times asking friends for help.  Answers and help provided.

The Good Old Days.

Lord, let me lean into these days and live life to the full as it unfolds . . . with thankfulness, trusting in You for the plan.

                                          ~Sara~

ps.  Kevin just came home and said a friend of ours (that we haven't seen in months) offered us a load of oak firewood, already cut, that they really have no use of.  Could we use it? My eyes are glistening. More answers to prayer.  One concern of the barn project was that Kevin and the kids had no time to begin to work on cutting the free firewood available from Mr. Friend's land for this winter (which we use for the major source of heat for our home).  This friend, with no knowledge of our need, offers an answer to a prayer barely asked in passing. Whispered lest we ask for too much. I am thankful and amazed. (The "load" turned out to be THREE cords.)

It's all humor and poetry.

Sometimes people get the impression that life at our house must be all humor and poetry.  I'm here with proof that this is, indeed, true.

This summer has been a big one for big storms. 

We've had storms that did damage with 70 mph straight line winds. Some of it quite severe. In our little area of Minnesota, thousands of trees went down in not one, but two separate storms. Huge, old towering trees pulled up from the roots.  Oaks snapped off ten feet above the ground.  Four of Mr. Friend's tree line pines, planted in 1950, fell thunderously to the ground just missing his house. We ourselves lost a few trees-including a much beloved old orchard apple tree.  It fell and smashed a younger tree we were hoping would take its place. 

The orchard apple tree, old already in 2005

We've seen crazy winds toss the big outdoor playhouse about 40 feet to a new location, random objects fly through the air, and heard that loud hail pounding the house. We've lost power on hot humid nights and a couple of times, we've had to make our way down to the old cellar for tornado warnings.  

Did I mention the time we ran from a tornado in our van? That was last year, but still fresh in our minds.  It was like a scene from a movie, with a tree limb falling across the road right in front of our path as Dad slammed on the brakes to avoid a major collision, just as it came into focus, huge in the illumination of the headlights.  The screaming in the van was soundtrack perfect. We sheltered that one out actually in the vehicle, parked close up to an L corner behind a big building. 

Anyway, perhaps it's not surprising that some of the kids have gotten a bit skittish about the weather and (mildly) obsessed with watching the radar for potential danger.  We suspect this may actually lead our nearly 12-year-old Nat to become a TV weather man. He's got the smile, the personality, and now he's talking weather all the time. In any case, he has not yet made peace with his weather interest, though he has learned a ton about weather patterns and is frequently looking up weather news on the internet this summer.

Today, he was a bit freaked out by the big storm system headed our way on the radar.  It was one of those long lines of stormfront with a big area of red in the middle, surrounded by a lot of yellow, and a fringe of green.  Of course, our house is a pin on that computerized radar map, and that monster was headed right towards us. Pretty much a bulls-eye.  The fact that the accompanying text info included no warnings for severe weather, and the forecast called only for several hours of very heavy rain, did little to reassure him.  That thing did look serious. "What if their interpretation of the data is just wrong?" he asked with a nervous half-laugh.

What, indeed? 

Teasing him, I said, “Nat, you shouldn’t be scared. It’s beautiful! It’s powerful! You should write poetry about it! That’s what I do… (wink)”  

Nat’s quick deadpan response, “OK, how about a Haiku…" and as he counted off the syllables on his fingers, out came the following gem on his first try. 

The storm is coming

And it is really scary

I’m going to die

At this point everyone, including him, burst into laughter.  His sisters begged him to let me share this and he readily agreed.  After all, the storm came and it was nothing but a lot of rain. He is most likely going to survive until morning.  But if not? At least he has left this poem as a legacy.

See what I mean? It's all humor and poetry.

                                            ~Sara~

Sweet summer evening, after rain.

Sweet summer evening, after rain.

When the light is just right. 

    Soft, with scattered spots of fire

         in raindrops left behind.

And there’s that golden glow

     that burns along the edges of the leaves.

Each leaf, it seems, would be consumed,

         but is instead transformed

               into transparent living gems.

The light so bright in shifting spaces, 

      pure white

           between the shadows and the green,

and shafts shine down 

     on laughing children on the grass.

Life itself slows down so we can catch a glimpse of glory,

   and feel the gentle ache between each heart beat.

A homesickness for promised times we’ve yet to know.

The birds, so bold at other times

      are calling softly, shyly

              in the quiet of the almost night.

      Perhaps they feel it, too.

An eagerness to look ahead, into the glow.

                                     ~Sara~

These are the good old days. (Part 1)

At the beginning of May this year, we were looking forward to the Summer, just amazed at how wide open the days looked.  We had two greatly anticipated trips on the calendar.  Otherwise, it looked like a long lazy Summer was in store for our family.  We dreamed of family bike rides, coffee on the deck, reading outside on the big swing, painting sheds, and building a chicken coop, or perhaps a tree house, with all that extra time.

Turns out, the days the LORD had planned for us were not exactly what we had in mind.

Just after returning home from our first whirlwind trip (a wonderful family wedding weekend) we discovered our basement contained a lake.  Yes, with all the rain this year, our basement was now sitting IN the water table.  Eighteen inches of water surprised me when I went down to get something out of storage.  All of our plastic bins containing off season and hand me down clothes had floated and turned over and leaked (requiring drying outside on the old fashioned laundry lines while waiting for a wash and dry inside, fifteen extra loads of laundry in our big machines) and the bottom of our furnace, a dehumidifier, and a fan were underwater. Lots of shoes, old toys, and miscellaneous stuff (junk) ruined. That same day, our main breaker went out (as we turned it off to be safe in the water) and it needed to be replaced.  Without electricity, our well pump doesn't work, so no running water.  The hot water was out anyway, and we had visions of propane bubbling up through the water. Better women than myself could have cleaned up from this in a few days.  It took me, even with everyone helping, the better part of three weeks.



I was officially done with flood clean-up the day before we left for a two week road trip. That trip, too, was full of the unexpected.  A break-down on the Great Plains on a 100 degree day on a Sunday morning with no repairs in sight. A limping, unsteady 70 mile drive that (thankfully!) returned us safely to Grandmom's welcoming, air conditioned home. A drive in a borrowed car, five hours round trip, to get the only rental van available in the state of Kansas.  A nice beautiful new rental van that wouldn't haul our trailer. A four hour re-packing job to pare down our carefully selected originally packed items (plenty of room in that trailer) down to an amount that would fit inside the rental van with us (a sight to behold).  We left at least half our stuff in our trailer in Grandmom's driveway, ready to pick up, along with our repaired van, on our way back home.

Hearing the details of 'the-day-we-drove-eight-hours-and-went-nowhere' my mother (on the phone, waiting for us at our destination in beautiful Colorado) cheerfully commented "I hear a blog entry in all this!" It was hard to laugh along in the crabby, sweaty, tired atmosphere of that evening while we repacked in the hot and humid evening air.

We did have a great vacation. Interspersed with the beauty and excitement of that Mountain trip (which was given to us as a gift, including that rental van, by generous grandparents) were a few more misadventures.  We lost track of a child in Vail, CO, who was found by the nice local police before we even knew he had left the big Pirate Ship playground.  He, just six-years-old, mistakenly thought we had left him behind and had run for the car (far away in a parking garage) while the rest of us (five adults, two teens, eleven younger kids ) continued to enjoy the playground full of children and a stream nearby.

By the time we were packing up and commenting "Hey, where is Sam . . . has anyone seen Sam?" the above-mentioned nice police man came up and asked me, "Are you looking for a boy in a red shirt."

Me, cheerfully, "Why, Yes!"

His serious response, "We've had him for ten minutes."

Oh no!

Though they told us he'd been so upset he was unable to talk much, once they brought him back to us, right where we'd been all along, he settled down after a few minutes of being strongly held by Dad.  It turns out for this particular boy, believing you've been forgotten is quite traumatic, but finding out you just made a mistake about that and thus discovered you have an uncanny ability to make your way back through the winding streets of a village to the place where your parents parked the van, meeting nice people who help you out, and policemen who take you right back where you started is just an adventure. Of course, we are extremely thankful things turned out so well and I did have several panic attacks about the whole thing later that night.  And I'm giving up my nomination for Mother of the Year.

Did I mention I got thrown from a horse?  Yep, about a minute after I was taking deep breaths of cool mountain air, praising God for the truly awesome view, and thinking how peaceful and quiet it is to travel on horseback.  I didn't even have that moment where you think 'Oh, no! I'm falling!" Nope. One second I see the horse getting kicked by one of his horsey friends and without any time passing . . . my face is resting in dust and my only thought, "I'm on the ground," was accompanied by small explosions of pain in my shoulder, hip and knee. I didn't notice the cuts on my hands or broken fingernails at first. But, with 18 anxious members of my family watching and calling out in concern, and not wanting to miss or ruin that ride and campfire dinner adventure, I did get back up on that horse, and thankfully there were no serious injuries.  I was rewarded with one particularly impressive bruise on my hip, and a limp which eventually required crutches . . . the week we had four extra great kids stay with us for a much anticipated "Camp" week at our own house, beginning two days after we got home from vacation.

Fast forward a few more days through 4th of July back at Grandmom's (her basement flooded, too!) and past County Fair week (I guess I didn't have that on the calendar way back in May) which brings us to...

 . . . the BIG unexpected, impossible, and nearly overwhelming task that we did not once think we'd have to face this Summer–which we discovered we would have to accomplish one way or another before the end of August . . .  and my point for bringing up all this in the first place.


The part that makes me remember that these ARE the good old days.

But it's getting late, so I think I'd better leave that for a second entry.  I'll try to write it soon.

                                           ~Sara~

(Part 2 can be found here)

Journal Snapshots ~ Summer Catch-Up 2011

Hello Family, Friends, and die-hard Shull Family Fans everywhere . . . it's time for another episode of Journal Snapshots! An insider's look at the more lighthearted moments in our household, at least from my point of view.

                                                ~Sara~

Dad to a grinning 10-year-old who started off a round of family Bananagrams with a nine letter word, "It's really not fun playing with people like you." :)



Baby Daniel is experiencing his first day of 90s and humidity. He doesn't seem too impressed.



Today is the third time Minneapolis went over 100 degrees in the past century. This historic event makes the snow boots in our front porch look a bit odd.



I do realize that most of the world has little interest in the moodiness of the weather in Minnesota–but I just realized the temp has plunged to 65 though it is still sunny. Everyone has to change clothes before we head to the church picnic! (Local friends... grab a jacket and meet us there?)



‎Grace just received a college recruiting letter trying to convince her that their college (whose name we shall not reveal) was the right place for her to live out her college dreams. We became suspicious they might not actually possess the key to her future as we read the beginning of the letter: 

      Hello [NAME]...



Ah, Juneuary! Perhaps a little fire in the fireplace?

Helpful tip for boys: While it is manly and exciting to see how far one can throw, it is best not to use one's siblings' rubber boots for the purpose, especially when throwing into the hayfield and the grass is taller than one's head. Thank you. (Yes, Dear, our boys . . . they've found all but one)



Big brother Nat (age 11), thinking of the explosive properties of propane when he went outside to find his 4-year-old brother standing on top of the big outdoor tank: "Jon, what are you doing?! Get down! You shouldn't be up there!" 

Jon scrambling down, looking concerned: "Is that a Ten Commandment!???" 

Singing this in my head today: How deep the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure...



At Grandmom Joan's, where fireworks are legal . . . I walk outside to find Dad with all the kids huddled around various smoking, sparkling, crackling and snapping items. 

Ruthie greets me with a huge grin: 

     "Oooooo Mom! We're blowin' stuff up!"



Last night's winner for Funniest Dinner Table Comment: 6-year-old Sam, after staring out into space over his half-eaten supper for a few moments, suddenly asked, "Can I have a snack?"



Windows all open, listening to that peaceful rain. 

    That smell, that sound, that cool breeze... 

          A gift in July.



County Fair Dog Show this morning for Grace and Lydia (and Boaz and Tipper). Perhaps the predicted 100 plus heat index will have a calming effect on teenage puppy Boaz during his first show? Go girls!

Me to four kids (8, 6, 4, 3) at the County Fair's Kids' Day: "Ok, we're not going to use the stroller so I don't want to carry a lot of water bottles. I'll keep one in my purse that we can share, and if it's so hot you're dying, we can refill it or find a drinking fountain."


Jon's reply: "Mom, you don't need a drink if you're dying. You need a drink if your tongue is dry."

Sticks out tongue and touches it, to illustrate.



After a particularly exasperating day with our exuberant little Ruthie, she just came up to me and threw her arms around my neck: "You're my best mom! You put my underwear on and you scratch my back."



Big sister Grace was just admiring 2-year-old Zac's very curly hair, "You have gold for hair!" she said to him. And then as he casually walked away, oblivious of the attention, she said in a hilarious accent, "My hair is currency in certain parts of Europe..." (which apparently is a movie quote, but completely cracked me up in any case.)



Feeling bad for 10-year-old Essie that my “quick stop” at the store was dragging on and on, I turned to her and said, “I’m sorry this is taking so long, are you getting impatient?” Her sweet reply, “Well, It’s hard to be impatient when you are doing something this fun.” That really improved my views of shopping at Walmart.

Jonathan pulled away and made a face when I leaned in for a quick kiss on the cheek after helping him tie his shoes. “What, no kisses this morning?” I asked. 

Jon’s reply, looking at me patiently, “Mom, kisses are for nighttime.”

                                          ~ to be continued!