Creating a Homestead - again!

When my husband and I married, we both wanted to move out of the city to the country!  Having a homestead was our goal.  I read "Mother Earth News" (the original) and lots of homesteading books, but what I really wanted was to live in the woods like at Girl Scout Camp!!  Fourteen years later, we found our dream property - heavily wooded.  After we moved onto the property, I cleared a little garden - 4 ft. square.

Fast forward 20 years or so, and I'm trying again to turn my property into a homestead.  My goals are somewhat different and my challenges are much greater!  The greatest challenge is that I'm no longer in my 20s or even 40s and I'm trying to do most of this on my own.  This means I'm hiring a lot of folks to help.

The first set of goals are:

• Stabilize my house - it's on a slope, and there are animals living beneath it.  Annual leveling is very expensive and needs to be corrected.
• Clear as much bamboo (planted by a former neighbor) as possible and find a way to remove it.
• Obtain an agricultural exemption

The second set of goals are:

• Put in a fenced garden with raised beds
• Raise Chickens

Other than the Ag exemption which takes 5 years, I'm hoping to get as many of these things done for this season as possible.

Over the weekend, I had my landscape guy clear out a lot of the bamboo, a "back yard" behind my house and some brush in various places.  I have a huge oak at one part of my property that I particularly wanted to save.  I think this weekend's work has accomplished that!!

 

I also now have a back yard.  I'm hoping to use it to plant shade loving plants.

I hope to keep this on a twice weekly schedule as before, but as I'm having to hire work done, I may not be able to keep that pace.

Until next time,

Stormy

Changing Focus

The tag-line for my blog is "The view from my cabin door -- sometimes looking out, sometimes looking in."  In the last several posts, I have focused inward with tools for my Spiritual Life.  I have been putting together a journal for a personal Bible study, but also other studies as well.

I have added a section at the back for sermon notes.  I'm enjoying the sheets I've downloaded from Visual Faith for sermon notes, though I have to write small.  I may go back and color in the graphics on some of these.

As mentioned before, I am a collector.  In this case, I wonder if I'm collecting too much information on these studies such that I'm worn out by the collecting and do not return to the actual study.  Most definitely an issue to work on!

Starting next week, I will change the focus of my blog to "Looking Out."  I will talk about the plans I have for working my place into a small homestead.  I've already started the idea of redoing the garden and I really need to get with that before it gets much hotter.  It's past time (around here) to get seeds or even plants in the ground.  It will likely be another week, minimum, before I can get another load of dirt as the soil is horrible.

This weekend I'll be doing brush clearing (or having it done!) and preparing to get a hive of bees starting next month to work towards an agricultural exemption.  That's a lot for this upcoming very busy weekend.

I hope to have before and after photos next week.

Until next time,

Stormy

Presenting my Journaling Template

I had the opportunity to present my journaling tool to my Ladies Group at church today.  The presentation took almost an hour, and I had done a bit of the work up front.  The Scripture for this study was about 5 verses, and there were 28 referenced verses!  We only went over a few.  I left the rest for homework.

One thing this tells me for longer studies is to "summarize"!  The preceding and following verses were numerous as well.  I did like re-thinking the keywords to look for the words that were most important to the overall verse.  [At this point, my mind is inserting, "Duh!!"]

I printed and passed out sheets for Sermon Notes from Visual Faith and those were well received.  I will be sending out links and a template to the ladies via email.  Overall, I think this was a successful presentation.

Now, I just need to get myself into a regular habit of nightly study.  I can do this 2 days per verse selection and take Sundays off.

To finish my journal "creation," I have a few things I want to do:

1. Create a bookmark with a "Prayer for Bible Study" - perhaps with a graphic on the other side.  This will be used in my journal to mark where I am studying.
2. Write a summary of the 10 Questions for reference
3. Figure out how to get my printer to print double-sided on the 7x9.25 paper!  (It will do it on 8.5x11 or 5.5x8.5)

My Friday post may be late.  The latter part of this week contains a "difficult day" for me.  Next week I plan to start discussing my plans for turning my home into a homestead.  This is likely to be a HUGE challenge as I will be doing most of this by myself.  I can probably get some help from friends and family over the weekend, but most of my weekends are full as well!  I'm not complaining!  It's always better to be busy than bored!

Until next time,

Stormy

Practice What You Preach

One of the followers of this series on my blog is the president of our Women's Group at church.  This month we moved our monthly meeting to a different date and the Pastor is not available for our Bible study.  She was impressed with my review on the 10 Questions book and has asked me to demonstrate it with the verses from our Ash Wednesday service.  (Not from the graphic here.)

This gives me several opportunities:

1. Motivation to test my personal tool (though it may not work for everyone and may need some adjustments even for me).
2. Test how I would study a longer segment of scripture instead of 1-2 verses.
3. Practice my speaking and presentation skills.  This will not count towards my Toastmasters' goals, but that's ok.

While the focus is on the 10 Questions, I really feel that provides more of an analysis tool.  The information gained gives us a deeper understanding of what we are reading, but I feel it needs further contemplation.

I have been working on my verses over multiple days and coming back to them for further thought.  Unfortunately, distraction is a real issue for me.  I need a better way to keep my focus and keep with my study.  I have also been adding sermon notes and graphics (not mine) to my journal and making notes on verses I would like to study further.

Finally, I have been collecting some devotional material in an online document.  For my book-based devotionals, I take photos of the page with the thought of including those in my journal as well.  I like the pre-written devotionals to give me ideas for application.  How might I write a short devotional on what I've studied?

Questions for my readers:

 

I have a lot of material in addition to the Specific verses I initially wanted to study.  How do you choose study material?  How do you relate God's Word to your personal life?

I would love to see your comments below (you may comment anonymously).

On another topic:  I will likely be switching topics week after next.  What would you like to see:  

• Discussion on personality types (and communication)
• Turning my yard into a homestead

Until next time,

Stormy

My Journal

 Happy Tuesday!

I can't tell you how many times I have tried to keep a journal.  I am so inconsistent in that regard.  However, I do like using a ring or disk binder, which gives me a lot of flexibility.

My journal has monthly calendars (with tabs).  I really don't use the calendar for appointments, as I have that on my computer which sends reminders and alerts.  However, I can use the calendar for very brief notes on what I'm doing.

The blank journal that I bought was just for notes.  It included blank lined paper and 3 blank side tabs.  It's by "Happy Planner" and I purchased it from a local crafts store.  I also purchased a couple of blank calendar journals on clearance, so I have a lot of monthly tabs.  I also have purchased some dividers with top tabs (the monthly tabs are to the side).  I bought a pre-printed monthly calendar with dates included which is just so much easier for that part.  (The paw print is from a template, and I colored it to match my kitty's toe beans.)

I have the calendar in front with the monthly tabs.  The first of the blank tabs are various notes I've taken at events or meetings.  The 2nd blank tab is my bible study journal and the 3rd tab is for blank note paper.

At the very front of my journal, I have a top tab followed by two "To Do" sheets.  I bought a lot of stickers, so modified the To Do to say, "To Pray."  On the back of the first sheet, I have people with current issues - surgery, recovery, illness, etc.  On the second sheet, I have people with long-term issues.  For most I have their care givers listed, if known.  I may stick the first sheet to the divider tab, so I can open the two sheets side-by-side.  This makes it easy to pray for all these folks during my morning prayers.  In the evening I pray from memory!

Visual Faith has weekly sermon notes.  I have printed out all those for this month and have started taking notes during the sermons.  Then I add the bulletin with the readings on the back, and the sermon notes to my journal.  At the moment, I'm adding them in at the monthly tabs, but they are bigger than the tabs, as you can see in the calendar photo above, so I may move them. 

Speaking of Visual Faith.... They have come out with a "Common Book" that is a compilation of their tools for a year: devotional calendar, prayer page, verse mapping, scripture scribing - all of the tools they provide in one book.  If this interests you, check out the article on their blog page (https://www.visualfaithmin.org/post/introducing-the-common-book).  It will link you to their book store, if you want to purchase.

Question to My Readers

Do you keep a journal of any kind?  Do you use a pre-formatted journal, or do you create your own?  Please let me know in the comments below (you may comment anonymously).  I would also be interested in styles and tools that you use in your journaling.  What works for you?  What doesn't work?

Until next time,

Stormy

Examples: John 3:16

In my last post, I used screen prints, but they were very small, and I'm really unhappy with what I posted.  I noticed that photos that I shared years ago can be clicked on and enlarged, so this time I took photos of my examples, and hope that you will be able to enlarge them and see them more clearly.

I probably need to redo the blog completely with a new "template".  I may try that over the weekend.  In the mean time, here are some photos of my journal.  I hope this helps with both the visualization of the template, and examples of how I am using it.

John 3:16

When I started this journey, this verse was not on the list, but once I did list the verses, I realized I had to start with this one.  It is often referred to as the "gospel in a nutshell."  I was still working with the tools and uncertain which I wanted to use (hence, the strike-throughs).  I also included fewer translations, etc. because I was writing it all by hand.

Page two contains part of the context.  I have since moved the geographical section under the boxes on this page (see the page under the Proverbs heading).

Here's page three with the table of POV, Enemy, How defeated and "Who are you, Lord?"

Page four was my opportunity to get artistic.  In some other verses, I have added downloaded graphics and artwork from VisualFaithMin.org 

As I reviewed  my 4-page template, I realized I wanted to include the text of the referenced verses listed on page 2.  This time I copied and pasted from my online Bible and printed, instead of writing each out.  Here is page 5.  On this verse, page 6 is blank, though I may go back and add to it.   In some other verses, I have added hymn text on page 6 and may add some graphics to that later.  I have decided that I want to try my hand at writing a devotional commentary (separate from "My experience and Feelings" on page 2).

Proverbs 3:5-6

This is the 3rd verse in the list.  With this verse, I have my pages in a better order.   I put a bit of a devotional in the "notes" and actually have the prayer on page 2.  Some of the information I've written is personal, so I will only show you page 2 which underwent the greatest editing of the template.

I can see that the photos are clearer even in the small size.  I hope these are helpful!

Until next time,

Stormy

Putting Together the Journal

I wanted a "template" to guide my studies.  I started with two pages based on the 10 questions book.  My plan was to put them in with my calendar (which is just months).  This posed a couple of problems.  I had just purchased some 9-disk based calendars which are 7x9.25 inches.  These are larger than my normal preferred size of 5.5x8.5 but did give me a bit more room.  I bought paper for this size, since I already have a punch for disk systems.

The second issue was that my printer, for whatever reason, refuses to print these double sided.  I print double-sided all the time.   I can only suppose that they are a non-standard size which the printer somehow doesn't know how to handle.  Sigh.  [If you know how I might accomplish this, please drop a note in the comments.]

Well...  I did want the two pages to be facing.  But then I had two more pages to fill ... and yes, I now have to print one side, turn the paper over and print the other - arg!!

Here's my original:  I know it's small, I'll give you the details at the end of the post.

I decided that it might be useful to add some bits from the other journaling study guides.  I also decided that adding blue dots would enable me to easier write or draw in the large blank spaces.  So, my next iteration looks like this:

Finally, I thought that it would be useful to print out the referring verses, instead of just listing the chapter and verse.  I've also added hymn references from my hymnal (in my case, this is the Lutheran Service Book).  Occasionally, I might list verses from one of the hymns.

As you can imagine, this has suddenly grown significantly.  After the first verse, I decided to copy my template (it's in MS Word) to a separate file with the verse and copy/paste as much information as possible (mostly the verses, translations, "other verses," hymn words and some graphics).  An advantage to this is that I can easily resize sections as needed.  I usually put the prayer after the geography question on p. 3.

For this reason, and the pain of printing, I usually do the compilation in the evening.  In the morning, I will print and then dive into the data.  I am wondering if I want to write a short devotional-style story in the notes section.  This would be different from the "experience/connection and feeling" section.  It might also be based on a key word or concept from the verse which would possibly affect how I complete that section.

I want to share my template, but I'm not quite sure the best way to do that.  As you can see, it's mostly headings, text boxes (for the context) and a 4x4 table.  The blank spaces are filled with rows of periods separated with two spaces.

The current template is headed as follows:

P1

Verse:                                    Date:

-spaces-

Other translations:

-spaces- 

[Note:  I use biblegateway.com, if you change versions, at the bottom of the new version, you will have the option to view all English version.  I start with ESV and look up NIV and AMP (amplified) versions.  There are other online Bibles available, use whichever works best for you or your physical Bible.]

Keywords:

-spaces-

[I like the Hebrew Interlinear Bible (there's a greek NT).  But it doesn't work well for the template.  So, I look at that one, then go to the other one, Bible Study Tools Interlinear Bible.  This one gives you the text in English with  highlighted words.  When you click on the words you get the Hebrew or Greek translation like in a dictionary.  Also, unlike the first one, you can copy and paste the information into your template.]

P2

I repeat the Verse/Date headers at the top with dotted space.  

Context:  How did we get here? / What  happens next?

Below this is two side-by-side text boxes (outlined).

Below this, with dotted space, is:

Where are we? (Geographical Context)

Footnotes/other verses (Where have I heard this before?):

My Experience and Connection to Verse; What am I feeling?

P3

Analysis

This is followed b the 4x4 table.  The headings are:

POV    Who is Enemy?    How is Enemy Defeated?    Who are You, Lord?

I include the following:

Jones, Andrew.  Ten Questions to Ask Every Time You Read the Bible (.p153).  Concordia Publishing House.  Kindle Edition.

Next is:

What Questions Remain?

P4

Notes, Graphics, Prayers

This is a dotted page for my notes, pictures, and prayers, though I usually put the prayers on the previous page, as there are few remaining questions and lots of space.

I've added a page 5 to write out the referenced verses and possibly a hymn.  Since you have two sides, there is a blank page 6.

This is really long, but I wanted to share my template.  Please take it and make it your own.

In my next post, I will share some samples.

Until next time, 

Stormy

Ten Questions to Ask Every Time You Read the Bible

 

 This is an interesting book by Andrew Jones.  I picked up the ebook version from Concordia Publishing House:  https://www.cph.org/ten-questions-to-ask-every-time-you-read-the-bible-ebook-edition.  Scroll down to the "Other Formats" tab if you want to buy a physical book. 

In my previous post, I mentioned that I loved the way our Pastor asked a lot of questions about the verses we were reading.  I had this in mind when I started the book.  Note that I was sitting in a waiting room, while my neighbor was at physical therapy.  This was probably a "good thing."

First, I jumped to the Table of Contents to see what the questions were, as each was addressed in its own chapter.  The first few questions are pretty straight-forward.  Some of the others are not as obvious.  Some of the questions I was looking for did not appear to be in the list... but they were!  Had I not been sitting in a waiting room, I might have shut down my e-reader and gone on to something else.  I am so glad I did not, because he really does have a great set of questions that build on each other to give you a fuller picture.

Rev. Jones starts every chapter with "Why is this question important?"  In the first couple of questions, you already know the answers in general.  He goes on to explain these answers and how they may be determined from the text.

The next section in each chapter gives some Bible examples and applies the question to each verse.  Finally, there is a "Putting it into Practice" section that summarizes the answer to the question and gives a few more verses that you can practice on yourself.

I won't share each of the questions here, but I will say they seem to fall into a few categories.

The first four questions seem to be an analysis of the verse(s), looking at both specifics and different points of view to help us learn more about God.  Each chapter not only introduces the next question, but also builds on the previous one.  The first four chapters come together in a chart that enables you to look at the verse in different ways.

The next three questions are all about context.  These three threw me, because I was looking for "context" in the question instead of the text of the chapter.  To me, this is really important.  The one that surprised me was, "Where Are We?"  Rev. Jones gives an amazing explanation of how the example verse has much greater meaning when you consider the geography behind the story.

The final three questions are all about connections.  Connecting the reading with your own experiences and reactions as well as connecting to other verses, hymns, and references.

Beyond the chart used to combine the first 4 questions, there are not any template pages for journaling.  That is not an issue for me as I am compiling my journal template from multiple sources.  However, I highly recommend that you read this book, because I feel the Author has really come up with a good set of questions to dig deeper into scripture.

Next Tuesday, I will share with you the template that I have put together.  I have already started using it and made a few adjustments.  I am having some technical difficulties that I'm still working on, so this is all a continued work in progress.  I will share all the fun next week.

Until next time,

Stormy