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One of my daughters started babysitting for a morning moms’ meeting. The first week, a woman came up to her and asked if she was Ann Kroeker’s daughter. When my daughter said she was, the woman said, “Your mom spoke to our group years ago, and I’ll never forget what she said.”

My daughter expected to hear a profound quote so powerful and life-changing, it was worth holding onto for seven years.

The woman smiled. “She said sleep deprivation is a classic torture technique, so if you’re a young mom feeling like you’re being tortured…you are!”

My daughter laughed as she told me the story later that day.

“You had no idea I was so very wise, did you?” I remarked. She laughed again. My “wisdom” was cracking her up.

For the record, my daughter added that the woman insisted my message helped her get through the early, exhausting days of parenthood, realizing that if she felt like she was being tortured by late-night feedings and lack of sleep, it wasn’t her imagination. Hearing that, I’m glad I talked about torture that day (it was, by the way, just one small point in a larger presentation).

I remember with a shiver those lonely, depressing, sleep-deprived, mush-mind days. Back then, I told people my mind felt no more lively than a bowl of cold, congealed oatmeal. I began to fear I’d never write again. As you can imagine, writers need functioning minds to do their job. Bowls of cold oatmeal offer little to the world.

Author Kimberlee Conway Ireton knows this feeling. When she felt her mind dissolving to mush and her emotions going haywire while her newborn twins consumed every waking (and sleeping) moment, her psychological health waned. She felt like she was cracking up.

Yet, her book Cracking Up: A Postpartum Faith Crisis provides concrete evidence that even during the darkest times of her postpartum struggles, she could write and laugh. The “Grace Notes” she faithfully scribbled down reflect word artistry and the eyes and heart of a poet. The jokes interspersed reveal the humor that lifted her sagging spirit.

Margie, her spiritual advisor, asks “where has God been meeting you.” Kimberlee says she is grateful for laughter. She tells some stories and she starts laughing so hard she’s crying. “Oh man,” Kimberlee says, “I have to stop laughing. I’m going to pee my pants.” Then she remembers another story that makes her laugh even more. Margie’s laughing, too, and says, “[D]on’t you see God?”

“God?”

“Yes, God!” Margie exclaims. “I see God in all of this laughter. So clearly. I see his delight in your laughter…It’s still Easter. I think it’s just perfect that this season of laughter in your life is happening during Easter.”

…I tell Margie, “Anne Lamott says that laughter is carbonated holiness.”

“I like that,” she says, and smiles. “Carbonated holiness. Yes.”(47, 48)

Throughout the book, Kimberlee is open about details associated with pregnancy and nursing mom issues and describes gadgets including the breast pump, nipple cream, and the “baby hugger” support system she wore during pregnancy. Her husband sees her putting on this contraption and says he’s going to miss these days. She knows how unattractive she must appear at that moment. She makes a face at him.

I pull the baby hugger’s suspenders over my shoulders and down to my belly. It’s a bit of a stretch, even for the elastic. When I fasten the suspenders to the girdle, the velcro doesn’t hold. The suspenders fly up and hit me in the face.

Doug laughs again. “Yep,” he says, “I am definitely going to miss this.” (72)

She deals with problems far more serious than being thwacked in the face by elastic suspenders (and teased by her husband). [SPOILER] She deals with health complications during the pregnancy and a neonatal emergency after the twins’ birth, adding stress to an already stressful situation. She and her husband carry this anxiety with them into life at home caring for twins and two older kids.

As her subtitle states, Kimberlee was hit hard. Her depression is complicated by her desire to succeed as a writer (and her inability to do so). She declares quite honestly that she dreams of being a bestselling author (which seems unlikely given that her first book is, in her words, “tanking”). Consumed by 24/7 demands of feeding, changing, nurturing two newborn twins and two older children, Kimberlee wonders if her writing life may be lost forever.

Her fears intensify far beyond the baby blues. Kimberlee’s story reveals a mom in the midst of postpartum depression unable to recognize her need for medical intervention. Though she seems to have revealed to family and friends glimpses of the mounting anxiety she carried, I’m guessing no one knew how bad it was.

Tears drop onto my hand, onto Ben’s little swaddled back. How do I hold those things in tension? The goodness of my life, the many gifts I have, and the fact that I still find my life so difficult? And the most sobering fact that it could easily be so much harder?

…My tears fall harder, and my heart feels like it’s cracking right open and all the fear and unfairness and suffering is leaking out my eyes. And then, it fills my mouth, and I want to scream, but I can’t—I’ll wake my almost-sleeping babies, I’ll scare Jack and Jane who are in the living room waiting for me to read to them—so it erupts in a silent scream of pain, anger, anguish, as if I could rid myself of those things simply by opening my mouth wide enough, by crying hard enough. (Ireton 194, 195)

Thankfully she has help. Her husband, her mom, her sister, her spiritual director, and her friends step in and help carry her burdens in tangible ways, listening, bringing her meals, and keeping her laughing and praying. This network of support impressed me, as does the way they steer Kimberlee to truth in a way that does not offend or seem trite. As fear almost paralyzes her, she clings to threads of faith.

Life is precious, each moment a gift, and my best self—the self that I long to live out all the time—believes that God holds each moment, eternally present before Him, and when we stand before Him face to face, we will get those moments back, purified and perfected. We will. And if we don’t, God will have something even better for us—something more than all we can ask or imagine.

I believe. Oh help my unbelief.

Oh Jesus, cast out my fear. (177)

[PROBABLY THE BIGGEST SPOILER] Finally, fortunately, after months of sleep deprivation and postpartum hormonal flux, she gets the medication she needs to balance out her system. The twins start also to sleep through the night.

She’s medicated. She’s rested. She’s back. She’s believing. She’s writing.

She’s going to make it.

[END OF SPOILER] Kimberlee’s humor throughout the book offers occasional respites from the weight of her struggle, but it’s scary at times to read about her fears and anxiety, her soul-echoing emptiness.

Nevertheless, I recommend that people read this book to better understand postpartum depression and how it sets in and grows. And if you know someone with a newborn, especially twins, assume that she is sleep-deprived and needs your help in practical ways. She may also need you to discern her level of anxiety and depression.

When you drive over to drop off a meal and rock the baby, bring her a copy of Cracking Up: A Postpartum Faith Crisis, as well. Leave it with her. It’s a sobering read, but her humor and quality writing make the topic accessible. Later, ask if she feels like Kimberlee. And if she sort of deflects it with humor, shrugs a little, or breaks out in tears, get her help. Pick up the phone and make the appointment for her, if need be. Help her load the kid(s) into the car and drive her to the doctor’s office, for her to get a diagnosis.

Cracking Up: A Postpartum Faith Crisis is a reminder that postpartum depression is no laughing matter. It’s more like torture. Kimberlee handled it with humor and grace, but she struggled and suffered, and no one needs to feel that, carry that, try to survive that alone.

Kimberlee writes for two online organizations I’m part of: The High Calling and  Tweetspeak Poetry. As an editor of her work, I can assure you Kimberlee’s got her mind back. And her faith. But she needed people to step in and help her see what to do.

You can be that person for someone like Kimberlee. Let her story change other women’s stories. Maybe even your own.

* * * * *

BOOK GIVEAWAY!

If you would like a copy of Cracking Up for yourself or to give away, I’m going to send my copy to one lucky commenter. If for some reason you don’t want to be in the drawing (maybe you already have the book, for example), let me know (but feel free to leave a comment anyway!). To be included in the drawing, leave your comment (with some way to contact you) by 8:00 p.m. ET Friday, December 20, 2013. I’ll do the random drawing and announce the winner on Saturday, December 21.

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Work Cited:

Conway Ireton, Kimberlee. Cracking Up: A Postpartum Faith Crisis. Seattle, WA: Mason Lewis, 2013. Print.

The post Book Response – Cracking Up: A Postpartum Faith Crisis appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

Each Wednesday I’m recording a Curiosity Journal, a recap of the past week. Tag words are: reading, playing, learning, reacting and writing.

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Some of you have mentioned that you’re keeping a Curiosity Journal, as well. Leave your link in the comments so that we can visit and enjoy your weekly review.

Reading

I’ve got to finish organizing the class I’m facilitating, which has me reading books like The Lively Art of Writing, Essays & Term Papers, and that little classic I always enjoy re-reading, The Elements of Style.A recent distraction arrived in the form of a philosophy book. My sister-in-law with the PhD in philosophy, whom I frequently pester with questions, recommended a nice, simple, mentally digestible overview called, What Does It All Mean?: A Very Short Introduction to Philosophy, which I requested through our inter-library loan system. I kind of forgot about it until I opened the notification that it arrived. Because I requested it, I was obligated to pick it up. Now I’m tempted to leaf through that slim volume and read a few paragraphs, but I really must focus on class preparations.Fortunately I have three weeks to read and return the book, and it is truly very short. Maybe I’ll take a break over the weekend and zoom through it. Then over fall break I could try to finish Sophie’s World and then, throughout winter, surprise you by slipping into my posts an assortment of deep thoughts and philosophical musings.But first I must ask…what is the meaning of thought?(Just trying out some philosopher-speak.)

Playing

Remember the PhotoPlay assignment I told you about? The one that The High Calling Photo Editor Claire Burge put together?

I didn’t finish it.I only have four out of five photos.Claire asked participants to upload five images that represent their history. Her assignment?Each image must answer a question below, one question per image:

1. Who made up your DNA?
2. Where do you come from?
3. What object is precious to your past?
4. What memory resonates most deeply?
5. What moment in history marks your childhood?

She said to find symbols to portray the memories.I couldn’t find five symbols or images. Only four. I’ve highlighted them in the list above.I am connecting this shot of a gate with “Where do you come from?”I featured this photo in yesterday’s post but have chosen to share it here, as well, in connection with that question. Perhaps one day I can put words to why it answers “Where do I come from?” For now, the image alone must suffice.Though I suspect that eventually the more symbolic gate will generate deeper memories, I’m submitting the following photo for “What memory resonates most deeply?” To read about the memory that spontaneously came to the surface, see yesterday’s post.For the precious object, I’m cheating a little. I didn’t really think of anything that was precious to my past, but I did love to climb to the top of our metal play set and overlook the farm fields. And I would pump the see-saw so that it reached its full extension, with or without a companion on the other seat. I kept it up for years until wasps took up residence in the hollow frame.“Who made up your DNA?”Here’s a shot of some hands I’m related to:Or maybe these would work:

Learning

I’m learning that reflecting on the past and thinking in symbols is hard.

Reacting

It seems I get a lot of my early news flashes through social media. For example, I saw that Chris Cree, founder of EmmanuelPress, mentioned on Facebook and Twitter that an earthquake had shaken Colorado. Today, I heard via e-mail about the earthquake in Virginia.I’m sorry to hear that some spires on the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., were damaged, and the Washington Monument appears cracked. But it sounds like people were spared and no major catastrophes resulted from the shaking.I know it must be disconcerting to experience an earthquake in a place that is rarely hit (our state felt a minor rumble last year and talked about it all day), but this made me laugh.

Writing

Mostly writing lesson plans.

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Credits:Question mark image: “Question Proposed” photo by Ethan Lofton. Used under a Creative Commons license via Flickr.com.All other photos copyright 2011 by Ann Kroeker.Note: This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

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The post Curiosity Journal: August 24, 2011 appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

After a tragic banquet-hall collapse, of which he was the sole survivor, Simonides was asked to give an account of who was buried in the debris. When the poet closed his eyes and reconstructed the crumbled building in his imagination, he had an extraordinary realization: he remembered where each of the guests at the ill-fated dinner had been sitting. Even though he made no conscious effort to memorize the layout of the room, it nonetheless left a durable impression. From that simple observation, Simonides reportedly invented a technique that would form the basis of what came to be known as the art of memory. He realized that if there hadn’t been guests sitting at a banquet table but, say, every great Greek dramatist seated in order of birth — or each of the words of one of his poems or every item he needed to accomplish that day — he would have remembered that instead. He reasoned that just about anything could be imprinted upon our memories, and kept in good order, simply by constructing a building in the imagination and filling it with imagery of what needed to be recalled. This imagined edifice could then be walked through at any time in the future. Such a building would later come to be called a memory palace.

A memory palace! That’s what I need—an imaginary palace in which I can store the treasures of Scripture or the names of people I meet. But…a palace? I don’t know the layout of any palaces to use for my memory work.Not to worry! The author clarifies that these so-called “memory palaces” don’t need to be palatial; in fact, they don’t even need to be buildings. “They can be routes through a town or signs of the zodiac or even mythical creatures,” he says. “They can be big or small, indoors or outdoors, real or imaginary, so long as they are intimately familiar.”It could be, therefore, a building such as my childhood or current home, or a path such as my standard running route. I suppose it could even be the layout of my favorite grocery store.In that “palace,” I would paint scenes within its rooms and along its hallways, each scene “so unlike any other it cannot be forgotten.” I personally don’t have the goal to memorize material quickly, like the author did, but I would like to do it accurately. The author stated that many competitive “mnemonists” who enter speed memory contests claim that “their skills are less a feat of memory than of creativity.”He explains:

[O]ne of the most popular techniques used to memorize playing cards involves associating every card with an image of a celebrity performing some sort of a ludicrous — and therefore memorable — action on a mundane object. When it comes time to remember the order of a series of cards, those memorized images are shuffled and recombined to form new and unforgettable scenes in the mind’s eye. Using this technique, Ed Cooke showed me how an entire deck can be quickly transformed into a comically surreal, and unforgettable, memory palace.

The author is a bit crass in developing memorable images to help him make connections, but he practiced a lot and became a memory champion. I wonder if I could employ the basic ideas—without the crudeness—to improve my ability to memorize Scripture or names?Reacting: Gas prices may be soaring to $4/gallon in the months ahead. This has me thinking about our weekly schedule and driving habits, wondering if we should plan ahead and simplify in any way.Also, another study exploring the health effects of low-level radiation emitted from cell phones is “among the first and largest to document that the weak radio-frequency signals from cellphones have the potential to alter brain activity.” I recall the conversation I had  yesterday with a friend, chatting by cell phone. I had that gadget pressed against my head for half an hour or more. New resolve: locate my earpiece and use it!Writing: I’ve been working on four messages for a women’s retreat (March 4-6). It’s such a different process, writing something to be delivered by voice instead of the page or screen; but I’m looking forward to a weekend with a lovely group of ladies!There you have it. A Curiosity Journal that reveals what I’m reading, playing, learning, reacting to and writing.

Credit: Palace of Versailles image by Aaron White. Used under Creative Commons license via Flickr.

The post Curiosity Journal: Feb 23, 2011 appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

Mega Memory Month January 2011

Final Celebration

It’s the last day of the month, January 31st, and Mega Memory Month comes to a close.Let’s share our projects, our progress, our successes…no matter how much or how little you were able to absorb. Seriously, every word is progress. Link up your posts via Simply Linked or create something to publish on the Facebook Event page for Mega Memory Month (write comments on the wall).Ann’s ProgressSo…this wasn’t my best Mega Memory Month, to say the least.Memorizing has rarely come easily, but this time I was extra sluggish. Also, I tried a new technique—starting at the end instead of the beginning—and I’m not 100 percent sure it was the best approach for me.My goal was to memorize John 15. I couldn’t put it all together, however, so I’m disappointed with myself.But I will begin at John 15, verse 15.And the only way I will be able to present this is to go over it beforehand and then when I am kinda-sorta ready, I’ll type it out. I will require prompting along the way, marking the spots where I needed a prompt like this {prompt} and missed material inserted in pink.

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I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. {prompt} You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then my the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other.If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. {prompt} They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. If I had not come and spoken these words to them, they would not be guilty of sin: Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin.{prompt} He who hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their law:  They hated me without reason.When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. And you also will must testify about me for you have been with me from the beginning.

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I can get bits and pieces toward the beginning. Starting with 15:1:

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it might be even more fruitful. {prompt} You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.

[blank brain…skip to verse 5]

I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

[blank brain]This section was a mess at verse 12: “My command is this: love one another each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you love one another do what I command.”It’s like puzzle pieces are floating around in my cranium, waiting to be placed correctly. I can say some of the remaining/missing phrases independently: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.” And “I have told you this that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”Now I just have to stick them all together in the right order.Is it an “epic fail,” as my teen daughters would say?Yes.I did not finish well, as I set out to do on January 1.But I have my 3×5 cards and will continue. I will. Because failures, even “epic fails,” show us where we can pick ourselves up, brush ourselves off, and continue forward, making progress. We fall down; we get up.Also, Mega Memory Month can serve to kick-start the habit of memorization. I plan to continue on a small scale and will build in regular review, revisiting John 15 until I get it all straightened out. I hope you share that vision of continuing with less mega and more reasonable everyday effort throughout the months to come.My concluding thought for this Mega Memory Month project is this:Our brains can hold more than they think they can (but maybe not quite as much as we wish they could).

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Welcome to Mega Memory Month (MMM) Progress Report #3.Please note that if I counted correctly, we have 15 days left in January counting today (Monday). I thought I’d mention it, in case you’re running a little behind (like I am).If you’re just stopping by, you can learn more about Mega Memory Month by clicking on this highlighted link. Visit our previous progress reports by clicking below:

• Progress Report #1
• Progress Report #2

Each Progress Report is an opportunity to encourage one another along the way and celebrate our progress.How are you doing? Has it come easily or are you facing struggles?Check in using Linky Tools if you write a Progress Report on your own blog (you can link up any time during the week).Or just talk to us in the comments.

Ann’s MMM Progress #2

I wish I were a more consistent, sequential, dependable personality. Instead of possessing those admirable traits, I’m known more for curiosity, creativity and spontaneity.The first set of personality traits are better suited for memory work.But I’m reminded of a recent conversation—okay, so it might have been more of a parental lecture—with one of my teen daughters who brought home disappointing semester grades in two major subject areas.I said, “When you realize your areas of weakness, you don’t shrug your shoulders and say, ‘I’m just not good at that.’ You figure out how to make up for it by working harder. If you’re not organized, you come up with some kind of system to compensate. If math doesn’t come easily, you study twice as hard. If you don’t understand the material in a chapter, you read it and discuss it with others, make vocab cards and drill them until you’ve got them down.”As I lectured my daughter on all of this, I realized I needed to hear it myself. If memorizing doesn’t come naturally due to my personality traits, I need to figure out how to make up for it.A recent problem I faced was that my inconsistent self let two days pass without reviewing the passage.Humbled and frustrated, I pulled out my cards and reviewed them over and over. I repeated them in my head. I tried to visualize them on the cards.Now, here is my imperfect attempt at recalling the words of John 15, starting at verse 18:

If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.Remember the words I spoke spoken to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. If I had not come and spoken these words to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, I they have no excuse for their sin.Whoever He who hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated hate both me and my Father. (I don’t know…) But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. And you also will must testify about me, for you have been with me from the beginning.

Like I said, we have 15 days left, including today (Monday). I have 17 verses left to memorize. I’m a little behind, but I did memorize the first few verses a year ago. Hopefully I’ll recall those without too much difficulty.Also, I think that starting at the end and working my way verse by verse toward the beginning fits the non-sequential part of my personality.I’m getting there. I just need to keep at it.What techniques work best for you and how far along have you gotten?(Check out my Mega Collection of Memorization Tips & Techniques for more ideas.)

Learn all about Mega Memory Month (MMM) at MMM Headquarters (additional buttons available)!

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It’s not too late to join Mega Memory Month (MMM).Check out details at MMM Headquarters (additional buttons available)!

The post MMM 2011 Progress Report #2 appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

Welcome to Mega Memory Month (MMM) Progress Report #1.

This is intended to be a place and time to encourage one another—we’re in this together, right?But if you’re thinking what I’m thinking, you may be wondering: January just got started…how much progress can a person make in two days?Every word is progress, friends. Every single word.For that matter, just getting organized is progress, too. Don’t you think?Take a minute to describe your memory tools and share the first words you’ve attempted to lock down—or if you are just finding out about MMM, stop by the headquarters and announce your intentions. It’s definitely not too late.Check in using Mr. Linky if you write a Progress Report on your own blog (you can link up any time during the week).Or just talk to us in the comments.

Ann’s MMM Progress #1:Guess what? I found my old cards. This is progress, folks, and a sure sign that 2011 is going to be a really good year.I used them last time when I focused on John 14. I didn’t get far into John 15 that time. What I managed to tackle was shaky and didn’t stick.Or so I thought.I went ahead and read through the first card several times on my way to church. Despite my meager efforts from the last Mega Memory Month, I got some of it back. It’s not locked in or anything, but I think that the little I dipped into last time will find a home in the old noggin.Without looking, I typed the first section, then corrected afterward by crossing out what shouldn’t be there and adding new in pink:”I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off any every branch in me that does not bears no fruit, while any every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bears fruit on its own by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither will can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”It’s not perfect, but the fact that I retained any of it shocked me.Maybe I really will finish well?Our minds can hold more than we think they can.

Visit Mega Memory Month Headquarters to get started!

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Ann’s Ambitious Summer Reading List

I’ve updated the list with the strike-through feature indicating books that I’ve finished reading.

• The Help, by Kathryn Stockett.
• Death by Suburb, by David L. Goetz. Both this book and The Help were recommended to me by multiple people. I decided to pay attention and picked up both, placing them top of the list.
• The Right to Write, by Julia Cameron. This is the High Calling Blogs current book club selection, so I’m working through it, though I’ve only posted about it once.
• Saint Francis, by Nikos Kazantzakis. The only reason this is on the list is because I borrowed it from a friend and need to return it.
• Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe. I need to read this quickly to be ready for a book club discussion I was invited to join.
• Sophie’s World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy, by Jostein Gaarder. One of my sisters-in-law has her doctorate in philosophy. I asked what I might read to get an overview of philosophy, since I know so little—I needed something accessible and interesting. This was her suggestion.
• Total Truth, by Nancy Pearcey. This book comes highly recommended by a worldview instructor I admire. She said this is the one to read if I only read one book about developing a Christian world view.
• The Universe Next Door, by James W. Sire. But I decided to read more than one book on developing a Christian world view, so I’m going to attempt to read this one, too.
• Green Mama, by Tracey Bianchi. Tracey’s stopping by NotSoFastBook.com next week on her blog tour with a guest post, so stay tuned!
• Barbies at Communion, by Marcus Goodyear. My High Calling Blogs colleague (actually, he’s my boss’s boss) has come out with a book of poetry. Be sure to click on the link just to see the cover art.
• God in the Yard, by L.L. Barkat, the same High Calling Blogs colleague (actually, she’s my boss) who recommended I generate this list. God in the Yard is a twelve-week course inviting readers into the days and nights of her daily outdoor solitude.
• Let the Crow’s Feet and Laugh Lines Come, by Dena Dyer, yet another High Calling Blogs colleague with a new book release!
• Miscellaneous. I’m facilitating a writing course in the fall, so I’ll be looking through stacks of material to evaluate what might work well for the students. I’ll be skimming many writing, grammar and reference books—too many to list. Also, I’m researching some topics for possible books I might write in the future. That process has me flipping through numerous related titles, none of which I will read cover to cover. So they don’t count.

My book stack is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the last three titles on my list, but I have plenty of words to consume in the meantime.What’s on your list? (pssst…there’s no better time than the lazy days of summer to read about slowing down in our fast-paced world.)Related:Ann’s A Summer Booklist: What’s Up On the StackThe Camel’s Summer Reading List Ann’s Ambitious Summer Reading List Glynn’s What I’m Reading this Summer L.L.’s A Sort of Summer Reading List Cheryl’s My Summer Reading List is Getting Out of ControlDan’s 7 Fascinating Books (for your summer reading list)Charity’s Summer is Time for…Reading?Heather’s Summer ReadingCheck in at High Calling Blogs on Friday for a round-up of summer reading lists, including a long list that Laura Boggess plans to tackle.

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If I waited for the perfect conditions to develop my writing life, I’d still be waiting.

Back in the early 1990s, I did manage to explore writing as my work, as a way of life. I wrote and submitted a few magazine articles and met with businesses to launch a career in corporate freelance writing. Then we started our family. Our first three children were born within four years of each other (the fourth came along a few years later).

Consumed by the demands and intensity of young motherhood, I could have shoved my computer screen, pen and notebook into a closet for about twelve years and waited until the conditions were right. I could have waited until my oldest two girls were old enough to babysit the younger two. I could have waited until I had a little office or study or library or nook to call my own. I could have waited until I had long chunks of uninterrupted time.

Instead, I wrote.

I wrote when the kids were napping. I wrote late at night. I wrote in my head when I took them for a walk to the park and scribbled down my ideas when they were eating a snack.

I stole time.

Sometimes I wrote well, but most of what I wrote served as compost, breaking down in my mind, heart, and spirit to feed new and potentially better ideas. Regardless of the quality of what I produced, I wrote. I practiced. I learned.

And I read. With a book tucked in my diaper bag or purse, I could steal a moment now and then to consume some new thought written by authors I respected, whose information I craved, whose ideas would feed the glowing coals of creativity that glimmered softly inside of me as I changed diapers, swept Cheerios and scraped hunks of banana from the high chair tray.

I kept the energy of writing alive during those hectic years, and when the flame flashed, I’d try to grab something on which to write, even if it meant borrowing a crayon and scribble pad that the kids were using for stick-people adventure stories.

This made for a spontaneous, messy writing life. Scraps of paper strewn on the kitchen table or nightstand represented that flash of insight I managed to scratch onto the back of an envelope. Life with newborns and toddlers required tremendous focus and energy, leaving little chance for a regular schedule. I grabbed opportunities when I could, leaving a trail of pens and paper throughout the house and shoved into cup holders in the car.

I identified with other writer-moms, such as Barbara Kingsolver. She would read about rituals of other authors who had seemingly endless time to create the writing mood—hours of photography or flower arranging before sitting at the desk to compose one word. She quoted one author who described his muse at length. Kingsolver, a busy mom with no time for flower-arranging, had to write with the time she was given. She described her own muse:

My muse wears a baseball cap, backward. The minute my daughter is on the school bus, he saunters up behind me with a bat slung over his shoulder and says oh so directly, “Okay, author lady, you’ve got six hours till that bus rolls back up the drive. You can sit down and write, now, or you can think about looking for a day job.” (p. 96, High Tide in Tucson, Barbara Kingsolver)

Kingsolver understands the limitations of motherhood and the challenge of writing in the midst of it. She quotes Lucille Clifton responding to the question “Why are your poems always short?” Ms. Clifton replied, “I have six children, and a memory that can hold about twenty lines until the end of the day.”

Clifton encouraged me to plan out my work mentally while I’m on-the-go, storing up thoughts until the end of the day, when the kids were in bed and the words could spill out.

My kids are much older now; my conditions remain imperfect but are much more conducive to writing. My children are more independent—my oldest has her driver’s permit. But it seems I still have to steal time.

Apparently the conditions for writing will never be perfect.

I need to be reminded of this again and again. Julia Cameron, in The Right to Write says:

The ‘if-I-had-time’ lie is a convenient way to ignore the fact that novels require being written and that writing happens a sentence at a time. Sentences can happen in a moment. Enough stolen moments, enough stolen sentences, and a novel is born–without the luxury of time…

Yes, it is daunting to think of finding time to write an entire novel, but it is not so daunting to think of finding time to write a paragraph, even a sentence. And paragraphs, made of sentences, are what novels are really made of. (p. 14, 15, The Right to Write, Julia Cameron)

This reminds me of a quote I heard at the Festival of Faith & Writing in 2010. Author Parker Palmer said:

If you can’t write a book, write a bunch of essays. If you can’t write a bunch of essays, write a bunch of paragraphs. If you can’t write a bunch of paragraphs, write lines. If you can’t write lines, write some words. And if you can’t write some words, write your truth with your own life, which is far more important than any book. (Parker Palmer at the Festival of Faith & Writing 2010)

Poets, bloggers, novelists, creative nonfiction writers, essayists, letter writers, journalists, composers; we must all get to work. Write a book, essays, paragraphs, lines, or just write a few words, but for heaven’s sake—be sure to write with your life.

No matter what complicates schedules—whether you have a full-time job or you’re a full-time caregiver—write what you can, when you can. Because the conditions are never perfect. 

___________________________________

52 Creative Writing Prompts: A Year of Weekly Prompts and Exercises to Boost Your Creativity

Sure, you can poke around the Internet collecting writing prompts and creative writing exercises.

Or you could buy an ebook that collects them for you in one place.

Convenient.

Inspiring.

Affordable.

Learn more

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I’ve discovered a website called Shmoop.com, a place every lifelong learner, autodidact and home educator should explore. I’m particularly grateful for the literature guides they’ve created for lots of famous novels.

• chapter summaries
• themes
• quotes from the book
• character descriptions
• analysis (which includes setting, genre, point of view, tone and plot analysis)
• study questions
• a round-up of the “best of the web” when it comes to additional The Red Badge of Courage or Stephen Crane resources.

Sparknotes and Cliff’s Notes are also valuable teaching resources that I’ve used while preparing to discuss The Red Badge of Courage and other novels with the class. But Shmoop’s fun and lively personality makes me feel like I’m talking with a friend from a book club—a really smart friend who has done great research.If you are looking for a study guide to use with students—something they can fill out as they read—Glencoe published a helpful The Red Badge of Courage study guide. Also, Hewitt Homeschooling has a literature series called Lightning Lit. One of the samples they provide to give you a taste of their study guide format happens to be a section on The Red Badge of Courage. Click here to view. I liked that they used Crane’s writing to introduce a lesson on the power of descriptive writing.If you don’t have a copy of The Red Badge of Courage, you can read it online several places:

• About.com
• The Literature Page
• Page by Page Books
• The Literature Network
• Carnegie Mellon University
• University of Virginia

Finally, John Huston made a film of the book in 1951, starring Audie Murphy as Henry Fleming.This following trailer gives you a taste of the movie in a vintage style (though the clips include battle scenes).[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNLOXYY17PQ]As you continue exploring classics, consider swinging by Shmoop for a quick overview. With their input, I enjoyed and appreciated The Red Badge of Courage on a deeper level than I would have on my own.Visit my other Explore the Classics post: The Scarlet Letter (a pre-Shmoop overview)

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Mega Memory Month January 2010

Final Celebration

Mega Memory Month comes to a close.

The last day of the month, January 31st, falls on a Sunday. I love that. Those of us who have memorized Scripture can post our passages and share them on a day of rest and worship.

Let’s share our projects, our progress, our successes!

Link up your posts via Mr. Linky or create something to publish on the Facebook Event page for Mega Memory Month, which you can access (write your comments on the wall!) HERE.

Mega Memory Month Participants(visit! encourage! be inspired!)

Ann’s Mega Memory Month Project:Colossians 1My original goal was to memorize all of Colossians 1, but I couldn’t finish. So I focused on what I could manage—verses 1-18.My final celebration isn’t fancy. I’m simply going to type it out from memory. I wish it were error-free, but I’m not quite there (I proofed my from-memory version against the original NIV text, adding missing words in red and crossing out words that shouldn’t be there):

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse:Grace and peace to you from God our Father.We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints–the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. All over the world this gospel has been is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has already been doing among you since the day you first heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth. You heard it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a fellow ministry of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking the Lord God to fill you with the knowledge of his will with through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you might may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. In For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. And He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.

Part of me wonders, Is this worth celebrating? Look, it’s only a little over half what I said I’d tackle, and it’s full of errors!Yet, if it weren’t for Mega Memory Month, I might not have bothered with it at all. So I think it is worth it, and I hope you think so, too.Thank you for joining me in the challenge. Thank you for holding me accountable. Thank you for committing to something mega.In the paraphrased words of Paul from his letter to the Colossians, I hope that this project helped you grow in the knowledge of God; that He strengthened you with all power according to His glorious might. I hope you developed great endurance and patience through it.May we now, at the conclusion of this month, joyfully give thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.In everything, Jesus Christ has the supremacy. Amen.

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Final Progress Report (#4)This coming Sunday marks the end of Mega Memory Month January 2010.Now don’t panic. Don’t scramble to cram in whatever is left.This week, I urge you to simply stay focused and work steadily each day to add what you can and review what you’ve already managed to memorize. Take some time to relax and plan out your Final Celebration. Remember that? I encourage participants to come up with a final project to commemorate and celebrate this month-long memorization journey. You can recite your passage or project and upload the audio file, create a YouTube video of your recitation, type it up, write it out in calligraphy, or create artwork to accompany the words. It’s up to you.We’ll celebrate with you, no matter how close or far you came to achieving your MMM goal!For this week’s Progress Report, leave a note on your progress at the Facebook Event page I set up for Mega Memory Month (write your comments on the wall!) HERE. You can also summarize your progress in the comments of this post and/or link your own Progress Report post here via Mr. Linky.

Mr. Linky instructions:Click on the icon and a separate screen pops up. In one box, you type in your name and/or website; in the other box, paste in the url to your post. It’ll be saved and accessible by returning to this page and clicking on the icon again.I’ll return later in the day and embed the pop-up links into the text itself here for easy access.

Ann’s ProgressI’m getting to know Max McLean’s voice pretty well these days. I could hear his voice in my head when I was mentally reviewing Colossians 1: 1-23 on Sunday afternoon.I don’t even have verses 1 to 21 solid, however, let alone the entire chapter (which goes to verse 29). So this week, I intend to focus in on Colossians 1:17-23 in particular while reviewing the preceding verses, and that may be where I have to stop. I don’t think I can get the rest in a week.And I’m okay with that.Because I can get the rest eventually—verse by verse, week after week—even after MMM Jan 2010 comes to a close.This passage from Colossians 1 is what I’d like to leave you with today, not so much as practice or to report on my progress, but to encourage everyone involved…know that I’m:

asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience…

May the Lord strengthen you during this final week with all power according to his glorious might…that you may have great endurance and patience. Amen.For your convenience, I decided to keep these memorization resources right at your fingertips each week:• Click HERE to read “An Approach to Extended Memorization” by Dr. Andrew Davis, an article highly recommended by Amy at Lavender Sparkles.• Click HERE for my mega collection of memorization tips and techniques.• Click HERE for more inspiration and practical suggestions for memorizing Scripture from Ann Voskamp of Holy Experience.

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Progress Report #3Mega Memory Month January 2010 is over halfway through. Are you halfway through your project?Leave a note on your progress at the Facebook Event page I set up for Mega Memory Month (write your comments on the wall!) HERE. You can also summarize your progress in the comments of this post and/or link your own Progress Report post here via Mr. Linky.

Mr. Linky instructions:Click on the icon and a separate screen pops up. In one box, you type in your name and/or website; in the other box, paste in the url to your post. It’ll be saved and accessible by returning to this page and clicking on the icon again.I’ll return later in the day and embed the pop-up links into the text itself here for easy access.

Ann’s ProgressI’m behind. Dreadfully behind.The idea was to work on one verse per day. This would work if I’d keep up. But I haven’t.What’s motivating, though, is that as I catch up, I’ll be working on a powerful section that describes Jesus as “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” I especially want to know this part by heart.This section reminds me that “by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (verses 16-17).All things were created by Him and for Him.He is before all things.In Him, all things hold together.That’s big.I want to have those words inside of my head, inside my heart…So, to try to catch up, I decided to pull out every memorization tip and technique. For example, I realized I pick up things well through listening, so I decided to hunt down an audio recording of Colossians 1 (NIV). I found it. Who wouldn’t want to hear Colossians 1 read to them by Max McLean (complete with a smooth British accent)? To listen, click HERE. And thanks, Bible Gateway.Search for an audio recording of your own passage and translation at Bible Gateway HERE. (They offer Contemporary English Version, ESV, NIV, Today’s NIV, NASB and KJV).

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together (Colossians 1:17)

Lord, hold these words together in my head.

For your convenience, I decided to keep these memorization resources right at your fingertips each week:• Click HERE to read “An Approach to Extended Memorization” by Dr. Andrew Davis, an article highly recommended by Amy at Lavender Sparkles.• Click HERE for my mega collection of memorization tips and techniques.• Click HERE for more inspiration and practical suggestions for memorizing Scripture from Ann Voskamp of Holy Experience.

It’s easy to subscribe to annkroeker.com updates via email RSS feed.Visit NotSoFastBook.comto learn more about Ann’s new book

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Progress Report #2Mega Memory Month January 2010 is in full swing.How are you doing?Care to share your memorization methods or unload your ups and downs with those of us who are sharing the struggle?We’re in this together, so please let us know!Leave a note in the comments and/or link your own Progress Report post here via Mr. Linky.Click on the icon and a separate screen pops up. In one box, you type in your name and/or website; in the other box, paste in the url to your post. It’ll be saved and accessible by returning to this page and clicking on the icon again.I’ll return later in the day and embed the pop-up links into the text itself here for easy access.

MMM Participant Reports:

In addition, you can post on the wall of the Mega Memory Month Facebook event page.If you’re just finding out about Mega Memory Month, jump in—there’s still time to dig in to something big!Click HERE for the MMM Headquarters.Ann’s ProgressI owe my progress in Colossians this week in part to technology.My plan has been to add a verse each day. One night when I was nestled in my bed, warm and cozy, I was ready to learn the new verse but didn’t have my Bible on hand.I did, however, have my laptop nearby. So I logged onto Bible Gateway. After all, the words are exactly the same whether they’re printed on the physical page of my NIV study Bible or on the virtual page of Bible Gateway (many more translations are available at the site).All this week, I’ve been repeating the verses, adding a few hand motions to emphasize key words. And just two days ago, to reinforce what I’ve been working on, I added the first-letter prompt method explained in THIS website article.After pasting my text into the converter, I printed out the automatically generated prompts:As you can see, I fold this paper up and carry it with me. When I need to review, these letters prompt me when I’m stuck and nobody’s around to help.One time I was at a coffee shop. I remembered to stick my prompt sheet in my bag, but I didn’t have my Bible with me to remind me of the actual words.So I used my new phone—we added the data plan for one month as an experiment, so my new free phone is, at least temporarily, more than a phone! What do you think of that, Lisa? Yes, thanks to mobile Internet access, I logged onto Bible Gateway again and brought up my passage, which showed up in teeny-tiny font and presented as a long, slender column.It worked just fine, clarifying a section I couldn’t recall.I’m still a little shaky on the most recent two verses, but I’m making progress. I don’t know if I’ll make it all the way through the chapter, but I’m not worrying about that right now. For now, it’s just verse by verse.And I don’t suppose it matters too much whether we review our verses/poems/speeches as handwritten words on card stock taped to our car dashboards, or as pages on a website.Either way, they’re going into our minds.And, hopefully, our hearts.Also, if you need ideas or inspiration, here are some resources right at your fingertips—you, too, can use technology to aid your memorization efforts! • Click HERE to read “An Approach to Extended Memorization” by Dr. Andrew Davis, an article highly recommended by Amy at Lavender Sparkles.• Click HERE for my mega collection of memorization tips and techniques.• Click HERE for more inspiration and practical suggestions for memorizing Scripture from Ann Voskamp of Holy Experience.

It’s easy to subscribe to annkroeker.com updates via email RSS feed.Visit NotSoFastBook.comto learn more about Ann’s new book.

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Progress Report #1We’re only four days into Mega Memory Month January 2010, so progress will be minimal. Still, you may have something to say about it.If so, leave a note in the comments and/or link your own Progress Report post here via MckLinky. I’ll come back later in the day and embed the pop-up links into the text itself for easy access.

Powered by MckLinky

Click here to enter your link and view the entire list of entered links…

1. Erin at filling my patch of sky
2. Amy @ Lavender *Sparkles*
3. Stand and Consider

Ann’s Progress Report:Colossians 1 has 29 verses.January has 31 days.That equates to about one verse per day. If I stay on track, I’ll get two extra days to review the whole thing at the end of the month; if I get behind, I have a couple of make-up days for the verses I’m lacking.Perfect.I’m starting out with Dr. Andrew Davis’s method as recommended by Amy at Lavender *Sparkles* (Amy summarizes the method in this post.)• Click HERE to read “An Approach to Extended Memorization” by Dr. Andrew Davis, an article highly recommended by Amy at Lavender Sparkles.• Click HERE for my mega collection of memorization tips and techniques.• Click HERE for more inspiration and practical suggestions for memorizing Scripture from Ann Voskamp of Holy Experience.

It’s easy to subscribe to annkroeker.com updates via email RSS feed.Visit NotSoFastBook.comto learn more about Ann’s new book.

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For Mega Memory Month January 2010, I’ll be working on Colossians 1.The thought is (I admit this may be a bit idealistic—even unrealistic—nevertheless…) that I might add on to this chapter over time; that is, for future Mega Memory Months I could continue with Colossians 2, 3 and 4.For now, I’m going to focus on Colossians 1 without fretting about the rest. Colossians 1 has 29 verses, so that’s approximately one verse per day. Now, I know that’s a lot for my feeble mind to tackle, but surely it can be done.After all, “all things were created by him and for him” (Colossians 1:16). My mind, including its aging synapses, was created by Him and for Him. To use it for this purpose—to concentrate on memorizing a chunk of God’s written Word—seems right and good. There will be much to ponder and celebrate along the way. For example, this passage includes a long prayer, so that my memory work can take on dual purpose and meaning, breathing life into my own prayers:

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:9-14)

Toward the end of the month, if I make it through the entire chapter, I’ll arrive at this verse:To [the saints] God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).

Christ in you.

I’ll cling to that this month, as I struggle through the paragraphs and stumble over phrases. It’s not just about the words in me … it’s about The Word in me.Christ in me.Now that right there puts the “mega” in this month.

Dove ornament photo © 2009 by Ann Kroeker.

To participate in Mega Memory Month, visit its Headquarters post HERE.

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It’s back!  Just in time to support your New Year’s Resolutions!

Mega Memory Month (MMM): January 2010 Headquarters

It’s day one of Mega Memory Month! Those of us participating now have 31 days to pack into our minds whatever it is we’ve selected to memorize: a poem, speech, passage of Scripture, or song lyrics.Here’s how to participate:

• Pick something to memorize. Challenge yourself with poetry, a famous speech, or a passage of Scripture. This month my focus will be on portions of the Bible.
• Announce it on your blog or in the comments of this post when you’re ready. (Note: If you find out about MMM late or forget about it until halfway through the month, no problem. Jump in and do what you can in the time that remains.)
• Leave a link (in MckLinky below or in the comments) that will take readers to your own blog’s MMM post. Help spread the word about Mega Memory Month (and share your progress) via Facebook, Twitter, etc.
• Include the MMM button to tie us together visually. It helps interested readers find and join the challenge!
• Start memorizing!

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Click HERE to enter your link and view the entire list of entered links…

1. Begin With Bread
2. Erin at filling my patch of sky
3. Amy @ Lavender *Sparkles*
4. Pursing the Kingdom
5. Lindas Patchwork Quilt
6. A New Year…A New Decade…New Beginnings
7. Ann Kroeker (Christ in you)
8. Zoanna @ A Penchant for Pens
9. Hiding Gods Word in My Heart
10. Leann at Good Neighbors
11. Power @ A Lettered Legacy
12. Amyazed by Him
13. Soli Deo Gloria
14. Adventures in Unsell Land

Monday Progress Reports (Jan. 4, 11, 18 and 25) will include an additional MckLinky for those who want to chronicle their progress. Feel free to include struggles, disappointments, surprises, memory tips, breakthroughs and victories.

• Progress Report #1
• Progress Report #2

Final Celebration scheduled for Sunday, January 31. For the Final Celebration, I encourage participants to plan some way to wrap up the month’s challenge. You can create a presentation as simple as writing or typing out from memory your passage. Or you could get more involved, creating artwork or a video or audio file to preserve and share your recitation with us.I’ll be right here with you all month.• Click HERE for suggestions on how to select a passage to memorize (courtesy of Helen at A Work of Heart).• Click HERE to read “An Approach to Extended Memorization” by Dr. Andrew Davis, an article highly recommended by Amy at Lavender Sparkles. • Click HERE for my mega collection of memorization tips and techniques.• Click HERE for more inspiration and practical suggestions for memorizing Scripture from Ann Voskamp of Holy Experience.Our minds (and hearts!) can hold more than we think they can.

Improving Your Memory for Dummies minibook photo © 2009 by Ann Kroeker.

It’s easy to subscribe to annkroeker.com updates via email or RSS feed.Visit NotSoFastBook.com to learn more about Ann’s new book.

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Mega Memory Month Returns January 2010!

Our extended family’s white elephant exchange included some bags stuffed full of odd items picked up at a dollar store, included this minibook:Can you believe it?Just in time for Mega Memory Month January 2010 I secured a copy of Improving Your Memory for Dummies, by John B. Arden, PhD, Director of Training for Psychology, Kaiser Permanente Medical Centers.Here’s an excerpt to get us thinking about memory work from the heading:

Feeding your brain properlyYour ability to remember depends on a number of factors, first of which is maintaining a healthy brain through adequate nourishment. To ensure that your brain works at an optimum level, follow these guidelines:

• Maintain a balanced diet. What you eat affects your brain’s chemistry. Eating the right foods at the right time gives your body the building blocks to manufacture brain chemicals called neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters not only affect your mood and ability to think clearly, but also your ability to remember. A simple, balanced meal consists of a carbohydrate, a protein, and a fruit or vegetable. Eating a balanced meal three times a day can provide you with a sound foundation for your brain and its memory.
• Take the right supplements. Vitamins and herbs can support your brain’s ability to produce good memory skills. Specific vitamins, such as some of the B vitamins, help form the building blocks for healthy brain chemistry. Other vitamins, such as vitamin E, help your brain cleanse itself of bad chemicals. Herbs such as ginkgo, have been used to enhance the circulation of blood in the brain.
• Get regular exercise. Exercise enhances your memory because it helps your brain get the nutrients that it needs. Every time you exercise, you increase your respiratory rate, your metabolism, and your energy level.

Avoiding foods, drinks, and drugs that depress memoryFoods, drinks, and chemicals that your brain is exposed to have major effects on your memory.Warning: If you eat junk food loaded with sugar, you set yourself up to crash, finding yourself full of anxiety and short of short-term memory. Similarly, if you drink too much caffeine, the liquid anxiety scatters your thoughts and shatters your memory ability. If you consume caffeine and sugar on an empty stomach, your mood and memory skills will plummet quickly. (Arden 13-14)

In summary, it appears that as we work toward memorizing something meaningful … something mega, we can support (or avoid impeding) our efforts by eating a balanced diet, taking the right supplements (he didn’t provide much guidance on that topic), and exercising.Will you join me in January?Memorizing something is a mega-powerful way to start out the new year. You can work on almost anything and reap benefits—I’ve enjoyed including poetry in my Mega Memory Month selections during previous MMM challenges, for example—but this time my focus is exclusively Scripture. I want to exercise my mind and feed my soul; for me, memorizing a passage from the Bible is an important thing I can do to make truth readily accessible to ponder and pray.Here’s what I recommend as you prepare:

1. Pray about your selection.
2. Type up and print out the passage you plan to memorize (consider using card stock for durability as you tote it around with you for a month).
3. Devise a plan. Try to come up with an approach to memorizing that you can try out from the start. See the two links below for suggestions. (And according to Dr. Arden’s Dummies advice, be sure to eat right, take supplements and exercise your body!)
4. Join the challenge!

On January 1st, I’ll create a January 2010 Mega Memory Month carnival headquarters.For an entire month, we’ll all work on our passages together and report back each week on our progress (Mondays).At the end of the month, we’ll celebrate together whatever we managed to take in.You won’t be alone.I hope many will join the Mega Memory Month challenge in January, but you will have me along for the ride, at the very least.I’m not an expert at memorizing, but I’ll be working hard.And I’ll do my best to encourage you along the way.• Click HERE for my mega collection of memorization tips and techniques.• Visit Holy Experience for more inspiration and practical suggestions for memorizing Scripture.Our minds (and hearts!) can hold more than we think they can.

Work Cited: Arden, John B.  Improving Your Memory for Dummies. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Publishing, Inc., 2009. Print.

Get ready … Mega Memory Month returns January 2010!

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Mega Memory Month Returns January 2010!

Imperfect but hopefully charming photos of a lifelong learner exploring the dictionary by Ann Kroeker © 2009

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Mega Memory Month Returns January 2010!

As you wrap gifts and place them with anticipation under the tree, would you wrap up one more item?Because there’s a gift I’d like you to give yourself: the gift of memorizing something meaningful … something mega.When we commit something to memory—passages of Scripture, poetry, famous speeches, hymns—we give ourselves a gift … a gift that keeps on giving, because whatever we commit to memory is internalized and accessible to revisit, ponder and share.As someone who has placed her faith in Christ and turns to Scripture as her source of truth, I aim to make Scripture memory work a priority. I have enjoyed including poetry in my Mega Memory Month selections during previous MMM challenges, but this time my focus is exclusively Scripture.Will you join me in January?Memorizing something is a mega-powerful way to start out the new year.

1. Pray about your selection.
2. Type up and print out the passage you plan to memorize (consider using card stock for durability as you tote it around with you for a month).
3. Wrap it up and place it under the tree with your name on it.

On Christmas Day, when you open it, celebrate the joy of the Word made flesh by committing to take to heart His words of truth.

Selection from Ann's July 2009 MMM

Photo showing some of my well-used, crumpled July 2009 Mega Memory Month work.

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The Scarlet Letter was my first book to try to organize existing materials. While there are many outstanding resources, and a trained teacher with years of experience would have much more insight than I, here is what I pulled together:

• Study Guide: For accountability and to check comprehension, I try to find a study guide for each book that the students must fill out as they read. We only meet once a week, so if they can’t figure out what’s important to note in the assigned chapters, they could be lost for days before we clear it up in class discussion. I used this Glencoe study guide that I found online, picking and choosing the activities (they had to complete the questions, but I skipped or modified some of the activities).
• Skit: Based on some feedback I got via e-mail, I got the feeling the students didn’t understand what was happening in “The Custom House” and the first few chapters of the book, so I brought in a construction paper “A,” a fake flower, and a big piece of cardboard. I had the students act out the basics of “The Custom House,” having the Nathaniel Hawthorne/Narrator discover the “A” among the papers. Then we switched to the story itself and someone held the cardboard to be the prison door. Someone else held the flower to be the rose bush. And we talked about the symbolism after they acted it out. I ran around sort of giving instructions and offering a sketchy narration, walking them through the first few events. The book has quite a dramatic opening, but I think its impact and drama can get lost in the difficult vocabulary. For a few minutes, I wanted them to experience the story without sifting through the words.
• Pillory: I found a great photo of a pillory online so they could envision where Hester was standing for her public humiliation. A quick search should turn up examples.
• Journal: The students are required to keep a reading journal, one entry per school day (a minimum of five sentences per entry; yes, I’ve had to count). I check these to be sure they are tracking. They are asked to be responding to their reading in some way—I wanted them to have a safe place to talk freely about the books. I could probably do better at creating some vision for the journals. Some of them don’t seem to grasp the potential of recording their responses and struggle to fill an entry.
• Vocabulary: The study guide provided some vocabulary lists. I used those.
• Quizzes: Most of the quizzes were vocabulary quizzes, since there are so many challenging words in The Scarlet Letter. I had my dictionary next to me the entire time I was reading the book. I should probably try to design them SAT-style, but I haven’t yet; the quizzes have been straightforward, matching the definition to the word.
• Study Resources: I referenced SparkNotes to see what those guides had to say.
• Story Chart: I used a story chart for them to identify key events and people in the book.
• Test: I created the test by modifying the quizzes found at this page. I deleted some questions, changed some of the answers, and added more multiple choice along with some short answer. Some of the questions included the definition of “plot,” “theme,” and “conflict,” which we talked about in class. They also had to answer two short essay questions: (1) “How do guilt, sin and/or shame change Hester, Dimmesdale and Chillingworth?” and (2) “Which character in The Scarlet Letter felt the most alienation? Why do you feel this way?” They were expected to cite at least one passage from the book to support their point(s) as well as talk about plot points or turning points in their own words. They had access to their books for the short essay questions, but not for the multiple-choice/short answer portion.
• Essay Writing: To help the students learn the basics of character analysis, I referenced this and for comparison/contrast essays and sent them to this simple sample essay was annotated to show what worked well. And I really liked this mind map as a tool to help them organize their thoughts and ideas before writing their essay. I took some time one week to walk them through it, though I don’t know if they still reference it.
• Essay Format: To help them learn MLA format, I’ve sent them to the OWL at Purdue.
• Essay Grading: I’ve been using the 6+1 Traits rubric for grading the writing. I like this summary, because it gives me a quick reference while grading that I can also share with the kids, so they can see what I’m looking for.
• Final Project: For their final project, I pulled ideas from Cliff’s Notes. They could choose from the following:

Final Projects

1. Rewrite the forest scene using modern language. (No one chose this.)

2. Write a short story about how the story would be different if Chillingworth’s ship had actually wrecked and he’d never come ashore. (One student wrote a new ending, sort of combining choices 2 and 3, and the result was a charming and much, much happier conclusion for the main characters.)

3. Write a description of Pearl’s future after the novel ends. Does she marry? Have a family? What is her life like? Be sure your choices are consistent with what you know about Pearl and the events at the end of the novel. (One student chose to do this, creatively working in facts from the original story to present a fascinating and detailed summary of Pearl’s future.)

4. Draw a picture or create a collage that shows the relationships among the characters in the story and explain your thinking to the class verbally the week they are turned in and/or on paper. (Most chose this, and the results were outstanding; I couldn’t believe the quality of artwork and fascinating symbolism.)

Read the Book!

You should be able to pick up a copy of The Scarlet Letter at Goodwill and used bookstores, as it is so often assigned in both high school and college—and the students get rid of it when their course is completed. Multiple copies would also be available at the library, along with an abundance of study guides.But you can also read The Scarlet Letter online at many websites. Click around and pick your favorite background, font or navigation from the following sites:

• Page by Page Books
• The Literature Network (posts flashing, annoying ads at the top)
• The Literature Page
• Bartleby (searchable text)
• Project Gutenberg

Enjoy!

If you can use any of these ideas for personal study or with your own family to enrich your reading of this classic of American literature, let me know what you found useful.

Share!

If you find additional resources, I’d love to update and expand this post to include more ideas that deepened a reader’s comprehension and appreciation of The Scarlet Letter.

Stack of books photo by Ann Kroeker. Page from The Scarlet Letter by Ted Cabanes accessed from stock.xchng.

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It’s July 31st.July 2009 Mega Memory Month is coming to a close.You can leave a link to your final project right now; or you may wish to link up tomorrow, because technically you do have until midnight July 31^st to finish up. You might as well make the most of it!I hope you’ve had some success tucking a few stanzas of a song or lines from a poem into your head. Even if you weren’t able to complete your project, perhaps you absorbed some truth from Scripture if you chose a passage from the Bible to memorize.Hopefully you were able to stretch yourself a little, expand your memory capacity, and enjoy sharing your projects with friends and family.Now it’s time to wrap things up. As always, I encourage a final project to celebrate how far you’ve come. Create something to commemorate your own Mega Memory work!Post your links, summaries, and final thoughts in the comments … people can visit from there (I’m very sorry, but I don’t think I’ll be able to get Mr. Linky up in time).Ann’s MMM Final ProjectHere at family camp, I’m fortunate to have any Internet access at all. What I do have is limited, however, so I’m unable to upload any audio or video.Therefore, I’m going low-tech on my final project.I’m just typing it out. (Sorry to be so uninspired.)I’ll add color, though, to jazz it up. This time, red does not indicate a mess-up.The Road Not Taken, by Robert FrostTwo roads diverged in a yellow wood,And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stoodAnd looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth;Then took the other, as just as fairAnd having perhaps the better claimBecause it was grassy and wanted wear;Though as for that, the passing thereHad worn them really about the same.And both that morning equally layIn leaves no step had trodden black.Oh, I saved the first for another day!Yet knowing how way leads on to way,I doubted if I should ever come back.I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere ages and ages hence:Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference.Philippians 2:1-11If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:Who, being in very nature God,did not consider equality with Godsomething to be grasped,but made himself nothing,taking the very nature of a servant,being made in human likeness.And being found in appearance as a man,he humbled himself and became obedient to death–even death on a cross!Therefore God exalted him to the highest placeand gave him the name that is above every name,that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow,in heaven and on earth and under the earth,and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,to the glory of God the Father.Psalm 121I lift up my eyes to the hills–where does my help come from?My help comes from the LORD,the Maker of heaven and earth.He will not let your foot slip–he who watches over you will not slumber;indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.The LORD watches over you–The LORD is your shade at your right hand;The sun will not harm you by day,nor the moon by night.The LORD will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life.

The LORD will watch over your coming and goingboth now and forevermore.

Thank you for joining me throughout Mega Memory Month!

Our minds can hold more than we think they can.

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July 2009 is Mega Memory Month. Here we are at Progress Report #4.

(Progress Report #1)

(Progress Report #2)

(Progress Report #3)

How’s it going?

• Use Mr. Linky to connect your progress report to this master list. If I have time, I’ll swing back by and edit the post to make the links more prominent.

• Non-bloggers and those who don’t want to dedicate an entire post to memory work, feel free to offer your progress report in the comments.

Mega Memory Month Participants’ Progress Reports

1. Hopeannfaith

This is the last official Progress Report for July 2009 Mega Memory Month.There are just a few days left to finish the month. We have until Friday, July 31, and then … time’s up.So, how are you doing? Are you plugging away at your selections and getting some of it solidified?Maybe you’ve tried a variety of techniques, or perhaps you’ve stuck with a tried-and-true method. This week, as I wind things down for Mega Memory Month, I’ve simply been repeating the three main passages. They came together fairly well. My main problem section is toward the end of Psalm 121.Ann’s Progress ReportHere at family camp, I went over Philippians 2:1-11 while in a kayak, paddling slowly through the clear, cold water as the beauty of that passage flowed through my mind and out of my mouth for the benefit of a few gulls and perhaps a quiet camper who was sitting in a folding chair looking like he was enjoying solitude.I repeated Psalm 121 while hiking in the quiet, mossy woods, asking the Belgian Wonder and The Boy to listen. We walked holding hands. In front of us, a family friend was listening in. When I said, “He will not let your foot slip,” he fake-stumbled over a root.In that same woods, I reviewed Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken,” and when I came to a place on the hike where two roads diverged, I couldn’t resist snapping a photo.

(That’s not the entire poem, of course. I just stopped typing when I ran out of space.)After dinner, I mentioned to a friend of mine that I was working on memorizing “The Road Not Taken.” She started up immediately with “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood…” and proceeded to recite the entire poem through perfectly. She already knew it.That’s what I want. I want these poems and passages of Scripture to be imbedded in me so deeply and become such a part of me that the words, ideas, thoughts, poetry, and truth can flow out effortlessly.Be sure to share your struggles, successes, and the tips and techniques that have most benefited your memory work this month.And if you feel motivated to share a final project, I encourage everyone participating to post something to commemorate their July 2009 Mega Memory Month project. We’ll do that on Friday, July 31.For your project, you could:

• Create a YouTube video of you reciting your memory work
• Type it out in the post itself
• Write it out and photograph the handwritten version
• Draw or paint something artistic to accompany the words
• Type it out 140 characters at a time on Twitter as a series of tweets
• Make a PowerPoint slide show and upload it somewhere on the Web.

I don’t know how to do all those things, but I think they can be done. Showcase your technological know-how as you showcase your memory work!(Mr. Linky may not allow me to have two different carnivals on one day, so I’ll have to give Food on Fridays that technology. We can leave links to people’s projects in the comments.)I hope you’re discovering that …Our minds can hold more than we think they can.

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July 2009 MMM is almost overWatch for Final Mega Memory Month Projects on July 31

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July 2009 is Mega Memory Month. Here we are at Progress Report #3.

(Progress Report #1)

(Progress Report #2)

How’s it going?

• Use Mr. Linky to connect your progress report to this master list. If I have time, I’ll swing back by and edit the post to make the links more prominent.

• Non-bloggers and those who don’t want to dedicate an entire post to memory work, feel free to offer your progress report in the comments.

Ann’s Progress Report #2My Jog-My-Memory© method for memorizing-on-the-run is working pretty well!Thanks to my fairly regular jogging outings, I think I’ve got the main three selections down pretty well. That last psalm is still on hold, however. I’d better schedule a long run soon and focus exclusively on it, or else save it for the next Mega Memory Month.(If you’re visiting for the first time, my low-tech memorization method is to carry paper printouts of the passages or selections I’m working on as I go for a jog; I then practice while in motion for the duration of the exercise.)So here goes nothin’ (mistakes crossed out like this or added in red):The Road Not Takenby Robert FrostTwo roads diverged in a yellow wood,And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stoodAnd looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth;Then took the other, as just as fair,And having perhaps the better claim,Because it was grassy and wanted wear;Though as for that the passing thereHad worn them really about the same.And both that morning equally layIn leaves no step had trodden black.Oh, I saved the first for another day!Yet knowing how way leads on to way,I doubted if I should ever come back.I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere ages and ages hence:Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference.Philippians 1:1-11If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being united one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:Who, being in very nature God,did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,but made himself nothing,taking the very nature of a servant,and being made in human likeness.And being found in appearance as a man,he humbled himselfand became obedient to death–even death on a cross!Therefore God exalted him to the highest placeand gave him the name that is above every name,That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow,in heaven and on earth and under the earth,and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lordto the glory of God the Father.Psalm 121A song of ascentsI lift up my eyes to the hills–where does my help come from?My help comes from the LORD,the Maker of heaven and earth.He will not let your foot slip–he who watches over you will not slumber;indeed, he who watches over Israelwill neither slumber nor sleep.The LORD watches over you–the LORD is your shade at your right hand;the sun will not harm you by daynor the moon by night.The LORD will keep you from all harm–he will watch over your life;The LORD will watch over your coming and goingboth now and forevermore.Whew!Need ideas and encouragement? Check out additional memory tips, tricks and techniques on this page (when you arrive at the page, scroll down for the tips).Okay, I’m wondering … how are you doing?Is your mind holding more than you thought it could?

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July 2009 Mega Memory Month is moving right along. Already we find ourselves at Progress Report #2.

How’s it going?

• Use Mr. Linky to connect your progress report to this master list. If I have time, I’ll swing back by and edit the post to make the links more prominent.

• Non-bloggers and those who don’t want to dedicate an entire post to memory work, feel free to offer your progress report in the comments.

MMM Participants’ Progress Reports

1. erin at filling my patch of sky
2. Jen at Scraps and Snippets

Ann’s Progress Report #2Familiarity is my friend.This month, I chose passages and a poem that were familiar, but not yet memorized.I believe that familiarity has been key to helping me progress smoothly (that and a daily does of God’s grace).I have incorporated the memory work into my jogs. My routes are repetitive, so I don’t need to use much brainpower to decide which way to turn. This frees up valuable brain cells to focus on memorizing.As I mentioned last week, I clutch little scraps of paper on which the passages are printed and refer to them as needed. Something about the steady pounding of feet against asphalt provides a sense of rhythm to the rhyme and phrasing as I repeat them over and over and over.I’m happy to report, therefore, that I think I can type out the Frost poem, the Philippians passage, and part of Psalm 121 this week. I have not yet attempted Psalm 145 and fear I may not get it down before the month is through. We shall see.So.Here we go…(I’d like to disclose that while reviewing my tested typed-out text against the originals, I chose repair incorrect punctuation without showing the changes; all other word deletions are shown crossed off and additions are in red.)“The Road Not Taken” by Robert FrostTwo roads diverged in a yellow wood,And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stoodAnd looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth;Then took the other, as just as fair,And having perhaps the better claim,Because it was grassy and wanted wear;Though as for that the passing thereHad worn them really about the same.And both that morning equally layIn leaves no step had trodden black.Oh, I saved kept the first for another day!Yet knowing how way leads on to way,I doubted if I should ever come back.I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere ages and ages hence:Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference.Philippians 1:1-11 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:Who, being in very nature God,did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped,but made himself nothing,taking the very nature of a servantand being made in human likeness.And being found in appearance as a man,he humbled himselfand became obedient to death–even death on a cross!Therefore God exalted him to the highest placeand gave him the name that is above every name,that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,in heaven and on earth and under the earth,and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,to the glory of God the Father.Psalm 121A song of ascentsI lift up my eyes to the hills–where does my help come from?My help comes from the LORD,the Maker of heaven and earth.He will not let your foot slip–he who watches over you will not slumber;indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber not sleep.The LORD watches over you—He The LORD is your shade at your right hand;the sun will not harm you by day,nor the moon by night.The LORD will not let you be harmed. will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life;He The LORD will watch over your coming and goingboth now and forevermore.Psalm 145 (Status: Not begun)For me, this has been the smoothest Mega Memory Month yet!I don’t know if I’ll get very far in Psalm 145, but I’m starting it this week as I try to solidify Psalm 121 and review the others.How about you?Is your mind holding more than you thought it could?

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July 2009 Mega Memory Month has only barely begun. In fact, it’s been less than a week since the kick-off.

So I assume that today’s progress reports will be modest.

Also, feel free to invite others to jump in, because there’s still plenty of time to accomplish our goals.

Here’s the Mr. Linky to connect your progress report to this master list. If I have time, I’ll swing back by and edit the post to make them more prominent. Non-bloggers and those who don’t want to dedicate an entire post to memory work, feel free to offer your progress report in the comments.

Progress Reports

1. Denise at Butter and Honey
2. Amy at Lavender *Sparkles*
3. Jen at Scraps and Snippets

Ann’s Progress Report #1Did I bite off more than I can chew?My mega selection is:

• “The Road Not Taken,” by Robert Frost
• Philippians 2:1-11
• Psalm 121
• Psalm 145

I fear I may have taken on too much.On the other hand, I was somewhat familiar with the Frost poem, “The Road Not Taken,” so piecing together all those familiar fragments wasn’t too bad. In fact, it came together so quickly, I might be able to type it out right now. I think I’ll try (corrections crossed off or added in red):”The Road Not Taken”by Robert FrostTwo roads diverged in a yellow wood;,And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stoodAnd looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth.;Then took the other, as just as fair,And having perhaps the better claim,Because it was grassy and wanted wear;Though as for that, the passing thereHad worn them really about the same.,And bBoth that morning equally layIn leaves no step had trodden black.Oh!, I saved kept the first for another day;!Though ,Yet knowing how way leads on to way,I doubted I should ever get come back.I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere ages and ages hence:Two roads diverged in a wood, and I;—I took the one less traveled byAnd that has made all the difference.Okay. Not so bad.Philippians 1:1-11 is also a familiar passage. I wanted to truly memorize it, because I can only pull up snippets from my mental files. So I tore off the first few verses from the paper I’d printed off and took that scrap with me this morning on my jog. It got pretty wrinkled and a little smeary from sweat, but I think I’m close to having the first section down. I’ll try typing out Philippians 2:1-4:

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you must should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Hey, I did better than this afternoon, when I recited it to my daughter and flubbed a section.Here are some random thoughts on memory work:

• It’s great to have family support. My ideal would be for us to work on a passage together, but the next best thing has been to have them patiently and happily check my progress, encouraging me along the way.
• It has been an advantage to select a poem and some passages that are somewhat familiar already.
• I’m not generally effective at multi-tasking, but I have to say that memorizing while jogging worked well. It was a little bit awkward to unroll the paper and read it while in motion, but the repetition helped a lot. In fact, having a little project to work on may have helped pass the time.
• Memorization Tips and Techniques. Check out this collection of helpful methods for memory work. Actually, let me paste them in here for easy access. See below.

Online Articles & Resources:

• At a site called Productivity 501, I found an article called How to Memorize Verbatim Text. It has a simple online tool you can use to help reinforce what you’re working on. The author uses the Gettysburg Address to illustrate his technique.
• Memorizing Techniques that cleverly uses a mneumonic device to present its suggestions: CAMP!
• A tip from a website called Remember Anything: Read out loud and write it out (see the site for more details).
• An eHow 8 step article about how to memorize Scripture.
• A long list of Scripture memory tips and suggestions.
• Ann V. described and photographed some of her memorization methods here.
• Stretch Mark Mama wrote about her basic index-card-propped-on-the-kitchen-table method.

Kroeker-Generated Suggestions:Here are a few memorization techniques that have worked for our family (a repeat from an earlier post included for consolidation purposes):

1. Record someone reading your selection (then listen to it…lots). I once wrote about using my MP3 microphone for verbal note taking. Record someone else reading the passage out loud (we usually hate our own voices when played back, don’t we? So have someone else do it), and then put it on your play list to listen to over and over.
2. Song. Set it to song or at least a rhythm, and it sticks pretty well. We have to get creative with Scripture, because some translations don’t have all that much rhythm to them. We’ve also applied this to skip counting for math. And can’t most of us remember our conjunctions thanks to Schoolhouse Rock (”Conjunction junction, what’s your function…”)? Anyway, I try to find some beat to the verse and say it that way. It helps.
3. Hand motions. Get all the senses involved and take in those words every way possible. We come up with hand symbols for God, Jesus, salvation, and other basic words like “all” and “world.” If you actually know American Sign Language, all the better. We don’t, so we just invent motions. They can recall the signs and bam! The words follow.
4. Pictures. For complicated verses, I’ve drawn little pictures to accompany the phrases. This helped the daughter who scoffed at my overblown hand motions and dance steps. She preferred the more civilized method of memorizing pictures to remember the flow of words.
5. Key words. If they remember the first word of a phrase that represents a shift in the verse, then often the rest of the words will tumble out automatically. So as we repeat it out loud, we emphasize the key words with exaggerated volume. I probably raise my eyebrows and open my mouth like a clown when I say them, too. I can’t help it. I’ve got Elasti-Face. Might as well use it for good.
6. Write it out. Okay, now these are the simple, low-tech, basic ideas coming out. Write it out lots of times, and it’ll enter the brain through another avenue.
7. Repeat, repeat, repeat. This is such an obvious one, but it bears repeating (sorry). But, well, that’s what we do. We go over and over the verse (out loud) until it’s drummed in there. Write it on a piece of paper and stick it in your pocket, or tape it to your cell phone and make yourself say it as you reach in your pocket for something or before making a call.
8. (NEW!) Practice while exercising. This works for most repetitive exercise except, if you’re holding a note card or paper, swimming. If it’s already in your head, however, reviewing the words as you move can work even while in the water. I find that the repetitive nature of the activity actually marries well with the memory process. Plus, it helps pass the time.

Ideas Submitted by Readers:

• Denise said that she sings along with Scripture memory CDs (I also thought of those “Hide ‘Em in Your Heart” Steve Green videos for kids). And she has her children write memory verses as part of their handwriting.
• Recommended by Joni: His Word in My Heart by Janet Pope “offers one of the best techniques and explanations for the benefits to memorizing.” Pope’s method helped her memorize longer texts such as the Sermon on the Mount by just doing a verse a day and then reviewing them, using index cards.
• Katrina described what worked for her kids–recording and reading it.
• Helen’s final celebration post details her step-by-step method and displays a colorful, creative, poster-sized final product. I was inspired.
• Ruth provided this helpful link to a website dedicated to helping people memorize Scripture.
• Amy explains how she tackles memorization (with long-term retention success) and links to a pdf article with helpful Scripture memory motivation and tips.

Let us know how it’s going. It helps to know that we’re not alone in this undertaking.And remember:Our minds can hold more than we think they can.

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Today, July 1st, marks day one of Mega Memory Month!

Participants now have 31 days to pack into their minds whatever it is they’ve selected to memorize: a poem, speech, passage of Scripture, or song lyrics.

The month is in motion, so it’s time to begin.

Refer back to the main Mega Memory Month page for July 2009 for suggestions and directions. There you will find a Mr. Linky to link a blog post announcing your plan. You may also explain in the comments, Twitter, or Facebook what you’re intending to memorize. If you will be tweeting or updating your efforts on other social networking platforms, please leave some kind of link for us to find you.

Don’t forget that Tuesdays will be the day we post Progress Reports. I’ll have a Mr. Linky on those days if you choose to write something up.

Here’s my personal month-long memory plan (along with fascinating explanatory notes):

1. Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken” (if you click on the link, press play to hear it read … by Frost himself, I presume). I chose this because I memorized “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” last time for Mega Memory Month (click on the “Stopping by Woods” link to hear me recite it, not Frost). “The Road Not Taken” feels like a nice complement. Plus, as I said yesterday, I mention the poem in my book’s dedication and want to have it inside my head. I know the poem; now I want to know the poem by heart.
2. Philippians 2:1-11. I selected this passage for two reasons: 1) We started memorizing part of it during VBS, so I have a head start; 2) I love this passage so much that we had it read in both English and French in our wedding ceremony, yet I’ve never memorized it. Now is a good time.
3. Psalm 121. This short psalm starts with a line that’s familiar to many people in the King James version, “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.” I’ll be using the NIV, however (“I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from?”).
4. And because I want to go mega, I’m going to try to add Psalm 145. Why 145? Well, why not? It’s a great praise psalm with lines like, “Every day I will praise you,” and “Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom,” and “I will meditate on your wonderful works…I will proclaim your great deeds.” It’s longer than 121, though, and my mind isn’t exactly a steel trap. It’s more like a shoebox propped up with a stick to catch bunnies. I’ll try to pull the string on the stick and trap these words under the shoebox. If they squeeze out from under it, I’ll be disappointed but accept my limitation.

So, how about it? Join me for Mega Memory Month and exercise your mind this summer!

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Join Mega Memory Month for the month of July!

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(Much smaller button below)

It’s back—with a groovy new button!

July 2009 is:

Mega Memory Month

As we head into the dog days of summer, why not give our minds something to chew on?Mega Memory Month kicks off this Wednesday, July 1st.Here’s how to participate:

• Pick something to memorize. Try memorizing something long. Something formidable. Something mega. (challenge yourself relative to what you’ve tackled in the past.) It could be poetry, a famous speech, or a passage of Scripture.
• Announce it on your blog or in the comments of this post whenever you like. If you find out about MMM late or forget about it until halfway through the month, no problem. Jump in and do what you can in the time that remains.
• Leave a link (in Mr. Linky below or in the comments) that will take readers to your own blog’s MMM post. Non-bloggers are encouraged to participate as well through comments, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
• Include the new MMM button (by all means, use the smaller one below) to tie us together visually. It helps interested readers find and join the challenge!
• Start memorizing!

Mega Memory Month Participants

1. Denise at Butter and Honey
2. Me, annkroeker.writer.
3. Amy at Lavender Sparkles
4. Hopeannfaith’s Well
5. Jennifer at Scraps and Snippets
6. Erin at filling my patch of sky
7. Kate Mills at Little Mills

Progress Reports: I’ll be posting my own personal MMM Progress Reports on Tuesdays (they used to be on Mondays, but now that’s reserved for Make-Do Mondays). Mr. Linky will be provided for you to tie in, if you like. Chime in at any time during the week. Reports will be posted, Lord willing, July 7, 14, and 21. The 28th will be iffy, as I’ll be traveling and may not have Internet access.Final Thoughts: Nobody is judging how well we complete this month-long memory project—it simply provides public accountability.Don’t let the word “mega” discourage you from participating. Participate even if your selection is modest. In fact, my own might be pretty puny compared to those of some mega-memorizers. The bottom line is that we will be better for it.So jump in and join the carnival, whether you chip away at something short or long.I hope to encourage you along the way. For starters, click HERE for my mega collection of memorization tips and techniques.Let’s take a risk.Stretch ourselves.After all, Mega Memory Month is hosted by someone who feels that her mind is more like a sieve than a steel trap; yet, as I discovered during the past Mega Memory Months:Our minds can hold more than we think they can.

The post July 2009 is Mega Memory Month appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

• Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
• The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne
• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
• Up From Slavery – Booker T Washington
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin – Harriet Beecher Stowe
• Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
• Little Women – Louisa May Alcott
• To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
• The Crucible – Arthur Miller

Here are some that I’m reading through to swap out or add to the list (only one or two from below will replace one on the main list or be added):

• History of the Plymouth Plantation – William Bradford
• The Red Badge of Courage – Stephen Crane
• Billy Budd – Herman Melville
• Mama’s Bank Account – Kathryn Forbes
• The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway
• A Raisin in the Sun – Lorraine Hansberry
• The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
• The Chosen – Chaim Potok
• Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury
• The Call of the Wild (or White Fang) – Jack London
• POETRY: (maybe) The Mentor Book of Great American Poets
• ESSAYS & SHORT STORIES: I am looking into anthologies or a literature book that contains selections.

I’m also looking for a great college prep vocabulary book to use.Any suggestions from y’all?Any great American books appropriate for teens you would recommend? Can you think of some titles missing from this list?

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There is a strange idea abroad that in every subject the ancient books should be read only by the professionals, and that the amateur should content himself with the modern books … [I]f the average student wants to find out something about Platonism, the very last thing he thinks of doing is to take a translation of Plato off the library shelf and read the Symposium … The student is half afraid to meet one of the great philosophers face to face. He feels himself inadequate and thinks he will not understand him.

He wrote that one of the areas where this mentality was rampant was in theology. Instead of reading the Gospel of Luke or the letters of Paul, or flipping open St. Ignatius or St. Augustine, readers will turn to someone like, well, C.S. Lewis himself or a contemporary of his like Dorothy Sayers. He pointed out that as an author he of course hopes that readers will some modern books; but if they had to choose between one of the other, he would advise that person to choose the old.

Every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes. We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period. And that means the old books … The only palliative is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds, and this can be done only by reading old books.

Do you agree?And do you read that way—new book followed by an old book?

The post New Book, Old Book appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

When you bring God’s Word to others, you must maintain the horizontal and the vertical connection with both them and the Holy Spirit. Pray in your heart for the guidance, insight, and wisdom you need.I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. (Luke 21:15 RSV)Lord, thank You for Your presence while we work. By ourselves we are too weak, but Your Spirit makes us able.

In His StepsI’d been looking for this book by Charles M. Sheldon (again, the edition I found is a hardbound edition), and the Belgian Wonder reached out for it because it matched the Corrie ten Boom book’s binding. He didn’t know I wanted In His Steps! Apparently this book, written 100 years ago, coined the phrase “What Would Jesus Do?”The Passion of Jesus ChristThis small book by John Piper looks to have a Good Friday/Easter theme, so I bought it to read over the next few days.So, what are you reading these days? Have you picked up any treasures?

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(CC) Gaetan Lee, www.flickr.com/photos/gaetanlee/

In Write to Discover Yourself, Ruth Vaughn tells about a character named Julia Redfern in a children’s book called A Room Made of Windows. Julia keeps a “Book of Strangenesses” in which she makes lists. Her lists include Beautiful Words (Mediterranean, quiver, undulating, lapis lazuli, Empyrean) and Most Detestable Words (rutabaga, larva, mucus, okra).Ruth Vaughn recommends list-keeping as an excellent exercise (and resource) for writers. A list of Strong Verbs, for example, is handy. To illustrate, she picked up a short-story at random and recorded verbs (echoed, trembled, slammed, hesitated, smashed, roared, reverberated, boomed, and twisted).She suggested taking it another step and recording phrases that inspire. From that same short story, she found, “It brought the silent, motionless silhouettes to life” and “Here and there through the smoke, creeping warily under the shadows of tottering walls, emerged occasional men and women.”In the spirit of Ruth’s recommended list-making and writers loving words, I had a lot of fun assembling a master list of the words you proposed after I posted the Logophile List(s).Words were suggested in the comments, e-mailed to me and a few came through Facebook when I linked to the original logophiles post. Several more come from the text and comments of Musings of a Mommy Bee’s “Word Fun” post. Apparently great minds post alike.Here, my friends, are the results:Words that are fun to say(be sure to read out loud)

• discombobulate
• garbanzo beans
• guacamole
• gregarious
• genuflexing/genuflecting
• asinine
• sequoia
• Iroquois
• yurt
• pip
• hypothalamus
• snaffle
• awkward (because it actually is awkward to say and type)
• pollywog
• sunset
• buff
• squelch
• click
• clack
• zip
• hiss
• toot
• slither
• puff
• blip
• moosh
• splat
• buzz
• woosh
• plop
• fizzle
• zing
• sniff
• slurp
• patter
• splash
• thick
• moist
• cushion
• lackadaisical
• periwinkle
• bulbous
• grunt
• percolate
• dread
• infuriate
• ingratiate
• bouffant
• gallant
• bemoaned
• personage
• flip
• bubble
• mukluk
• blubber
• waffle
• akimbo
• macadamia
• giggle
• beluga
• aspic
• filch
• gazebo
• vivid
• meticulous
• colloquial
• insipid

Words fun when said with a British accent

• bugger
• gutted
• proper

Words that are beautiful to say

• diaphanous
• effervescent/effervescence
• gossamer
• mellifluous
• scintillate
• feathery
• exquisite
• miraculous
• magnificent
• reflective

Words that carry rich meaning

• hallelujah
• prudent

Words that some of us are never quite sure we use correctly

• effect and affect
• inclement and clement
• facetious
• enormity and magnitude

Favorite French Words for English-Speakers

• pamplemousse
• probablement
• pantoufles
• éblouissant
• nuages
• brouillard

Favorite English Words for French-Speakers

• cantaloupe
• jeopardy
• momentum

Words that are Gross to Say (even if they aren’t gross in meaning)

• amoebic ooze
• pus

Words with distinct regional pronunciations

• sore (so-uhr)
• park (pahk–in Boston)
• about (a-boot–in Canada)
• “I love it” (“Ah luuuuuv eee-ut”)

Be inspired—love your language!And if you add words in the comments, I’ll update the lists.My sister-in-law reminded me of the silly song from Flight of the Conchords, “Foux De Fa Fa,” that has a little fun with the vocabulary, phrases and interactions one finds on a typical French language learning CD. Listen for “pamplemousse.”[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUVagbFcSUU]This is a six-minute video of French singer Francis Cabrel performing “C’est écrit” live in concert back in the ’80s. My sister-in-law gave me a copy of his CD. This song may be the reason I love the words “brouillard” and “nuages.”[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otqFvrGXP7g]And finally, because I’ve gotten a little carried away on YouTube, here’s a logophile muppet video for your kids titled appropriately, “I Love Words.” Abby Cadabby never met a word she didn’t like and tries out a new word every day. A pretty good message for our young ‘uns, setting them up for a lifetime of loving words (brace yourself, moms–her voice is similar to Elmo’s):p.s. She, too, throws a couple of favorite French words into the mix.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxxJU1y3QGA]Speaking of words. . .visit again tomorrow for an update on the status of my book.

The post Long-Awaited Logophile Lists appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

(Consider participating in the Food on Fridays carnival tomorrow!Any and all food-related posts are welcome to link up!)

The post MMM Celebration Countdown appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

Progress Report #4 Participants

1. Laura at Laura’s Imperfect Blog
2. Amy at Lavender *Sparkles*
3. Jennifer at PeaceLedge
4. Pauline at Him in the Everyday
5. Amy’s bonus post at Lavender *Sparkles* (reasons to memorize)
6. Joy at Bucket of Joy
7. Andrea at hopeannfaith

Final Celebration ReminderOkay, so here’s the thing–this is the last checkpoint before the Final Celebration.On January 31st, I will put up a Final Celebration post, where all participants are encouraged to create something that illustrates their Mega Memory Month project.You can:

• Record a video
• Create an audio recording
• Type it out
• Design something visual with scrapbook art
• Illustrate your passage with photos, like a PowerPoint presentation

It’s up to you how involved and creative you want to be. It’s a chance to learn a new technology (I learned to upload YouTube videos and others learned to record and link to audio files), or just have some fun with a calligraphy set.So as you finish up your last few days of memorization, be thinking about how to celebrate on your blog. Don’t be intimidated–just have fun! Be yourself and reflect your personality, just like you always do on your blog.Mega Memory Month Giveaway!The lovely folks at Scripture Stickies have provided a great giveaway to accompany the MMM Final Celebration. Scripture Stickies are packs of printed Scripture passages grouped by theme that you can use to stick in strategic places–the bathroom mirror, the kitchen door, the car dashboard–in order to review frequently.If you win, I’ll mail you a pack to try out. You can use them yourself for the next Mega Memory Month project, or give them as a gift to someone who wants an easy way to kickstart their own attempts at Scripture memory.For a chance at winning, stop by on January 31st and leave a friendly comment!P.S. My Apologies for Technical GlitchBoy was I aggravated when I realized that somehow in the process of “freshening up” my blog, the main Mega Memory Month post lost all the links.All of you precious participants–I apologize for that! I put links to your blogs back in. If your link doesn’t work, please let me know and provide me with the right one.Ann’s ProgressWell, I love the Frost poem. During church, through big windows on the side of the sanctuary, we could all see enormous downy snowflakes the size of quarters drifting from the sky–it was like worshiping in a snow globe. One of the pastors quoted from Isaiah 1:18“Come now, let us reason together,”       says the LORD.       “Though your sins are like scarlet,       they shall be as white as snow.”I hoped the flakes would continue so that we could swing by the park. I wanted to watch the snow piling up in the woods, Frost-like. But by the time church let out, the flakes were no longer the size of quarters; they were tiny flecks. And by the time we got near the park, it wasn’t snowing at all.With or without the inspiration of snow, I can recite “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost.And I continue to piece together John 14. I hope to have it all flowing smoothly by Saturday–still have some hiccups.I was inspired by the link Amy (Lavender *Sparkles*) provided–it took me to a video of a guy who recites long passages in a somewhat theatrical style, like a dramatic reading, only entirely from memory.Years ago I directed drama sketches. Maybe I need to “direct” myself, to finish it off? This will be my experiment during the final few days of memory work.What about you? Report on your progress–bring us up to date!

The post January 2009 MMM Monday Progress Report #4 appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

Participants’ Progress Reports #3

1.  Ann Kroeker (see below)
2. Jennifer at Scraps and Snippets
3. Amy at Lavender *Sparkles*
4. Ruth at Caribbean Wordkeeper
5. Dea at For His Glory…By His Grace
6. Jennifer at PeaceLedge
7. Esther at Outward Expression
8. Pauline at Him in the Everyday
9. Joy at Bucket of Joy

 It’s okay if you’re inching along. There’s still time! You still have all of this week and most of next–it’s not too late for things to jell!Ann’s Personal Update:You all were so encouraging to me last week. You may recall that I compared my brain’s absorptive powers to a rubber ball–boing! John 14 and John 15:1-17 (and Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening) just kept bouncing off my cerebral cortex and out into the air again. Thank you for your kind comments and creative ideas.I’m pleased to report that this week, by the grace of God, my brain was a little more like the spongy coral that has startled so many unsuspecting readers. I was able to retain and recall some of the words!I truly want to get into my head some of Jesus’ amazing words recorded in the Gospel of John. If I don’t bother to get them into my head, then they don’t have much of a chance to make a deeper, more profound impact. But if they are in there, then they are accessible.It’s just that they can’t stop there. Cramming words into gray matter is just the start:

The journey from head to heart is one of the longest and most difficult that we know. (Donald Coggan, former archbishop of Canterbury*)

I’ve got to do more than cram these words into my head; I must let these truths pierce my heart.Amy at Lavender *Sparkles* pointed out in this post (one of her MMM updates), that the words of Scripture need to make their way to the heart, slicing it open if need be, to change us. Amy advised:

It’s quite possible (ask me how I know) to repeat a text daily, to remember it perfectly, yet to not let it penetrate your soul. And that’s the last thing I want. “Knowledge puffs up” (1 Corinthians 8:1)–and I don’t need any help getting puffed up. So this month I’ve added a step to my memorization process, in an effort to slow down and really meditate on the text. Spending five or ten minutes repeating sentences requires little of me; interacting with the words in my journal takes me deeper.

What a great, practical plan: Slowing down and spending time interacting with the words in a journal–that takes it deeper.Still, getting the words into my head in the first place is a critical starting point–thus, the importance of a commitment such as Mega Memory Month. In order for an idea or truth to embark on the long, arduous journey from head to heart, it must actually make it into the head.I’ll type out (from memory) what’s been “sticking.”Please keep in mind that the first part of this was tackled in October for the first-ever Mega Memory Month. So a huge hunk of what I’m about to type is review:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.Believe me whenI say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name you may ask me for anything and I will do it, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask for anything in my name, and I will do it.If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you send another Counselor to be with you forever–the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you do know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.Before long the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. I am in you, and you are in me. Whoever has my commands and obeys keeps them, he is the one who loves me. Whoever does not have my commands does not love me. These words are not my own. They belong to the Father who sent me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father…(forgetting this next section. Let’s see where I can pick up again)Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said to him, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. obeys my command, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I, too, will love Him and show myself to Him. (Rats. I think this belongs up higher.)…Peace I leave with you; my peace I leave with give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

I’m going to stop now. I have several additional chunks that I can spout, but it’s all out of order. I’ve got a plan for this coming week, however, to try to straighten it out.Pray for me, and I’ll pray for you (really)!Meanwhile, let me finish with a lovely poem by Robert Frost that was much, much easier to memorize:

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy EveningWhose woods these are I think I know.His house is in the village, though;He will not see me stopping hereTo watch his woods fill up with snow.My little horse must think it queerTo stop without a farmhouse nearBetween the woods and frozen lakeThe darkest evening of the year.He gives his harness bells a shakeTo ask if there is some mistake.The only other sound’s the sweepOf easy wind and downy flake.The woods are lovely, dark and deep.But I have promises to keep,And miles to go before I sleep,And miles to go before I sleep.

Ah, I do love that poem. That was typed out from memory, too. Thank you, Mr. Frost, for prefect rhythm and rhyme. * Coggan quoted on p. 41, Knowing Christ, by Alister McGrath, a Galilee book by Doubleday, a division of Random House, 1540 Broadway, New York, NY, 10036, copyright May 2002.

The post January 2009 MMM Monday Progress Report #3 appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

Participants’ Progress Reports #2

1.  Shepherdsgrace2.  Dea at For His Glory…By His Grace3.  Amy at Lavender *Sparkles*4.  Ruth at Caribbean Wordkeeper5.  Jennifer at PeaceLedge6.  Pauline at Him in the Everyday7.  Joy at Bucket of Joy

8.  Esther at Outward Expression

 

 

 

Also, I want to apologize for anyone who has been a little grossed out by January’s MMM button. It’s far too late to turn back at this point, but I promise you that the next time MMM rolls around, I’ll select something other than the startlingly brain-like photograph of coral when making my homemade bloggy-button.

Now for my Progress Report:

Memorizing is difficult for me!

My brain is more like a rubber ball than a sponge–instead of soaking in and retaining the beautiful truth of John 14 and part of John 15, the words are bouncing off.

This is not something that comes naturally, so I’m going to have to work at it and use all the tips I posted at the first Progress Report (if you visit the link, scroll down for memory tips).

I plan to record it on my Mp3 this week so that I can listen to it over and over. I also intend to start writing out the trouble spots. I’ll also make new cards in a new type font with some c o l o r. It’ll freshen it up for me mentally.

I started to type it out, but it was too depressing.

Anyone have any personal revelations?

The post January 2009 MMM Monday Progress Report #2 appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

Kathleen Norris

Fortunately for Ms. Norris’ Web presence, I’ve seen other articles and reviews pop up, such as this one from USA Today, another from the New York Times, a brief synopsis at Oprah’s magazine, and pretty much a thumbs-down (sorry, Kathleen) at the blog of a Norris-fan who “couldn’t get into it.” I couldn’t get into it, either, but only because the library wouldn’t let me renew it. I had too many books going and couldn’t finish Acedia & me during the loan period. I tried to renew it, but someone else had it on hold. So I’d only read a few chapters when I had to hand it back to the librarian.

But I latched onto something in those few chapters–so much so that I actually typed out a section to share:

The difficult thing about days is that they must be repeated. It may be, as we read in the Second Letter to Peter, that with the Lord, one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. What we perceive as slowness is merely the Lord’s patience. But like many children of the middle class, I was schooled in a particular kind of impatience that devalues such chores as cooking, cleaning, and taking out the garbage. An unspoken premise of my education was that it would enable me to employ someone else to perform these tasks. If the heady world of ideas tempted me to despise repetition, it also taught me to value the future over the present moment…(p. 12, italics mine)

I wanted to offer you the context for what stood out to me the most–the repetitive nature of chores. I don’t know that I have ever been in the same “heady world of ideas” as Norris, but I think I did develop a kind of “impatience that devalues such chores as cooking, cleaning, and taking out the garbage.”

For many years, I really hated the unending nature of everyday chores–things that must be repeated day after day. I would think, Why bother to make one’s bed if it simply must be made again the next morning?

Back in the early 1990s, I was in a women’s discipleship group. For a discussion-starter, the leader asked, “What is one chore you don’t mind doing?”

I couldn’t think of one single chore I didn’t despise.

We went around the room, and I must have made a joke about that. I can’t remember.

I did remember the leader’s answer, however. She said, “I like making the bed. It’s not because I like making beds. It’s because it doesn’t take too long and isn’t tiring, yet makes such a huge difference in how the room looks. If you have a few things lying around, but your bed is made, the room still looks pretty good. But if you have the room picked up and fairly clean, but the bed is unmade, it still looks like a huge mess.”

That was the first time a chore kind of made sense to me. After that interaction, quite possibly for the first time in my life, I started making my bed (thank you, Kim; sorry, Mom…and Tonya and Susan and all my college roommates).

She was right. I liked how the room looked when I would come back and see the bed made. When the covers were smoothed out and pillows fluffed, the mess around it was downplayed–a worthwhile return on investment, I’d say.

But there was something else about it…there was something else satisfying about making my bed. Oh well, I couldn’t figure out what it was. I just kept making my bed so that the room looked decent and that was enough.

Then I read those pages in Acedia & me, where Kathleen Norris explained how her intellectual interests were at odds with domesticity. She actually wrote:

I was a bratty kid who didn’t want to make her bed.“Why bother?” I would ask my mother in a witheringly superior tone. “I”ll just have to unmake it again at night.” To me, the act was stupid repetition; to my mother, it was a meaningful expression of hospitality to oneself, and a humble acknowledgment of our creaturely need to make and remake our daily environments. “You will feel better,” she said, “if you come home to an orderly room.” She was far wiser than I, but I didn’t comprehend that for many years. Neither of us could see that I was on my way to becoming a cerebral disaster zone. (p. 13)

Bingo! That was it! I’d already gotten past the idea that making my bed was “stupid repetition.” But this was that “something else” I couldn’t put my finger on:  Making my bed was a “meaningful expression of hospitality to oneself.”

That’s what I felt when I walked into my bedroom and the bed was made. It was as if I were saying to myself, “You’re worth it, Ann. It’s my pleasure to give you a nice environment and a lovely setting for a peaceful rest. Be my guest.”

So much of housework is a need to make and remake our daily environments. I discovered that I do feel better if I come home to an orderly room. Now that I’m married, of course, I’m also serving my spouse. All the same, I never had anyone put into words a reason for housework that was so personal, gratifying, and humbling.

Perhaps it’s that word “hospitality” that sounds so warm and welcoming, like a Bed & Breakfast hostess bustling about to make everyone comfortable. As a wife and mother, I can see how small acts of service communicate love and warmth and comfort to my family. I guess I never really included myself in that.

I don’t want to be self-centered–I want to look out for the interests of others–not just my own. But that doesn’t mean to the exclusion of my own interests.

Thank you, Kathleen Norris, for this slight shift of perspective on chores–not just making the bed, but also emptying the trash, washing dishes, vacuuming, sweeping, wiping the table, and folding laundry.

Far from meaningless repetition…it’s a gracious, loving act of hospitality to oneself (and others).

Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I think I left a load of laundry in the dryer…

The post Hospitality to Oneself appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

 If you’re still looking for ideas on how to plug those words into your head, here’s a collection of memorization tips and techniques that I’ve updated from an earlier post:Online Articles & Resources:

• At a site called Productivity 501, I found an article called How to Memorize Verbatim Text. It has a simple online tool you can use to help reinforce what you’re working on. The author uses the Gettysburg Address to illustrate his technique.
• Memorizing Techniques that cleverly uses a mneumonic device to present its suggestions: CAMP!
• A tip from a website called Remember Anything: Read out loud and write it out (see the site for more details).
• An eHow 8 step article about how to memorize Scripture.
• A long list of Scripture memory tips and suggestions.
• Ann V. described and photographed some of her memorization methods here.
• Stretch Mark Mama wrote about her basic index-card-propped-on-the-kitchen-table method.

Kroeker-Generated Suggestions:Here are a few memorization techniques that have worked for our family (a repeat from an earlier post included for consolidation purposes):

1. Record someone reading your selection (then listen to it…lots). I once wrote about using my MP3 microphone for verbal note taking. Record someone else reading the passage out loud (we usually hate our own voices when played back, don’t we? So have someone else do it), and then put it on your play list to listen to over and over.
2. Song. Set it to song or at least a rhythm, and it sticks pretty well. We have to get creative with Scripture, because some translations don’t have all that much rhythm to them. We’ve also applied this to skip counting for math. And can’t most of us remember our conjunctions thanks to Schoolhouse Rock (”Conjunction junction, what’s your function…”)? Anyway, I try to find some beat to the verse and say it that way. It helps.
3. Hand motions. Get all the senses involved and take in those words every way possible. We come up with hand symbols for God, Jesus, salvation, and other basic words like “all” and “world.” If you actually know American Sign Language, all the better. We don’t, so we just invent motions. They can recall the signs and bam! The words follow.
4. Pictures. For complicated verses, I’ve drawn little pictures to accompany the phrases. This helped the daughter who scoffed at my overblown hand motions and dance steps. She preferred the more civilized method of memorizing pictures to remember the flow of words.
5. Key words. If they remember the first word of a phrase that represents a shift in the verse, then often the rest of the words will tumble out automatically. So as we repeat it out loud, we emphasize the key words with exaggerated volume. I probably raise my eyebrows and open my mouth like a clown when I say them, too. I can’t help it. I’ve got Elasti-Face. Might as well use it for good.
6. Write it out. Okay, now these are the simple, low-tech, basic ideas coming out. Write it out lots of times, and it’ll enter the brain through another avenue.
7. Repeat, repeat, repeat. This is such an obvious one, but it bears repeating (sorry). But, well, that’s what we do. We go over and over the verse (out loud) until it’s drummed in there. Write it on a piece of paper and stick it in your pocket, or tape it to your cell phone and make yourself say it as you reach in your pocket for something or before making a call.

Ideas Submitted by Readers:

• Denise said that she sings along with Scripture memory CDs (I also thought of those “Hide ‘Em in Your Heart” Steve Green videos for kids). And she has her children write memory verses as part of their handwriting.
• Recommended by Joni: His Word in My Heart by Janet Pope “offers one of the best techniques and explanations for the benefits to memorizing.” Pope’s method helped her memorize longer texts such as the Sermon on the Mount by just doing a verse a day and then reviewing them, using index cards.
• Katrina described what worked for her kids–recording and reading it.
• Helen’s final celebration post details her step-by-step method and displays a colorful, creative, poster-sized final product. I was inspired.
• Ruth provided this helpful link to a website dedicated to helping people memorize Scripture.
• Amy explains how she tackles memorization (with long-term retention success) and links to a pdf article with helpful Scripture memory motivation and tips.

The post January 2009 MMM Monday Progress Report #1 appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

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It’s back!  Just in time to support your New Year’s Resolutions!Mega Memory Month (MMM): January EditionHere’s how to participate:

• Pick something you’d like to memorize. Something long. Something formidable. Something mega. (Mega to you may not be mega to me–simply challenge yourself relative to what you’ve tackled in the past.) Could be poetry, a famous speech, or a passage of Scripture. Your choice.Need ideas? Visit Lavender Sparkles, who posted some suggestions for thinking through your selection.
• Announce it on your blog whenever you like. If you find out about MMM late or forget about it until halfway through the month, no problem. Jump in and do what you can in the time that remains.
• Leave me a link (in comments or via e-mail) that will take readers to your own blog’s MMM post. Non-bloggers of course may participate as well. I’ll update this post and place names and links in a prominent spot.
• Please include the new MMM button to tie us together visually. It helps interested readers find and join the challenge!
• Start memorizing!
• Consider a final celebration project. I’m encouraging MMM participants to come up with some kind of end-of-month project to celebrate how far they’ve come. MMM Celebration Day will be on the last day of January–Saturday the 31st. For celebration ideas, see this post and visit MMM participants’ sites to see what they did.

I’ll update this post so that participants are front-and-center (as I did for the first-ever MMM).

Official Participants List

1. Pauline at Him in the Everyday (Romans)
2. Joy at Bucket of Joy (John 14 & Psalm 1)
3. Dea at For His Glory…By His Grace (1 Peter 2:13-25)
4. Amy at Lavender *Sparkles* (“A Gospel Narrative” from A Gospel Primer for Christians)
5. Jennifer at Scraps and Snippets (the Beatitudes–Matthew 5:3-12, and a poem “Grammar in a Nutshell”)
6. Danielle at Dance by the Light (Romans 8 )
7. Esther at Outward Expression (Alma 32:21-43–from the Book of Mormon)
8. Teresa at The Life and Times of a Cool Single Mom (Ecclesiastes 7)
9. Jennifer at PeaceLedge (Solidifying the first 2 1/2 chapters in Philippians and adding on to the end of chapter 3)
10. Me (or would it be “I”?) at AnnKroeker (John 14 + John 15:1-17 and Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”)
11. Andrea at Hopeannfaith also here (Philippians 1)
12. Dana at Think Pink (Jeremiah 17  and William Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”)
13. Sarah at Beauty in the Mundane (Psalm 139 and maybe a bonus poem)
14. Lori at A Work in Progress (Ephesians 5)
15. Ruth at Caribbean Wordkeeper (1 Peter 1 & Romans 12)
16. erinstraza (John 15:18-27 & the map of the United States)
17. Trish and her daughter at trishsouthard (“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”)
18. Zoanna at A Penchant for Pens (Philippians 2:1-11)
19. Laura at Laura’s Imperfect Blog (Psalm 103 & the hymn “Praise to the Lord, The Almighty,” a paraphrase of Psalm 103)
20. Kathie at A Sparrow’s Home (Ephesians 1–and someday, Ephesians 2)
21. Withajoyfulheart at Little Homeschool in the Village (Ephesians 5)
22. Ann at A Holy Experience (Philippians 2: 1-18)
23. Runningamuck (Psalm 33)
24. Amy (Philippians)
25. Sarah at Because of Abigail (Ephesians 1:1-14)
26. The Butterfly Catcher at Butterflies of the Moment (James 1)

Optional Progress Reports:  I’ll be posting my own personal MMM Progress Reports on Mondays (same day as Make-Do Mondays–it’ll be a busy two-post blog day for me throughout January). My MMM Progress Reports will serve as a host site, providing a Mr. Linky for you to tie in if you like. Feel free to chime in with your own progress report any time during the week. Write in the comments or at your own blog. That way we can visit and encourage each other.

Progress Report #1

Progress Report #2

Progress Report #3

Final Thoughts:  Nobody is grading or judging us on how well we complete this month-long memory project. But making our intentions public may spur us on to finish successfully.Don’t let the word “mega” discourage you from participating. Participate even if your selection is modest. In fact, my own might be pretty puny compared to those of some mega-memorizers. The bottom line is that we will be better for it.So jump in and join the carnival, whether you chip away at something short or long.I hope to encourage you along the way. For starters, here’s a link to my mega collection of memorization tips and techniques.Let’s take a risk.Stretch ourselves.After all, Mega Memory Month is hosted by someone who feels that her mind is more like a sieve than a steel trap; yet, as I discovered in the first-ever Mega Memory Month:Our minds can hold more than we think they can.  Note: Mega Memory Month button utilizes a photo of coral. In case you wondered. Here’s the code for the MMM button–you can paste it into your blog post in HTML mode:<p style=”text-align:center;”><a href=”http://annkroeker.wordpress.com/2009/01/01/january-2009-is-mega-memory-month” target=”_blank”><img class=”alignnone size-full wp-image-1807″ title=”mmm” src=”http://annkroeker.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/mmm.jpg” alt=”mmm” width=”266″ height=”190″ /></a></p>

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Mega Memory Month: January Edition

This is not the announcement.

This is just a teaser–January 1st is MMM Opening Day!

If you’re new to Mega Memory Month, you can familiarize yourself by visiting the initial post for the first-ever MMM in October 2008.Each person determined what “mega” meant personally. As I pointed out a few posts ago, some participants, with more nimble minds offering greater capacity, tackled vast swaths of Scripture; while a few of us nibbled what tidbits we could. Regardless of the actual serving size, I believe we all feasted. We stretched ourselves. We swallowed as much as our systems could handle, and were nourished.

Most people chose a passage of Scripture, but I’m inviting and encouraging any category of memory work. If you would like to work on a poem, some music, a speech, or Scripture, it’s entirely up to you.

On January 1st, you can announce your own intentions, link to the host page here (scheduled to go live a few minutes after midnight EST), and dive right into another month of memorization accountability and encouragement.

A Sneak Preview and Unveiling: Below you’ll find the new-and-improved Mega Memory Month icon/button you can use for your own MMM posts. Grab it now to use in your blog’s introductory post on January 1st–you can link to the main MMM post that day ready to go (the button links to the January 1st post that isn’t yet published).

I hope you’ll join me the month of January in another attempt at memorizing more than we thought possible.

Our minds can hold more than we think they can.

[*UPDATED TO EXPLAIN BUTTON* The image in the bloggy button is of CORAL. Not an actual brain.]

The post It's Almost Here: The Return of MMM! appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

Mega Memory Month: January Edition

In the next few weeks, you might come across a poem, some music, or passages that you’d like to commit to memory. Write down the top picks in a journal or on your blog, so you don’t forget.And then, as part of your New Year’s resolution or just to start the year off right, you can choose from your options and dive right into another month of memorization accountability and encouragement.For a little inspiration, here’s a recent Desiring God devotional from John Piper. Some highlights from his intro:

I have it third hand, that Dr. Howard Hendricks (of Dallas Seminary) once made the statement (and I paraphrase) that if it were his decision, every student graduating from Dallas Theological Seminary would be required to learn one thousand verses word perfect before they graduated.Dallas Willard, professor of Philosophy at the University of Southern California, wrote, “Bible memorization is absolutely fundamental to spiritual formation. If I had to choose between all the disciplines of the spiritual life, I would choose Bible memorization, because it is a fundamental way of filling our minds with what it needs. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth. That’s where you need it! How does it get in your mouth? Memorization” (“Spiritual Formation in Christ for the Whole Life and Whole Person” in Vocatio, Vol. 12, no. 2, Spring, 2001, p. 7)….Luther knew so much of the Bible from memory that when the Lord opened his eyes to see the truth of justification in Romans 1:17, he said, “Thereupon I ran through the Scriptures from memory,” in order to confirm what he had found.

I hope you’ll join me in another attempt at memorizing more than we thought possible.Take note of something mega to memorize, and drop in here for Mega Memory Month (MMM): January Edition!

The post Coming Soon to a Blog Near You: The Return of MMM appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

Jennifer at Scraps and Snippets posted about Lifelong Learning at her blog, citing a 2006 article by Harvey Mackay packed with statistics to make an autodidact sprint to her bookcase and grab anything within reach:

• Only 14 percent of adults with a grade-school education read literature in 2002.
• 51 percent of the American population never reads a book more than 400 pages after they complete their formal education.
• 73 percent of all books in libraries are never checked out.
• The average American watches 32 hours of TV every week.
• The average American reads only eight hours (books, newspapers, magazines, Yellow Pages, etc.) every week.
• The average American annually spends 10 times more on what he puts on his head than what he puts into his head.

Consider the following:

• If you read just one book per month for 12 straight months, you will be in the top 25 percentile of all intellectuals in the world!
• If you read five books on one subject, you are one of the world’s foremost leading authorities on that subject!
• If you read just 15 minutes a day — every day, for one year — you can complete 20 books!

The idea of becoming an expert by focusing one’s reading on a single subject reminds me of a post I wrote about lifelong learning and Five Fat Files. In it, I referenced an online article on brain research that included a statement attributed to Albert Einstein:

Einstein said that if a person studies a subject for just 15 minutes a day in a year he will be an expert, and in five years he may be a national expert.

Literary agent Terry Whalin used those same statistics from the Mackay article to encourage writers to read regularly.

With these statistics, it is little wonder that parts of the publishing business are struggling (and even predicting the struggle will continue for some.)If you want to be involved in some aspect of publishing (books or magazine writing where your work appears in print), then you need to be committed to reading on a regular basis. It’s important to take in great information through reading. The experience will fill your mind and heart with something important which will influence your writing. Create a habit of reading.

So. After pondering the statistics and recommendations, I’m feeling positively brilliant for having read a few books in the past couple of months.

Just last weekend I finished Francine Rivers’ Redeeming Love.

The kids and I are reading Swiss Family Robinson (read online for free) and listening to The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew on tape (also available online for free).

I also did a quick-read of So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids and almost finished a short book by N.T. Wright entitled Who Was Jesus?

According to Mackay, I’m on track to being “in the top 25 percentile of all intellectuals in the world!”

It’s easy if we follow Mackay’s claim that reading just 15 minutes a day—every day, for one year—we can complete 20 books.

Just fifteen minutes a day.

I’m going to grab that book by Wright and finish it up. But before I head off, I’d like to pose two simple questions and hope that our answers will demonstrate that the blogging world can throw off Mackay’s dismal statistics:

What have you read recently…and what do you plan to read?

The post Just Fifteen Minutes a Day: Ready…Set…Read! appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

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Click on Mr. Linky to see who is revealing his or her final presentation.If you have time today or this weekend, drop by and celebrate with these MMM friends.

Official Celebration Links(contact me if yours is missing)

• Check out Angela’s Scripture memory notebook at Drawing Nearer
• Erin Straza offers a synopsis of the MMM experience at a personal level
• Jennifer at Peace Ledge typed it out after a technological uploading challenge.
• Ann V. offers what she calls a “farm hick’s quiet recitation of Phil. 1:19-30” (I heard it — sounds more like the voice of an angel to me)
• Katrina of Callapidder Days summarizes the month with helpful reflections on what worked well.
• Pauline at This is the Day learned to put pictures on her blog while sharing her final project–not only do you see her MMM notes, you also get to see some bonus shots of Australian sweet peas!
• Helen at A Work of Heart posted pix of her memory tools/system…and a sweet summary of how the Romans passages impacted her.
• Caribbean storms delayed Ruth from posting on Friday — but it’s never too late to celebrate! She created a podcast for the occasion in her wonderful voice.

Please note: Mega Memory Month will return in a few months, sometime in early 2009. Once again, you’ll be able take the challenge to memorize something bigger than you ever thought possible. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OHl6RcHsJU]

A portion of John 14 recited by Ann Kroeker.

(with a view from my hammock)

(in the name of precision, you will hear where I self-corrected, but at verse 16, I said “send” instead of “give you.” Later I inserted an unnecessary “do.” You can check my accuracy by following along at this Bible Gateway link to John 14.)

The post It's Here! The October 2008 MMM Final Celebration! appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

• Write it out in calligraphy
• Write it out in colored pencils or markers (have the kids decorate it, or doodle something yourself)
• Print it out on fancy paper and frame it
• Videotape yourself reciting it and post somehow on your blog
• Audiotape yourself reciting it and post somehow on your blog (anyone know how to podcast in WordPress.com?)
• Or, if you’re low on time and creativity, simply type it all out one last time.

I’ll post my own final presentation that day and include another Mr. Linky.Be sure to sync up at some point, so we can celebrate with you!Also, please take a few minutes to visit MMM participants who link to a Celebration/Presentation Post and leave an encouraging comment.Now, back to this week’s progress report.Let us know your current status by linking back.

And now I shall entertain you with my lack of retention:

John 14(or, rather, as much of John 14 as I can drag up from my memory bank):

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.“

Thomas asked said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus said to him answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.“

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and he that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to my the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

“If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will send give you another Counselor to be with you forever — the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

something I can’t quite remember, and I have the feeling I’m mixing it all up… 

Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

He who Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I, too, will love him and show myself to him.“

Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) askesaid, “But, Lord, wWhy do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

Jesus replied, “Whoever keeps my commands is the one who loves me. And If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. Mmy Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

Okay. I give up. I’ll go back through and mark in green the things that need restored, repaired, or rearranged (green seems happier than red).

I don’t think I’ll get the rest of John 14 in my brain before Friday, and I may not even get that which I have worked on perfect for the celebration.

But I hope that frees you.

No matter how much or how little you managed to memorize:

Every word counts.

The post MMM Progress Report: Week 4 (and reminder of Final Celebration/Presentation Day) appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

The purpose of memory, in my view, is not to up the word count and be able to spout off verses at will. It is so that we will be transformed by the word that is written on our hearts, that we will recognize the Father’s voice more easily, that we will draw ever closer to Him.So don’t give up. Don’t be discouraged. Let the words you DO know steep in your soul, and let the Lord breathe life to you through them.Press on dear sisters!

Esther at Outward Expression wrote a similar thought at her blog — that as she works on memorizing, “the goal is to, in countless small ways, come closer to Him whose Word it is.”Great stuff.With their words as a lead-in (and without further ado), here are my Top 2 MMM Memorization Tips:Tip #1: Pray the Passage.In these waning days of October, make Mega Memory Month more meaningful (forgive the alliteration overkill) by praying the words. Even if you need to open your Bible and have the words right there for easy reference, use the passage, phrases, verses, truths, as part of your interaction with the Savior in prayer. The words can be a launching point to dialogue with the Lord and prompt specific, powerful worship.Tip #2: Speak and Discuss it. Ask someone to listen to you recite it. Then talk with him or her about its meaning. By saying aloud the words to someone else, its truth can communicate. By talking about our passages with someone else, we can turn this memory challenge into a couples devotional time or meaningful friendship discussion, adding interpersonal connection, depth and insight to what we otherwise might simply be privately cramming into our mental storage units.These two tips may not be the most efficient or effective for sheer word-preservation — but by adding meaning and purpose, they may cause the passages to stick  more deeply not only in the mind, but also in the heart and soul, where we’ll ultimately need it most. And these tips may also allow you to experience something richer and more meaningful with the Lord Himself.No matter how “mega” your challenge is ending up, whether long or short, mega or modest, please try these two tips. Like Jennifer advised, let the words you do know steep in your soul, and let the Lord breathe life into you through them.A few practical notes:This coming Monday I’ll post my final Progress Report including Mr. Linky (so you can link your posts, as well). It will be the last progress report before the end of October, when we’ll post our last hurrah (see next note).This coming Friday, October 31st, marks MMM Final Celebration/Presentation Day. It’s a day to celebrate any and all words that have been tucked away for safe keeping. If you’re so inspired or inclined, I’m encouraging some kind of final presentation.No ideas? You could:

• Write it out in calligraphy
• Write it out in colored pencils or markers (have the kids decorate it, or doodle something yourself)
• Print it out on fancy paper and frame it
• Videotape yourself reciting it and post somehow on your blog
• Audiotape yourself reciting it and post somehow on your blog (anyone know how to podcast in WordPress.com?)
• Or, if you’re low on time and creativity, simply type it all out one last time.

I’ll post my own final presentation and include another Mr. Linky.Be sure to sync up at some point, so we can celebrate with you!Please visit participants who link to a Celebration/Presentation Post and leave an encouraging comment.Tomorrow’s Sunday. The perfect day to test run these Top 2 MMM Memorization Tips. May they help you recognize the Father’s voice and draw you closer to Him.If I may close by expanding on Jennifer’s exhortation:Press on dear sisters — and brothers (I know you’re out there)!

The post Top 2 MMM Memorization Tips appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.

I have to be honest. I didn’t make much progress.

I had some other work to do, and MMM kind of stalled out. I think I can manage to tap out what I already worked on, but any new verses are muddled at best.

And that’s okay, right?

I’m not going to feel guilty about this. I’m simply going to do what I can this week.

Here’s what I can do now, pleased that I have been able to memorize some of the words of the Lord Jesus Christ that were preserved for us, for me, for this time, for this day:

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

Jesus answered, “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and [that] the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.

Believe me when I say that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You can  may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

[oh, my; I am tired and have forgotten this part…I’m scanning my brain…searching…the search is fruitless. It’s just not coming up. I have to look it up. It should begin: “If you love me, you will obey what I command.”]…[A]nd I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever–the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. [I left out “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” The next part is in the wrong place] Anyone who loves me will keep my commands. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I also will love him and make myself [That whole part should be somewhere else and isn’t worded right.]

Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day, you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever keep has my commands….

I think I did better last week.

As progress reports go, I made very little progress.

How about you?

* Posted late Sunday night to be available for early rising MMM Monday Progress Report participants.

The post MMM Progress Report: Week 3 appeared first on Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach.