Table of Contents
An honest sales pitch
When I started chronicling the stories that our family liked to tell when we gathered around tables or campfires, my main purpose was just to capture them for our grandchildren. As the stories began to take shape I realized the lessons could help more than just our family. That’s why I’m giving you 9 reasons you should read The Story Farm:
1. Short Chapters
Let’s be honest, some of us don’t have time to dive into long books with long chapters. I dislike getting into a chapter and not being able to finish it before my reading time ends. It’s frustrating because I know when I get back to the book I’m going to have to review the parts of the chapter I’ve already read to make sense of the rest of the chapter. It’s especially true of non-fiction or self-help books.
One of the comments I hear from people who read The Story Farm is that they like the short chapter lengths. Most of the chapters are less than 2000 words and take less than ten minutes to read. I shared in a previous blog that I consider The Story Farm “a bathroom book”. I want you to be able to read a chapter “in one sitting”.
There’s no pressure to hurry through a chapter of The Story Farm. You can relax and enjoy the story, and maybe have some time left to consider the lesson.
2. Inspirational lessons
Each chapter of The Story Farm book has an inspirational lesson. Some stories have business and lifestyle applications, like “Plan Ahead” or “Be Ready”. Other lessons are more personal, like “Keep Your Promises”, “Understanding Unreasonable Fears”, or “Trustworthiness”.
The stories in each chapter illustrate a lesson. My goal is to inspire you to apply it. Many of the lessons are the same as you would find in a business or self-help book, but presented differently. The stories share how we learned those lessons, and give you examples of different ways those lessons can be learned.
3. Scripture applications
Each chapter ends with a passage or two from the Bible. Some of the passages are my favorite verses, and some of them may be your favorites, too. I selected verses whose truths are reflected in the lessons.
Forty of the chapters are categorized in sections using the Christian qualities listed by Peter in 2 Peter 1:5-8:
Yes, and for this very cause adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence; and in moral excellence, knowledge; and in knowledge, self-control; and in self-control perseverance; and in perseverance godliness; and in godliness brotherly affection; and in brotherly affection, love. For if these things are yours and abound, they make you to not be idle or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
These section headings include a definition of the quality which I wrote after referring to online dictionaries like Merriam-Webster and dictionary.com along with Bible study dictionaries like The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible and Thayer’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicons, both referenced on Blue Letter Bible.
4. Funny stories
You’re going to laugh at me and my siblings, and that’s OK. We laugh with and at each other all the time, especially when we’re telling stories. A couple of the stories are long-loved favorites of our children and grandchildren, like the Viking boat story and the “Kitty Rabbit” chapter. Others are stories that make us laugh when we are telling telling them because we remember the laughter when it happened.
Humor is a great teacher because it reinforces learning and makes us feel good about the experience. There is a lot of humor in The Story Farm. Sometimes it’s the whole story, sometimes it’s just a line or a wisecrack in the middle. Since laughter was a part of growing up, it’s part of the lessons we learned along the way.
5. Thought-provoking stories
Many of the stories are hard. The barn fires and the diagnosis of Janis’ handicap were difficult to write and edit, and my siblings felt it, too. But the lessons we learned were too important to not write about them. Those stories may make you think, too.
Our hope is that sharing the hard stories will help you acknowledge the pain in your life and recognize the lessons you learned.
6. Animals
Like the subtitle says, we learned a lot from the hogs and the dogs. The Story Farm includes a lot of information about swine farm operations, and a little about dogs. “The Stuck Sow” and “Fritz and the Kittens” chapters are specifically about individual animals from whom we learned lessons directly.
When we learn from animals, the lessons often stick better than from human teachers. I think it’s because we have to understand the lessons from the animal’s behavior, so we think through the lesson more thoroughly. We have to be able to translate the animal’s behavior into human language, so the lesson gets better traction in our brains.
7. Family values
We’re not saying our family is perfect, just that we are family and what we experienced, we experienced together. Those shared experiences became part of the worldview that guides our decisions. A big part of that worldview is the value of family.
A lot of pundits decry the loss of “family values”, but few of them can actually explain why family values are important. My first book, Families from the Beginning, explains the importance of families. Our stories in The Story Farm are simply examples of how families teach important life lessons.
8. The illustrations
Every section heading page has a couple illustrations by Deborah Wickert. She listened to the stories and captured some of the main elements on paper. Many of the drawings were challenges for her. She had never drawn a burning barn before, or a collie running scared.
The ink drawings provide a visual for some of the stories, and will capture your attention. You will look for the story depicted in the scenes as you read through each section. For her first book illustration, Deborah really delivered.
9. Your memories
Everybody has memories of how they learned life lessons. Some of your stories are funny, some are serious. Many people have told me that one story or another in The Story Farm reminded them of lessons they learned and the experiences that taught them.
When you read The Story Farm’s stories, they may remind you of how you learned those same lessons. That reminder may also encourage you to continue to apply the lessons in your life, and to remember the people (or animals) that taught them.
Yes, you should buy and read The Story Farm
As the author, of course I think you should read The Story Farm. I don’t necessarily think it will change your life (although my first book, Families from the Beginning, could). I do believe God can use The Story Farm to remind you of His blessings in your life. I believe you will enjoy the stories and the lessons. And I believe The Story Farm is worth reading, one story at a time.
By His calling, in His strength,
Dean
The Story Farm is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, in paperback and e-reader (Kindle and Nook) formats. Click here for more information.
Our first book, Families from the Beginning: Your Family, God’s Design, is available in paperback or Kindle on Amazon.
Follow this link to see a preview: Families from the Beginning sample.
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