I Did It!!!

I read the entire Bible cover-to-cover in 90 days!  Well, 86 days to be exact!  What a wonderful, worthwhile accomplishment!  Why did I do it?  One big reason was the fact that I always seem to list The Bible as one of my favorite books, but I've never read it cover-to-cover.  All the other books I  have on my list I've read, sometimes many times over.  Sure, over my 40 plus years (cough, cough), I've read many, many verses over and over but there is no replacement for reading it as a complete book.
What did I learn?  The Bible in 90 Days is strictly a reading program.  Simply read each day, no study.  However, I learned so much just by reading God's Word.  Things I've never noticed before jumped off the page, Biblical history seemed to fall into place for me, verses and stories I've known by heart for years seemed to have new meaning.
How did I do it?  With the help of Amy at Mom's Toolbox.  She has put together an awesome ministry to guide you every step of the way.  With the help of a great team and mentor.  Once you sign up for the challenge, you are assigned a group of ladies that will be going on the journey with you and will also have a mentor (Thanks, Sue!)  who has already completed the challenge successfully.  Each Monday you are required to check in and say how you are doing.  If you are behind, your team gives you encouragement.  If you are on schedule or ahead, you motivate others. 
I am so happy I went on this journey!  I did it and YOU can too!

Clean Sheets

Today I begin week 2 of the 90 Day Bible reading challenge.  The past week has been so fulfulling!  I've stayed on track and have almost 10% of the entire Bible read already, whoo hoo!

Today I am reading in Leviticus and my theme is "clean sheets"!  One of life's simple pleasures is crawling into a bed with freshly laundered sheets.  They are so crisp and clean, smell so good and promise a great night's sleep every time.  Unfortunately, after one night, they just don't hold the same appeal.  They aren't as comfortable and I won't be able to experience that luxurious feeling again until I go through all the work of stripping the bed, washing the sheets, and remaking the bed - such a daunting task, it only gets done once a week at best.

Living under the "old" law was  A LOT of work!  There were too many instructions to count!  Was this clean or unclean?  Which sacrifices do I need to make?  How do I make those sacrifices?  Talk about daunting!  After reading these verses, it just reaffirms how good God was to his people to abolish these ways and give us something "easy".  Is living a Christian life easy?  No, but because he gave his one and only son to die for OUR many sins, we have hope of eternal life!  I think I can safely say that if I lived in Moses and Aaron's time I wouldn't have any hope of that.  Too much work, too complicated...I've never been the best at following directions.  Repentance would be like cleaning the sheets, a daunting task, so I wouldn't do it as often as I should.  Thank the Lord, I can have "clean sheets" at any time now.  The process is simple....ask !  There is no stain that our Mighty God can't get out, he instantly restores us to his crisp, clean , sweet smelling followers!

Don't Stop Believin'

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This summer I've been participating in  the Ministry of Motherhood bookclub based on Sally Clarkson's book.  This week we are talking about the importance of training our children.  As I've read the verses this week, an 80's song keeps popping into my head (I know I've just dated myself!), DON'T STOP BELIEVIN' by Journey.  The chorus says "Don't stop believin', hold on...".    That's exactly what God tells us to do too! 

Hebrews 10:35-36 tells us not to throw away our confidence because it will be richly rewarded, perservere!  Matthew 24:9-14 assures us that persecution will come and many will turn away from what they've been taught, but we are to stand firm!  Don't stop believin', hold on because God keeps his promises and he has promised us our perserverance will pay off more than we can imagine!   My desire is that I can teach my children how important this command is...that in their everyday life they will finish what they commit to do, that they know what they believe and don't let others convince them otherwise.....that they Don't stop believin and hold on.....

90 Day Bible Challenge - Day 1

Day 1 is finally here!  I've really been looking forward to kicking off this challenge to read the Bible in 90 Days.  I just know that the next 3 months will be a great time of growth for me.  One of the great things about this Mom's Toolbox program is accountablility....you MUST check in with your group EVERY Monday during the challenge to let everyone know how you've done for the week.  Knowing that a whole team of people care and are cheering you on to succeed is an awesome, inspiring feeling!

This week I will read Gen. 1:1 thru Exodus 40:38.  Today's reading in the first 16 chapers of Genesis was a great way to begin a challenge such as this.  Genesis is a book of beginnings:  the beginning of our world, the beginning of man, and the beginning of God's great promises to his people!  Thank you Lord for being faithful and true to your promises ALWAYS!  Today is the beginning of an amazing journey.....

Could you read the Bible cover-to-cover in 90 days?

I'm going to try starting July 11!  Last week, I saw the challenge over at Mom's Toolbox and decided to jump on board.  I've tried to read it over a year and honestly that was just too much time for me.  I started out strong, but after a few months I fell behind and never recovered.  I'm thinking that 90 days should be just right!  Want to give it a try too?  If so, head on over and sign up...the neat thing about this program is they put you in an accountability group and assign you a mentor for inspiration and encouragement!