Monday, August 9, 2010

here, there, anywhere!

I'd read my Bible in a box;
I'd read my Bible while folding socks;
I'd read my here or there--
I'd read my Bible anywhere!

Amy over at Mom's Toolbox has asked the Bible in 90 Days participants to share where they have been doing their reading. Thankfully, God hasn't tested me and asked me to read in a box just yet, but as for the socks... Well, I have read while trying to get chores done (such as the never-ending mountain of laundry, including a beach bag full of mismatched socks).

I've also done my reading at my sons' ice hockey practice, as well as hunched over a kiddie-size table during my break at VBS, sprawled across the couch at home during the quiet night hours, and perched beside the window of a friends' river house with the sounds of frogs chirrupping in the background. Ted's career is in the travel industry, so he's read in a variety of cities and at a variety of altitudes. :)

While we consider ourselves very flexible and really would consider reading anywhere, Ted and I probably get the most reading done in one place. That honor belongs to our bedroom, either in the desk chair or on the bed. We have a tiny house, so our room is one of the few places we can go with minimal distractions. Usually our house is quietest in the early morning or during the night hours--times when we're usually in our bedroom anyway--so that's where we end up doing our reading.

We are both steadily reading along. I'm currently on track; Ted is behind about 10 days. He is working a lot through the middle of this month, then his schedule will be slow for awhile. I'm going to pray and encourage him to gain ground during that slow time.

Monday, August 2, 2010

I ask, God gives

I started last week so far behind, I didn't even know what day I was supposed to be on. I had gotten swamped by family birthdays and my VBS volunteering that I didn't get to the scheduled readings for more than a week. So I ended up more than 7 days behind.

In the past I would have used that as my 'sign' (i.e. my excuse) to quit. This time, though, partnering with my husband and the Mom's Toolbox group encouraged me to not to give up but to pray and press on! I asked God to open up time and just give me a thirst for the Word. I wanted to catch up quickly, but I also wanted to be excited about it. I never want my Bible reading to feel like drudgery, a chore, or just another checkmark on my list of things to do. To me God's Word is too precious to read with such an attitude.

Well, you know the whole concept of ask and it shall be given? Well, I asked and God gave--abundantly! On Sunday and Monday, while Ted was at work and the kids were playing I was able to fit in a lot of reading. Joshua and Judges were interesting and familiar, so I got through them fairly quickly. Then I started catching a cold, which sounds like it would be bad and put me behind. Not so! Ted took pity on me, so for two days I was able to lie in bed for a couple hours when he got home from work. I spent that time resting and reading at the same time. The books that I was reading at that point--Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel--were so interesting that I couldn't put them down. I got up to make dinner and hang with the family, but after the kids were in bed I immediately picked up my Bible and continued reading.

I was hungering to read more, so much so that I actually ended up getting ahead in my reading once I started reading through 1 Kings. As I got into 1 & 2 Kings, they were so interesting that I slowed down a little bit to figure out the relations between the different kings and the separate nations of Israel and Judah. I spent the weekend with a group of friends at our annual homeschool planning retreat, where I was able to have plenty of quiet time to study those two books.

So now at the beginning of week 5 I'm right where I should be. And I can't take any credit for that--thank you Lord!

As for Ted...well, he's behind but still plugging along. He has an upcoming training event/evaluation at work, so he's spending most of his spare time studying for that. I'll be praying for him to find times to devote to his Bible reading while still leaving plenty of time for studying.