Welcome to this awesome
experience of reading through the entire Bible in 180 days....
Ok so a little bit about myself and why I decided
to do this challenge with you:
I was raised as a good Christian girl with
Christianity all around me on a daily basis, we went to church on Sundays,
Sunday school, religious studies at school etc etc. I thought of myself as a
Christian, but realized that actually I was doing a lot of things ‘real’
Christians don’t do...I messed up (and still do) on a daily basis and have
fallen and will fall short many times..... I had never read the Bible cover to
cover and it started bothering me the older I got, oh don't get me wrong, I
tried a few times! But I never seemed to be able to get past Genesis (I know,
it is very very bad!). I spent time in the Bible on a regular basis and thought
that would be enough, I was sure with going to church and reading here and
there I by now have read through the entire Bible...right?(oh I was so so
wrong!)
My journey led me to South Korea for a year and at
that point something happened that pulled the rug out from under me…I felt lost
and was struggling silently with my faith (never turning away from it but questioning
it) as I was posing the age old question of WHY did it happen to ME? Luckily
for me I was in the company and presence of faithful people and through them I
got the answers of WHY ME (and no I didn't like it :)). I learnt of the 90 day
challenge and decided to do this, I mean what else could I do I had LOADS of
time on my hands! I joined in with MomsToolbox who were helping us through the
reading plan and actually stuck with it. Reading the Bible in 90 Days is an
amazing, exciting and awesome experience, but it is also one that takes
commitment and determination. And you have to be honest with yourself (and be
prepared to find out things about yourself that you might not like that
much)!!!
During that time I began to have a thirst and
hunger that was only satisfied when I read in my Bible and have to admit that
when I don't read I feel kind of lost...it feels like something is missing (this
is now three years ago and I still have that thirst!!!).... A switch took place
in my heart. Instead of just reading to finish the book, I began to read
because it connected me to God in ways I had never truly experienced. It
changed me and God poured out blessing after blessing, which He has been doing
my whole life I just never took the time to see and appreciate it. I wasn't
satisfied during the weeks that followed....I was ready to do it again. I
wanted to see what God would show me the second time and what I might have
missed the first time. After I did the initial challenge I also studied
Matthew, read through Luke, Proverbs and Mark. But and I still couldn’t get
enough, hence the fact that I wanted to do it all over again…So I spoke to some
of my friends and people at church and most said they might find 90 days a bit
too hard so I decided to develop a reading plan that would be for 180 days. We
had such an amazing journey when we started this in January 2012. So I decided
to do it again in 2013 and now we are doing it in 2014! And hopefully for many
more years to come!
This year is a complete “team” effort! Pastor
Brandon modified the reading plan so that it is done by word count, and
basically the same amount each day. He also formatted it so that it is B5 size,
perfect to fit in my NIV Bible J and as always he made himself
available for any questions! Now that is great, thank you!!! Jamie is doing
these amazing graphics for the plan which we are all getting when we start a
new book, with a summary of each reading and also interesting facts of the book,
I love them, thank you!!!! And since I am now in Vietnam and not at IEC anymore
(I know right?!?!) they will probably be asked a lot of questions on Sundays
hahah and last but not least, I will be doing the daily soaps. But because I am
working, studying and doing the 180 I was worried that I might not be able to
do my SOAPS as thoroughly as I wanted to... I was even thinking of not sending
them out...can you believe that?!?!But then Renier was supportive enough to say
he will do the soaps every other day for me! We will be reading the allotted
reading together every day (hopefully at the lake with God’s creation all
around us :)) but make turns doing the soap. I am very excited about this new
aspect of doing this with someone on such a personal level. And if you are able
to do it with your partner or even just a close friend, I would encourage this
as you will learn a lot about yourself, them and your relationship...I am sure
our relationship will never be the same! So you will see the wacky, SOAPS are
mine, the serious ones are his hahaha so as you can see it is a complete team
effort! Thank you so much to all of the team members for what you are doing it
is invaluable!
What you can expect from me:
- IF (it is
your choice :)) you commit to reading along with me I will commit myself to you
and pray for you by name.
- I will be
reading with you. I'll be facing the same struggles and distractions as I don't
think I would be able to encourage anyone if I am not going through the reading
plan with you.
- I will be
emailing you at least once a week for a check in. I will however send my SOAP
devotionals on a daily basis (I attached an explanation of soap for all the
newbies). My role is to encourage you so therefore I will not explain scripture
to you (I am most definitely NOT qualified for that! hahaha) But as mentioned
before Pastor Brandon will be happy to answer any questions! Yippeeee. So just
send them to me (or if you have his email) and I will get those answers rolling
in.
- You can
expect confidentiality so if you email me directly it will be just between the
two of us, unless you want to share with the rest of the group.
- You can
expect me to be your personal cheerleader! I want to see you succeed. I want
you to experience the fullness of what God has in store for you. However, I'm not
going to be beating you over the head if you don't make it (ok maybe towards
the end I will!). I will celebrate with you no matter how long it takes or how
far you get! God will reward ALL of your effort!
What YOU need to do:
- Your main
commitment is to READ from your own Bible every day (in any language!). It
takes about 30 minutes to an hour a day to complete the reading. It may vary
from that depending on how fast you read and how many distractions you have
(which you will have many!). You must read; listening doesn't count (I tried
listening and I got soooo distracted!) You may use any translation you wish. I
will provide the reading plan which you can print and use to tick off every day
as you read along. If you have questions just make a note of it and come back
to it when you have extra time or direct them to your Pastor (or ask Pastor
Brandon J).
- You MUST
check-in every Monday. This is for accountability. Simply reply to my email
telling me how you are doing.
When and How!
When: This session will start Monday 13th
January. I also worked in a day off every week which falls on a Sunday (I
prefer to have day off as I still spend time in my Bible with church etc) but
you are welcome to change that to another day in the week, or even to not have
a day off.
I hope you will join me in doing this. I can't wait
to see how God blesses each of you. I can hardly sit still. I can't wait to see
what I learn this time around. I'm so excited!!! I know it's going to be a hard
journey at times (we are all pulled in so many directions), but with the
encouragement of each other....we can do this! We can do it together!!!And with
God ANYTHING is possible!
Blessings
Ilani
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