So, a few people have asked about why we are doing this challenge, and how are we doing it. So I am going to try and tackle those two questions today.
Why we are doing the 90 day Bible reading challenge and sharing it online?
The first reason we are doing the challenge is because we have found that to read through the whole Bible quickly either from cover to cover or chronologically can increase our understanding of the Word and of God Himself. We make it a yearly goal to read all the way through it.
We decided to encourage others to try it, so that is why we are doing this public blog. We hope by sharing our experience you will see that it can be done. We also hope that you will grow and learn knew things from God too.
How are we doing this challenge?
In the past, we have each done our reading on our own. We have used the 90 day guide, and then tried to journal as we read. For most of us it takes about 40 minutes to complete a daily reading. Since that can be hard on the brain, often we would break our sessions up and do half in the morning and half in the evening. But, I know you all want to know how we are actually reading it now.
So here is what we do:
At 9 pm, we as a whole family come to the living room with our Bibles. We each get comfortable, and then we take turns reading the daily assignment. After we read for about fifteen minutes we stop and discuss for a few minutes what we have read. This is critical, it refocuses our brains and helps us all not get sleepy or sidetracked. Then we continue on in this pattern of reading and discussing. We stop at 10:30. Most nights we are able to read the complete assignment. If for some reason we do not complete the actual assignment we start the next day at the spot we stopped and go until 10:30. If our eyes start getting tired, we may stop following along and just listen for a while. If we find our minds wondering we may get up and walk around or stretch. Rachel often crochets while she reads. Lydia likes to take notes and read. I like to use colored pencils and highlight as I read. By multitasking we actually keep our brains more alert.
Someone asked, “can your kids really all sit and listen that long.’” Yes and No. We all sit, and start together. But the little ones slowly fall asleep as we read. We believe that the best way to teach brain endurance is to just do it. One of the best ways of teaching our kids to enjoy sitting and learning for long periods of time has been taking them into worship service at church. When we lived in Pennsylvania, our kids loved worship service, Pastor Jamie’s preaching was never boring or short. Our kids learn by sitting under good Bible teaching that the Bible is interesting, applicable, and just plain cool. We don’t allow our kids to bring toys or games into service, or during Bible time. We do allow doodling, writing, and other hand activities like crocheting. These hand activities are not distracting, but actually can help in ones focusing.
Maybe you wonder why your child can sit through a two hour movie or play a video game for hours, but can’t focus on others things for more than ten minutes. The answer is that we use a lot more brain to focus on reading, good teaching, and discussing. The brain is a muscle and needs to be exercised regularly to be able to focus for longer periods of time. I can not go out and run five miles with my girls, because I haven’t been using the muscles necessary to do that enough. But if I start small and run a half mile, then a mile, then two, and so one, I can build up to a five mile run. It is the same with brain endurance. I have to train my brain to stay focused longer and longer.
At our house we start this early. We have our kids learn to sit and listen and discuss. Then we have them learn to read and discuss. The discussion is critical for processing skills. It helps lock in what we have heard or read.
Well, there you have it that is how we are doing this 90 day challenge as a family. We hope it is a blessing to the LORD and His people.
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