Bible in 90 Days: Day 60 Check-in

If you are participating in the Bible in 90 Days challenge, today you are on Day 60 and should have read through the end of page 720 in the Bible in 90 Days Bible or through Ezekiel 23:39.

This week we hear from Erin at Closing Time who wrote a courageous post on her blog last week, admitting deep frustration in completing her commitment to reading the Bible in 90 Days. I hope her progress since that post will inspire you…

When I made the decision to join you all in reading the Bible in 90 Days, I realized the magnitude of it. It wasn’t a decision I made lightly. It was a commitment I made with great excitement.

See, I’m one of those people who has repeatedly resolved to read the Bible through in a year. And I have repeatedly failed. It was a discouraging and even embarrassing issue for me, that though I have served the Lord from my childhood (and even read through each book of the Bible at different times), I had never read it from cover to cover.

I decided, after much prayer, that this was when all that would change. I started on January 1, filled with zeal and determination. I would read the Bible in 90 Days. This time would be different. This time I would finish what I started.

As the days went on, I began to falter, gaining ground one day, and losing momentum the next. It felt like I was just dragging myself along. I could see so many of you still running the race. You were pulling ahead. I wanted to run with you, but I felt so discouraged. I was tired. And the thoughts began to fill my mind…

Maybe I should just quit. After all it wouldn’t be the first time. I’m so far behind now, what’s the point of pretending I can do it?

I knew I should write a check-in post. I should admit my weakness. After all, there would be no lack of encouragement. You would stand with me. You would pray for me. I knew that. But I was ashamed. It would have been so easy to  quietly remove the Bible in 90 Days button from my sidebar, to never mention it again…to just give up.

But I couldn’t. I didn’t want to quit. So last Sunday I made myself accountable and wrote this post. It wasn’t easy to admit that I was 26 days behind. On the day that I should have completed Day 52, I was only halfway to that point. The outpouring of encouragement and prayers from those who read my post was overwhelming!

Last Monday, I started fresh, determined to catch up. There have been and will be many days of reading two days’ worth of chapters, but my goal is still to finish with the group. By God’s grace, I am gaining ground, and at today’s check-in I am now 22 days behind. And I am pressing on to the finish.

For those of you who are behind and discouraged, I want to share with you a verse that someone sent to me:

“I sought the Lord. and he answered me; He delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered in shame.” Psalm 34:4-5

Our gracious God doesn’t want us to feel ashamed and downtrodden if we have fallen behind. Please don’t give up! You can do it! If you’re feeling discouraged today, I hope you’ll let us know so that we can pray for you. I know many are praying for me, and this week I believe it has made a huge difference. We are in this together!

Thanks, Erin, for your refreshing honesty and excellent encouragement. I am so thankful you felt the impact of all those prayers you inspired last week.

So, how about you? How are you doing in your commitment? And how can we pray for YOU?

If you are having trouble, what do you think is holding you back? And if you are on track, what do you think some of your keys to success have been?

Whatever your status, your comments might serve to encourage the next reader so, please, do leave a note to let us know how you are doing.

If you have written a check-in post on your own blog, please link to it here and also include a link in your own post back to this one so your readers can see who else is involved in the Blogging Through the Bible in 90 Days Challenge.

After you’ve commented and/ or linked, please pick two or three other commenters and pray for them by name.

And, of course, don’t forget to join us for our Tweet-Up tonight from 8-9 CST. Just follow me and use the #B90Days hashtag.

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Comments

30 responses to “Bible in 90 Days: Day 60 Check-in”

  1. […] last night, but I am so glad I did! First thing, Amy asked if anyone had read Erin’s guest post.  I had not read it yet, but immediately clicked over there to do so, and my heart was so […]

  2. I have been meaning to check-in with you! I am 2 days behind but pressing on! I have loved this so much that I am getting together people to do it with me in 180 days starting April 1st (right before Easter). People are pumped to jump on board!

    Thanks for this challenge…it has been amazing!
    .-= Michelle´s last blog ..Buy a T-Shirt: Support an Adoption =-.

  3. Somehow I keep getting behind every weekend! I too have considered giving up. But then I realize that I’m only a few days behind. If I do nothing but keep to reading 1 day’s assignment each day, I will finish only a few days behind. This is worth it, and I just need to keep working on figuring out a daily schedule for myself. I haven’t really had one for years! Even if I don’t finish within the 90 days, I am getting into the habit of reading scripture every day. That in itself is a huge blessing.
    .-= kriswithmany´s last blog ..Bible in 90 days – #3 =-.

  4. Well, checking in! I am still behind in my reading and much like Erin, I have been feeling the same feelings. Now I know that I CAN do this and I CAN finish with the rest of the group. I ask that you all say a prayer for me and keep me in your prayers! I am determined and I know that I can do this! Thanks so much Erin for sharing and thanks to everyone for all of the encouragement along the way!
    .-= Christina S´s last blog .. =-.

  5. I’m so proud of you Erin! You’ve stepped out into the light and not God is working to shore you up! Wrapped in His security and grace. Much love and many pages to you friend.

  6. I’ am 2 days behind, will try to get caught up w/in this week.

  7. I’m checking in! I finally caught up from the reading I missed a few weeks ago when I was sick. And I counted days until my delivery – and I just need to read a 2 extra in the next three weeks to finish by March 22! I move into the NT this week and I am thrilled about that – just in time for the Lenten season.
    .-= Heather H´s last blog ..Home Detox: Part 1 (Where I Take Inventory and Omit) =-.

  8. Thank you Erin for sharing. I got a couple days behind this week. My kids were sick and my 1 yr. old ended up with pneumonia. So my reading got put off a few days. I did get caught up, but have not done my reading for today and won’t get it in until tomorrow. What works for me to catch up is to divide my reading up throughout the day. I will read a few chapters 4 or 5 times a day. I am actually reading my regular Bible, which might help some too, because I can just read without looking for stopping point.
    .-= Lindsey´s last blog ..Babycakes =-.

  9. I am behind (again), but will keep on trying! Thanks, Erin, for your honesty and encouragement!

  10. Checking in quickly before I have to get to bed.

    I’m still painfully behind. I think I’m somewhere around 8 or 9 days behind. I started last week 10 days behind. Okay, it was 11 days behind. I’ll admit that. I figured out a schedule to get caught up in a week. I declared that I would be caught up by today. I was perhaps a bit over-ambitious.

    I did awesome early in the week. I was checking off boxes on the schedule left & right! By Thursday I was only about 6 or 7 days behind.

    Then the wheels came off my wagon & I lost another day or two. I got a cold; work got busy; life got in the way; and I got FRUSTRATED. Again. AGAIN, I say!

    I sure could use a few prayers for some stick-to-itiveness. I need motivation to drive through this month & finish with everyone! Help! (Again.)

  11. On day 59 and trying to get it all done today!
    .-= stacy´s last blog ..I want to be fabulous! =-.

  12. imnjupiter Avatar
    imnjupiter

    On track with reading. Kathleen, I know just what you mean about weeping along with Jeremiah. Those prophets really had difficult lives. How did Israel and Judah get so far away from God? Very sad and thought provoking.
    My husband made a funny remark yesterday. He said “you mean you actually read the whole Bible in 90 days?”. I said, “yes, that is why it is called the Bible in 90 days” and offered to let him read from mine in April. He said that he would just keep on with his one year schedule- he is so diligent about doing that every year- besides the study he does for his one or two Bible class lessons each week.

  13. Carina Avatar
    Carina

    I am on track with our reading (Only by the grace of God!) and have realized that getting up before the rest of the family (for me, that’s around 5.30 am) to do my reading is the best way to be assured that I will stay on track! When I have tried to read at the end of the day after all the kids are in bed, I’m too exhausted to read attentively!

    Last week, my husband started feeling ill and as a result, as gotten behind in his reading. He is starting to feel like giving up as he will “never get caught up.” Please pray that David will be encouraged to continue on…even if it means don’t finishing in 90 days. (He has read the Bible cover to cover several times before, but we have both noticed how much more of the “big picture” we’ve seen reading at this pace and I know he had been enjoying his daily reading up until he got sick.)

  14. SO proud of you, Erin!! Thank you for your honesty and your faithfulness. It’s hard to share our struggles … and I admire you so much. {And I’m immensely thankful for the crazy blogosphere brought you into my life almost a year ago!!}

    I’m caught up … still plugging away every morning at 5:30. So many great portions of Scripture I have now marked to come back and study when I finish this 90 day challenge.
    .-= Teri Lynne´s last blog ..{BIG QUESTIONS} Who am I? =-.

  15. My daughter and I are on track. It is amazing how meaningful the prophets are when read in context. I had read different prophetic books before but could never get into them, but after reading Kings and Chronicles, everything the prophets are saying is finally making sense. When I read Lamentations, I wanted to weep right along with Jeremaiah as he watched his beloved Jerusalem burn, all because of the Israelites’ stubborn hearts and choosing their own way instead of God’s. I wonder if our country is far behind.
    .-= Kathleen´s last blog ..That’s what I’m talking about! =-.

  16. I am, amazingly, finished with day 60. I won’t, barring a miracle, be at the chat tonight, but I am very pleased with my progress.

    This section is really tough. I’m really, seriously ready for the New Testament at this point.
    .-= Beth´s last blog ..Goal Review — Month 2 =-.

  17. I’ve fallen two days behind. Hubby was out of town with business a lot last week. My 4yo was having a hard time coping with daddy being gone & my 2yo was sick. Yesterday hubby was home, and I was determined to catch up. As I tried to read, my 2yo kept trying to crawl up into my lap. Her ears hurt and she wanted to be held. She wasn’t acting out. She was just in pain and needed mommy. It was hard to hold her and read, so I kept shooing her away. Finally my husband who has been very supportive of my doing this, asked me, “Honey, what does it teach our children when you say – I know you may have an ear infection and want to be held, but leave me alone. I’m trying to read my Bible!” Yikes. I hadn’t thought of that. So I set my Bible reading aside until later and held, rocked, and sang to my daughter. I was very convicted about HOW I am going about reaching this wonderful goal. It is a good and worthy goal. However, if I am so goal oriented that I neglect the very work God has given me to do now, that is not good. I’ll get caught up, Lord willing. But at the same time, I hope to not only spend time reading the Word, but keep it in perspective by applying it – even if that means falling a day behind.
    .-= Bessers´s last blog ..2 Year Old Art =-.

  18. Caught up except for today’s reading. Blessings – Holly
    .-= Holly Neaton´s last blog ..Bible in 90 Days – Days 48 to 54 =-.

  19. […] you’re reading the Bible in 90 Days with us, please be sure to swing by and check in this week so we’ll know how you are doing and how we can pray for you. Then join us tonight […]

  20. Merilee,

    I’d strongly encourage you NOT to skip around, but just to continue reading straight through. What so many of the participants tell us is that the ordering of the Bible makes so much sense when they read it straight through, that they wonder why we haven’t always been encouraged to read it this way.

    90 days is simply a marker. If you truly need to extend that time, for whatever reason, do so. But please don’t skip around. You’ll get so much more out of it reading straight through. And, at the end, you will have read the ENTIRE Bible, from cover to cover.

    If we can help you in any way, please let me know.

    Blessings,
    Ted Cooper Jr.

  21. Merrilee Avatar
    Merrilee

    Thanks, Erin, for your post. I am probably pretty close to where you are. I just finished Job, and realized I am so far behind & had some of the same thoughts. I should just stop, etc. Thanks for the encouragement. I am going to press on. :) Yesterday in church, my pastor shared something (I can’t remember exactly what), but it totally tied in to what I had been reading in Job. Isn’t that cool how God reinforces what we have been reading and hearing from him?

    To try to get caught up, I think I am going to “skip” psalms, proverbs, & ecc, song of solomon and go to Isaiah. Then I will try to daily read one day from Isaiah & one day from the psalms, etc to try to make up ground. Let’s see if this works!

  22. I’m behind as well. Still in Jeremiah and am 2 days behind. I know there is a 2 day grace built in to the 90 days, but I don’t want to use that as an excuse to stay behind. I had caught up last weekend and then let myself fall 2 days behind again. But I’m still committed to completing the 90 day challenge on time!

  23. Still in Jeremiah so I’m 3 or 4 days behind but still reading most everyday and working to keep up/catch up. I’m not discouraged but am excited each time I look at how far I’ve made it. Thanks for this program that is life changing!
    .-= Kristin S´s last blog ..Overwhelmed by Generosity =-.

  24. i am caught up. :) I’m still a month behind y’all, but I started a month behind too :) Really enjoying this, although today’s reading was difficult because of all the geneology. It’ll turn around ;)
    Blessings!
    .-= Kari´s last blog ..90 Days and Have a great weekend! =-.

  25. Lyn@ BelleBearBerry Avatar
    Lyn@ BelleBearBerry

    I am still plugging along too. I am still behind – almost two weeks. EEEK – but this weekend I made a ton of progress. I will get there!!!

  26. […] I was incredibly honored when Amy from Mom’s Toolbox asked me to guest post for today’s Bible in 90 Days check-in. You can read my post here! […]

  27. I’ve struggled since becoming pregnant. I think I’m about 1 day behind right now, whereas I was a couple of days ahead before getting pregnant. I’ve really enjoyed the challenge and am planning on doing it again this summer hopefully with some more friends from church.
    .-= Celee´s last blog ..90 Day Bible Update- Timeline perspective on Jeremiah =-.

  28. I’m behind (again) but I’m going to keep going. :)
    .-= Cheryl@SomewhatCrunchy´s last blog ..Mabel’s Labels Contest Entry =-.

  29. Thank you Erin, I too have struggled with being behind at times (and right now am still in Jeremiah) but I agree that God is faithful in honoring this commitment and I know that I will finish with the group as well. Praying for everyone going through this challenge!!
    .-= Melissa Multitasking Mama´s last blog ..Road Trip =-.

  30. Tiffany McFarland Avatar
    Tiffany McFarland

    I am still plugging along about 3 days behind :( Trying to catch up!

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