“When is a new Bible in 90 Days session starting?”
Today I awoke to a text from a friend with that question, a question I used to love answering, but have come to dread over the past few weeks, as things have been changing.
I had been avoiding answering that question for several weeks for fear of people’s responses and disappointment in me. With every Facebook message, email and comment I would cringe inside, and try my best to smile.
Now I am ready to tell you. I honestly do not know when the next Bible in 90 Days session is starting because I will not be hosting it on MomsToolbox.
Yes, you read that right.
MomsToolbox will not host the next session of Bible in 90 Days.
It is time for me and the Bible in 90 Days ministry to pass that challenge of hosting on to each and every one of you. It is your turn to take the Bible in 90 Days to the next group of readers.
But don’t worry, we are not leaving you on your own.
Let me go back and explain a bit.
I first made the decision not to host again back in October at the Savvy Blogging Summit. I approached John Saddington of Tent Blogger to ask him how I could set up the B90 program on my site better so it could run better.
We talked about my challenges and he looked at me and said “It’s time to stop.”
“What?!” I said. “I can’t.”
“Why not?” he said.
“Because it changed my life and it has changed thousands of other lives,”I said.
“And it is time to let it go,” John said. “He tells us His burden is to be light, and it isn’t light anymore is it?”
“No,” I said and choked back tears.
And that’s when I felt that electric jolt through my body as if God was saying “Listen to him, Amy. I am speaking through him.” I wiped away tears, but also knew he was right.
“So what’s next?” I asked.
“First you pray. Then maybe you get all your resources together and put it on another site and release it. Let it go,” he answered.
I cried some more and knew that he was right.
We finished our meeting and, to be honest, I felt lighter, better, relieved.
I walked down the hall and told my sister in law that I had just had the most amazing, unexpected meeting. Then she introduced me to three women standing with her as her sister in law, Amy of MomsToolbox, and they all said
“OH! The Bible in 90 Days lady! What did he tell you? You are glowing, so it had to have been good.”
And I started crying again.
I explained what had just happened, but asked them to keep it a secret.
When we finished talking, another blogger, a Bible in 90 Days grad, walked up and gave me a hug and someone else walked up and asked when the next session would start.
“I’m not sure,” I said and smiled.
Friends, I have been the Bible in 90 Days lady for awhile and I’ve absolutely enjoyed it, but it is time for me to move on. I haven’t been able to immerse myself in any other studies or share them with you because I’ve had the Bible in 90 Days on my brain for three years (Well, actually for more than 10 years, but in a different way.) This session I stopped reading and finally jumped into a different devotional but was afraid to talk about it on MomsToolbox because I didn’t want to give anyone who hadn’t yet read the Bible in 90 days an excuse to stop. But I’ve done the reading. Several times. And I needed to read something else in addition to my Bible this time.
But that’s not where the story ends.
A few weeks ago I mentioned that Ted Cooper, the founder of the Bible in 90 Days ministry, is sick. He has incurable cancer. Without a miracle he is not going to get better.
After my own big decision I was thinking about what the ultimate Bible in 90 Days site would be like, what resources it would hold and I thought about all the great things Ted had created and shared through the years. I wondered if he would let me have access to those things and thought about how all this information really should be housed by the ministry.
Then, about two weeks later, Ted called me to ask if I would create a legacy site for Bible in 90 Days to replace the current ministry site. He wanted it to be a site that had the all the resources and best tips for hosting or participating in a Bible in 90 Days group, but would be self-maintaining. He was stepping down from the ministry soon and the ministry’s future itself was uncertain.
I got that same electricity through me as I had when speaking with John.
I told him I was up for the job and explained what I had been thinking about since my meeting with John.
And so now I am working to create that ultimate, self-maintaining but still evolving Bible in 90 Days site which will house resources for each and every one of you to facilitate your own group in reading the Bible in 90 days, whether that be a group that is formed at your church, in your home, in your community, online, on Facebook or other social media platform, or even at a prison or other location for ministry opportunity.
Yes, you can facilitate the program whether you have read the Bible in 90 Days (or so) or not. You just have to have the commitment to stick to the program for the entire 90 days.
The site will include the reading plan, links to places to buy the resources, best practice tips, encouragement and maybe even a 90-day email newsletter signup for daily encouragement. We’ll even have a spot for finishers to share their Bible in 90 Days stories and inspiration.
I’d love to create a page where groups can post start dates and locations (web and otherwise) so others can see what groups are starting soon to join a group, but I cannot figure out the programming for that.
I’d also like to post a list of finishers, but I cannot find a plug-in to allow people to enter their info and then automatically be added to a list.
I am posting this today for two reasons: I want you to know what is going on and I could use your help.
Initially I wanted to wait until the other site was finished and live to make this announcement so I could send you over to see it. But today, after talking with my husband, it became clear that I should go ahead and tell you about it now. Some of you may have some of the answers I am seeking for programming the site. And some of you may have ideas I could implement in the site to make it even better.
So, friends, dear readers, dedicated mentors, Bible in 90 Days grads and wanna-be grads, this is what is going on. I don’t know when, or even if, I will host the Bible in 90 Days on MomsToolbox again. But I’d love to help you carry the torch to your own circles.
Together with loving volunteers, I have shepherded thousands of you through the entire Bible, and the ministry’s outreach all over the world has shepherded many, many more. We know you can carry the Word to others. We know you can lead groups, guide readers and bring more people to know the whole story by reading every word of the Bible because many of you recognize the value of the Bible in 90 Days program and read the entire Bible because of it.
The new site is scheduled to launch at the end of the month. As I mentioned, I am working diligently to go through all of the ministry’s resources as well as my own to present everything you will need in a format that you can use. If you have any input for that site, I welcome it.
And so now I’m turning Andrea’s text right back to you:
“When is a new Bible in 90 Days session starting?”
December 27, 2012 update:
The new site has not gone live yet, but it should in January. In the meantime, I will be posting some of its resources here on MomsToolbox very soon to help those of you who want to get a group reading soon. Sit tight and I’ll do my best to share what I can as I can. If you don’t already subscribe to MomsToolbox, consider doing that so you’ll get the updates and tips as I post them.
Thanks for your understanding and patience.
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