{"id":2545,"date":"2010-03-22T00:01:10","date_gmt":"2010-03-22T05:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/?p=2545"},"modified":"2010-03-21T12:49:54","modified_gmt":"2010-03-21T17:49:54","slug":"bible-in-90-days-day-81-check-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/bible-in-90-days-day-81-check-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Bible in 90 Days: Day 81 Check-in"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you are participating in the Bible in 90 Days challenge<\/a>, today you are on Day 81 and should have read through the end of page 972 in the Bible in 90 Days Bible or through 1Corinthians 14:40. Can you believe how far we’ve come?!<\/p>\n

A neighbor friend of mine asked me at the beginning of the challenge why I was hosting this on my blog and, considering the time and effort it would take, what was in it for me. (Blogging is ‘just a hobby’ for me and I don’t earn any money from MomsToolbox in any way.)\u00a0 I told him that the joy of leading others to know Christ and\/or strengthen their relationships with Him was plenty.<\/p>\n

One of the things about the Blogging Thru the Bible in 90 Days Challenge that has really amazed me has been the encouragement I have seen in association with it. Reading your encouraging words to each other and your sweet emails and comments to me has really warmed my heart and encouraged me to want to offer this again (and again and again and…).<\/p>\n

And I’ve loved reading the linked posts and guest posts, hearing others’ perspectives.<\/p>\n

In that vein, I would like to share an email I received from Bettie, who is reading along with us. Bettie often sends me emails to check in and I love every single one of her notes. One week she noticed I wasn’t posting as often and she sent an email to let me know she was praying for me. Wow.<\/p>\n

Here is an email she sent just before my Spring Break from the internet:<\/p>\n

Amy, <\/strong><\/p>\n

Last week I was three days behind in my reading\u00a0and oddly enough, I felt a bit like Erin did, with\u00a0being\u00a0three days behind. <\/strong><\/p>\n

I remembered reading\u00a0a story once\u00a0 about\u00a0 ‘discouragement’ being\u00a0one of the most effective tools of the devil because it is so subtle and successful when it causes us to\u00a0‘give up’. <\/strong><\/p>\n

I looked down at my Bible and saw the bookmark marking my place and considered\u00a0the amount I had already read… \u00a0and realized that was indeed an accomplishment… \u00a0and <\/strong>decided <\/strong><\/em>that I would\u00a0NOT allow myself to become discouraged!\u00a0 After all, I was doing this for God and myself, and any success was good, even if I did not finish with the group. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Then it occurred to me that\u00a0perhaps there were others who may be even more behind in the reading than I was, and I felt that perhaps they might\u00a0also be discouraged.\u00a0\u00a0Soooo…\u00a0 \u00a0I decided that I would pray for them and myself.\u00a0\u00a0God knew who we all are. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Next, I looked around and did some brainstorming… Just how\u00a0could\u00a0I free up some ‘catch up’ reading time???\u00a0 \u00a0One evening\u00a0I tried a suggestion from Toni (Happy Housewife) and made beans, cornbread for dinner.\u00a0\u00a0Easy and delicious enough, and freed\u00a0up some time for reading.\u00a0\u00a0Then\u00a0I decided to skip last week’s weekly housecleaning.\u00a0 Really, in the big picture, what difference would it make if I went two weeks instead of one week between cleanings?\u00a0 I admit that I did pray there would be no unexpected company this past weekend!\u00a0 I stayed off the phone more and off the computer some. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Not only did I catch up… I am now two days ahead!<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have continued to pray for others who are reading because I feel that it is such an important endeavor that we <\/strong>will<\/strong><\/em> run into resistance\u00a0in accomplishing this goal.\u00a0 However, ‘Greater is He Who is in us than he who is in the world!’<\/strong><\/p>\n

We CAN do all things through Christ which strengthens us! <\/strong><\/p>\n

Did I tell you that I am again two days <\/strong>ahead<\/strong><\/em> now in my reading.\u00a0 ;o))<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thanks for your encouragement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Love, Bettie<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Through Bettie’s emails, as well as many other emails, comments and linked posts from many of you, I have seen our community really grow in beautiful ways. I am so thankful God offered me this opportunity to serve Him in this way and that you responded.<\/p>\n

If you are far behind, please do not give up. <\/strong>Do not get discouraged. Keep reading. And do your best in the next week and a half to knock yourself out in getting the reading completed. I am praying about ways to keep our community going for those that do not finish by next Wednesday, but without an official deadline often the motivation and momentum is lost and it will be easier for you to drop out completely, even if you have the best intentions. See what you can change for the rest of the challenge knowing that if you you really read with gusto you’ll soon be finished. What can you put off until next Wednesday? What can you put behind the Word of God for the next nine days? Please give this goal all you can, even if you think you cannot finish on time. He might surprise you.<\/p>\n

Those of you who are a little behind<\/strong>, also, of course, don’t give up… you are so close!<\/p>\n

And to those of you on track or ahead<\/strong>, if you can please\u00a0 take a few moments to encourage others in their reading through prayer, emails, or comments here or on others’ individual posts about the Bible in 90 Days, I know your efforts will be appreciated. We really need to pull together in these final days to not let Satan keep anyone from finishing reading the Bible.<\/p>\n

Thanks, everyone, for making this such an incredible experience for all of us… We’re almost there!<\/p>\n

And isn’t reading the New Testament so much more incredible to read just after you’ve read the Old Testament? Every time I do this I am amazed!<\/p>\n

I’d love to read your thoughts. Please share away!<\/p>\n

And, of course, don’t forget to join us for our Tweet-Up <\/a>tonight from 8-9 CST. Just follow me<\/a> and use the #B90Days hashtag. I missed you last week and am looking forward to ‘chatting’ again.<\/p>\n

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If you are participating in the Bible in 90 Days challenge, today you are on Day 81 and should have read through the end of page 972 in the Bible in 90 Days Bible or through 1Corinthians 14:40. Can you believe how far we’ve come?! A neighbor friend of mine asked me at the beginning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[163],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-in-90-days"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2545"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2983,"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2545\/revisions\/2983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.momstoolbox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}