Summer Reading Challenge

This is a personal challenge as we face the halfway point in our summer. It's a challenge to be intentional about spiritual health. It is July 31st.  There is one month of summer left before the kids all go back to school. (at least, in our area they don't go back until September anyways)
We're going to talk about reading our Bible to nourish our spirits.

Organizing is not a faith, it's not the pinnacle of your existence. Organizing is a means to an end.  The end being the things you value most in life.   Remember, our values dictate our behavior, not the other way around.
 When we have effective systems in place, they are easy to follow and not cumbersome to do, so we will stick with it, which in turn means we will stick to our routines.  
Our systems and routines keep us on track. 

I have done A LOT, and I do mean A LOT of reading and studying of the habits and ways of organized people.  A common thing I hear them state in books, blogs, interviews, etc is that organized people claim to be some of the laziest people you will meet.  You read that right.  Here's the thing...they don't want to be dragged down by complicated systems and routines.  Organized people want to simplify and streamline things to free them up for the things they love the most.

Does that sound nice to you?  Me too.

We all know we need to eat to nourish our bodies.  It doesn't take too long to see the results if we neglect our bodies.  Our spirits need daily nourishing too.  We can't physically see our spirits, but the lack of nourishment will be evident in our behaviours if we neglect this area.

Now, in keeping with the thought that a simplified, streamlined system will help us organize and do what we need to (and stick with it),  I found a Bible reading plan that is very easy to follow, and does not require any planning or organizing on your part beyond setting aside the time to read.  It's 100% free to use too.

Steps to Organized Bible Reading.

1. Go to www.biblegateway.com
2. on the left side click on the tab that says READING PLANS
3. Select the reading plan you want.  I chose the New Testament in 1 year, NIV (New International Version).
4. Scroll down the page to the area where you can select email reminders.  Fill in the information to receive the email reminders.  You have to select your reading plan here too.
5. When you have filled it all out click to SIGN UP.
6. Starting tomorrow you will receive an email in your in-box with the day's reading right there in the body of the email.

This is so easy to do.  You don't have to plan or organize anything except the time you will read.  I suggest to you to do this reading in the morning.  Either with your morning coffee, or make it the first thing you do when you sit down to your computer each day.

Here's your challenge - you need to nourish your spirit daily with the Bible.  Find a reading plan that works for you and take the challenge to read your Bible every day for the rest of the summer.  Before you know it, this will be a routine you can keep up as the fall schedules start up again.

Thanks for reading,

Cassie
linked up at: www.time-warp-wife.blogspot.com