Time for a new plan and time for me to admit I'm behind.... again. 
This month has been a crazy one, full of busy days and nights and even busier weekends. 
I will catch up again but I'm not going to stress about it and make this plan a chore. 
I want to enjoy and and savor the words I read!

Any of you still with us on this plan?
How's it going??

In The Word // January Study Plan

This study is getting so good!!! I love how the stories are evolving and becoming more "story like" and all of the Psalms mixed in makes my heart happy. I'm really happy that I didn't give up on this reading plan like I thought I could a few times. It is so exciting to open my bible and see how much I have already read and journaled through. It is such a great feeling!! I'm also every thankful that we took the month of December off so I could catch up. I feel refreshed and renewed with my reading and I can't wait to start the new plan below! 

Anyone still reading along with us?

I know it is hard, trust me, but it is so rewarding!

Join us and start from the beginning, or start where you left off... 

just open up that book and start. He will meet you there!

In The Word // November Study Plan

I honestly feel like I am a broken record.

Broken being the key word. 

Part of me feels like I did my whole, "woe is me, I'm so behind in this study" post too quickly last month because I am even more behind now. And to be even more honest with you, if it weren't for this blog and my sweet friend opposite of me on the calendar above, I would have quit last month. But I am constantly reminded that this isn't about me. This is about Him. If I am behind, then I am behind, and He is still by my side. 

I recently did a women's bible study at my church which taught specifically about being a biblically oriented woman. Which was amazing, all of it was incredible. We talked a lot about the many different ways to study the bible and the chronological study was mentioned. My head instantly dipped down in defeat. I knew it was coming. Then the speaker said something along the lines of "the chronological study is HARD. It is rough and tough and most people get behind. BUT, it only takes picking up the bible again and starting where you left off." 

So that is exactly what I am doing. Picking up my bible and starting again. It isn't easy, it is a lot of work, but it is for His glory. 

In The Word // October Study Plan

That time again.... here's the next month's study plan!

I wanted to share a little bit of my jouney with this bible study today.

Open up and be completely honest with all of you!

So, here we go.....

I'm the type of person that hates to get behind. I don't like to miss things in my schedule, and when I do I instantly want to keep missing them instead of catching up. This is a problem, I know I struggle with this but it only continues to happen. I honestly don't get it, why am I this way??

When I started the #inthewordin1year study, I started well! It was great, I made time and I was on schedule for almost the entire first month. Almost. Then I got behind during a busy weekend. Then that weekend turned into a week. I was dying to catch up but there weren't enough hours in the day. Finally I did and it felt good! Skip ahead to my Mom/Daughter weekend in Savannah and I missed every single day of reading for a full weekend. Then again, a weekend turned into a week and I had a LOT of reading to do before I could catch up again.

My sweet, and honest husband recently told me, "I make time for what I want to do...." Meaning, I make time for this space. I make time for reading other blogs. I make time for TV shows. I wasn't making time for His Word. It burns, right? When you realize that you are putting EVERYTHING ahead of Him. All the little things, (and some big things) coming before the biggest part of my life. The main reason for my life at all.   

Last week I was feeling defeated. I was behind in my reading and I truly cried out to God for time. I asked Him to give me the chance to catch up and present space for Him so that I could not deny Him. Later that night after dinner Peter asked if I would mind if he went to play some basketball with friends. This is not normal... he hasn't played basketball with friends our entire year of marriage. I almost laughed out loud when he mentioned it. I of course said yes, go! Have fun!!! While he was gone I snuggled into the corner of the couch and I opened my bible. I put down the phone. I turned off my random thoughts. I found my way back to Him. Of course it felt great. I felt lighter, more free, more secure.

It is such a wonderful thing to realize that my security is found in Him. Even on the days that I didn't make the time, I always came back to His grace and His love. It is the center of who we are as His followers, right? So it only makes sense to find that perfect security in Him and within our time spent at His feet. That night was exactly what I needed.  I kicked my butt in gear and ran straight for His lap. I found comfort there like I always do and I wanted to kick myself for straying away from it. But in those moments of pitty and looking down on my faithfulness I realized, just like I always do, that He is always faithful. He will always be here and for that I am thankful. He is here, and He will never leave. Amen, for that!

I hope you all are doing well with this study, but if you are not, I hope you find peace that it's okay. No matter how far behind you are, it only takes that one decision to open your bible and start again. Start where you left off and day by day you will find Him there in those pages. The pages are His love story for us, a true fairytale that we can beleive in.

In The Word // September Study Plan

Time for a new month of the Chronological Study!!

& thanks to Cassie for adding the sweet little shout out on the 28th!

{I can't believe it's almost a year!!}

I have loved this study so much. It has been good, hard, but so needed. I'm still behind, but I am still loving it! I love hearing from those who are doing this with us. Receiving emails and texts about today's reading or the next month's schedule, it makes me smile and it makes my heart so happy to know there are others on this journey with us. That is exactly what we prayed for. 

So, link up and join us! 

Share what you have learned during the past month with this study

or anything the Lord has taught you recently. 

We'd love to hear it :) 

 

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In The Word // Psalm 46:5

In the midst. I find such peace in this verse for some reason? In the middle of, the center point, that is where you find God. How awesome is it to think of God as a the center of everything. The center of the church, of His people and the world.

The "her" referenced here is the "city of God" but naturally when I read this bible verse, I thought of myself. I  will not be moved because He is in me. The center, heart of myself, He is there. I also instantly thought of the Chronological Study that I started five days ago because the verse says, "God will help her when morning dawns." because that is that is the truth. Yes, it has only been a few days of waking up at 7AM but amazingly, I have only hit the snooze button one time each morning. That is clearly an act of God. I don't mean to be dramatic, it is the truth since I usually snooze 4-5 times on a daily basis! It is a BIG deal that I have climbed out of that comfortable bed of mine so early but I know I can do it because he is pushing me. Literally calling me off my pillow.

I have been praying for this. Praying before I fall asleep at night, praying every morning after my reading, praying for a thirst for His word. Hoping that I crave Him more than sleep and so far it has been wonderful! I continue to pray for the week ahead, praying that I can make it five days in a row. Pick my head up off my pillow and make my way downstairs to sit at my corner desk and open His word. That is my prayer.

I can't help but think about one of my all time favorite songs....

This morning my alarm went off

Earlier than I’d ever want
And in this small obedience, Lord
Help my heart stay bowed down

Father, You've given Jesus
All those He will raise up
And all eyes, including mine, will see
You are the only God
{Bethany Dillon // Deliver Me}

He is in the midst of me. He is in the midst of this life.
The midst of my mornings. All Him, all around.

 What is He calling out in you?

Are you reading along with us for this Chronological Study??

Share what He has placed on your heart this week,
the link up below will be opened all week long so join us!

 

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Also, hop over to Sage to see my guest post while Cassie is away on her Honeymoon!

day one.

Today is the day!! The first day of our Chronological Study and I am so excited! I took some time last night to prepare for this study and I thought I share a little bit of that preparation with you. The little things I do before I begin a study and what goes through my head while I prepare. 

1// prepare your heart & your schedule - I always try my best to prepare for the study ahead in my heart first. Since I have had a strong grasp on this study and planned it with Cassie I feel like I have been preparing my heart for weeks now. No matter how much you prepare you heart for a bible study, you must prepare your schedule so you don't "squeeze it in" your day. Not every day will be perfect, and there will be days when you miss the study all together - no one is perfect! BUT, when you make a point to schedule your study you can take it in fully and not feel rushed. With that being said, I am not a morning person. I honestly hate mornings, but I know in my heart that my days would be so much better if I start them at His feet. So, I am going to work really hard to create a habit of morning quiet time. My sweet husband brewing fresh coffee every morning will also help. I think I'll keep him! 

2// don't study alone - we have tried really hard to create a community here with this study so we can grow together. Accountability. It is everything! It is so important to DO LIFE together and my hope is for this life to be full of Jesus. I can't wait to sit down at the kitchen table for dinner every night and discuss my reading with Peter. He started a chronological study in January and he made it to mid March so he will pick up the study again once we are at the same point. I can't wait to grow with all of you and with my husband. 

3// use a special pen - because this is a study through the entire bible I thought it would be helpful to use a specific pen for all of my notes in my bible, so I have decided to use the red pen pictured above to underline and make little notes. I love the fact that I will instantly know that my notes are from this Chronological study  anytime I see that bright red ink in my bible. 

4// plan ahead - it will be so much easier to wake up and dive in His word when you are ready for it. I always like to plan my notes ahead of time, listing the days and scripture reading, so when I turn to the next page I am ready to go. I don't have to think about the days date or go look to see what scriptures to read that day because it is already there. I just begin. 

5// prayer - for the next year while I am reading through the bible I am also going to make a point to write my prayers out every day in my notebook. I love that I will be learning from His word and then stop to meditate on it, talk to Him and listen to Him in return. I can't wait to see the prayers that will fill those blank pages. 

Also, please share anything from this study on social media by using the hashtag below! 

I can't wait to create a community of sisters {and brothers, seriously... you should join us!!} that are growing together in this study.

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I can't wait for this journey ahead! I can't wait to see the growth in my life and all of those that join us.This is such an exciting time and I feel His love in this space so strongly. I am so thankful for that! 

For all of you that are joining in this study today - I'm praying for you, I'm praying for your heart, and I'm praying for God to speak to you and teach you through His beautiful word. 

May your kingdom come. May your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Matthew 6:10

In The Word // August Study Plan

Last week I spoke about plans and after a lot more planning, talking, organizing, & praying with Cassie we came up with this exciting study!!!

Design by Cassie...but not me, the other Cassie ;) 

I sent Cassie a text a couple weeks ago that said, "How do you feel about doing a read the bible in a year study together? Just to keep each other accountable???".... her response, "I would love that!!". And that is how this little study was born. 

We are so excited to do this together and share it with all of you! We will post the plan for the month ahead on the last Tuesday of every month. We will also highlight the study from the past month and share what we learned, study notes that helped us and anything else that the Lord has shared with us through this study. Each month will have each day's reading listed and also have a memory verse for the month.

I'm so excited to learn about His word and make it a priority every day. We hope that you will join us and also keep us accountable! We are all in this together, right? So let's learn together and grow closer through Him. Don't have a blog of your own...? That's fine too, still do this study with us and you can always share what you have learned by leaving comments below each month. This is definitely not a "Bloggers Unite" kind of thing, it is a "Sisters (and brothers too, you can join us!) Unite" kind of thing. Our goal is to stay In The Word so that we can have a light for our path ahead. {Psalm 119:105} Grab your bible and open it up, dive in and turn that light on with us. 

Let's do this!! Join us for a Chronological Study and soak in His word with us! 
For those of you who are bloggers, you can link your recap from this study here at the end of every month, or you can link anything that you have learned like all of our previous weeks with the In The Word Link-up. Just link up and share your heart, that's our motto! 

 

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