Bible in 90 Days - Monday Update (Day 25)

So I am past the three week mark, and almost one third of the way through my challenge to read through the Bible in 90 days!! I'm so excited!!

My personal weak point with sticking at ANYTHING comes somewhere between 2 and 3 weeks, usually more towards 3 weeks. But this past week has been steady and my motivation high. I have not fallen behind at all this week, and several days have finished a chapter or so ahead because I have just been too caught up in the story to want to stop at the place I'm supposed to. I now do at least half of my reading every day in bits and pieces as I rock Benjamin to sleep for his naps (he takes 3 (occasionally 4) per day, plus bedtime), and then read the rest as soon as I go downstairs after tucking the boys into bed. I don't let myself do a thing until I've finished my Bible reading - except get a drink and a snack sometimes. I pick up my Bible from the bedroom on the way downstairs from the boys' bedroom at bedtime, and then take it straight to the sofa, sit down and open it. Keeping that as a habit is the solution, for me. I go straight to it, the same every evening, and just keep going until I have finished. It is MUCH easier to do now that I'm diving into the Bible throughout the day when Benjamin goes to sleep.

I'm so enjoying it!!!! I'm really excited that I'm finding it so straightfoward, because I was REALLY nervous about starting. I was worried I would not be able to stick to it, and would get behind and not have the self-discipline to continue and complete the challenge. I wasn't sure I could do it. I know I am not even a third of the way through it yet, but I am 100% confident that I can do it! :)

This week none of the reading has been hard to take in, and I have been really caught up in parts of the story. There has been more gruesomeness with all the war in David's reign and the time of the judges, and I'm pretty glad to be past that part! But it's all so fascinating. I'm not supposed to do anything but just attentively read the verses. But these last few days I have also been reading some of the notes in my Bible (it's a Life Application Bible), and looking with interest at some of the maps and things relevant to the stages of the story I'm reading, in my Bible. Yesterday I broke down and put the laptop on halfway through my evening's Bible reading, because I just HAD to see a model of Solomon's temple and palace as I was reading about them. I was reading the measurements and not really being able to picture it in my mind's eye. I didn't think it would pull me off track from reading, because I was just so enthusiastic about reading it, and having some pictures to make it come to life a bit more.

There are zillions of links out there (I googled), but here's one that I found:

www.bible-architecture.info/Jerusalem.htm

It was helpful to see the pictures, and I did get slightly side-tracked reading another site that I can't find now I've googled again, about archaeological finds in Jerusalem. I'm so fascinated by archaeology, and have been since childhood, so I couldn't help myself! :) I did finish my reading right after that though!

So I am now at the end of 1 Kings. I find myself wanting map and pictures and time-lines to look at, just because I'm eager for more to learn about it as I go along, but I am trying to remember that I'm here to just READ the Bible for this challenge. What I'm a bit worried about is that once I've finished, it will be all "over and done with", sort of, and I won't actually keep up the habit of reading my Bible. I really want to get some tips well in advance, of the next thing I need to do. I think I will be better following another plan, or a Bible study of some sort - a structure that I can follow and be accountable for, because it is working so well for me at the moment. I think if I just randomly attempt to keep reading bits of it once I've finished reading the whole thing, I will simply not keep it up, and probably pretty quickly too. I think at the end, I will feel like I'm sort of wandering aimlessly about without a clue what to do next with my Bible! And I don't want to be in that position, so I'm thinking about the next step already (hoping for some advice!).

Well that is all for this week's update! I am on track and loving the challenge! I feel closer to God and uninterested in more "worldly" stuff at the moment, which is always a good place to be! :) Hope to be able to say the same thing next Monday! I hope anyone reading who is on the challenge has had a good week, and that God will reveal Himself to you through your reading over the next week too!

Bible in 90 Days - Monday Update (Day 18)

I'm almost 3 weeks into my challenge to read through the Bible in 90 days! This is my second regular Monday update, to link back to Amy's blog where she's hosting the challenge. What a week it has been since my last Monday update!

Last Monday when I updated here, I was a day behind, because I was preparing for Nathan's birthday on the Tuesday. By Wednesday (Day 13) I was getting so behind! I had caught up on Day 10's reading, but still had three days worth of reading to do, and one day usually takes me a good hour! Thankfully I had people praying for me to be able to catch up, and I was pretty determined not to fall badly behind, so I read the Bible for almost 5 hours on Wednesday evening from when the boys went to bed, until maybe midnight or later! And I caught up!!! I was sooooooo proud of myself! :)

Since then I have stayed right on track. I had trouble focusing on the words on Thursday evening and it basically took me most of the evening to read it. I was crazy tired for some reason, and my eyes kept closing and my head kept nodding every couple of LINES! I probably should have just gone to bed, even though it was early, but I was determined not to get behind again so soon. I got up and stretched and ate snacks every now and then, and was more able to focus for a while after those things, so I did finish it before bed. I think I was just worn out from a VERY late night the night before Nathan's birthday (it took me a long time to bake and decorate his birthday cake!) and then all that intensive reading the next night.

So now I have read through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and these past couple of days, Joshua. I am reading Judges right now and will finish that tomorrow. This past week has been mostly the "law" books and then the Israelites moving in to possess the Promised Land. I have found quite a bit of it hard to read, because of the bloodshed and the intensity of the wars and, well, massacres really. Also the details of the sacrifices and the consequences of the people's sin. It has been kind of gruelling! I also worried at first that I was going to be so "put off" by reading such things that I would maybe question God. A helpful Bible in 90 Days email (I get them daily) around that time said I should allow myself to be amazed instead of appauled, and I kept that in mind!

I did not need to worry though. The past 7 days has been incredible. I think I said it before, but I'll say it again (and probably again and again over the weeks!) - the PACE of the reading is the key to the whole thing. I feel like I'm absolutely IMMERSING myself in God's Word, not just getting drip fed with bits of reading here and there. I'm soaking myself in it. It all links up and runs together, and I have no trouble piecing together the history or the events. It's all one story, and it reads smoothly (so far), but I never got that from a more drawn-out reading in the past. I had to look up things to remind myself what this or that was in reference to from earlier history. I am absolutely LOVING this challenge! I am enjoying reading every single day, even with the bits that have been hard to read, and particularly loving the effect of the fast pace. The fast pace is hard work, and you have to sacrifice time. It's 100% doable for ANYONE who chooses to do it, but you can't do it without sacrificing something of your usual time. But - sooooo worth it folks. I really do urge you to give it a try the next time this challenge comes around. I think there's a summer one as well, from what the emails suggest. I am also noticing how important it is to do the challenge as part of a community, not just on your own with nobody to be accountable to.

All week I have been finding myself thinking of things that I want to blog about in this update, and trying to remember them. Next week I think I will try blogging bits as I go along in a draft post, and then edit it and finish it on the Monday and post it. That way I won't forget stuff! And there's so much stuff. As I get further into reading the Bible in this way, I am starting to be.... affected by it? That's the wrong description, but I can't think of the words I mean right now. I am really starting to feel that God is changing me on the inside as I read and learn of Him. I'm excited about it!

A couple of things I am particularly noticing over the last 7 or so days is a real awareness of God's holiness. Seriously. And ohhh how grateful I am for Jesus, reading over and over and over the requirements and intense pressure on the Israelites to atone for their sins with sacrifices, and allll these rules and regulations, so that they might present themselves holy before a holy God, who cannot tolerate sin in His presence. I would never keep up! I would be instantly burned to a crisp before Him if I had to do those things, because I am too wretchedly sinful pretty much on a daily basis. I can't wait to read the progression of this beautiful story into the life and death of Jesus and beyond. I can't imagine how moving it will be to read that as part of the intensity of this fast-paced reading, even though I already know the story well and have read it before. Because without Jesus, where would I be?! He became the ultimate sacrifice, dying one time for all sins for all people, so that all people could be acceptable before a holy God. By taking ALL my sins upon Himself, I am free from the burden of laws and atonements, and free to approach my very holy God with boldness, knowing I am able to stand in His presence without fear of death!

This week's reading has served as a stark reminder of WHY Jesus came, and the depth and impact of His sacrifice for us. And seeing the alternative, I'm soooo freshly thankful!

Another thing for me this week has been a new and healthy FEAR of God. Understanding His power and holiness, and what He is able to do for those who are faithful to Him, as well as to those who are NOT, has really caught my attention!

A couple of other things of note are the way I lately want to worship and praise God at random moments of the day, and this weekend when Neil took the boys to the park and I stayed with Benjamin to clean and tidy and play with my sweetie pie, I put a Chris Tomlin CD on for some "background music" and not 5 minutes later had abandoned the tidying for jumping around with my hands in the air singing my heart out to my God! There's a song on this CD called 'God of this City', and before now I have enjoyed the song and sung along, but this time one little line changed the whole thing into body-and-soul worship for me. Just one line - "There is no-one like our God..." And it really tied in to the reading I've been doing this past week, and transformed the meaning of the song for me. I've been reading about Israel's God from ancient times, detached from me and my life, and the modern day. But in Exodus, Moses said to Pharaoh, "It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the LORD our God." (Exodus 8:10), and that has been echoed throughout this week's reading too. And hearing a modern worship singer saying the same words - "There is no-one like our God..." - OUR God. Today! Mine! All of a sudden I saw afresh how Israel's God is MY God. The same today as yesterday, and all the yesterdays before that. This same God who parted the Red Sea and fulfilled His promises to His people, giving them the land as a possession all these centuries ago. That's MY God, the one I serve today. It was just an awesome realisation, even though it's not news as such - I already knew it, but I didn't really have my eyes open to how amazing it really is.

I have suddenly become really interested in Jewish history, and wish I had Jewish friends in real life so that I could ask them about their heritage. It would be amazing to follow that history right up to modern day!

When I was trying to catch up with the reading after Nathan's birthday, I started trying to squeeze in bits and pieces of reading any time I put Benjamin down for a nap during the day, because to settle him to sleep, I put him in his Amby hammock and rock it with one hand. I thought I could maybe read the Bible whilst rocking, since I am able to check my email on my laptop with the other hand so I should be able to read the Bible instead! ;) It worked so well that I have been doing that every time I settle him for naps. If he takes a while to settle, or takes more naps than usual on any particular day, I find that I can actually get quite a few chapters read like that! On Friday I actually read 10 chapters and only had like 4 left to read that evening, which was great! So I'm doing that every day and then reading whatever I haven't managed in the evening as usual. Another bonus of doing this is that I am literally dipping into God's Word all day long, and the evening too. It's ever so good for me, spiritually! I am really feeling the benefits.

I am usually rocking Benjamin to sleep around 1am after a change and feed, and I often am soooo tired at that time that it's the closest thing to feeling like a chore (without being one - I am still blissful!). I rock and try to do it for the least time I can get away with, and then feel frustrated that he stirs awake again and I need to start rocking again to re-settle him. Well the other night after I started rocking him in the dark at 1am-ish, I didn't even notice when I started to pray, but I did. I prayed so long and so fervently and with such enjoyment that I eventually came back to earth with a bump and realised that I'd been rocking a completely-asleep baby unnecessarily for 15 minutes, hehe! ;) So, I kind of look forward to praying at the 1am "rocking" now :)

God is definitely changing my heart. I am finding myself less and less able to tolerate certain things, like basically all TV (which I barely watch anyway), since there's very little TV without some sort of sex, violence, swearing or ungodly attitudes. I feel repulsed by such things lately. Neil watches aggressive and violent TV programmes pretty much exclusively every evening, and I can't STAND it. I was not happy about it before, but now I just can't bear it. I feel like it's poison. It's polluting him and polluting our home, and by extension it's polluting me and the boys too. I am committing myself to praying for God to change his heart daily (well, 1am-ly, (hehe!) since that's when I started praying about it), to cause him to find such viewing repulsive and just want to SWITCH IT OFF! Urgh! Horrible stuff on TV these days. I want to throw the whole thing away, but Neil is very attached to it!

Well this is a very long update! But I had soooo much to say this week, and it's all good! :) Oh, one more thing before I sign off - on Friday Benjamin was difficult to settle for naps and seemed more fussy than usual, and so while I rocked him in the Amby I tried singing to him quietly - lullabies and such. It helped for his first nap, but the second nap was taking a while to achieve and I wanted to read my Bible! So I opened it to where I had got to, and started to sing the words to lullaby tunes, hehe! That way I was reading it, and he was getting his soothing lullabies. Genius. Until my sweet baby boy heard this to the tune of Golden Slumbers:

"Iiif two men are fiiighting,
Aaand the wife of one of them
comes to res-cue her husbaa-aand
from his aaa-ssai-lant,

and she reaches ouu-uu-uut
and seizes him by his private parts,
you shall cu-uut off her-rr-rr hand.
Sho-ooww her no pii-ii-ty."

Ahhh, nighty-night... Sweet dreams darling! That verse is Deuteronomy 25:11-12. No, I did not need to look that up! I didn't even realise what I was singing until the words were out, and then I stopped and the words of the verse combined with the soothing tune sung in that setting tickled me for some reason and I laughed and laughed (disturbing the baby, but oh well!)! So, the verse is committed to memory! ;)

I will be back next Monday!! I'm so excited about this next week's reading! And totally determined to succeed at the challenge! :)

6 months old and starting to eat food! :)

Benjamin turned 6 months old on the 9th!!! Time is passing so fast, I can't believe it. He was excited to be bibbed-up and handed a half-peeled banana while the other boys ate their tea! Here are a few photos:











He really just sucked on it mostly, hehe! He did gum off a really large piece and just held it in his lips, giving me a very direct, "What do I do now, Mummy?!" look! I was obviously sitting RIGHT with him, but I just told him it's okay, and asked him what was he going to do with that banana now? He started to gum it a little bit, and promptly pushed most of it back out with his tongue, and the last tiny bit went to the back of his mouth. He did some very squinty expressions with some "hhhhhaaa" sounds as though he wasn't too impressed with the foreign object near his gullet (!) but he then swallowed it!! Yay Benjamin! :) He has had the same thing for two more days and then has napped at meal times, so he hasn't had any those days. Next I plan to roast him some chunky sticks of sweet potato and parsnip! I can't decide which first - maybe both? Matthew had parsnip second, after banana. I have both so I guess I could do both! Eventually he is going to gag on something or other and I really hate that part, but in our experience, two weeks of occasional gagging (and gagging is NOT the same thing as choking, but is part of learning to control the swallow reflex) is all it takes and then there is no more of it! :)

He seems excited about the taking part, but not as thrilled about the actual eating and tasting as I expected. He really just wants to do whatever his brothers are doing, and eating is included! He is happy with breastmilk, which he still gets APLENTY - he nurses on demand day and night, and probably feeds every 2-3 hours all around the clock. He does sometimes have a longer stretch in the evening of about 4-5 hours, but not very often.

His brothers LOVE him! Love him, love him, love him. They all want to see him, play with him, and spend time with him. Matthew and Arthur love to jump about in a crazy manic way to make him laugh (this is where he does the most belly laughing I've ever heard him do - Nathan used to do the same thing for his brothers' antics!), and make silly vocal noises to make him smile too. They will keep going for ages if he smiles at them! They are also quiet and tender with him, and like to cuddle and hold him. Matthew and Nathan especially like to stroke and pat him gently. Nathan is lately all about giving Benji (which they call him the majority of the time) cuddles. He goes up to him and squeezes his head and shoulders rather vigorously to his own chest (!), saying, "Give Banzi (the way he pronounces "Benji"!) cuddle!" They bring him toys continually and play with him to entertain him and keep him happy. If he's crying they all try to help him by distracting him. I love to see them all loving each other! It warms my heart! :)

It's late so I can't write much more. I would write for HOURS if I had the time! There's so very much I want to write about - especially the two littlest ones. They are changing so fast and Nathan is talking up a storm now. He comes out with the cutest little sayings and ways of pronouncing things, and I can't bear that it's all getting lost in the sands of time! I must write them down and post them here so that I have a record. I am also behind on blogging about Arthur's birthday, Christmas, and now Nathan's birthday! He's two! My little ones are 5, 3, 2 and 6 months! I'm so excited to have lots of little ones! It's such a blessing!

I will finish with some recent photos of Benjamin (I can't begin to describe how many squillions of photos of Benjamin I have which are as yet un-posted! Aaaargh!) with his brothers. No Arthur though, he was off doing something else when I took these, I think! Here's my sweet little manny (a nickname that I use for him, since he is my "baby man" *blissful sigh*) at almost 6 months old:

Sweet baby boy relaxing in his activity ring:



So glad I captured this - adoring gaze at one of his brothers! :)



Nathey shares even his most beloved toys with Benjamin:



Nathey LOVES Benji! Sooo happy to give him cuddles, always:



Matthew loves him too...



Precious little one, calm and relaxed even though Daddy is eating a squealing brother right next to him! ;)



And yes, it IS high time I put Benjamin's photo up there at the top in place of his ultrasound picture!!! How out-of-date that is now! The reason I still haven't is not because it's a long drawn-out process or difficult at all. Jennisa will do that for me verrry cheaply and I don't have to wait on a list either. The reason is that if I update Benjamin's photo, I need to update the other boys' photos too, and I just can't seem to get good photos of them all! I have been trying for a few weeks, with the blog in mind, but it's harder than it seems! Nathan is 10 months old in his photo, so it IS getting rather ridiculous! ;) Will work on that, and hopefully update it very soon!

Thanks for all the encouraging comments on my last post about my progress on reading through the Bible in 90 days! I will be back on Monday to update about it again! :) I know it's Friday and thus "My Husband Rocks!" day, but I don't have time to write even one post (oops!) and so I chose a baby update one instead. Be assured that he still rocks though! ;)

Bible in 90 Days - Day 11 Progress Report!

Well, I am working through reading the Bible in 90 days, starting January 1st like I said in my last post! There is a lot of reading but I'm really enjoying it! Genesis was done in 4 days, Exodus in 3! And now I'm on Day 11 and still going - so excited! :)

I read every evening after the boys are in bed. It's the best (read: only!) time of day for me, as they get up around 6am and I'm usually incapable of anything until at least 7am in any case, let alone trying to get up before they do to get my reading done then! My motivator is not letting myself online till after I have finished reading, and so far it's working.

Except for yesterday! :S Nathan's birthday is tomorrow (I can't believe he'll be two!!!) and I had to put reading the Bible second last night as I had birthday-prep things to do, which could only be done after the boys were in bed. I hoped I would get enough time to read before I went to bed, but I knew it might not happen, and it didn't. So I'm a day behind as of today. Tonight I have yet more birthday prep things to do (bake and decorate the cake, yikes!) but at least the presents are wrapped now. I am not confident of getting any Bible reading done tonight, but I am determined to catch up as soon as birthdayness is behind us. I will also attempt to read little snatches today as I'm rocking the Amby to settle Benjamin off to sleep and things like that, but again, I'm not setting my hopes too high! I don't think I will get any read today, but I will try. I am actually really enjoying reading the Bible at this pace, and the stories are really coming alive for me as I read them, more than they have when I did the Bible in a year (I only read as far as Acts though, so didn't finish - and it took me 18 months to do that!).

So that is my update! :) Amy is asking everyone to link a blog post every Monday with a status update, so that's what I'll (try to!) do.

Hopefully I will get chance very soon to update about Nathan's birthday (my BIG tiny man!!) but I am not really finding the extra time to blog while I'm devoting much of my evening to reading the Bible lately. I will Facebook it though! That's quicker! ;)