Just to be clear, I'm terrified to do this...
Before I say anything else I want to say this to you: Hi! Anybody taking the time out of their day to even get this far into reading what I'm writing deserves a big giant hug. So this is me hugging you. Or maybe shaking your hand if you're uncomfortable hugging a stranger. Thank you for being here with me and holding me accountable to this thing I've attempted to begin.
I guess I should probably introduce myself. I am the wife of a sailor in the U.S. Navy and we have been married for 6 years. I am the mother of two boys, ages 5 years and 3 months. I am a law school graduate who currently orks as a full time stay at home mommy and a part time volunteer legal research and writing attorney.
Being the daughter of a small town Southern Baptist preacher/blue collar worker and a working mother, I have been a Christian since the age of about 4. With the exception of my wayfaring college years I have always thought of myself as a decent Christian. I go to church regularly, I'm nice to people, I pray at least a little bit everyday. That's good enough right? Not really. Apparently those words and stories in that big book are pretty important and I've been mostly ignoring them for the 28 years of my life. Don't get me wrong I went to bible school as a child. I had to recite memory verses and I can still say most of the biggies from memory. I also participate often in Bible Studies at my church. But, I read the Holy Bible of my own accord nowhere near the amount of time that God wants his followers to read it. There are weeks that I can't even remember if I brought it into the house after church on Sunday. There are other weeks where I can't even find it to take to church with me.
During church this past Sunday, the bundle of awesomeness that is my Pastor gave me a little nugget of info that I could not stop thinking about. It was so poignant that it inspired this Facebook status of mine later that day (I joke when I'm nervous):
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: 784 pages and read in roughly 24 hours. Breaking Dawn: 756 pages, read in 48 hours and then read again 3 more times. My edition of the Holy Bible, 1500 pages and in 28 years I have never read the whole thing. Wow.
I have always been terrified of the thought of reading the entire Bible from beginning to end. Growing up with the King James translation made the thought even scarier. Just like Velma here, I've been running away screaming from the Word as a whole my entire life. It's finally time to stop running and face this fear of mine. I'm going to read all 66 books, including each of the 1,189 chapters and every one of the 31,173 verses in those chapters (yes I googled). I will do this from beginning to end all in the order they appear without skipping a word.
Those of you who have never read the Bible in its entirety before are welcome to join me. I hope that this will offer you encouragement and motivation to attempt it yourself. If I can do it surely so can you. To those of you old pros who have done this already or who do it regularly, join me to give yourself a good laugh. Who knows maybe I will even make you a bit nostalgic. Please check in on me from time to time to make sure that I'm not hiding scared under a rock somewhere shaking in my sneakers.
Here's a bon voyage toast before we start. I'm raising my glass to all of you - here we go.
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