Old Eyes and Printing

I realized today that the printing on the Four Readings plan was pretty small and it could be printed a bit larger.

When you open the document in Adobe's Reader program and select print, change the print options to "Actual Size" on the print pop up box. This will make it print a bit larger.

If you have a duplex printer, you should also select "Flip on Short Edge" to get the booklet to print correctly.

Apps

I hadn't thought about using an app to track reading through the Bible, but it came up in a group when I made my announcement, and here we are with me writing a post.

First the background information about my devices, I have both an Samsung 10.1 Android tablets, two years old; a Samsung S4 phone, eight months old, and an iTouch, first generation and five years old. Because of what I own, I decide not to try to test an app on my old iTouch, but I did find an app that exists on both the iPhone and android platforms.  I did test on both my Android devices as sometimes what works on one won't work on the other. Although in this case I saw no difference between the two devices.

I also decided I didn't have the ability to go through the pages of Bible apps to test each one. Instead I used ratings at Google's Play Store to find two possible apps for you to use.

The first app I checked out is the "You Bible" from LifeChurch.tv. This app also is available in the itunes store. There is a tied in website where you register and search and find the Discipleship Journal Four Reading plan and add it to the account you set up with this app. Once the plan is installed on your account, you'll find it by clicking on the reading plans on the pop up tool bar found hidden on the left side of the interface.

This app has much to recommend it. You can use many different translations of the Bible. However, you do need to be aware that those translations will only be available when your device is not connected to the internet if you download them. The app suggests downloading at least one translation so you won't get caught with no translations. Some translations are not available for download.

The app also has recorded versions of some translations. This is not the mechanical voice your phone might use, but a real recording of human being. Again, not all translations have recordings.

This plan also gives you some flexibility in terms of reading on other devices or at home from your Bible. It does that by continuing to advance day by day whether or not you interact with the app. So if you are close to on target it will be close to where you are on the plan. It also lets you use a calendar to jump around so if you get ahead or behind, you can jump forward or backward. Finally, you can go to the settings and tap on "Catch me up" and it will reset you from the last day you marked read in the app. This means you can start anytime during the year and if you get way behind, reset the app.

A simpler app is DJ Bible Reading Plan from Divine Software. They also have a website. This app comes pre-loaded with the ESV translation and the Four Readings plan. Each day you see a page with the four readings which you tap and then read. On each reading page there is a button to go to the next page. This app can also play a recording of the ESV. Further you can customize the day you start the plan with a date and the app will show you how far ahead or behind you are each day. Unfortunately this app does not allow you to pick any date, but instead is limited to a few dates each year to start from.

There is one big downside to this app: there is no easy way to mark days read that you've read elsewhere or move through the days. To move a day ahead, you must tap into a reading, scroll to the bottom of the page where you can then tap "Completed?" or "Next Day." And you must tap that completed button to check off a reading. Once completed is tapped that reading is gone and I far as I can tell you can't get it back. I'm afraid this lack of flexibility bugs me a bit, but if you plan to use only your phone, this app could be a great option because it does exactly what it should do without a lot of extra stuff to distract you.

Getting Behind

Thus far, I've only talked about how to plan in advance for reading, but what happens when you fall behind?

I hope that what doesn't happen is that you stop.

I'll suggest some things further down that might help you to get going again, but for the next year, I'd like to encourage you to post here or on the local Facebook page I have going. There is support in groups and more ideas than I'll ever come up with.

First, forgive yourself! Worrying about why you fell behind isn't productive, so move on with new plans to continue reading.

Second, read when you can. So if you miss a whole week or a month or two months, and you realize it, go ahead and start reading again. If you do just this, then eventually you will read through the Bible, maybe not in a year, but you'll still do it.

Third, evaluate what happened to give yourself guidance. This doesn't mean beating yourself up, but it does help to know that an illness, or a special project at work, or a busy sports season, kept you from reading. Make plans to read during the next event. For instance, put a Bible and a plan in your car and read during a child's sports practice. Or listen to the Bible in your car as you drive to work.

Fourth, decide if you want to try to catch up. Let me stress my second point which is you don't have to catch up. But if you want to, let me suggest a couple of ideas on how to do it.

• The pure endurance way is to double up and read two readings a day until you've caught up. You can do this either by reading longer once a day or by reading twice a day (morning and night, for instance). I'd suggest first get back to reading daily for a week or two and then moving to this plan. And stay aware of your stress level, if doubling up is too much, back off. 
• You can modify this a bit by doubling up on light days in your schedule and reading just one reading on heavy days.
• Thanks to the four readings plan we are using, you can also read just one extra of the four readings each day. This means every four days you will read five days worth.
• Don't take days off each month. Since the plan has extra days each month you can catch up a few days each month by just reading everyday of the month. 
• Take a day to read to catch up. Make it a fun retreat kind of day, bring your favorite things to eat, read somewhere that you like (but is not distracting). 
• Use an extra hour to reading a few extra readings. 

Consider now what your get behind plan will be. Maybe you think you'll just restart, maybe you like the idea of catching up. While a get behind plan can't be as solid as your reading plan, if you do have a plan, you'll have a place to start when you get behind.

Extensions

Each time I've organized this group read through the Bible, I've had a couple of people who want to do something else along with reading. Often what they want to do is a good thing: they plan to journal or pick one verse each week and memorize it. I still cringe when they mention doing this. Why? Because adding one new habit is difficult and making that habit harder or adding a second habit makes the overall process less likely to happen.

So if you are interested in doing something extra let me make a couple of suggestions.

First reading the Bible can be hard work and some days you'll be tired and unmotivated. We don't like to think this way about reading God's word, but at least at first, this is a reality for many new readers. Instead of adding an additional task, consider planning a series of rewards for yourself. They don't have to be bribes but maybe things you want to do in addition to the Bible reading. For instance, maybe you long for a morning to spend praying or volunteering, but you never have time. Make this a reward for your Bible reading, say after a month of daily reading, you will take a morning to pray. Go ahead and plan who will help you with this (someone to take your children for instance). Maybe your helper would be willing to swap your reward for theirs. Then after two more months, you'll another morning. BUT if you need more temporal and less spiritual rewards, do that, too. Coffee at Starbucks or chocolate or a new something can work, too.

Next, try to chose something simple if you must add a daily task to your Bible reading. Instead of copying out a verse each day, high light it in your Bible (if you use an electronic reading device you could capture these at the end of the year to read your course).

If you find yourself dreading doing your reading or avoiding it, drop everything else you are doing and keep reading. Get rid of all friction in the reading time that you can, so you can keep reading.

At the end of this year, I'm going to make a radical suggestion to everyone who has finished: do it again. Why? Because if you can do this two years in a row, you can do it again in your life when you want, you will know what it takes and you'll have the skill set to do it. If you really want to do something big as an extra, plan to do it your second time reading through. I outlined the Bible one year when I read through, but I didn't do it my first time through.

Time is Fleeting

As you plan your Bible reading, consider when you will study each day. Think about your regular day or maybe your irregular day.

If you read much, you'll have encountered the idea that your daily time with God should be the first thing in the morning. I've even read that all the great people of God over the years had a morning devotional time. One big advantage to recommend this is that you get up, do it first, and it is done for the day. A second big advantage to this time is that you will begin the day with God in His word and hopefully take His word with you throughout the day.

However, you might find this time doesn't work for you. Getting up earlier or finding peace in the morning might not work for you. At some point after reading the idea that to do great things for God, you had to study in the morning, I decided it was, therefore, obvious that I was not going to do great things for God because a morning devotion time did not work for me. The the original Bible writers didn't begin their day this way either because the Jewish day began at sunset not sunrise. So if morning doesn't work for you, don't give up, you can still read through the Bible this coming year.

The important thing is choosing a time you can stick with and if things interfere foreseeing that and rescheduling your Bible reading time. I've known moms who've done their Bible reading while they waited at children's lessons and activities. I do my Bible reading immediately after dinner (right after sunset!). You could even look at your weekly schedule and schedule your reading at a different time each day. Although I will say if you do this you might consider adding your reading time to your calendar if you keep one.

When picking a time, make sure you pick a time and set up a method for keeping it. If it needs to go onto a calendar, paper or electronic, do so. If you need to send yourself a reminder, do that (check out this free way to do that http://www.followupthen.com/). If you are new and/or unsure about the time then pick a back up time. For instance, let's say you want to try reading in the mornings, but you aren't sure how that will work, then look at your schedule and pick a second time, later in the day when you can read if that first time doesn't work.

Once you've picked a time, take a step back and again look at what you decided about taking days off and your bigger schedule, anticipate any problem areas and decide now what you might do to deal with those problem times. Obviously, you can't do this for the whole year, but you can take a look at your first month or two now.

One Bite a a Time

There's an old proverb that says, "The way to eat an elephant is one bite a time." Reading through the Bible in a year is much the same thing. If each day you do your daily reading, you'll end up reading through the Bible in a year.

With the plan I've selected most days will be 25 out each month. This means in most months means five to six days off each month.

Today, I'd like you to consider those days off and how you would like to use them.

You can look at your overall schedule and decide that you'd like to take a specific day off from reading each week. Maybe it's the day at work that you have longer hours, maybe it's Sunday because you go to church, maybe it's the day your children have a lot going on. Some people need that regular break from reading if this is you then don't hesitate to plan for it.

On the other hand, maybe your whole week is open or crazy and no one day stands out for you. Then you might want to consider the "It's okay, whatever" plan. In this plan, you plan to read everyday, but if you miss a day, you know you have those five extra days each month. If this plan seems right, but you are worried about taking off too many days, then make a check mark next to each month's name when you take a day off, five checks and you know you can't take off any more days that month. Or maybe if it is the tenth and you've already got four checks, you know you can't take a day off for a while.

Or hoard your days off. Read everyday and go ahead and move on to the next month before this month is over. This is a great plan if you will want to skip reading on vacations or for specific big events later in the year: a big work project, finals week, a child's wedding. I generally work a combination of this and the it's okay plan so I can take a vacation without reading.

Which ever route you decide to go on, you can look out for two dangers. The first two months or so of reading will help to cement you into your pattern of reading, so really work hard in January and February to stay on track with your reading. Second, sometimes unexpected events can throw you off. Think about how you want to handle those. Especially consider what you'll want to do if something lengthy and stressful comes up.

Choosing a Bible Reading Plan

There are lots of Bible reading plans found on the web and I've used many different ones. What are some qualities you want to look for in a Bible reading plan if you have never done this before?

1. Having regular time off reading. What this means is that you have a little give in the plan, so if you miss a day of reading you aren't playing catch up.
2. Have a fairly even amount to read each day. Over the years, I've come across plans that end up with a lot of reading on some days and very little on others. One common plan, I've seen and used is one in which each day of the week you read a different kind of Biblical literature. The problem with this idea is there is a lot more of some kinds of literature like prophecy than other kinds, leaving some days really light in reading amount and others with a lot.  My experience is that this makes for a tough plan to read and often leaves you disliking the type of literature that has the heavy days. 
3. Make sure you get a mix of Old and New Testament all year. In particular, I find it helpful to make sure you come back to the gospel readings with some regularity and not read all four gospels in a row in the fall. 
4. Break it up. I have used plans where whole books are read rather than a mix of readings each day, but I've found that for beginners, having a little bit of everything everyday helps keep things moving. 

So with these parameters in mind, I've selected Discipleship Journal's Reading Plan for reading through the whole Bible in a year. 

If you are planning to read with me this year, go ahead and download and print the plan. Put it in your Bible, if you have more than one Bible you are going to use, put a copy in each Bible. File it some place on your computer that you will be able to find it later (and rename it something that is easy to find). If you are like me, put it in your Evernote account. 

Reading Through the Bible in a Year

I've read through the Bible several times and would like to share my thoughts and encouragement on that process this coming year (2014).

I've also asked folks I know to join me in this process.

Over the next year I plan to post helpful tips and encourgement for anyone to read.