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Saturday, January 15, 2011

Know Him

 As I read various books seeking truth and exploring my faith, it has occurred to me that I have neglected THE BOOK. Although I have participated in bible studies, Mother's groups, and been to many a Mass, I have yet to read THE WHOLE ENTIRE BIBLE. I am embarrassed that I haven't ever tried or even thought much about it.

How can I in good conscience homeschool my kids, with our focus being on knowing, loving, and serving our Lord, without actually trying to know Him more intimately through scripture? Don and I had an "after bedtime" talk last night, and decided that this should be a priority for our family. Our goal is to try and read through the bible with the kids in the next 18 months. Sadly, we don't even have a good stash of bibles. This morning, I, being a frugal freak, scoured through websites looking for affordable Catholic study bibles to use. I found www.thriftbooks.com and ordered 8 Catholic bibles, 5 study bibles, 2 children's bibles, and 1 baby board book bible for Charlie, all for less than $30. Since I saved so much on our bibles, I also purchased bible covers for 6 of the bibles. I am so excited to begin.....I know there will be MANY challenges, but His Grace is enough.
Those of you who have read the bible or in the process, is 18 months a reasonable time frame?? Any tips or suggestions??

10 comments:

  1. Talk to Father Matt. I was talking to him about this several months ago and he gave me some tips on reading the Bible (IE, don't start at the beginning, etc.). Anyways, I would recommend asking him or any good spiritual director type person. Remember, Debi, even if you've never "read" the whole Bible, our Liturgy and prayers are steeped in It. You know more than you think. But I still think it's great to incorporate scripture more and more into our daily lives. We (Aaron typically does bedtime) read Gemma a story or two a night from her Children's Bible. She had the St. Joseph one you have pictured up there and we probably read it a dozen times, so she graduated to a new one when Santa left her another version with more/longer stories for Christmas. I think they're about 1/2 to 3/4 the way through it and will just start over once they're done. The repetition is good. I always get tickled when we're at Mass and maybe Abraham or Moses is mentioned, and her ears will perk up and her eyes will light up like, "hey, I know who that is". My MIL said one time when she was here Gemma picked up her Bible and was naming all the different characters as they flipped through the pages. So even though sometimes at night when they are reading and she is bouncing off the walls (or on her bed), I guess it is getting through. But now I have been entirely too long-winded. Keep me posted on your progress, and congrats on scoring some great deals!! I am sure it will be fruitful for your family.

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  2. Thanks for your input, Monica!!Yes, you are right, we have heard a great deal of the bible during Mass. We have lots of little kiddie bibles(I always "feel" better having Catholic versions.) and the kids have heard lots of bible stories, but it would be fun to delve into the whole thing in more depth. I would like to find some sort of resource to help us choose where to start...maybe I'll check with our pastor(good idea!!) first.

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  3. I got an excellent book from the Catholic Company's reviewer program called "Walking with God." It is a narrative of the bible and might be a great resource for you to read before you delve into the whole bible word for word. It explains a LOT (background, context, word meanings, etc), and although I haven't finished reading it, I couldn't believe how helpful it was when I was planning our Jesse Tree readings/reflections this year. It is very insightful and I would highly recommend it.

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  4. 18 months seems sensible. Phil read the whole Bible in a year when he became a Christian. I have been delving in a bit more. My mum said to me the other day that she'd never read it and I was sort of shocked but then she said to me 'i've been listening to scripture many times a week for over 60 years at Mass' and of course she's right! But its a great goal to have for your family. I've used a book called 'The Catholic Guide to the Bible' which has helped me in the places where I don't really understand fully what i'm reading.

    Our main struggle/worry is on how we're going to teach Matilda but she's just turned 3 and hopefully once her understanding is better and she is a bit more communicative with us we can start to teach her too. I pray this will happen :)

    BTW, great deals on your family bibles!

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  5. My mom has been reading a chapter a night for about 50 years, starting over every time she finishes the whole bible. I'll have to ask her how long it takes her to get through the whole thing.

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  6. Michelle and Eloise, those sound like good starting points to begin, I will be researching them both. Thank you!!
    Eloise, I am totally not worried about the 3 youngest?(2yrs-7yrs),that's why I bought picture bibles so they have something special while we are reading. I'm sure Matilda would be fine with the same thing or just having you retell her stories. I was super happy with my bible bargains too!
    Becky, how very cool, let me know what she says.
    I would be curious..I was thinking if we did 2 chapters a day...give er take skipping a few days, we would get through before 18 months??? We shall see.

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  7. good plan, I haven't read the bible through and through! I have read of course th enew testament many times, but not so much the old testament. I was thinking the other day to start my day off reading the psalms or a psalm to the kids then see what else I can read and accomplish! baby steps!

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  8. Josette,that is my philosophy as well,...baby steps!!

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  9. Josette, don't know you but the Psalms are a GREAT place to start. They are full of such richness. Debi, I know Fr. Matt. Mentioned starting with the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) and maybe the Acts? He also mentioned Psalms and Proverbs as well. I just know he said that the Bible is not meant to be read cover-to-cover. But then different things work for different people. Keep us posted!

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  10. Monica, thank you for sharing Fr. Matt's advice, he is an AWESOME priest!! I am sure he is right about it not being meant to be read from cover to cover. I found a really cool guide online for Catholics to read the bible along with the catechism. http://chnetwork.org/journals/readguide04.pdf It does go in order starting with Genesis, but it says that you can start anywhere. I've also ordered Walking with God and The Catholic Guide to the Bible. I also talked to my pastor, Fr. Jerome, and he said he just ordered a book and hadn't read it yet. He also told me to let him know if I find a good resource. I think with these 3 resources, it will be a good place to begin our bible study. I really appreciate all your input,everyone!!!!!
    Much Love & Thanks!!

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