(Inside: A free family bible reading plan you will love. In your busy mom life, be fueled by Jesus’ words of love and hope. Raise kids of faith who hear Jesus’ voice in their everyday life.)
“I need to hear God’s word.”
This thought slipped out of my mouth unexpectedly. And took me off guard. My life boasted no crisis. Or drama. Nothing burdened my heart. No life event sent me to my knees.
In between dropping boys off at soccer practice, scheduling dentist appointments, and teaching my high school students, I longed for a voice that’d lately felt quiet.
Jesus’s voice.
It’s like when I haven’t talked to my mom or sister or grandma in a while. A moment washes over me when I need to pick up the phone and simply hear their voices. I need to hear their inflections. And tones. The people I love’s words.
I needed to hear Jesus in the same way. I wanted to hear the words he spoke while he walked this earth as a man. I longed to hear the stories that nourished my childhood, reminding me – over and over – of God’s presence and love.
I wanted to remember…
- That God would leave his 99 sheep behind to go find the one sheep who’d wandered off. Matthew 18:12
- How God sees our hearts. Matthew 5:3-11
- Our actions matter. Matthew 5:17-48 – Matthew 6:1-18
- How Jesus’ joy became his relationship with God, not a big home, great job, and a good pizza. Matthew 6:19-34
- Secrets to joy and happiness in life. Matthew 7:12
- God is a miracle worker and can do far more than we can imagine, so I can choose to live from a place of hope. Matthew 8:1 – 9:8
I longed to hear who Jesus is, how he lived, and what he did for us. I needed to feel Jesus living in me, walking near me, and going before me.
But, life is busy.
So busy.
I just don’t sit down with my Bible as much as I want to. I often plan to read when I crawl into my bed, but then I often find myself instead skipping to crashing hard. I can’t read or think, give me the covers, and it’s over.
However, this longing in my heart didn’t go away. Instead, it increased to not just wanting to adjust my schedule and find an earlier time to incorporate reading the gospels, I wanted to connect with my family over this kind of nourishment.
The kids are older and our calendar is such that we usually end up in the basement hanging out together about four times a week. During our evening, we could fit in reading a few verses followed by reflection.
This would work in our season of life.
So, I looked through the book of Matthew and wrote out a very short, simple, manageable bible reading plan.
I included reflection questions.
Next, I typed it up because a beautiful printable, halved and tucked into my Bible helps me follow through.
Then, I presented this Bible reading plan, this longing in my heart, to my family…
And we spent months going through hearing Jesus’ voice.
Hear and there.
When we could.
Not stressing if we skipped.
Certainly not feel guilty if the evening and reading didn’t go as planned.
Raising big kids is bumpy, organized, then chaotic, and that is how it is going to be, there is no other way but imperfect.
Plus, I had pre-decided that if we spent one day reading. Awesome. Two days. Awesome, as well. More than that? Great. However the chips fell, they fell. I just knew this was on my heart and wanted to make space for it.
And I so enjoyed sharing my childhood nourishment of learning the beautiful messages of Jesus with my kids.
I am so glad that we did our best to carve out time so that they continually heard God loves them, daily walks with them, and is always for them.
I hope that as they grow, through the college-age years, the young adult years, the mid-life years, and on… When they think of the Bible, they think of a God who nourishes.
And when they sit down and thumb through scripture, their heart feels Jesus’ presence. I hope that my childhood comfort becomes their childhood then adult-life comfort.
Do you also have a craving to read through Jesus’ words with your family? Do you want an easy, no-stress family Bible reading plan? In this one-page beautiful printable…
- The Bible reading plan focuses on Jesus’ ministry and hearing the words he spoke. Read a bite-size, digestible section at a time.
- There are three great questions that can spark great conversation.
- And two great prompts for journaling.
No one is making a list and checking it twice, incorporate the family bible reading plan into your life in a way that works for your schedule. Or use the family bible ready plan with friends or independently. There are no rules. Here are some ideas…
- Find a coworker friend and talk about this a few times a week over your lunch break. Or just read it on your own over your turkey sandwich and sparkling water.
- Make this dinner-time discussion with your spouse, significant other, and/or family.
- Invite your grandbabies (and their parents over) once a week and chip away at the Bible reading and discussion.
- Make this an evening discussion about four times a week with your children. Or maybe just every Sunday.
- Use this during your me-time, as a tool to help you connect with God.
- Moms with babies, leave your Bible out on your kitchen counter and read it as your baby throws her spaghetti lunch on the ground. (Also, take deep breaths – you’re a rock-star-momma and this too shall pass quicker than you’d actually like. Or that’s how this mom-of-big-kids feels.)
- Read these short, digestible passages before you get out of bed in the morning.
However, you choose to input Jesus’ words, remember there’s no right or wrong way to do this. Jesus meets you where you are. I’ve found when I simply dive into the word, reflect, pray, and let all of us truths sink in, I am nourished more than I could’ve predicted.
“I needed to hear God’s word.” My body knew what my heart needed.
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Cheryl is a mom of 3 boys, wife, speaker, high school teacher, and author of Empowered Moms & Kids. She has a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and is passionate about learning and teaching. On www.empoweredmomsandkids.com you’ll find inspiration and encouragement for moms raising tweens and/or teens. Read more in the “about” section of this page.