{Big Picture}

About 4 or 5 years ago, I set out to read the Bible through in a year. Chronologically. (To mix things up.) See, I wasn't sure if I had read every single book in the Bible. I thought I likely had at some point, but I couldn't be certain. This way, I would know I had.

I didn't make it very far. So the next year, I started over with the same goal. I made it much further, but still didn't finish. So the following year, I picked up where I had left off and kept trucking. By the end of that 3rd year, while I had made great progress, I still had not finished and my goal fell by the wayside.

Last year, the women's Bible study I was a part of, went through a book called the 66 Love Letters together while also following a survey reading plan of the Bible. I enjoyed this study very much, though I did not finish either the 66 Love Letters or even a survey of the Bible.

See, part of this is because I am a detail-person. I like to focus on the little bits. From each and every angle. This is a good thing, but there are other perspectives to be considered. I'm always amazed by how others can see the theme of a whole book of the Bible or how the books are interconnected. I can't see such a perspective because I'm over here with my magnifying glass combing through the details. It's time for me to take a step back. Yet, I cannot face another year of trying to read through my Bible...and not finishing. A year is a long commitment after all.

But last week, I stumbled across the calculations of a website called, How long does it take to read the Bible?. It takes into account your reading speed and your time goal, then spits out a daily plan of which chapters to read and about how long it will take you to read it. I realized that I could read the entire Bible in less than a year by dedicating less than an hour of reading a day, even with my terribly low reading speed.

So I've decided to take the leap, perhaps biting off more than I can chew, by setting out to read the Bible in 3 months at just less than 45 minutes a day. (Along with 66 Love Letters.)

I have no idea what the outcome of this journey will be. Will I finish strong? Will I get distracted and let it fall by the wayside again? I don't know. But I do know that any time spent in God's Word is not a waste (paraphrase of a quote I recently read and cannot seem to get Google to release to me).

So here goes. It's time to follow that scarlet thread through these 66 letters of love.