off-topic - Divide and Conquer the Bible seminar

netpea · Post by **netpea** » Mon May 26, 2008 10:24 pm

I went to hear Judy Reamer give her Divide and Conquer the Bible seminar a couple of weeks ago. has anyone else been to it? It was fascinating. You can read about it on my blog here if you are interested and check out the links to her website. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/netpea/538418/
If anyone wants to be bible reading buddies with me and the kids using this plan, let me know.

MamaMary · Post by **MamaMary** » Mon May 26, 2008 11:37 pm

LeAnn,

That looks so cool! I didn't know that 5 pages per day would finish the bible in one year! That seems so doable. I'm afraid to try to read more than that that because I don't want to just read, I like to read relationally, sit and soak, ponder and talk with the Lord.

I am going to forward your blog onto my bible study group!

water2wine · Post by **water2wine** » Tue May 27, 2008 10:06 am

Thanks! I am checking this out.

We are actually on the half paced chronological study. We do a lot of indulging and reading living books etc with it so we are reading the OT with Bigger and have a special emphasis on Proverbs and character and we will leave Psalms for the next year to do with Preparing and the NT. We started out thinking we would do the entire Bible but we get too many wild trails we take to actually accomplish that. Plus the We use the Chronological Narrated Bible so there is extra reading involved. Dividing it the way we have does not make it equal for each year but I really want to dig deeper into the life of Christ and have the freedom to study Him more as well as back track some of the OT references made in the NT to tie it all back together.

It's been amazing. We were planing on doing the whole Bible in a year before we jumped onto HOD but as soon as I saw the Bible Carrie had I realized that we really needed to give that total attention as well. I love what her Bible study has done for my kids hearts. So HOD is our school time study and we fully embrace that and dig deeper there as part of our school time. Then the reading the Bible chronologically as part of our life skills and habits rather than linked to school (except that of course it all relates to HOD). We are going to be doing HOD 4 days a week so the fifth day is deeper Bible exploration (aka wild trails to chase) and nature study day. That is part of the reason I decided to continue with Bigger at the 4 day pace rather than get to Preparing this year. Oh did that go against my own nature

but I loved that Preparing studies the Psalms and I wanted to coordinate our Bible with that, rather than rush our Bible I slowed down HOD. We love Bigger anyway and we really need to learn American Hist well, so it works. And it's a plan we can continue when we hit Preparing as well.

I guess if I had to put it in Mary terms I would say that I have a tendency toward Betty Bible style study, so half pace works best for me. I like to read the narration with it and explore deeper. It's kind of like having a little living book feel sort of built into it. But I think any plan that works for a family is a great one whether it be read it four times or even over four years. It is just a very valuable thing to do with your children and it starts a life habit. Also what convinced me actually was The Parable of the Sower in Mathew. The promise of what falls on good soil is amazing. I consider this amending the soil of my children's hearts and I believe in the promise that is there.

I love that HOD is my safety net in that and also comes along side and actually helps me with that goal as well. It's a huge partnership and I definitely needed the guidance there to pull off what I had in my heart for that plan.

netpea · Post by **netpea** » Tue May 27, 2008 10:19 am

We did fairly well with one year bible last year, but it was broken into readings from the OT, NT, Psalms and Proverbs each day. I'm looking forward to reading it straight through this time. The other thing I didn't like about the one year bible is that well, life happens and sometimes a day (or more) goes by without reading. Then the dates on the pages scream at me until I "catch up". I much prefer an undated bible, some days we'll read extra, some we might not read as many but we'll get there.

I would like to get one of those chronological bilbles W2W mentioned. We have so many other bibles floating around though that it is hard to justify buying a new one.

my3sons · Post by **my3sons** » Tue May 27, 2008 10:52 am

LeeAnn,

I checked out your blog, and thanks for sharing this! I just finished reading the Bible cover to cover for the first time in January, and it took me about 1 1/2 years to do. At first, when I hit Numbers, and other books of the Bible in the Old Testament that are largely based on geneologies, I have to admit it was a little tough to keep going. But the more I kept reading, the more I kept liking it more and more.

Then, the New Testament was such a wonderful read, going straight through all the gospels in a row was amazing. I think reading the entire New Testament all in a row did more for me to understand and love Jesus than anything else I've done in my entire life. When I finished reading the whole Bible, I wanted to start it back over all again - yeah, there's a reason it's the bestselling book in the world!!!

Now I'm reading it using the Sonrise Daily Devotional Bible, which breaks it up into a reading from the Old or New Testament paired with a reading from Proverbs or Psalms each day. There are 2 readings a day, one for morning and one for evening, but I only read it in the morning usually. I so agree with what you said about the dated readings being prohibitive. I used a Bible like that as well once, and it felt way to hectic with too much pressure to be on a certain day that I was not even enjoying it anymore. I do think that reading the Bible cover to cover is life-changing... every time you do it! For now, I'm waiting to do this with my children, but I know we'll do it eventually.

It is great to have this board be full of faith-filled women such as yourself, LeeAnn. It just makes it a nice place to meet. Thanks for sharing this, and blessings to you as you embark on your journey through the Bible!

In Christ,
Julie

water2wine · Post by **water2wine** » Tue May 27, 2008 11:32 am

netpea wrote: I would like to get one of those chronological bilbles W2W mentioned. We have so many other bibles floating around though that it is hard to justify buying a new one.

You can read any of the Bibles you have chronologically as well. I am just too lazy to remember to look at a plan all the time and I like having commentary so that I do not miss anything I guess but even that is not necessary. I also am the type that struggle with keeping on track for a date system as well. That's why the page per week thing works for me.

I also liked the way Julie described her Bible doing it as well. There are so many great ways to read it and I believe God will speak to us no matter how we read it. I just think reading it with your kids is an awesome thing to do. You grow, they grow and it is such a wonderful bond and memories to last a lifetime.

BTW that site had some great stuff to print out, THANKS!

netpea · Post by **netpea** » Tue May 27, 2008 6:15 pm

my3sons wrote: I do think that reading the Bible cover to cover is life-changing... every time you do it!

That's exactly what Judy Reamer said. Thank you for sharing that you felt this way too. It warms my heart to hear you say this. I want that for us, (is that covetous?).

my3sons wrote: It is great to have this board be full of faith-filled women

You're right, it is wonderful to hear about each other's faith. I have been uplifted so many times from other women's posts on this board. Thank you for all you and Carrie do and the posts you make encouraging the rest of us.

This board is wonderfully satisfying. The faith and warmth and fellowship here are different from any other board I've ever been on.

water2wine · Post by **water2wine** » Tue May 27, 2008 8:14 pm

netpea wrote: This board is wonderfully satisfying. The faith and warmth and fellowship here are different from any other board I've ever been on.

I completely agree. There are a lot of wonderful women here who really have a heart for The Lord and for lifting each other up in this awesome journey of homeschooling. I love that there is a place you can go where the moms are happy in their homeschool and kind to each other. It is so needed. The added bonus is we are all using the same thing with the same focus and we all are loving it. I really appreciate the people on this board and that we get Carrie and Julie on with us to share makes it all that much better.

Kathleen · Post by **Kathleen** » Tue May 27, 2008 10:39 pm

LeeAnn,

Thanks for your challenge...it's been a couple of years since I read through the entire Bible. I'm always reminded that God's Word will not return to Him void, but will accomplish the purpose for which it was sent.

I have a chronological Bible, too, but those pesk dates were driving me crazy, too. Maybe I need to use a little white out...

Kathleen