Introduction to the Bible Marathon

In a nutshell, my 6 year old son, Sam and I are going to embark on a challenge to read the entire Bible in one year.  I have tried maybe ten times in my life to do this and am always fizzling out around Leviticus.  Sam and I are pretty good about doing a bible reading about three times a week but generally just flip through and pick something that seems interesting - or in his case has the best pictures.  Mostly, I think it's a chance for the kids to stall during bedtime - but hey, I'll take what I can get.

Today, in carpool I mentioned that I wanted to read the WHOLE thing in a year and that this time I was going to do it.  Sam did not seem the least bit interested in what I had to say and continued staring out the minivan window.  But, as it so often happens, a thought must have been brewing in that little 6 year old mind.

Tonight we picked a random story, it was the one about Moses and the manna.  After we read it, Sam asked, "After Moses, did Joshua become the leader?".  Embarassingly, I did not know the answer and said we'd find out tomorrow night and read the next story in his Bible.  Then he asked, "Mommy, can I do the Bible thing with you?"  I mean, what self-respecting mother can say no to this?

So, I told Sam I'd print out my reading chart which I found at http://www.oneyearbibleimages.com/Bibleln365Days-PrintableSchedule.pdf and that I'd print one out for him too.  He has "The Child's Story Bible" by Catherine F. Vos  which we just bought used on Amazon for about $8.  It doesn't have a lot of pictures but the stories are longer and more detailed, and he's sort of grown out of his preschool Bible.  It reminds me of the Bibles my mother used to read to me and it really brings the best stories to life.  He seems to like it even without the pictures.  I photocopied the table of contents in his Bible and found that there are little over 300 stories in it.  Not quite the 365 I had hoped for but maybe God knows we need a little wiggle room here.

I figure that I may as well document our progress online.  Who knows, maybe this blog will provide us some much needed encouragement.  At the least, it will be a way to see what can happen in one year with a little discipline, openess to what God needs to tell us and a slightly later bed time.  Tonight before going to bed, Sam asked me if he had to do this.  I said no, that I am perfectly fine doing this by myself and if he wants to join me at any time he can.  I'll admit this is a little bit of reverse psychology on my part - we'll see if it works tomorrow night.

In the meantime, does anyone know if Joshua was indeed Moses' replacement?!