Resolutions

I don't usually make resolutions for the new year. When asked for the local paper once, I told them, "I don't believe in resolutions." I'm still not sure what that means exactly. I know what I meant when I said it though.

I don't generally make them. For one thing, I don't think you should have to wait for the new year to decide to make a change for the better. And a lot of people do. Or else they use waiting as an excuse for not making a change.

Too, they are (or can be) expensive. I am a person (probably like 90 percent of the rest of America) who gets all worked up and excited about something, spends a lot of money on it, and then loses her enthusiasm. That's why so many diet products, for example, are on sale right now along with workout clothes. That's why I've been seeing so many ads for hair loss replacement and stop smoking products. So, I came to the conclusion that any resolutions (whether at the beginning of the new year or not) I did make would have to be ones that cost almost nothing to carry out. If I stuck with it, I could allow myself to spend money on it.

But, we broke rank this year. We made a resolution. As a family, we decided to read the Bible through in a year using a chronological reading plan. That's right, all four of us. And we started on January 1st before we left Arkansas so we have a good beginning.

I have used a different chronological plan before by myself and I really liked it. It places things in the order they happened. The change isn't immediately noticeable but when you get to the Samuels and Kings, it flips back and forth quite a bit with Chronicles. I especially like when it matches up the prophets to the particular events in time that they were prophesying about. And of course it's nice to read the gospel events together too.

You don't have to buy a special Bible either. There are lots of plans online now. The one we're using is in .pdf form too so you can save a copy to use again in case it disappears. They also have a regular plan. And a lot of them have the daily reading online so you don't even have to carry your Bible with you or in case you forget it.

You can find the one we're using here or just google "Bible reading plan" and you'll find all sorts of them. I think this will be a wonderful thing for us to do as a family. We've already had a few discussions about what we've read.

So, I suppose, this is one resolution I don't really mind making -- and keeping. Even though it is the New Year.