My Busy-Mom Bible Study Plans for 2014

Last year when I started my own Bible study plan I had good intentions. The goal was to slow down and go through specific scriptures at a more indepth pace so that I could really get to know the passages. However, the truth of the matter is that with so many distractions at my fingertips—from a crying then crawling baby to a big cross-country move—this approach made it all too easy for me to slack off or ignore daily quiet times entirely.

Fortunately, once I moved and we found a new church, I was able to join a women's Bible study. I discovered that the structure and accountability that this Bible study offered me is especially important in the season now with Claire. Every week, we work through a workbook of questions on particular passages and then we meet together to discuss those portions. Knowing that I had to report back to them every week really challenged me to make sure that I completed each section of scripture entirely. Also, the guided questions helped me stay on track during the short bursts of time I had available in the midst of watching and parenting Claire when it would otherwise be too easily to skim through and shut my Bible without digging in deeper.

Fortunately, this coming year are Bible study will continue. We've already decided that we will be studying the book of Judges. So that will guide my Bible study efforts for the first part of the year. And I've already decided that during the times when our group is taking a break, to work my way through similar Bible study workbooks (similar to the ones by Beth Moore or Priscilla Shirer that I've completed in the past). I find that right now I need those kinds of prompts to help me stay focused and really dig into scripture. It's all too easy to get distracted. (By the way, if you have any workbooks like this that you'd recommend for solo use, please let me know!)

I've also asked my husband if he'll watch Claire for me for 20 minutes or so each morning so that I can intentionally study the Word in this way. There's plenty of accountability in this, too, as I want to be faithful to the task, knowing that he's giving up his little free time to aid me in this endeavor. Sure, I could read during her naps or when she's playing independently, but I find that I get too easily distracted or pulled to take care of other tasks. This arrangement helps force me to seek out Scripture, and right now I think that's (sadly? honestly?) what I need: to force myself to dig in.

So for now, that is how I'm retooling my Bible study plans for this coming year: Taking advantage of the community and resources available to help maximize my efforts and time. Because let's face it, even though Claire is no longer crying and colicky, she is now crawling and cruising and getting into everything, which means that it's still hard to find large blocks of time to committed to Bible study. My lazy days of curling up on the couch with a hot mug of coffee in hand and casually spending an hour or so on Bible study feel long gone! But I know that God honors and multiplies our efforts and gives us grace in this season of our lives. So, I press on and learn from the past and look forward to what awaits in this new year of ours.

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