January's Goal

One of my 28@28 goals was to read the Book of Mormon again.  And, I've totally slacked off.  I would read scriptures here & there, or for my primary lessons, etc., but wasn't doing a serious daily reading routine or anything & hadn't gotten far at all in my goal.  So I thought I could kill two birds with one stone for my January goal.  I set a goal to read the entire Book of Mormon in the month of January.  It sounded so large & lofty to me, but in reality, I could read any other 532 page book in about four days, so what was stopping me with my scriptures?

To prepare I printed out a darling book mark, made sure I had the Book of Mormon on my phone for when I wasn't home &/or didn't have my physical book with me, and divided 532 pages by 31 days which told me I needed to read 17.5 pages a day to get done in time.

I didn't actually start til the 2nd.  But, I started strong & read for a half hour on the treadmill a couple days that first week.  And, I finished on the evening of the 29th, so I had days where I read more then the 17.5 pages.

Almost immediately I noticed something different about the way I was reading my scriptures.  I wasn't focused on just reading one chapter or ten verses, or for 10 minutes.  I just read.  I soaked it in.  I had a couple other books to read {for pleasure} and I'd often look at them and then at my BOM and pick it up instead.  I found myself reading it more like a history {which it is} than some far off thing I couldn't relate to.  I snuck in reading time whenever I could throughout the day instead of feeling like I had to do it first thing in the morning, or right before bed.  I'd read it on my phone during my lunch time alone, or pull out my physical BOM while chillin on the couch with Zac.

The thing I found?  It wasn't a sacrifice.  Like I said, at most it was 45 minutes total of my day...and I kid you not when I say I felt like I had more than enough time all month to get the things I needed and wanted to do done {minus our sickness stuff}.  I also finished one of my books for pleasure & got a good start on the second.  I found that I craved that time in the Book of Mormon.

My testimony was strengthened.  In the past, the quickest I've ever read that book was in 100 days.  And before that, it'd take me year{s} to read it front to back.  Reading it in 28 days was a huge testimony to me.  Even more of it's truth, but also of the fact that every time I read it, I come away with different things I love, more I want to work on, and things I hadn't focused on before.

The main take away from this experience for me is to make daily scripture study a priority, no matter what.  Whether it's 5 minutes or 45, one verse or ten chapters, to just get it done.  It has significantly made a difference in my crazy life this month and I know Heavenly Father has blessed me because of it.  I'm going to continue reading my scriptures daily and hope to get through the entire standard works {Doctrine & Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, and the Bible} by the end of the year.  That will be a first for me.  So thankful for this start of the year January goal and for the feelings I've experienced because of it.  Starting with my spiritual health totally pumped me up and helped me gain personal revelation on what things I need to focus on from here on out.