Bible Reading for Mamas - Fears & Encouragements (Part 1/3)

If you’ve been following along on my Instagram lately, I started a summer Bible reading challenge this past June and have been sharing my assigned reading in my Stories each day. The reading plan follows a schedule that completes the entire New Testament in three months, with reading assigned Monday through Friday and an optional reading on Saturday. This plan leaves Sunday open so that readers can meditate on the scripture preached at their church that day.

Although the daily reading is going exceedingly better than anything I imagined, I wanted to share the fears, encouragements, practical workarounds, and fruit that I’ve experienced with this reading plan with the hope that if you’re a new (or seasoned) mom and are struggling to commit to reading God’s word each day, this might encourage and motivate you. I decided to break my post into three parts. This one will be focused on the fears I had and encouragements I received prior to starting the reading plan. :)

Some Background

I’d like to start by sharing that my friend has been inviting me to join this reading plan for more than a year. In the past, I had passed on the opportunity, because I was happily committed to the reading plan in the back of my She Reads Truth Bible (my husband gifted me the coral-colored one for Christmas a few years ago, and it’s still my favorite!). However, when I got pregnant back in March 2019, and subsequently began feeling the all-the-time nausea and extreme exhaustion that can come with the first trimester, I pretty much stopped my Bible reading plan altogether and didn’t pick it back up for the rest of my pregnancy. I was lucky to simply read one day’s scheduled reading a week, but I often missed more than seven days in a row.

Fast forward to December 2019, when I gave birth to our beautiful baby girl. Motherhood felt easy and natural at times, and at other times, overwhelming and challenging. With taking in all of the “firsts” and my need to learn how to rest (I’m almost done writing a blog post about this topic ;) ), consistent Bible reading felt like too much to try to accomplish. I’d read a few chapters every once in a while for the first few months of motherhood. After that, I got into a little bit of a routine of doing my Bible reading during our 2am nursing sessions. My thought process was that if I was going to use my phone to try to stay awake while nursing anyway, I might as well try to fill my head and heart with God’s truth, instead of fill the time by playing a game. ;)

Reading my Bible at 2am went surprisingly well on some nights, and other nights, I was so tired that I ended up defaulting to a game on my phone in an effort to stay awake. (Side note: I do know how to nurse while lying down so that I can sleep while nursing, but my girl spits up less when I nurse her while I’m sitting in a semi-reclined position. :) ) Anyway, all that to say, by the time I was 5 months postpartum, I still wasn’t consistently reading God’s Word, but I so desired to do so! It was at this time that my friend who had invited me to participate in this Bible reading plan in previous years had invited me to participate once again. As I considered her offer, my heart felt nervous and fearful about committing.

My Fears

I was filled with worry and fear that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the reading, that I would get so far behind that I’d end up giving up altogether, and that I’d eventually just fail. I feared that even if I kept up with the reading, committing to the plan maybe still wasn’t worth it, because my mind felt so foggy from the little sleep that I got sometimes. I knew it’d be hard to remember what I had just read. Furthermore, I couldn’t imagine how I’d manage to have a “quiet time” with the Lord when my little girl was making noise (sometimes happy, sometimes fussy) in the background. Have you found yourself thinking any of these things too?

I missed regularly reading God’s Word though, and I thought that if I committed to this plan, knowing that other friends (and moms) were also committing and reading each day, maybe I’d have an easier time staying on track. I waffled back and forth between my fears and thoughts that maybe this time would be different. Out of curiosity for what would be required for the reading plan, I visited the plan’s website to learn more. The Lord was so kind to lead me to this website and to keep me from quickly declining my friend’s invite, because the website was where I received my first light-bulb-moment encouragement.

The Encouragements

On the plan’s website, the creators of the plan explain that a fear many people have when committing to a Bible reading plan, regardless of being mothers, is that they will fall behind, give up, and fail. The creators then point out that there’s no such thing as failing when you read God’s word! When I read that statement, all I could think of was, “Oh, duh!!” haha. Of course, I couldn’t fail if reading God’s word; it’s the living word after all, right?! The Lord isn’t limited by my ability to read His word daily. I realized that my unbelief and maybe lack of maturity in this area had been keeping me from reading and meditating on God’s Word all this time. Whether I stayed on track with the daily reading or got behind, either way, I’d be reading God’s Word and I could trust Him to grow, change, and sanctify me through coming before Him in faith.

A few days later, I shared how the plan’s website was encouraging to me with my friend. She shared another encouragement that has stuck with me. As I explained my worry about not being able to remember what I read in detail (or at all), she explained that there are seasons of life - motherhood, for instance - where the Bible is taken in more broadly. Instead of reading, studying, and remembering every detail, scripture is taken in faster and in larger chunks at a time. Both types of reading have their benefits. One of the biggest pros of reading scripture fast and in large sections is that you don’t have an opportunity to focus on the details and are, therefore, forced to take in the bigger picture. You get an overall flavor for the Lord and His character instead.

Being a month and a couple of days into the reading plan, I can fully say that this is true! It has been such a pleasure reading scripture with the big picture of salvation in mind. I definitely don’t remember every detail of the usually four chapters that are assigned each day, and some days, I have to read so quickly to finish before my baby gets too fussy that I don’t really remember what I read at all. Even so, I already notice so much fruit from the regularity of coming before God’s word each day. Reading has been so worth it, friends!

Closing Thoughts

Okay, so maybe you can relate to the fears and encouragements that I encountered prior to beginning this reading plan. I’m sure you’re also wanting the fruit that comes with regularly reading God’s Word, but maybe you’re struggling to figure out how to practically make daily reading fit into your schedule. I definitely don’t have all of the answers or even just a single, one-size-fits-all answer, but I have found some things that have served me well and helped me to complete my reading each day with a 6-month-old by my side. I’ll share those creative tips in my next post. :)

Are you currently committed to a Bible reading plan or do you want to jump into one? What obstacles and encouragements have you experienced with your reading?

Much love until next time, friends.
Christy