By Amber Swinehamer

I am a list person. If you’ve ever spent any amount of time with me, you know that. Nothing about me screams “spontaneous.” I’ve been this way for as long as I can remember. With adulting, comes work and chores; with having kids, comes running around looking for lost Sophie the Giraffes, school pickups and drop-offs, after-school instrument lessons, baseball practice, etc. Before you know it, the day is over, and it’s time for bed (good thing too, because coffee can only do so much for a person). And one thing I do before I shut the lights out is check my to-do list for the day one last time. 

A few months ago, Pastor Jeff mentioned in his sermon an old saying that stuck with me: “A Bible that is falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t.” That inspired me to try harder to get into the Bible every day. But like everyone else with a beating heart, I’m busy. And while I have great intentions, even something as important as spending time in the Word can easily get pushed back or fall through the cracks. That’s where the list comes in.

I like to relate it to a half marathon training plan or any other kind of workout plan. If I put Bible time on my calendar, whether literally or figuratively, it’s almost impossible for me to skip it. I’m severely Type-A, so just making a note to “read the Bible today” isn’t enough for me. I need structure, a guide. Thankfully, my friend Google is there to help. My favorite bloggers often have reading plans. There are plenty of apps and books to help decide on a reading plan. I’ve been tackling this month by month. Last month, I found a reading plan about the names of God. This month, I’m reading the Gospels in four weeks. There are strict plans with assigned verses for the day, and there are plans that you can read through a book within a certain time frame at your leisure. Some might feel that putting God’s Word on a to-do list feels cringey, but I’m making it a priority. I’m deciding that it’s not enough to dive in if I have the time that day. I’m putting it in front of me, and thus I will find the time to open my Bible.

Much like getting your daily exercise in, you’ll never be worse off or regret the time spent in your Bible. It can only improve your life. Author Hannah Brencher writes, “Each chunk of time spent with God brings its own sort of the gift to you. You miss the gift when you don’t spend time with him. And the only one who misses out, in that case, is you. Time with God is for your benefit.”

The miracle of having the right verse at the right time placed in front of me during my daily reading still happens even when I’m using a reading plan. That’s God for you, always lining up the stars to give you what you need when it’s the right time. Look, I’ve been the queen of making excuses for not going to church on past Sundays—it’s raining, or it’s too cold, or the kids were up too late the night before. But the mornings that I pushed past those excuses and went to church were some of the mornings that I felt the Holy Spirit the most. They’ve been the mornings that the sermon struck me a little too personally. Then I have the “a-ha! moment,” when I figure out why I relented and came to church anyway, despite my annoying excuses.

There will be a day when I’m not so busy, and I might be a little less intentional when getting into the Word; but for now, this works for me. As a new Christian, I felt that tackling the Bible was a little overwhelming, so finding these plans, well, they helped me apply the “how to eat an elephant” philosophy (one bite at a time).

Amber Swinehamer is a stay-at-home mom and resides in Bluffton, South Carolina, with her husband David and two sons. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, live music, Atlanta Braves baseball, and all things Washington, D.C.