December 31st!!!  We did it!!!  God gets the glory.  Truly, as the verses from Isaiah 26 above say, anything and everything we have accomplished, HE HAS DONE FOR US!!  HIS NAME ALONE DO WE HONOR!!

In 2009, I read the Bible through in a year using the NIV One-Year Chronological Bible.  In the beginning of this year, my dear friend, Cheryl, lovingly suggested that Jim and I read the Bible in a year with our cherubs.  I LOVED that idea!!!  Thank you, Cheryl! 

Each night after bath time, we would gather to read the day’s scripture in the daily Kid’s Bible.  There were some nights we would miss, and we’d make it up the following night by reading two days.  There were a couple times during the year we got several nights behind, but we diligently got caught up each time.  Our Kid’s Bible even traveled with us this summer to Turks & Caicos, Camp of The Woods (where Jim read it around the nightly camp fire for devotion time with our wonderful friends’ families who were with us) and North Carolina.  Throughout the year, meaningful and memorable family conversations from the heart started by reading God’s Word together as a family.  We are very thankful. 

So, what was our real goal in reading the Bible in its entirety in a year?  Our heart’s desire is to KNOW HIM.  John 17:3 – Now this is eternal life: that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.

Our true goal is to KNOW HIM.  By soaking His Word into our hearts each day, we know Him more intimately.  Our prayer for our children is that they love and hunger for God’s Word, that His Word is the joy of their hearts, that His Word is their unshakable heritage and that it is passed on through them for generations to come.  Psalm 119:111 – Your statutes are my heritage forever; are the joy of my heart.    

So, this evening as we try to stay awake until midnight to see the fireworks in the sky above our little town welcoming in 2011, we will read together the final entry (from Revelation) in our Day by Day Kid’s Bible.  We acknowledge God’s goodness and grace in allowing us to accomplish this heart’s desire together as a family.  We are again hushed and humbled by His great love.

We are excited to see God’s work in the hearts of our children and in our own hearts as parents as we continue steep ourselves in His Word in the new year.  May it encourage us, challenge us, convict us, guide us, bring forth a harvest of righteousness in our lives and bring us His life and light.