Reads: May Your Troubles Last as Long as Your New Year's ResolutionsAllpostersSo it's that time of the year, when I think to myself, "New Year, clean slate". These are my general resolutions - or in my case New Year 'hope to achieve but no doubt will slip up a gazillion times'. My main hopes n' dreams are mostly to do with growing closer to God, but if I'm being specific I'd say, prayer-life and Bible study/reading. I also want to read more (for me and the girls), exercise more and eat healthier, do something special with the kiddiwinks at least once a month. Nothing earth shattering there - and rah rah rah heard it all before, but we all need a dream don't we? :)
Prayer-lifeWith regard to my prayer-life that is just a case of making time and trying to set aside the first part of the day and leaning on God more throughout the day.
Bible Study/Reading planFor Bible study, this year I plan to read through the Bible using the Anglican Book of Common Prayer's reading plan because it reads through the Old Testament once and the New twice. It also reads through all the Psalms each month. I thought it was a good plan to follow.
If you're interested:
Bible readings for each day of the month can be found here. It's listed as Morning and Evening, but as I am doing it in my own time I'll just read the lessons for the day.
Special readings for Sundays and Holy Days (Christmas, Easter, etc) can be found here.
The order for Psalms for daily reading can be found here.
Of course some days it will be too much, so I'm going to endeavour not to make it a ENORMOUS issue if I miss a chapter on the 'correct' day. I know me, I'll get stressed out if I don't do it all, then get disenchanted with the whole idea. For example, the Psalms - it would be lovely to read through all the Psalms every month, but realistically it is likely not to be done every month.
Also, you might note, the Church of England does use the Apocrypha for some lessons (here is the view given by the CofE in their 39 articles on the Apocryphal books:
"And the other Books (as Hierome saith) the Church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners; but yet doth it not apply them to establish any doctrine"). My personal view of the Apocrypha is...well...I have no idea really. Some denominations say it's canon, some say it's useful but not canon and some reject it entirely. But it'll be interesting to read the snippets that the reading plan involves.
If you're wondering why the Book of Common Prayer, for those of you who don't know, I am not CofE although I used to be:
I was baptised as an infant Moravian
I was raised CofE and confirmed CofE
Was 'born-again' in a Venetian Roman Catholic chapel (it's a long story)
Was baptised as an adult in a non-denominational church
So I'm quite a smorgasbord Christian. Lol. Although I must say I have been a member of the same church (as in body of people) since I was 4. We used to be CofE but separated in 2001 - also a long story. I have a deep affection for the Anglican church and its liturgy, which is why I mention Anglican stuff on occasion.
Phew, I do rather over-explain things don't I! Are you bovvered? ;)
Books (for me and the girls)
I do want to read more books...but time doesn't always permit does it? I'm in the middle of a rather weighty tome entitled
The Stripping of the Altars, I want to read more historical books, and some more Elizabeth Goudge because I LOVED
The Herb of Grace that
Dulce Domum lent me. I also plan to read
Slow March Through Hell - which is written by a soldier (Douglas Swift) that served in my Granddad's regiment, they were prisoners of war and had to march across Europe. My Granddad doesn't remember Mr Swift, but my Granddad endured that awful march across Europe:
The gripping and harrowing personal account of a young Eastbourne Corporation gardener’s forced march through eastern Europe as a POW while his Nazi captors fled the Russian advance during the harsh winter of 1945.
Douglas Swift, of the Royal Sussex Regiment, was captured near Amiens in 1940.
He and his scandalously ill-equipped comrades had bravely tried to withstand General Guderian’s Panzers as they made their lightning advance through retreating French troops.
Shipped off to Poland with the few remaining survivors of his unit, Douglas Swift endured the hardships and brutalities of several Stalags, before the notorious Death March.
From this review.
With Chatterbox we are on the last book of the
Malory Towers series, we also have some of the
St Clares books to start and my Mum has bought her some of the
Adventure books - these are all by Enid Blyton. I also want to read
The Children of Green Knowe because I loved it so much as a child. Chatterbox has just bought with her Christmas money the set of C.S. Lewis stories
The Chronicles of Narnia. We're also working our way through
Grimm's Fairy Tales - warning these fairy tale versions are rather gruesome! I'd also like to find some good Christian books for Chatterbox. Chatterbox loves the
Horrible Histories books too. She loves history, next term they're learning about World War II, so we'll have to pick up some good books about that.
For Squidge, we are reading through all the
Mog books, we love the
Gruffalo books and will read them again and again and also
Stick Man and
A Squash and a Squeeze also by Julia Donaldson. For Christian books we LOVE the
Lost Sheep books. Squidge loves choosing books from the library, very often with a cat theme, one we recently borrowed that she has read over and over was
Scaredy Cat and Boo no doubt I'll have to read that at least another 30 times before we return it! She also LOVES
You Choose, so much so it's been banned for a while whilst me and hubs recover!
ExerciseLots and lots of lovely walks I reckon, I'm not a big fan of jogging or aerobics.
Eating healthier (and perhaps a little more ethically)
More fruit and veg - make sure I and the kiddiwinks get our 5 a day at least (hubs takes tons of fruit to work for snacks so he's OK). I'm not a big fruit eater, I have to remind myself to eat it. I am going to continue to honour my
pledge to eat only British pork products (I must admit though I did buy some German Bierwurst, ahem, but hubs likes German sausage because he was born there (another long story) so my pledge is, er,
flexible), to try to buy fairtrade when I can, to buy organic (particularly eggs) where I can, to avoid too much junk food. Hubs is on a diet so I need to think about that too when I'm shopping and cooking.
Doing something special with the kiddiwinks - at least once a month
What I mean here is that we will go out as a family on a short trip at least once a month. Of course on a daily basis hopefully I will do fun things with the girls!
Oh, and I forgot, to try and save some money! This recession is going on and on and on...
So there you go...
xxx
