Ann Swindell
About the Author

Ann Swindell is passionate about equipping other women to share their stories beautifully and powerfully through Writing with Grace, where she teaches Christ-centered writing courses. She is the author of Still Waiting: Hope for When God Doesn’t Give You What You Want.

(in)side DaySpring: things we love
& you will too!
Find more at DaySpring.com
(in)side DaySpring:
things we love
& you will too!
Find more at
DaySpring.com
Recent Posts

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Ann, I’m so thankful for that white-haired professor, and that he got your attention so early in life. I have friends in middle age who are still struggling to discipline themselves to read through the Bible, knowing that they should. What an excellent foundation you have been blessed with!

    • I am so thankful for him, as well! His example continues to be a gift to me. Praise the Lord for faithful saints who have gone before us!

  2. Ann, thank you so much for your encouraging words. For Christmas this year, my husband gave me a Journaling Bible. I began in January to write and draw in the margins and have advanced to watercolor pencils and stencils and stickers. We both pray about a “word for the year” and my word was “JOY”. I now understand why! I am getting so much out of illustrating the word of God as I study the scriptures and oh the JOY! The Holy Spirit really is speaking and I am finally listening. My teenage son and his friends are even showing interest in what I’m working on. Illustrating the Word has given me many opportunities to witness and share what God is doing in my life. The more I read His word, the more I see Jesus throughout the Old Testament and it is all coming together as if for the first time for me (“encountering the Lord on every page”). Finally, allowing the Word of God which is ALIVE to transform my life. Thanks again for sharing today. I GET IT!! be blessed, Paula

  3. Ann,
    Isn’t it amazing how God puts people in our lives to challenge our faith? I don’t know if this is an apt analogy, but I find that as I eat carbs, I crave more carbs (not good for me), but when I eat more vegetables, I crave more vegetables. Whatever we get a steady diet of….we tend to crave more. The more I read God’s Word, the more I crave reading it. I’m so thankful that God has brought me to the point that reading my Bible is not a chore, but something I can’t wait to dive into to see what He is going to reveal to me today. I do agree that reading it in a chronological order puts it into context – whether it’s reading it cover to cover or reading a book of the Bible from beginning to end. Great post and way to go professor!
    Blessings,
    Bev xx

  4. I’ve been feeling a similar tugging lately. Just want to make my walk more personal with Him. I’m so grateful that He never stops whispering my my name. His love never fails.

  5. I’m not sure I have ever even read every page but I know people who have read it again and again. I’m sure it’s important, and I love to study but we have to beleve it, live it and put it into practice.

  6. Thank you for this blog post. I like you had read bits and parts of the bible but never all the way through until I started reading 100words.ca – which is a daily blog published by 100 Huntley Street here in Canada. David Mainse goes through the bible – starting with the Old Testament and then to the New Testament – to show the connections between the prophecies of the Old Testament to the New. It is a two year reading schedule, which is much less overwhelming, but also gives you time to think and absorb what is read. I am going through my third complete reading and through my daily reading – I have developed a much stronger relationship with God. The Word is alive and well and so pertinent to today. I do not start my day without doing my daily reading.
    Blessings to you.

  7. Ann,

    God blessed you with a great professor. I grew up a “Christian”. You always saw me at church wearing a cross. I didn’t live or fully understand the Christian life. Fast forward many years. I have read through the Bible many times & done numerous Bible studies. Love hearing the word & understanding the meaning behind them. Now I want to live my life to show Christ to the world. I want to be more active in worship, prayer & Godly activities.

    Blessings 🙂

    • Praise God for how he has continued to work in and through your life, Beth! I love how he is always working in our hearts as we are seeking him. Blessings to you, too!

  8. Ann –

    Thank you for this! I’ll admit, I have not read the Bible cover-to-cover and I’m not even sure where to start! Do you have recommendations for starting to read? Any plans to follow?

    Thank you!!! 🙂

  9. Great word.

    I have read through the Bible many times – very quickly and very slowly and in numerous versions, inspired by a woman who had been the head of a crisis pregnancy center with a tremendous ministry. At her funeral, it was said of her that years before, she had known a woman who was powerful in the Lord who read the Bible through every year. She thought – Well, if that’s what it takes to be a great Christian woman, I will too. She read the Bible every year from then till the Lord took her home, some 30 years later.

  10. I don’t disagree that reading the Bible is wholesome and good. It is a vital part of our growth. I have experienced many of the joys you described in my own times of reading. But I do disagree with the question your professor posed. I think it was unfair of him to put a guilt trip on young, impressionable minds. Reading the Bible is not a prerequisite for salvation. It’s my simple belief in the truth that I heard in one conversation, not after reading the entire Bible, that saved me. Now, I begin to understand more deeply what Christ did for me as I read the pages of Scripture. I wrestle with complicated passages, but I have no doubt that I am His and He is Mine! The accuser would have us believe that we are inadequate in our faith if we have not accomplished this task. But our Beloved Redeemer has never asked us to do anything more than Believe in Him! Everything else is bonus!!

  11. Thank you for sharing your testimony, Ann. What an encouragement! I’m a mom of three littles, and I’ve recently been convicted to be more consistently in the word. You’re right, it can feel like marathon training some days–but I have yet to walk away from my time with God saying “Man, I regret doing that today.” He is faithful.