The 15/15 Plan

     I thought I would change the tenor of this post as it compares to the others I have written.  Instead of writing about government and politics, I thought I would discuss the reading plan that we (Ruthann and I) have been implementing. I have always enjoyed reading, but it has primarily been fiction that I enjoy so much.  I remember blazing through the Harry Potter series, in what I thought was record breaking speed; that is until I found out how quickly my wife read them.  Fiction is good, I am a fan of fiction, it allows me to paint pictures in my mind of unseen lands and get engrossed in a marvelous story.

     Fiction is good but I have seen the need of incorporating good books that extend to different genres.   Books that focus on history, government, social issues, theology, economics, philosophy, soul care, and many other disciplines.  These disciplines are essential to my wholistic growth as a Christian thinker.  In the past I have found myself reading non-fiction books only to burn out before completing them. There are a few reasons why this happens: I chose the wrong book and it was too advanced for my current level of knowledge on the subject, I would not read it consistently, and I did not have any clear reading goals set forth.  Summit Ministries founder Dr. Noebel says often "Readers are Leaders" and "Christians should read a book a week". The first thought that always comes to mind when I hear this is "How the heck do you read a book a week, who has the time for that?"  On a slow week I work 40 hours, I have a wife, a kid, and other things pulling for my attention.  A book a week is a lofty idea and one I always I aspired too, but never thought was possible.  On a good month I would read two books.

     It is amazing what becoming a Father can do to your habits.  I do not want my son to waste time like I can easily do.  I want him to be a leader, I want to teach him to love good books, enjoy beautiful art, play sports, and I could go on and on.  It is amazing how easily we push our desires for ourselves onto our children.  He is 10 Months old and recently started copying everything my wife and I do; whether its noises, actions, or mannerisms.  One day watching him mimic me I realized, I need to set the example, I need to be the change. If I am reading a book, he will grow up having that desire too.  If my habits change now while his are just forming, hopefully he will always have good habits.

     With these thoughts swarming around my head, Ruthann and I have instituted a loose rule into our home and that is the 15/15 rule.  Basically, each morning we read 15 pages of a good book, not always fiction.  Then in the evening we read 15 more pages.  The 15 pages are a minimum and as I have found on some days can extend to 20 or 30 pages read.  Mentally, 15 pages seems like a manageable goal.  This does not include our Bible reading, that is a separate time (I will blog about what that looks like at a future date).   The 15/15 plan does not take too much time maybe 20-30 minutes at each sitting. This is a little step taken, to make a manageable change in our home and hopefully lead our son into good reading patterns himself.