Summer Reading Challenge

I taught my girls last night and in preparing made them these bookmarks out of my card stock and various other supplies and of course a sweet little treat to go along with the lesson I prepared. I have been thinking for about two weeks now what material we would cover and took into consideration some of the girls request for material they would like to cover. After praying one night about a week ago I climbed into bed (it was much earlier then our normal hit the hay time) I laid awake and along came these random thoughts.
I thought about my older brother and the example he has set to me about his knowledge of the scriptures. This perplexes me, anyone who actually knows my older brother knows he has not been one to follow the rules and seems to have lived life on a very fine line, one I do not even go near. However if you really get to know my brother you will find an incredibly intelligent man who knows so many things . I am always floored with how well he knows the gospel, and I am not talking just the Book of Mormon, he knows the New Testament as well as the Old Testament very well also.
This inspires me and challenges me to REALLY look at my own understanding of the scriptures. Why is it that my brother knows so much and understands so much when it comes to this? Then my thoughts turned a bit deeper. Why is it I can pick up a novel or a series of books that are about 500 pages per book and have all four books read in less than 2 months? Why am I not reading my scriptures as fervently as I would a novel?
With Summer break well on it's way now I then thought more about my girls at church and what I could bring to them that would challenge them and help them grow. Our lesson last night was about reading, the kind of material we read, what our favorite books are etc. We then discussed the Book of Mormon and soon discovered that some of us are not nearly as familiar with the Book of Mormon as we are a series of novels etc. We began our "Summer Reading Challenge" together, took turns reading the first chapter and talked about some of the words used that they didn't understand, talked about what we learned in the first chapter etc. I asked the girls to have notebook paper in their binders and after each chapter write down any questions they may have or to write their feelings about each chapter. We set a date to review what we each have read and to go over questions and get them answered. I made sure each girl had my phone number so they can call me if they wanted to talk about what they are reading. I taught them why we mark our scriptures, there are several reason's as we all know. I also prepared and gave each girl a reading chart so they can fill in each block as they read each chapter as a way to see their progress and keep track. The point of the snicker doodle cookies was to teach them that learning and deepening their understanding of the gospel can be and is just as delicious as the cookies, just in a different way, it is sweet to the spirit not necessarly the tongue. We talked about how when you really understand a gospel principle you might even find yourself saying that it "tastes good" and that when you really digest what the lesson is in reading you can actually feel full, or that your cup runneth over..again identifying spiritual feasting. The girls were all really excited about the challenge and actually thanked me for giving them this reading challenge. Last night was done on absolute inspiration and faith, it was touching, deep and the spirit was felt by each one of us. I am now reading the Book of Mormon as my summer reading material along with my girls, Janelle and I will more than likely do most of our reading together. I too am growing and that is a good thing. Our date to have the reading challenge complete is September 22, 2009 we will be having a special night for that and I look forward to reading this marvelous book again.