personal devotions.

a long time ago, I learned the importance of having personal devotions. 

I learned that when I make it one of my first priorities, my day goes a whole lot better.

I also learned that when I did it first thing in the morning, I either fell asleep, didnt get much of anything out of it, or ended up grumpier than I started. 

So... I cant believe I'm admitting this, but IDONTDOMYDEVOTIONSFIRSTTHING. and I have really good reasons for that. My usual morning routine consists of- getting up and reading the verse that one of my {best} friends texts every <single> morning, spending some time with my little brother, eating breakfast and then stopping to do my devotions. When I was working I read a few verses in the car on the way to work, then around 10:30-11 did about an hour more.

// My devotions generally consist of reading the days devotional from Jesus Calling, then moving on to a chapter from the Bible, and finishing up with a chapter {or several chapters} from whatever book I'm reading at the moment. {I just finished up You're Already Amazing, and I'm starting A Million Little Things}

I've done lots of different things for my Bible reading- for years I followed a schedule that would push me to read the entire Bible in just a year, but like lots of other things, I found it just wasn't working out for me at the time. I didn't have enough time to sit down and really get what I needed to out of it, and lets be honest- reading through books like 1st Chronicles isn't exactly what you'd call encouraging. Not to mention, at that point I would get so behind {from dreading to read that day} that by the end of the year I was always about a month behind and had sped read to get caught up...

So this year I changed things up a bit- I started off by reading some books that I really had never been able to focus on in-depth, like Isaiah. {now, one of my favorite books. ever.}I also decided to read through the New Testament, which I did in just a few months! Then I read through Proverbs, and now I'm working through Psalms.

| I used to never write in books, but the more I read, the more I realized how much it helped me. Now, I highlight, underline, take notes on everything- in my Bible, in my Bible Studies, in my Devotional books, everything! I also keep a notebook handy to jot down things I want to remember, and write verses out on notecards!

What do you do for your daily devotions? 

Do any of you follow a year long Bible reading plan? 

What are your favorite Devotional books?

Whats your favorite book of the Bible?