Motherhood, especially the “little years,” very very very very often feels like a complex and exhausting game of give-and-take.
For one thing to succeed, another thing must be forsaken…(or so it seems.)
…The need for your family to have clean clothes trumps the desire to sit down and read a good book.
…The time spent running errands replaces the time previously spent catching up with friends.
…The monster to-do list doesn’t allow for a slow and pleasant wake-up, but rather demands an instant jump-out-of-bed-and-get-to-it-without-so-much-as-using-the-bathroom-first.
…Cleaning, planning, cooking, disciplining, teaching, wiping, and Paleo-ing usually take the front seat over exercising, resting, primping, snacking, and anything involving a recliner and a lemonade.
Certain seasons of life require certain shifts in priorities, and our particular season – The Wonder And Marvel Of Motherhood – requires that our time is less ours than it has ever been.
Not a bad thing. Not a punishment or prison sentence or execution.
Rather, it is our season! It is a gift!
And, contrary to all logic and apparent “reality,” motherhood is definitely not a season that is devoid of the time that we need to learn, grow, and rest…in God’s Word.
Unfortunately, our time with our Savior is ironically one of the first things to lose in the give-and-take priorities game. (The mommy who is dying of thirst flushes her water bottle down the toilet!)
The giving up of that precious time is most often not-at-all done intentionally or with delight. It’s just that, with everything else going on, anything that involves a chair, a book, and a few minutes of quiet gets the boot. It feels impossible, impractical, and overly-frustrating to try to make a quiet time happen.
We become completely resigned to the “fact” that time spent in God’s Word will make a reappearance in our lives sometime between the life stages of checking our children into “big kid school” and checking ourselves into a nursing home.
In other words…it’s gonna be a while.
Because of our priorities and demands that we have going on, it just feels…well…like a law of nature that during those “little years” of motherhood, the depth and beauty and closeness of our relationship with God becomes a little less deep and a little less beautiful and a little less close.
Now, this is going to sound nuts. You are going to think I’ve inhaled too many infant poop fumes and have gone mad. But believe me when I say…
Fellow Mommas, despite our 10,000mph lifestyle, there IS enough time to be filled up and restored by God and His Word, DAILY!
Why the confidence in those crazy words?? Because, 2 Peter 1:3 promises that “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness…”
Literally, our Heavenly Father has given us everything that we need when it comes to our needs and our sanctification. “Everything” includes TIME!!
Motherhood is not a spiritual death valley. Rather…somewhere, tucked behind Mount Laundry and my toddler’s Valley Of Tears, a treasure of availability to God’s Word is hiding.
There IS time…it may just look a little different than pre-baby, pre-Mount-Laundry time.
Let me share with you the verse from God’s Word that has freed me from the oppression and guilt of believing that enjoyment and rest in Jesus comes in only 1 form: an early-morning quiet hour with books and commentaries and Bibles and silence and no children.
[Super Important Disclaimer: I LOVE early morning quiet times with books and commentaries and Bibles and silence and no children. And I fully expect that wonderful kind of God-honoring study to come back into my life…later.]
But right now, I have lots of kids and no silence. And early mornings take years off my life.
So, back to the verse…God’s very own kindness to me in my time of trying to be WAY too legalistic…
“You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul;
and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand,
and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.
You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house
and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up.
You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates…” Deuteronomy 11:18-20
What joy this brings to my tired momma heart! For in this verse, I am set free to love and treasure Jesus as I walk through each day. There is not a one-time, sit-down feast…rather, it is a come-and-go all-day buffet!
My time with the Lord, my storing up of His Word in my heart, belongs in each little part of my day and alongside each little person in my life. There is SO much time!
With that in mind…
Here are some ideas for practical ways to re-introduce yourself to consistent and precious time with your Savior:
- The “Next-Thing Prayer.” While listening to a talk by Nancy Leigh Demoss one day, I learned about this fantastic and creative way to truly have a prayer-filled life. Basically, whatever the “next thing” is that you’re about to do (walk into the grocery store, fold laundry, cook dinner), beseech the Lord for wisdom and kindness and patience and humility in whatever it is you’re about to do. Praise Him for His plan for bringing you to this place! And most of all, do it OUT LOUD so that your kiddos can here you need Jesus in even the most mundane of activities. I am beyond thankful for hearing of this idea, for it has kept me close to Jesus when normally my mind would be elsewhere.
- Talk, Talk, Talk! With little children around all day, there is ample time to discuss what you love and know about your Savior. I have found that talking about what I believe truly roots me in it and reaffirms my affection for the Lord. Daydreaming about Heaven, recounting the amazing heroes of the Bible, noting His handiwork in creation, praising Him for daily miracles, and asking for His guidance…speaking of these things constantly with our kiddos will keep everyone’s heart in line with God’s!
- Music. I have become convinced of the importance of filling our homes with music that reinforces Scripture and makes God beautiful to us. I can sense my children emotionally relax when there is music in the background that honors God more than T-ball championships, good grades, or being the best at whatever. And I can tell the difference in my own heart if I have listened to words of Truth ringing throughout our home.
- Decorating With Scripture. If I can’t sit down for an hour every morning and saturate myself in God’s Word, then by golly I’m going to make sure that Scripture is available in a more crazy-stay-at-home mom kind of way. Canvases painted with portions of Scripture, laminated cards hanging in the shower, Scripture flipbooks that stay in the
carvan…I will do whatever it takes to keep God’s Word before me. Something really neat that a good friend of mine did was to actually paint the words “Love your neighbor as yourself.” on the outside doorframe of their home. It was beautiful, and made a huge impression on her neighbors!
Filling my home with Scripture and integrating my life with my children into my walk with God…THIS is how my time with the Lord happens.
How Has Your Time With God Become Stay-At-Home-Mom-Friendly?
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