Photo Cred: Tabby Z Photography
Happy Wednesday!!!!! I missed connecting with y’all last week. I was “out of the office” and by Out I mean at my house with seven kids, seven and under. Six of them being boys. My brother and sis in law and their crew came to visit from out of state. It was such a treat to have them here and have them meet baby Zeke! I also have a new nephew that I hadn’t met yet – so it was a crazy, beautiful and loud time. But honestly there I wouldn’t have had it any other way!!! I miss them so so much already. I’ll be sharing some pics of our time together, mostly on Instagram, if we aren’t connected their yet would love to have you, you can find me HERE at @claritywithcharity.
This is my sweet niece, when she was here we got to celebrate her birthday. 
Part of our celebration included girl time with coffee and pedis
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🏻. As she sipped her hot cocoa, I asked her what she was most looking forward to about being 7. She said “getting more mature”. Then she straightened herself up in her chair crossed her legs like a lady and emphatically declared “actually I am a lot more mature already!” 
. I love her so much! It’s natural for kids to want to grow up and mature. But how many of us as followers of Jesus long to mature In Him?
The #1 way you can mature in your relationship with Jesus is by spending time with Him. So my challenge to you today is to make spending time with Him a priority and actually do it! If you are a Momma of Little’s or in a crazy season- I get it that it can seem almost impossible- but let me gently challenge you (as I have challenged myself) that if I have time to be on social media, watch Netflix or peruse Pinterest, I have time to spend with Jesus.
Before becoming a Momma of 3 kids ages 3 and under I almost always spent a good 30 min-1 hr with Jesus/having devotions first thing in the morning. This uninterrupted hour of time was AMAZING! I am incredibly thankful that I consistently made this a priority in my years prior to having babies/toddlers because it has given me deep roots in Jesus that I have needed in this crazy season of life. I share in this blog post why Spending Time with Jesus/Having Devotions is so important to me! There have been short windows of time in this season of motherhood where I have been able to get up 20-30 minutes before my kids, but often I have set the alarm and 5 minutes into my devotional time, I am interrupted by a kid who is puking, a kid who has woken up early hysterically screaming for gummy worms, or a kid who has woken up running to the potty and is peeing everywhere but into the toilet bowl. #iwishiwasjoking. There have been seasons in pregnancy and early newborn days where I have been so sick and so sleep deprived that I had to find more creative ways to spend time with Jesus than the traditional getting up 30 min- 1 hr before everyone else. P.S. this would always be my preference/goal to beat the kids up but since it can’t always happen I have had to get creative and still make it a number 1 priority. But guess what? In every season God has made a way for it to happen and it just took a little out of the box thinking.
Nursing moms:
- Pray for one person while you nurse in the night or the day.
- Read Bible app or devotional app on phone while you nurse- you version Bible app has a ton of great reading plans that include a devotional and scriptures. I am currently going through one called “Overwhelmed by my Blessings” and it’s so good. Just search for it on their app and it will come up!
- Memorize and/or meditate on one verse while you are nursing
- Read a devotional, spiritual growth book, pray or read your Bible during the dream feed. Everyone else is asleep and you will get some good quiet time to connect with Jesus!
Moms or Anyone in a crazy season:
- Listen to sermon podcast or worship music while you do dishes/clean/drive
- Pray while you drive to pick up kids/take them places or listen to sermons/worship music.
- When you are at a stop light, instead of checking your phone. Check in with Jesus, what is on your heart today you need to give to Him. Who can you pray for? What do you need wisdom for? Ask Him!
- Before looking at social media, stop and ask yourself, have I connected with Jesus today? I had been noticing on Pinterest all these charts for kids with things they needed to do before they could have screen time and I thought “I think adults need those checklists, I know I need one”. So before I can just browse social media/watch Netflix/shows I ask myself, Today have I:
- Prayed
- Read the Bible
- Asked God if there was anyone I could encourage that day and encouraged them with a quick text/call ect…
- Read a book (any kind)
Now am I 100% consistent with the above??? no… but it definitely has prevented me from a lot of mindless scrolling and also given me some good boundaries with social media.
I realized that I was using social media as a “mental check out” but what I really needed to do was “check into Jesus”.
When I resist the desire to just have some “mindless scroll time” and instead “renew my mind” by connecting with Jesus and The Word of God I find myself much more refreshed than if I had just scrolled Facebook for 5 minutes.
I am not saying it is wrong to watch Netflix or check social media. I enjoy all of it, but I do think as Mommas we have to be diligent to not be idle but to be continually refreshing ourselves in God. “She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.” (Proverbs 31:27) Basically I have realized that no matter how busy I am as a Mama if I have time for social media or Netflix, I have time for Jesus.
- Place Bible verses/truth statements by somewhere you consistently are. I have a list of verses and truth statements by my sink, because I am always standing there. I look at these verses and read at least one at least 5 times a day! It’s an easy way to get the Word of God into my mind and heart.
- Make a list of 7 people and/or things you want to pray for. Pick a day of the week and pray for that person or request that day. (I.e. Monday – my brother, Tuesday- my kids ect….).
- Work Out and spend time with Jesus together! Some of my favorite times with Jesus have actually been when I was running. Something about moving can help me really focus my mind and heart and more clearly hear what He is saying. You could also listen to a sermon, worship music or choose a short scripture to meditate on while you run, use the elliptical or tread mill. I also like doing these Holy Yoga you tube workouts sometimes. They play worship music and read scripture while they take you through the workout. I just did this one today while Zeke played on his play mat and my older boys napped.
- Get up 10 – 15 minutes earlier than your kids to spend time with Jesus.
- Spend time with Jesus during nap times/kids rest times
- Use the time they watch a show or use apps on an iPad to spend time with Jesus. This is the time of day I let my kids watch a show so that I can have some “quiet” and focus more on my time with Jesus. I realize some people may not let their kids watch a show everyday and I think that’s great. But if you do let them watch a show consider using that break as a golden opportunity to be re-fueled and connect with Jesus!
- Invite your kids to worship with you. The other day I was sitting at the kitchen table nursing Zeke and my kids were watching a show on the i-pad and all I wanted was to worship Jesus un-interuppted for like 5 minutes. But it was not happening….the i pad kept freezing, Caden had 1,000 questions and comments for me, and every time I would close my eyes to try and focus on Jesus, Finn would say “Wake up Mommy, its not night-night time Mommy!” I was seriously about to lose it, but figured I should probably hold it together #imtheadult and realized that instead of just desperately trying to block my kids out of this time, it was an opportunity to invite them in. So that’s what I did, I asked them if they wanted to worship with me. And it was a beautiful and powerful time. I felt the presence of God so strongly and at the end of the song, I asked Caden how he felt and he said “Happy and Good”….Amen…so did I.
- Leaving for an extended/uninterrupted time with Jesus on the weekend at a coffee shop/other location out of the house when your husband can be at home with the kids. I try to do this once a week and it is a #gamechanger for me! If I have something really hard or challenging to deal with in my heart with the Lord, I usually try to wait until I know I am going to have this uninterrupted hour away from everything and connect with Jesus about it then.
I hope some of those ideas help you find the time you need to connect with Jesus! The one thing I have learned with this Motherhood gig, is that how I am needing to structure connecting with Jesus usually has to change or at least have a few tweaks frequently depending on the season I or my kids are in. I look forward to the day when I can have my warm cup of coffee and uninterrupted hour again every morning, but in the meantime I am thankful that we have a God who longs to be intimate with us. Who literally is just waiting to speak to our hearts, to pour refreshment, His Spirit and wisdom into us as we continually pour ourselves into our littles. I am thankful He is present and available… those who Seek Him will find Him. Friend, let’s be ones who seek Him with our whole hearts, who throw off every distraction and run in a way to get the prize.
I would LOVE to hear YOUR experiences and ideas for how to connect with Jesus and have a devotional time when you are a Momma of Little’s or in a crazy season. Let me know in the comments below!
Have a great new day Charity!❣Blessings!!!
Thanks Gloria!