We are pleased to welcome Amy from Raising Arrows today At The WellOnce upon a time I got up every morning at 6:30 am, made myself a mug of gourmet coffee, and sat on my front porch reading my Bible. It was a time when I could sit alone in the quiet of nature and drink in the day. Within the hour, my two children would wake up and my day would begin. These early morning hours were precious to me.
Somewhere amidst moves to homes without front porches and babies being born every year or so, I ceased to partake of this morning coffee and Bible time. For many years I beat myself up over the gradual loss of early morning quiet time, especially considering I missed it terribly. I was just sure the Lord required a perfect offering of
alone,
early in the morning,
reading His Word
and praying.
Recently, another homeschooling mother of littles and I were discussing this very issue. She had been reading Passionate Housewives Desperate For God by Jennie Chancey & Stacy McDonald and had come across the chapter entitled “Weary Women.” The following quote is exactly what has become of my “quiet time:”
“I’ll let you in on a little secret. I don’t have a personal quiet time every morning that is actually quiet or alone, nor do I know anyone with more than two children who does.”
You see, my quiet time has evolved into something more befitting a mother of five earthly arrows. My Bible reading is done with nearly everyone in tow. We all pray together several times a day. I still have coffee, but my littles sneak their fair share of it, and I refuse to purposely get up before the baby wakes me.
I do believe the Lord deserves our first fruits. However, I also believe He owns all our fruits and every little thing I do throughout the day is (or should be) an offering to Him. And because He has given me these arrows to raise, I am also in a position that naturally brings about multi-tasking. Not only am I getting “quiet” time with God, but my children see His importance in my life every step of the way.
There is a hymn entitled ‘Little Is Much When God Is In It’ that has become my theme song. The second verse of this hymn says:
Does the place you’re called to labor seem so small and little known?
It is great if God is in it, and he’ll not forget His own.
Little is much when God is in it!
Labor not for wealth or fame.
There’s a crown and you can win it,
if you go in Jesus’ name.
all the kiddos,
mid-morning,
reading from one of the children’s Bibles,
listening to their prayers and offering my own.
Join in the Discussion today and share with us today:
Amy
Amy! I loved this! I so needed to hear this as well. As a mother of two small kids they are often up before I am awake, ridiculous time of 6am. So quiet time in the morning just doesn't work at all. I thank you for talking about this so bravely and exploding the myth that we all need quiet time in a set formulated way. It's just not possible of a mother of young kids, especially babies! Praying many mums read your post and no longer beat themselves up over this!
Collette xxxx
I had struggled once I had two kids to keep my quiet time consistent and daily. I finally discovered something that works – having an EMAIL ACCOUNTABILITY GROUP!
For 2 years straight, 4 friends and I have emailed each other every weekday morning or afternoon or evening – after we have our quiet time. It's been great to have someone to share these exciting things I am learning with and to have the accoutability!
We named ourselves the "Good Morning Girls". I posted a blog this morning about our group and what we do – maybe some of your readers would like to try one – go here for details on how to start one for the fall!
http://www.womenlivingwell-courtney.blogspot.com
Courtney
I so appreciate your thoughts in this post. I am a homeschooling mom and last year I tried to learn how to homeschool with a baby. This year, our baby is a toddler and this will be another year of learning how to homeschool with a toddler. I absolutely love to be up early before everyone wakes up. And for me, I find that spending time with the Lord first thing in the morning is really important to me. My days typically seem to go better. But I have, at times, struggled with feeling like I "have" to be up early for quiet time, I "have" to do a devotional, I "have" to do Bible study. But the practical reality of my life right now is that sometimes it seems like there's not enough hours in the day to get everything accomplished that I want to. And when those early mornings come, sometimes all I can do is tell the Lord good morning and utter a prayer before I doze back off to sleep. I'm beginning to realize that it's ok to simply just have some early morning conversation with the Lord and do Bible study at other times – like when I'm more AWAKE! This year as we begin our school, some of my Bible study will probably be involved in preparing for my daughter's Bible lessons and then discussing it with her. And you know what? I think that's going to be perfectly okay. I love how you pointed out that when your "quiet" times are wrapped up in Bible reading and prayer with your little ones, it's an opportunity to set the example to your children of just how important it is. Oh I think that is so true. I just thank you so much for the encouragement your brought in this post!
Hope you have a great week!
Karen
I love this! I struggle almost daily with having some quiet time, but I find that some of my best time with God is through my kids. If I would just slow down and read the bible to them, life would be easier because we would all be focused on God. The other day my youngest, 3 years old, said to me that he has a big heart and a little heart. Big Jesus is in his big heart and little Jesus is in his little heart. It doesn't get much better than that.
I have been thinking on this very thing lately… and how it sounds totally wrong to say it, but those who live life as a mom of many little ones will understand. It's just different. And yet God still leads and God still speaks, and He still moves in the hearts of moms of little ones… it's just a different process than it was when we were 19 and sitting in a college dorm room or freshly married and had as much "quiet" time as we pleased.
Thanks for writing this. I hope it will free many women from unnecessary guilt.
Thank you for great encouragement for mothers with small children. Love the verse from the song that you shared. Blessings to you today!
when I was a younger mother I had a dear older lady explain to me that if I did not take time to praise him and for myself that things would not work out. Praise God for this post
I found that normally when I get up and have my devotion first thing, before anyone else is awake, I spend most of my time trying to stay awake and focused. I find that if I get up, get dressed and get a few my husband up and off and my bed made and maybe even a couple of other things done, I am much more alert and not feeling so rushed during my devotion time. I get a lot more out of it. This even allows me to lay in bed and snuggle with my husband, keeping him happy and not neglected. When my children were small, just laying the Bible somewhere accessible, so that I could nibble on a verse at a time in passing, or while sitting on the toilet, or while washing a dish, whatever, often made this verse stand out like never before. It often made me hungry and wanting to eat more of the Bread of Life later.
Oh, I battled with the very same thing. I have a 2 year old, a baby and I babysit a 2 year old. I have missed the quiet times and it seems that the 'ideal' quiet time is so elusive!
I read the same book and now sometimes my QT is early and other times it's late. It's always there somewhere and usually includes my 2 year old sitting on my lap repeating any words that catch her interest and my John John reading his baby books on the floor!
My Prayer time isn't a "sweet hour of prayer" but rather a pray without ceasing throughout the day.
This is my first visit to your site and after reading "about the well" I am excitedly subscribing.
What a wonderful post! Even though I have had no children, I have managed to be "too busy" and then felt the "guilt" and the cycle repeats itself. I have linked to this discussion today as I wanted to answer these questions as well. Quiet Times are so very important and they can be done in ways that must be adjusted from time to time.
In Tender Hands, ~ linda
This is so true!
I also could never get it done in the morning when the girls were small. But, they are grown now and it is right back to early morning with the Lord, my Bible and my coffee.
This season with the little ones will pass too quickly. Enjoy it all. You will have your quiet time back soon enough.
It was this chapter of Passionate Housewives that made a huge impact on how I view my own quiet time. Life has so many seasons and I think it is best if we accept and choose to live cheerfully in the season that God has placed us in. Thank you for sharing your own struggles and acceptance of your season!
thank you, thank you! I have no idea how I stumbled upon your blog or this post but God does and He knew I needed it! I am Mommy to 5 children ages 3 and a half and under and I have missed my quiet time and really struggled with the loss of it! I'm up now after feeding the babies again, trying to squeeze it in (and everything else that needs to be done) before the others wake up. And now I realize, He doesn't want it to be just "checked off a list" or squeezed in to my day. It should be more about quality time and really enjoying His word.
Thanks so much!
Glad you like Kitty Suffield's gospel song, "Little Is Much." It expresses a great faith principle. That numbers are never the bottom line with God. Check out Jonathan's bold statement in I Samuel 14:6.
Another of Kitty Suffield's songs has been a blessing to me as well–"God Is Still on the Throne." Incidentally, today is the 125th anniversary of the author's birth.