We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.
Time in the Word: the advice I didn’t want to take
How is your soul today? Are you restless, peace-less, and guilt-ridden from “mom freakout”?
Let me ask you a more direct question: how long has it been since you spent time in the Word?
When I was a young mom, I constantly beat myself up over skipping “devotions”. Recalling rich hours communing with God and measuring against past “performance”, I felt like a failure.
Days passed without me even cracking open my Bible. I battled feelings of guilt and unworthiness. My temper flared repeatedly as I dealt with potty training woes and sleepless infant nights.
One day, I read an article written by a mom of seven on how to spend time with God.
(Did you get that? SEVEN.KIDS.) I could hardly believe my eyes as her words sank into my soul.
This was NOT the solution to my problem – it couldn’t be! This lady was off her rocker!
And so, I trundled along in my unbiblical state, holding fast to my paralyzingly high standards. What she suggested wasn’t right. I wasn’t stooping to her level. No indeed.
It wasn’t good enough.
Years passed, my kids grew, and my devotional life became more consistent; yet, I still didn’t experience the rich fellowship of long ago.
And then, one day, it hit me: God wasn’t the one imposing such high standards – I was!
You see, God doesn’t want to wait until we’re in the perfect phase of life to experience a thriving relationship with Him.
God wants to be present in every stage of life.
I see now that He blessed even in my feeble attempts at spending time with Him. He heard my most desperate prayers – the long and short ones.
But if I had only taken that mom of seven’s advice (SEVEN – ack!), I could’ve experienced a closer relationship and built a firmer foundation for the trials I would later face.
I also could have saved myself from several limiting thought processes and resulting in sinful tendencies.
Advice on Scripture reading from a mom of 7
Do you want to know what her advice was?
Take small bites of Scripture every day.
Her words went something like this,
“As a mom of seven, I don’t have the luxury of time alone. Going to the bathroom alone is a feat in and of itself. I usually can’t even beat my kids out of bed to savor my coffee in silence. So I snatch little ‘God moments’ throughout my day.“
She went on to describe her daily snacks with God:
- Reviewing a verse, written and taped to the bathroom mirror while using her curling iron.
- Praying while doing the dishes
- Reviewing memorized Scripture in her bed at night
- Keeping the Daily bread on the back of the commode for “such occasions”
- Plastering Scripture throughout her home to constantly fill her mind with God’s truths
- Only listening to Christian music, playing throughout her home (and in the car)
All little actions that mounted up to a mind surrounded by truth.
A new way to approach time in the Word
So what about you, mama? How do you fit in time with God? Are you discouraged with starting a detailed program, only to abandon it halfway through because of #alltheinterruptions?
There is a better way. If only I had lowered my standards to embrace a life filled with “God moments”, not boxing God into a certain time frame or method of Scripture reading, I could have experienced more abundant life in those harried rearing days.
That’s why I’m SO excited to tell you what I’ve been working on – something to help YOU take small bites of Scripture daily:
It’s a devotional app called TruthBytes4Moms.
(That’s “Truth Bytes For Moms”!)
Developed by my young mama friend, Stefanie, blogger at Walls of Home, it’s a collaboration of small, bite-sized nuggets from Scripture for each day of the week. What I wouldn’t give to have this on hand when I was a young mom!
How it works
Daily TruthBytes contains inspiration from 5 Moms who know what it’s like to be in the middle of raising kids while feeling hungry for God’s Word. It is our goal to get solid truth from the Bible into the hands of Moms everywhere.
What it looks like:
- Monday- Friday: one mini devotional delivered to your phone every morning
- Saturday: Bible memory challenge & reflection on the week
- Sunday: Powerful, scripture-based prayers
You see, social media can offer a lot of encouragement but it never comes without distractions.
That’s why we created Daily TruthBytes. We each know first hand what it’s like to go in search for something to feed our souls only to get distracted trending stories and Facebook drama.
It’s good to keep up with our friends and care about what’s happening in their lives, but when that starts taking the place of time in the Word, it might be time to make some changes.
CHECK OUT TRUTHBYTES4MOMS HERE
Launching on Cyber Monday at a reduced price
Dear mama, I am so incredibly excited to share the vision that’s been on my heart for two years! This is the announcement I’ve been hinting at! God has brought it to fruition in a way that only He could, and now, I’m sharing it with you.
Set your calendar for Cyber Monday, because you won’t want to miss this (I hope you’re as excited about it as I am!). This is going to be GOOD.
Great post! I think a lot of moms can relate to this and that these are really actionable things for me, as well as just resting knowing He loves us!
Thanks so much, Liz! I appreciate your stopping by to visit and I love your blog! Moms need to be reassured of God’s love, the same as kids. Love over lists is how God operates!