When I started my serious walk with God, I was about 18 years old. I was still living with my parents but shortly after that I moved into my first apartment by myself. I woke up early in the morning, did my AM Yoga, had breakfast and spent time with God until I had to get ready for work.
I drove to a bus lot, and took the bus the rest of the way to work. While on the ride there I listened to teaching tapes. While on the bus I listened to Christian music on my walkman. Once I got to work, I had a tape player there and I listened to more teaching tapes. I alternated during the day Christian music and teachings. On the way home I repeated the same thing.
When I got home I went for walks around my wooded complex listening to more Christian music. Before bed I did PM Yoga, had some more time with God and then went to bed. Oh and I went to church on Saturday nights and if I really liked the message I went again on Sunday morning to hear it all over again.
That's A LOT of time with God. THEN I got married. Now the mornings and the evenings stopped. Sundays used to be the only days off hubby had and he was just getting home on Saturday evening so churched stopped. So I still had my drive into work and all that time at work.
THEN, I came home and became a homemaker. I was doing pretty good...my son wasn't born yet. I didn't listen to audio teaching as much because I find it harder to listen to it while at home versus sitting at a desk doing mindless work lol. But I did get my mornings back after hubby left.
THEN the baby came. My oldest was pretty easy. He didn't sleep through the night but he was fine once he was in our bed...so nothing drastic changed there.
THEN (and this is a big THEN), my youngest was born. Oh my goodness. When they pulled him out the nurses said "Wow he has a set of lungs!" Yeah..who knew at that point I would hear them ALL THE TIME.
Even in the hospital he threw the most simpliest tasks off. I was eating breakfast at lunch time, lunch at dinner and dinner was at bedtime. I put him in the nursery at night (I didn't with the first one...don't we all go through that? lol) and I could hear him screaming down the hall. To say he was colic was an understatement.
I was a walking zombie with this kid. He spent more time screaming than sleeping. There were nights where I LITERALLY did not get any sleep. Then I couldn't nap because I still had my oldest to take care of. All he ever wanted to do was be held. Even after he fell asleep, if I put him down, he'd wake up and cry all over again. I kept a baby seat in the bathroom because I had to bring him in there with me. Hubby took over cooking and cleaning because I literally couldn't do it. It got to the point where SECONDS counted. If I went to get something to eat and hubby stopped me for a quick hug, that quick hug could of cost me my food.
I wasn't able to let him cry it out because he would cry so violently that he would make himself throw up. This lasted for about 9-10 months. And although he calmed down by then, he was still a handful. Now he's two and a half and is still a handful but mostly because he gets into trouble and he's still on the cranky side. Some things you just can't baby proof. I don't go to parties or people's houses (unless they have small kids and it's baby proofed) because I will literally be chasing him the whole time.
So...THE WHOLE POINT of all this rambling is I want you to get the picture that there is in fact a season of life where you may not have even a single moment to spend time with God. At least in the traditional sense of sitting quietly with Your Bible and whatever else you would do. During all that craziness I didn't read books, I couldn't write or do anything I normally did when spending time with God.
So how DO you spend time with God and be in His word through all of this? It's very simple actually and what I didn't realize at the time was that the whole craziness of that situation was (sort of) a blessing...or at least God was working out something good out of an exhausting and frustrating situation.
After being a mom, I started developing a routine where I would have that morning time, but then during the day, I kind of forgot about Him. Yeah, I knew He was there...but being busy taking care of the little one, running errands, and taking care of the house...He would just slip my mind.
Now when I couldn't have my morning time, and I desperately needed Him, SOMETHING had to change. That is where the whole "pray without ceasing" thing came to be a reality in my life. I stuck blank post it notes randomly around the house. I didn't write on them because I really didn't have the time and the whole point of them was for me to see them and that would be a reminder to talk to God. I got to the point where I didn't need the notes and it just became habit. At this time though, I was still struggling with my son but I still wanted to be in His word. So I forced myself to figure out a way to have time to write on index cards (I remember holding him while he slept in my arms and trying to write these out lol) and I wrote encouraging scriptures on the cards. I taped them inside each cabinet, behind doors, on the walls in my bathroom...anywhere where it wasn't an eye sore but easily accesible. I would hold my son and read them over and over and over again.
So here I am now...with my mornings back (although I do get some mornings where the younger one will wake up early and interupt it). I have learned now that I don't need to complicate my mornings with God because I know that I do have all day. I need to give Him my first few minutes (I'll tell you below how I do that) and keep Him with me all day.
Now if you're still reading this (I hate writing long posts lol) thank you! The past few weeks I have actually failed at some of this. God has brought what I learned fresh back in my face. Since I started having my mornings again (usually anyways) I have - AGAIN - been forgetting Him during the day. I haven't been happy the past few days and I realized that's why. My attention span in the morning isn't all that great so reading the Bible then isn't good for me lol. But I'm better later in the day...I just have to remember!
I have actually created a separate email address and saved the quickname to that email address as "Dear Jesus." So when I'm on my email account, I write out my prayers in an email and type "Dear Jesus" in the "To" section. Everything gets mailed to that other email address. There is something about hitting "Send" on that that really helps me. I type a whole lot faster than I write and I pray better when it's in writing/typing form. It's almost like I can empty my head of my thoughts so more can come in lol.
So I hoped this helped you. If you are a mom with young ones where you literally don't have time to spend time with God like you used to...understand that there are other ways that are just as good. God knows the season of life you are in and doesn't expect you to get up early (especially after sleepless nights) to try to get your time in. Pray and ask Him to show you what would work right for YOU. You would be surprised how He comes up with ideas that would work just for you.
So I'll shut up now since this is so long.
Here's a quick prayer: Lord, I lift up every mother that is reading this. If they are in a similar situation where I was, please show them some ways that they can bring You into their life all day. This is where they need You the most, and it's so hard to get that time with You. In Jesus' name...Amen.
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