Quiet Times

I wanted to write about things that have helped me dive into God’s word during ‘Quiet Times’. This is my daily time of reading the bible and praying, a practice I learned shortly after I accepted Christ in college. This is not a post to share or brag about what a good person I must be for having quiet times, but simply to share things that have helped me over the past few years. I have had misconceptions about quiet times in the past, have come to times where I have gotten stuck and in a rut, and there have been seasons where I have been inconsistent or not had them at all. 

These last few weeks I have been digging deeper on what it looks like to not only ‘skim through’ God’s word (as I often do) but to receive all that God intended it to be. For it to be life-changing, mind-transforming, life-altering and everything else God promises it can be. I want that and often I don’t receive that and wonder why. Whether it’s that I’m too busy, inconsistent, etc- I want more of God and less of the world… and somehow I have ended up a little bit more on the worldly side. 

For the last few years I have my quiet times during my son’s afternoon naps. As they have gotten older their naps have turned into ‘quiet times’ for them to play in their room. Because as a friend recently shared- Jesus may have been a morning person, but I am definitely not a morning person! I have never been able to be consistent with getting up early in the morning before the day begins.

But over the last few months, afternoon quiet times haven’t been consistent and when we do have them- the kids always have to go #2. Like clockwork! It’s as if the word ‘go to your room’ triggers something in their brain to find a way to get out of it. Particularly my somewhat recently potty trained three year old who is still learning how to go to the bathroom.  This wasn’t working anymore and something needed to change! I was spending more time scrolling through my phone out of convenience rather than reading God’s word. And I have a feeling that excuse will not hold up in heaven.

As of a few weeks ago I decided to set my alarm for 6am to have a good uninterrupted quiet time. Although I haven’t been perfect, for the most part it has worked really well. My days are so much different when I make the effort to meet God before the day begins.

Here are some of the items I use read quiet times:

-         Jesus Calling Devotional- This is a short daily devotional with a ‘letter’ from God’s perspective and a few bible verses related to the devotional. It is a wonderful way to get started for the day!

-          Prayer Journal- I started mine in 2011 and continue to write in it. It looks very much like this one but in pink. You can make your own with a small three ring binder or buy a new one at this adorable etsy shop

 

-          Travel Bible and Celebrate Recovery Bible- Just the bibles I use. I love the CR bible because it has countless testimonies throughout.

-          Journal- Just a regular journal to write down thoughts for the day.

-          Gratitude Journal- I have started writing down things I’m thankful for at the end of the day again. (using just a small three ring binder).

-          Prayer Journal- A place where I take bible verses for each family member and write it out to pray over them. Or if I’m struggling in a certain area I will pick specific bible verses to pray over it.

I don’t go through all of these daily in case it seems like a lot of stuff. What has been the most helpful life changing thing for me recently has been using the SOAP method on a bible verse..

S: Scripture (write out the verse)

O: Observation (What are the facts observed from the verse)

A: Application (how does this apply to my life)

P: Prayer (Write out a short prayer based on the verse)

Although it takes more time, I have really enjoyed using the SOAP method. It has helped me tremendously in not just reading through something when I’m tired and groggy in the morning, but to really dive into God’s word.

If you have any suggestions on things that have helped you during quiet times I would love to hear it. Hope this post was helpful to you as well! 

Serving in Different Seasons

As a mom I struggle to find wisdom on how to serve outside the home. God calls us to serve Him in the bible, but so often it feels so impossible when our little ones demand our physical attention. And as they grow up their needs continue in different ways, making it almost impossible to ever feel like it is the ‘right time’. 

Sometimes we can push ourselves to serve outside the home and end up neglecting quality time with our family. And other times we can be so focused in our family, that we miss out on something very exciting God may be calling us to serve. I have been in both places: a place of over-commitments, and the place of staying comfortable and not wanting to get out of my safety zone.

It is SO hard to have wisdom and discernment on how to serve. And I sometimes I really wish God would clearly lay out a step by step program of what he wants me to do and at what time. But he hasn’t done that to date, and I have a feeling until I get to heaven that plan will not be handed to me in a piece of paper (as much as I would really, really like that!).

But here is where my questions come to rest- in prayer. In knowing that if I’m praying and asking God about where he wants me to be, that He will be faithful in continuing to open doors and close others.  That has been my prayer lately- that he would close the doors to the places where he doesn’t want me to go or serve, no matter how seemingly good those places may seem.

Sometimes we can look at other women who are serving more than us, and we end up feeling as if we aren’t doing ‘enough’. Just last week I learned of a young mom of toddlers, who started a non-profit to provide shoes for children in Uganda to prevent them from getting gangrene and other diseases. It was this great and successful organization that was doing great things overseas! 

As a friend shared with me this story, she also shared how bad it made her feel that what she was doing was ‘not enough’ in her current season of having little ones. And what breaks my heart is that I think she is doing great things, following after God and all the things He is calling her to.

I have been there as well. Recently I ran into a friend who does so much in my eyes. She has adopted, is currently fostering, and home schools all of her five children. I am always amazed at her gifts, and it is so easy to compare myself to her and feel that I’m not doing ‘as much as I could be doing’. When I start questioning myself, I am reminded that God is in the process of writing out a very unique story in each of our lives and it will never look like the person next to us.  I am slowly learning to embrace my story and not wish sometimes that the chapters written in it were any different.

We have served in different ways over the last few years, and in every season I have asked myself “ Is this really what I’m supposed to be doing??”. From the humbleness that fostering brings, to the exciting (and sometimes glamorous) community events of Junior League, I don’t know that I’ve ever felt 100% certainty that I was doing exactly what God called me to do. But in all times I have rested on this: Knowing that caring for my family always comes first, knowing that I’ve prayed about it, and knowing that it’s ok to try something and fail at it. I have had much less regrets in taking leaps of faith, than never taking them at all.

Right now my heart continues to be in finding ways on how to love children that are in foster care. From the short time that we fostered (and what felt like a big time failure to me), our eyes were very opened to how many children are in our own backyard have such great needs. From basic physical needs like food, to spiritual needs such as learning about who Jesus is. There are many ways to love on these children and I strive to continue to find ways to do so, even though they may be different at times. I am thankful for a path that although sometimes crooked, is going in the same direction.

 

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Summer is almost here!

Summer is almost here and I am a little nervous about how it will go. We don’t have any big plans of traveling (other than possibly our 10 year anniversary). The boys do so well on routine, that I’m hoping to be able to have some structure over the next few months.

So here is our plan for the summer- starting May we are going to have themed weeks for three months. Each week we have chosen a theme to focus on for the week. On Mondays we will head for the library to pick up books on the subject- and review it throughout the week. On Friday we will have a ‘fun event’ related to the theme. I’m shoping this will give me some more confidence about how summer will go and give us something to look forward to every week.

Thought I would share here in case someone wants to join in our weekly fun events!

5/4 Golf (Putt putt golf)

5/11 Dinosaurs (Dinosaur world)

5/18 Mad Scientist (MOSI- anyone have passes?)

5/25 Animals/Zoo (Zoo or Busch Gardens)

6/1 Star Wars (Not sure what to do yet)

6/8 Ocean life (Beach)

6/15 South America (Eating at a Peruvian restaurant that week- yum!!)

6/22 Camping (Still deciding whether to camp in our backyard or indoors)

6/29 America the Beautiful (Anna Maria 4^th of July parade!)

7/6 Baseball week (maybe a baseball game?)

7/13 Bug week (any ideas on a place we could visit related to bugs?)

7/20 Pirate week (any ideas other than Memo’s pirate ship?)

7/27 Narnia week (Probably just watch the Narnia movies that weekend)

There are still three more weeks of summer before school starts again, but this is all my brain could come up with for now! We won’t be sticklers about it, but I’m excited to have a little bit of goals to look forward to each week.