Let’s be honest. Quiet times are hard enough to consistently schedule. When you throw kids in the mix, sometimes they seem impossible.
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve awakened early to spend time in prayer and worship, only to discover the pitter-patter of little toes on our wood stairs. But the call of motherhood doesn’t have to mar your consistency in spending time with God – it just changes the face of it a little (or maybe, a lot!)
So, I asked some of my favorite bloggers and some godly gals I know to weigh in on motherhood and devotional life.
Christina Fox of To Show Them Jesus (mom of two, contributor at Women of God Magazine, The Gospel Coalition, and Desiring God).
I love Larry Crabb’s 66 Love Letters: A Conversation with God That Invites You into His Story
Kristen Summers of Celebrate Every Day with Me (mom of two, author of Teach Me To Serve: 99 Ways Preschoolers Can Learn to Serve and Bless Others
Waking up early works best for me. I have my quiet time and then get to writing/blogging. Being sick lately, I haven’t been getting up so early and I’m stealing moments to get in the Word, but it isn’t ideal.
The best thing for me is to be in a women’s Bible study. I have a group that I’ve been in for 12 years. I co-facilitate and just being in the group provides accountability. Not only is it a night out with women in fellowship, but it is accountability because you have to do the homework each week. My favorite Bible studies are by Beth Moore, Kelly Minter and Priscilla Shirer.
Emily Whitten of Redeemed Reader (mom of two, journalist at WORLD mag)
I use free devotionals online. There are so many great commentaries and devotionals from greats in the past like Charles Spurgeon that can be found for free.
I use this website a lot, and I have really benefited from Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary. Like Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening, it has a lot of devotional content to it and it’s written in really rich language.
Ruth Simons of Gracelaced (mom of six, contributor at The Better Mom & Mom Heart Online)
So…for me, it has definitely become more difficult with each child as nursing times aren’t even “down” or quiet times anymore. Instead, there is constant noise and demand for my attention. So, I have been using the Bible.is app on my iPhone. It has both dramatized readings in ESV, and there are even reading plans for the entire Bible, or through Proverbs. The kids quiet down, and we all listen to Scripture.
I get Mornings and Evenings {by Charles Spurgeon} sent to my email, so I often spend a bit of time with Spurgeon in addition, but really, I have not made any time for extra reading since before the birth. I think because I get so distracted when I sit down with a book–always seeing what needs to be done, and hearing what someone needs from me, I find that my best opportunity for “alone time” in the Word is to wear headphones while I do dishes or laundry.
Desiré Miller of When You Rise (mom of three)
Well, right now there is absolutely no process or formula. I’m hit and miss reading through a devotional called The One Year Book of Hope
I’ve found (pre-baby) that doing it at night after the boys go to bed is a much better time for me. I’m more alert and get more out of it and I find falling asleep to Scripture to be a good way to battle worry and stress over life that I might otherwise contemplate as I fall asleep.
What is your biggest struggle to have a quiet time as a mom? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Be sure to check out the other posts in this series: Devotions drilled down in five steps and How a Bible study leader manages her quiet time
For information about the links in this post, click here.
Loved seeing what these other amazing women are doing. Brilliant, Melissa!! (and thanks for including me…I’m honored)
thanks for sharing Kristen!
These are great comments to read, Melissa. Always helpful to hear how others are managing this as well. I think all of us struggle with maintaining the time alone and guarding it. I’ve found that doing mine at the boys’ rest time is the best time for me, but I have to be careful not to want to use this time to catch up on emails, dishes, etc. Spending time in the Word as soon as my boys go down helps in ensuring that I keep this as a priority and then use the “left over” time before they awake for other things.
yes – the ever-growing “to do” list creeps up on me too! LOL! too often, my quiet time gets the “leftover” time instead. It is a constant battle!
I’m the mom of three, the youngest being 3 months old. The baby wakes up 1-2 times a night so I do my quiet time during one of those feedings. I use You Version on my phone as it has bible studies on it.
Hi Julie! You are a champ to do a quiet time during feedings. I used to have mine while I nursed because it was the only down-time I had. I hope I can encourage you in some way to keep it up!
wow, Julie that’s great that you can stay awake/concentrate during those night feedings. With my 9 month old I’m usually pretty drowsy and certainly not at my best when he wakes up in the middle of the night! I’ve found that getting up just a bit before Baby wakes up is certainly best for me at this point. Once the day starts, it’s SO easy for the day to just slip away without my having spent time in the Word and prayer.
Rebecca – yes, the night feedings would be hard for me too! I’m brain-dead past 9 pm! LOL