Over the years and mentoring women I have often gotten the question or the remarks they just don't have the time. Or they can't figure out when they will be able to have their Jesus time. As much as I get it being a mom of 5 and a wife this can't be your crutch or justification. Jesus wants to meet with you on a daily basis and be invited into every part of your life including being a mom and wife.
Today I am hoping you will find some practical tips on how to carve out devotion time for yourself. Remember moms you can't pour from something you don't have. Being a mom and a wife takes a lot of work and leading from the Holy Spirit. I've always told people that I have had a spirit led parenting role. There were things I did unconventional, but were some of the most effective ways. It all came from my time with the Lord and sitting at the feet of Jesus.
I will start with when my kids were just babies and littles. I woke up early before them or stayed up later than them to study. Depending on the day it was either a 5AM morning or a 11PM bedtime. Did my kids stay up late or wake up that early, absolutely not, but I did. I sacrificed 30 minutes of my sleep to spend with Jesus and it was some of the best time I could have done. This wasn't a long process, and a lot of time, but it was enough to hear from him. I didn't use this time to study the bible and his word though. This was just my devotion time. Time to read a little bit to encourage me, and fill me up a bit before I started my day or ended my day. I will share more about how to study your bible in another post and how to carve time out for that.
As my children got older I realized I couldn't always have that time. Our schedules changed, and I was finding that I was wanting to spend more quality time with the Lord. I wanted more time to actually study and dig deeper into his word. I also wanted to start including my children. Since they were babies we always had downtime from 1pm to 3pm. This was our rest time. This is when they would nap, rest, read a book, or watch a school approved movie.
Now that my kids are pre-teens and teenagers I can do anytime I choose. When they were around 1 and 2 years old I began teaching them if I was reading or in my prayer closet they were to not disturb me. They understood this was my time with Jesus and it was to be honored. Time with Jesus is a holy time, and there needs to be a reverence. Even young they understand it. To this day if they walk in my room, or the living room and I am reading my bible they come and sit with me. They know not to interrupt me, but to wait until I have a moment to talk with them. When they come sit with me I will gently put my hand on their leg, or arm so they know that I know they are there and they can talk to me as soon as I am done.
Do you have any practical tips on how to carve out time? Leave a comment below, it could just be the thing a mom needs to spend some time with Jesus.
Blessings,
Juanita Espinosa
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