Finding Quiet Time- Ann Voskamp

Always God: Nurturing Relationship with God in the midst of preschoolers

I live in a house with 1 baby, 2 preschoolers, 2 stretching children, 1 preteen, one gentle husband, and One Great and Glorious God. We live, and laugh, and love within these four walls…in the presence of Him Who knows no boundaries.

Practicing the Presence of God…

Children crawl up on couches, under blankets, unto laps for our Love-letter Time: each reading child reads their own volume of God’s love letter while I read aloud my day’s reading from the One Year Bible to the preschoolers. “David did what, Mama? “ “Jesus really loved us, didn’t he?” Together, we hear Him speak through His Word to our hearts. I scratch my reciprocating love notes in my prayer journal while littles copy down verses, coloring their remembrances of Love-Letter Time.

Children dig in the sandbox while I hang out my clothesline prayers: thank you for the legs that fill these pants, the arms that grace this shirt, the baby that sleeps in these pajamas.

I stir, children pour, I dice, children stir. We sing: “I love you, Lord. And I lift my voice, to worship You….”

We gather legos and blocks and order tractors and trains. Ora et Labora. This work is our prayer to You, Lord, our reasonable act of service, our worship and gift to the Giver of all.

I ring the dinner bell and children clamor around the table and steaming plates. We recite memory verses between bitefulls. Dear husband closes each of our three meals with Scripture reading, inviting one of the children to conclude with a prayer to the God of all. As we rise to clatter off the dishes and clean the kitchen counters, together we join our voices in a hymn of the faith, the song of praise we are learning that week.

Always Glory, Always Praise

In the midst of preschoolers, we do not package up the Prince of Peace, only to take Him down in fleeting moments of quiet… but we invite Him to be the center of our milieu, the axis of our days, the Son around which we all—babies, preschoolers, Mamas, and Papas, children and teens—revolve. His word is not confined only to a quiet time for “they are not just idle words for you—they are your life.”( Deuteronomy 32:47) In the midst of diapers and dishes, crayons and construction paper, life is our liturgy, life is our communing time with the Lover of our Souls.

As Eugene Peterson paraphrases Romans 11:36:

“Everything comes from him; Everything happens through him; Everything ends up in him. Always glory! Always praise! Yes. Yes. Yes.”

♥

Did you enjoy Ann's beautiful writing?  You can find more of her wonderful, meandering thoughts on her blog.

Read More
Guest Writers, Nurturing MomsKendraComment
Finding Quiet Time- Heidi Kemp
Heidi's words are encouraging, too, and if you are not a morning person (that's not me, either) you will appreciate her honesty. ♥ When I first read the question I thought How Do I find the Time?  When I first started down this road of motherhood I struggled with the universal thought that you should get up early and have your 30 mins to 1 hour devotions and prayer time with the Lord.  I have really struggled with this my whole Christian life.  You see I am not a morning person.  No matter how hard I have tried I know now that I am fighting a losing battle.  The problem is that everyone else that seemed so spiritual got up at dawn to have their time with the Lord.  The Lord has shown me though that the time of day is not important but the TIME is important. I now have my time with the Lord at really what might seem like the oddest times to some.  My longest period of time is probably no more than 30 mins (if I am lucky).  This is in the morning with my second cup of coffee (by morning I mean after 9am).  My girls 8 and 7 are busy with handwriting and phonics workbooks.  My boys 2 and 3 are usually outside playing.  This is when I do my Bible reading.  Understand I do not really have any serious prayer time then.  I found it is both frustrating and dangerous to try to do this with the kids playing (ask me how I know this!!!)  I find other times to have wonderful prayer time.  My favorites are while washing dishes,  while driving, and the bathroom(the only place I really get to by myself, well most of the time).  In a life full of so many things to do and people to do them for I have to keep focused on what really counts.  If a subject gets pushed aside for my time with the Lord it is ok.  If someone is sick singing praises to Him while rocking the child is a blessed time with my Lord.  I protect my time even though I don't have an allotted time in my schedule.  I know I am nothing with out Him.  I will never be the wife, mother and teacher I know He wants me to be if I neglect my time with Him. Just a note,  the days I do forget or neglect are by far the worst for me and everyone around me.  Just a little warning.  So be of good courage and be strong in the Lord.  He will help you through, all you have to do is ask. In and Through Him Heidi Kemp
Read More
Guest Writers, Nurturing MomsKendraComment
Finding Quiet Time- Andrea

Several of you sent me really wonderful answers for the contest on finding quiet time amidst homeschooling with preschoolers.  Over the next few days, I'll be posting them one-by-one.  You have excellent things to share!

♥

Unfortunately, my technique is not very creative but it is just about making the time. I wake up an hour before the kids to have my quiet time with the Lord. During school weeks my 3 older kids wake up too to have their quiet time and start their math. They know that this is not their time with me. I usually read a 10 minute devotion from One hundred and One Devotions for Homeschool Moms then use the Scripture reference from that to springboard myself into an in-depth reflection of the verse in the Bible. I have also just listened to Marcia Somerville's Toolbox Approach to quiet time and I am starting to use her written charts to maintain my focus on the Lord during my prayer time. The bottom line is just doing it. I used to think of my QT as a small rock rather than a big rock. Sometimes happened and sometimes it did not. Thinking of the rock analogy when you put all your little rocks in your jar (your day) first your big ones can't all fit in as well. But if you put your big ones in first the little ones all fall between the gaps created by the big ones. So now I do my big rocks first and if there is time I work my little rocks in after. Viewing my QT with the Lord as a big rock helps me to give up that extra sleep in the morning and make it a priority. It just doesn't happen later in my day as my house is never quiet once the troops are in full force! -Andrea
Read More
Guest Writers, Nurturing MomsKendraComment
Finding Quiet Time- Corin Geib
Corin! Corin is living life in the midst of preschoolers (three of them) and it is evident from her words that she has not lost sight of the challenges we mothers of preschoolers face.  She has learned how to worship God through sleepless nights, unpredictable days, and even unproductivity. It can be frustrating to a mother with young children to read the advice of mothers who have forgotten the ins and outs of everyday life with little people; they often clearly don't recall how a mother of preschoolers is "on" every minute of her day.  She is needed in a hundred different directions and hearing the still, small voice of God can seem impossible. So take much encouragement in what Corin has to share, and Corin- congratulations! ♥ I've struggled a lot with finding time to study Gods word.  I've tried getting up early.  I hear so many people talk about how wonderful their morning devotions are, and the benefits of starting off their day in God's Word.  I don't doubt them, but for me it just didn't work.  I'm not a morning person, and doing it in the morning didn't let my brain comprehend what I was reading.  So I tried doing it at night, but fell asleep too often. I tried cramming it all in a few times per week, to ponder over the rest of the week.  That didn't work out too well either! I tried reading my bible while nursing.  That worked with my first and I read my bible, in short sections, several times a day.  When #2 came along and I had to keep an eye on an 18 month old, while having difficulties with nursing the baby, that went right out the window.  I was sure that I'd only be able to do any bible studying in short bursts again.  Maybe once a day, maybe once a week, who knows?  I grabbed my bible, when I could, on days that everything was going fairly calmly. About 18 months later #3 joined us.  How on earth was I going to find the time now?!?!?  Reading while I nursed wasn't going to work with an 18 month old and a 3 year old around.  Not that they were bad behaved, but to ask them to sit, quietly enough for me to really concentrate, for 30 minutes every 2-3 hours seemed a bit much to me.  Every spare moment seemed to be filled!  People at the grocery store asked how I even got a chance to shower!  I bought CD bible set to listen to as I folded laundry, drove in the car and did other quiet, mindless, tasks.  That was alright, but didn't work out as well as I'd hoped.  I'm a visual learner, and when my eyes are active, my ears just don't comprehend as much and eventually it just blended in with the other background noise. I had to step back for a few days and look at how I got anything accomplished.  Did the cooking still get done each day?  Yes (okay, so almost every day ;-) ), did the laundry still get done?  How about the housework?  All of those things may not have been done perfectly (I had 3 babies ages 3 and under, gimme a break!) but they did usually get done.  So when did I find the time to do them?  Hmmmmm... good question!  I did a little here and a little there all day most days, while supervising play time, answering endless questions, and with at least 1 baby on my hip. I prayed and took a look at when I did the majority of it.  That's when I realized that nap time was my answer.  I had 1 12 hours, each and every day, of quiet (assuming they all fell asleep at the same time instead of singing or playing in their beds).  That was the time I used to really buckle down and get the housework done. I didn't have time during naps to get all of the housework and bible reading done.  They were both important, but which was really more important?  Matched up socks, or time with my Lord?  I took half an hour out of my nap time cleaning schedule and changed it to bible instead.  I was able to do it every day and still get some housework done and at a time of day my brain was still functioning halfway decently.  I left the easier tasks (such as putting away the silverware, dusting the lower parts of the furniture, etc.) undone and began teaching my boys to do them when they woke up from their nap.  Doing that meant that the work still got done every day and I didn't have an excuse. One year later it's still working out well.  After lunch I sweep the floors, then read my bible.  Usually it's for a little over half an hour.  While it still may not get done every single day without question (does anything?), it does get done most days. I've also changed a few other activities.  I used to read a lot of news and commentaries online.  I stopped and cleaned out my "favorites" list with 2 requirements:  Is it edifying? (YIKES did that cut down a lot!)  Does it help me better minister to my family?  I belong to a wonderful Christian mothers forum that I used to check several times every day.  While it fit both of my requirements wonderfully, it still took up a lot of time.  I now check it once a day and you know what?  Those posts that I would've read later in the day, then again in the evening, are still there waiting for me the next morning!  I realized that doing those few things cut down my computer time from "who knows how long" each day, to about an hour.  That gave me time to read books (other than my bible) that would help me stretch and grow spiritually. My husband also recently signed up for an internet music service.  Instead of getting bored with my small selection of praise and worship music and putting in something else instead, I can listen to a random mix, from hundreds of albums during the day without commercials or dj's interrupting.  Now I'm learning new worship songs, and it's helping me focus more on Him while getting my work done. Hopefully this will help someone else out there.  Nap time may not work out for everyone.  Pray, pray, pray and ask Him to show you how to find the time.  The Lord doesn't ask you to take on more than you can handle, so if you can't find the time, then it's likely that you are spending time doing something that He may not have for you to do.
Read More
Guest Writers, Nurturing MomsKendraComment
The Beach is the Best Babysitter!

 

 

I am a born and bred California girl- I would live on the beach if I could, and I mean ON the beach.

 

I think there are few other babysitters as wonderful as God's gigantic natural sandbox- the beach.  We spent a day there this week, and the five hours of driving time was well worth it.

 

 

Can you get to a beach this summer?  Even if it's a narrow sandbar on a river or lake, you'll likely find it to be a source of playtime fun for several hours.  Even with preschoolers, you might find you'll get to sit back, relax, and sip a frozen Coke.  With a bendy straw.  Does life get better than that?

Read More
Life with PreschoolersKendraComment
Thirteen Rules for Ladies

 

 

1. Graciously allow a male to help you, even when you don't need help.

2. Greet people by name.  Look someone in the eye and say “Hello Mr. Kelly” instead of “Hi".

3. Respect other peoples' privacy by not involving yourself in their conversations.

4. Do not interrupt conversations.  Wait for a break in the conversation before beginning to speak.

5. Likewise, do not enter a room talking.  Take a moment to make certain you are not interrupting a conversation.

6. Always acknowledge gifts.  Write a personal note mentioning the gift by name to each donor.

7. Always look around you to see what needs to be done and how you can help.  Ask your hostess, "What can I do to help you?"

8. Do not embarass anyone by teasing them in public. 9. Use self-control with your speech. 10. Flee situations that might lead to stumbling into sin. 11. Do not make rude noises or laugh at others who behave inappropriately in public. 12. Dress in such a way that your femininity is not in question.  God made you a girl and you want to dress like a girl!  Be certain that what you are wearing does not reveal anything inappropriate. 13. God's desire is that you grow into a godly young woman.  Meditate upon His Word!
Read More
Life with PreschoolersKendraComment