Moms: Get In The Word

Before I had kids I used to look down on mom-friends of mine who said, "Oh! I rarely read my Bible, I just don't have time." Then Hudson was born, and God really convicted me of my arrogance and judgmentalism. For those of you who know my two-and-a-half-year-old son, you know that he is 100-mph all.the.time. He stopped napping just before his second birthday, to my shock and dismay, all while I was 7-months pregnant with our daughter. Anyways, he has the loving nickname of "Octane" in our household because he is just that darn full of life. 

So back to my naive thought about motherhood. I have always been a disciplined person. Even in college I would get up early and go for a run and have my quiet time. It is simply in my nature to have a busy schedule and be task-oriented. I pride myself on "getting things done." Well, then I had kids. And for someone who operates ON A SCHEDULE, having children has been a shocker. 

When Hudson was young, he was very difficult to put to sleep. His schedule was always unpredictable. It's been a battle for me to remain flexible and trust God's sovereignty especially when my kids don't nap or go to sleep when they should. I become easily irritated, angry, and tend to overreact when mommy-time doesn't happen.

So why do I say all of this? God has spoken His salvation message to us through the Bible. It is His personal Word to believers in Christ. 1 Peter 2:1 says that the Word is like "pure spiritual milk" and we are called to long for it. Admittedly, as a sleep-deprived, mother-of-two, I do not always have this longing. In fact, since Aubrey was born it has been increasingly difficult to find time to spend in the Word (like I said, Hudson doesn't nap and Aubrey does not sleep through the night). However, God still calls me to "Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live" (Isaiah 55:3).f

I need God more in my daily life than ever before. Because I am sleep-deprived and a mother-of-two, I need God's grace for the days when there isn't time to spend an hour in the Word. I need His promises. I need His help. I need His voice speaking into my various circumstances. In a nutshell, I need His truth. And I need it bad.

Lately, I have become increasingly more convicted of this. While reading the book Word-Filled Women's Ministry, Gloria Furman and Kathleen B. Nielson eds., God reminded me of the importance of the Word in every aspect of minstry, hence for every believer all the time. I am applying this to motherhood as well. When I say that I don't have time to get in the Word at all, is that really true? How often do I check my text messages? Get on Facebook? Search Pinterest? Tidy up the house? More often than I care to admit. And so instead of using my spare moments to soak up the spiritual milk that God has given to me, I choose other things that in comparison matter very little. 

Mothers, are you tracking with me? Can you relate? Here is my plea: let's choose to soak up God's truth as much as we can, as often as possible. That may be a verse to begin the day. Or that may mean a whole chapter before bed. It might even be possible for you to study through a book of the Bible while your child naps or has room-time. Whatever the amount of spiritual food that we consume daily, it will be sure to nourish our weary souls. Let's scrutinize our time, assess where we can fit in more of God and less of the stuff that doesn't really matter in light of eternity. 

"Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food."  - Isaiah 55:1-2