Busy

“So, how have you been?”

“Busy”,  I replied and then went on to list the next 100 things that I needed to finish that week.

I, in turn, asked my friend how she was doing and she replied with the same dialog.

You see, busyness is almost a badge of honor in motherhood.  We identify who we are by what we are doing.

… but this is a lie that the devil keeps trying to make us believe.

It is NOT about what we are doing but WHO we are.

I am first and foremost God’s daughter and if I am too busy to spend quality quiet time with Him, then something is terribly out of whack.

I am my husband’s wife.  I am the only one who can Biblically provide for his needs.

I am my children’s mother.  I am the only one who can really truly do this job and do it well.

It is not so much about what we do but who we are.  You see my child runs to me when he gets sick or hungry.  Why?  Because I am his mom.

So with all these responsibilities we can safely assume we will be busy, BUT we often overlook an important gift that God gave us.

Let’s go back to the beginning of Genesis….

Have you ever sat down and really meditated on creation?

We often teach little kids that there were 7 days in creation. Ok, then, what did He create on the 7^th day?

Why didn’t God just say He created the world in 6 days?   If that is the way that it was written then we would most likely infer that He was done after the 6th day and that He rested.

Have you wondered why He put the 7^th day in the creation story?

What did He create on the 7th day?

He created Sabbath.  Sabbath means peace, tranquility and rest.

He didn’t simply just take a rest.  He created a whole day to rest. He was busy working and then he set up boundaries so that REST was a part of that plan.

If God Almighty, the omniscient, omnipresent Creator of this world decided that rest was important enough to take a whole day for it, then why do we feel we don’t need it?

Why is busyness next to godliness?  Why do we walk around acting like our long list of stuff to do somehow makes us better moms?

Well, first off it doesn’t.  I don’t know about you, but I can be constantly doing and doing. That accomplishes nothing but stress for my kids and family dynamic.  There are days that life is so crazy that my quiet time gets skipped and I am fighting life all day with an empty tank.

Ladies, please let me encourage you to slow down.  You need your rest.  I am not talking about ME-TIME.  I’m talking about family-time.  I’m talking about God-and-you time.  I’m talking about simply relaxing and enjoying people.   I am talking about making cuts in your life so that your family gets more of you.  This doesn’t have to be a special activity.  Just simply being together.

One of my favorite quotes is this:  “Let us be silent that we may hear the whisper of God.”

As the prophet Elijah in 1 Kings 19 learned, God is not always in the storms and the busyness and loudness. Sometimes, He is in the quietness.

If we are not getting the rest and quietness we need, then we are living a crazy lifestyle that God is not a part of.

Ladies, do you want rest?  Do you want peace?

Then make sure to block out a specific time every day to spend with God in His Word.

For me, this is quiet time.  My daughter takes a nap and my son plays quietly.  During that time, I make a hot drink, grab my blanket, a heating pad and my devotions and curl up on the couch.  I place the heating pad on my neck, curl up in the blanket and open the Word of God.  It is such a relaxing time every day; when I get up from that time of rest, the energy that I have is like no other. I am physically relaxing my body as well as spiritually refreshing it.  IT IS POWERFUL!!!!!!

As a pastor’s wife and homeschool-mom with lots of stressors, there is nothing ….NOTHING.…that provides more energy to my broken-down body and mind than that time every day.

We have to learn to say no.

We have to learn to prioritize and create that rest-time.  If God thinks it’s important, then we should too.

One last thing to think about is this.  God CREATED peace.  Rest doesn’t come when I am done with my list.  (Is it ever done?)  Rest comes when you INTENTIONALLY create the time.  If we want Sabbath, peace and tranquility, we must be intentional.

Friends, we must learn to say no and to question our reasons behind what we do.

Let’s make this applicable–ask ourselves some questions.  These are some great questions for your husband and you to work through whenever you get offered new “busyness opportunities”:

1. How does this activity better our family and or our ministry?
2. Will this make my family stronger after I am done, or weaker?
3. What can I take out of my life to create peace?
4. What do I need to remove to make sure that I am having some refreshing time with God?
5. Could someone else do this ministry?
6. How many activities will we allow our family members to be a part of (great discussion to have with your husband about your kids, as well)?
7. What is the most important ministry goal we have?  Are we staying true to that goal or are we adding other things that we could say “no” to?
8. Is this what God had in mind for me?
9. Do I have enough time that is quiet enough that God can speak to me?

I have had these discussions with other moms. Some moms would argue that they are just too busy but I truly believe that in EVERY stage of life, there is time for personal time with God.  God would not give you so much to do that you couldn’t have time to spend with Him.

At the end of the day, we need to ask ourselves:  God created rest on the 7^th day, so what can I do to create rest in my home?

Rejoicing,

Joy

nourishing a good foundation

I have written on this topic before, but it has been re-challenged to me recently -by my own life.

We all want our children to accept Jesus for their salvation! But before they can know about salvation we must teach them about God.

All men are born with the knowledge of God written in their heart [Proverbs 14:1, Romans 2:14-16].

But this does not mean our children will automatically know God.

Man is born a sinner. Even as a babe, we are all sinners.

If you have children, you cannot dispute this fact. A child left to himself brings shame on his mother [Proverbs 29:15].

Since the same heart that knows there is a God also contains sin, the knowledge of God must be cultivated to become knowing God.

People do not know who He is without being taught. Yes, if a lost man seeks for God, God will not hide himself [Jeremiah 29:13]. But that does not preclude our responsibility as parents.

We must teach our children who God is.

And we must teach our children to KNOW God- and the earlier the better.

In the first hours and days of each of our children’s lives they each had several people telling them them “Jesus loves you” often … through words, song and even action. These people included us as parents, our parents, and church members who visited.

My children are greatly blessed.

Of course, my babies had no idea what we were saying; but as they grow and learn from Bible stories and Sunday school and family devotions that Jesus is God and God made us and loves us and wants to be our Heavenly Father, a sense of God is All-Important is instilled in their hearts.

This is fundamental to their ability to realize their need of a Savior at an early age.

When children are taught this, it is fact in their hearts [Proverbs 22:6]. And if the knowledge that Jesus loves them and He is ALL-Important becomes as integrated into their being as the fact that Daddy and Mommy loves them,

the root of faith takes hold.

…even while still a baby.

This is fundamental to their growth after accepting Jesus. It gives them the added advantage that a “healthy pregnancy” gives to their physical bodies.

And I know each of us did our best to provide a healthy environment for our babies while carrying them in our bodies. The nature of the womb was created by God to be a safe, nourishing place.

Spiritually, the “womb” experience does not cease when they are physically born. It continues until they see their need and embrace Christ for themselves {are re-born}.

Let us be Momma’s providing the spiritual nourishment for our children

even before they are able to grow spiritually!

Over on my own blog I have a few posts that followed this about answering a few simple questions our children may have about salvation and teaching them about God. And I am working on some more posts about aiding our children in learning to do their own devotions. As someone who has struggled with reading the Bible consistently {as many do}, I want to be sure my girls create this habit at an early age.

{blessings} Tascha