The Kind of Mom I Want to Be

Today I am linking up with Rachel Wojo for Whimsical Wednesdays! I am often encouraged by her words of wisdom and passionate love for God. You can get to her blog by clicking here. 

 Lately I've been thinking about the importance of my spiritual life as a mom. It is easier than I care to admit to let life suck me into the whirlwind. Often I get caught up in all there is to do at the expense of my own relationship with God. I may have the best of intentions, but the mamas out there know that free time as a mama is hard to come by. When you get a few minutes (when you're not folding laundry, paying bills, and making dinner simultaneously) it's easy to find a vast array of ways to spend it that don't include sitting down to read your Bible or spending time in prayer. Yet I have found that if I don't keep my relationship with God front and center,  the rest of life usually doesn't get the best slice of me. They often get the burnt-out, where-did-I-leave-my-sense-of-humor, short-fused leftovers. Charming, I know. 

The days that I start off on the right foot are often the days I start off with Jesus. (A strong cup of coffee and somewhat solid night of sleep don't hurt either). How I spend time with Jesus these days looks very different from how I might have done so a few years ago. When you are single and childless you have the freedom to take long walks to think and pray or spend hours reading the Bible if you so choose. As a mama, with such limited alone-time, I have had to adjust my paradigm of what it looks like to connect with God daily.

There so many creative ways mamas find to spend time with God! I know that I need to be in the Word of God consistently to keep my perspective in check, so I try to spend 10-15 minutes reading my Bible when my daughter is sleeping. If this doesn't happen (and oh there are so many days this doesn't happen) then I try to incorporate it into my playtime with her.  Today we were playing on the floor and I grabbed my Bible and just read the next chapter of the book I was on aloud. My daughter was entertained by my fun voice as I read it, and (bonus!) it helped me to do a little memorization because I was trying to make eye-contact with her as much as I could while reading.

A few other ways I keep my heart filled are to listen to uplifting and encouraging music (so many worship songs have loads of God's truth in them and can really fill a dry spirit), praying for my baby girl as I feed her or before I put her down to sleep, and pointing out the wonder of God's creation to her throughout the day. I have a long way to go, and certainly don't have a corner on the market. But I've always loved the verse in Deuteronomy 6 that says, "These commands that I give to you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates."

I know that when I keep God first I am a better mom, a more thankful mom, and a more fulfilled mom. I know that my kids will benefit from watching my relationship with God as it grows, and my hope is that it will inspire them to want to get to know God themselves. 

I'd love to hear how you connect with God to keep your heart full!