Being a mom is a job that requires limitless time and attention. When your kids are little, you take care of their physical needs—bathing, feeding, carrying, and changing diapers. When they grow older, you taxi them to activities, help with homework, and try to be available for those ever-important conversations that crop up at the least expected times.
If you’re raising a child with special needs or health challenges, the demands are even greater. I recently released a prayer book for caregivers, and it got me thinking. Whether we’re filling an official caregiver role or just keeping up with everyday motherhood, we can so easily let our connection with God slip down the priority list.
I don’t know about you, but that connection is the one thing that sustains me. So how do we connect with God in the midst of life’s demands? It takes intentionality and creativity.
Today I’m sharing a list of ideas for you to connect with God in an intentional way. This isn’t meant to be a checklist for you to do item by item. My hope is that something in this list will spark an idea—a desire to draw close to your Savior—and prompt you to action.
- Pray through your day. Whenever you look at your calendar, ask God to fill you with strength and joy for whatever lies ahead.
- Read one verse from Proverbs each day.
- Read one verse from Psalms each day.
- Write down a favorite verse from your daily Bible reading and post it where you’ll see it often.
- Thank God for each person in your home, naming the specific things you appreciate about him or her. If you have time, write a note to tell that person what you prayed.
- Set your alarm clock ten minutes earlier this week and devote those minutes to time with God.
- Invest in a family devotional, and read together at breakfast or dinner—whichever meal you’re most likely to be together at the table.
- Set your phone alarm for your morning wake-up and use a quiet worship song as the tone. When it wakes you up in the morning, stay in bed for a few minutes and let the song become your prayer for the day.
- Take a walk with your kids through the neighborhood and pray for each household and person you see.
- Keep a notebook by your bed and start and end each day by writing three things you’re thankful for.
- When you enter each room in your home, thank God for the people who move in and out of it and ask Him to be glorified by whatever takes place in that room.
- Purchase a coloring book filled with Bible verses. While your kids are doing their own coloring pages, spend time beside them using art to worship God.
- Reach out to an elderly person or couple from your church and arrange to have coffee or lunch with them. Ask them about their faith journey and learn from their wisdom. (This one may take a little more time, but the value will far outweigh your investment—I promise.)
- Take a hike with your family through a scenic area and stop every five minutes to look around. Take note of each detail you see and thank God for His creation.
- Look up the word joy in a Bible concordance and spend a few minutes each day reading one verse in the list. Jot down an observation or two in a notebook.
- Choose a Bible verse to memorize this week.
- Invest in an audio version of the Bible or a devotional book. Listen to it in the in-between moments of mothering, such as feeding your baby or driving your kids to practice.
- Breathe a prayer of praise each time you see someone in your family smile.
These practices may require some intentionality, but most of them can fit into the busiest of schedules. No matter how hectic life gets, we have to stay connected with God and nurture our souls, mamas. He’s the only One who can give us strength for the demands of the day.
Walking the journey with you,
Sarah
Leave a Reply