This summer, the lead pastor at our church is doing a series on Timothy. As usual, God came in like an “RKO OUTTA NOWHERE” (WWE reference) and tied my current realities in with teaching, so it seemed like a green light to write a blog about it. This week’s sermon actually hit me with two topics, so I’ll cover one now and one later in the week.
A few weeks ago, one of my dear friends from our small group reached out and asked if I would like to join a book club. I do love to read and I would love to have some time to do things for myself, but I knew that in this season, it just wasn’t physically possible. Between full-time parenting two kids ages 1.5 and 9, driving one of them to and from baseball practices, keeping the house in manageable order, training for a competitive fall 10k…I knew there was just not time. So I reluctantly declined.
A few weeks later, I was scrolling Facebook and came across a post from our church that was introducing a Moms’ Group. They would meet weekly and have Christian fellowship, and start by reading a book together. This made me want in BAD. I am an introvert through and through (if you haven’t figured that out by now, you haven’t read any of my other blogs), but something was calling to me about this. Now, nothing has changed. I still don’t have time. I’m still busy from sun (or sun) up to sun (or son) down. But God was telling me something.
He was telling me to STOP with the excuses. There will always be a reason not to do something. Too busy, too shy, too unknowledgeable. Too damaged. Too…whatever. The excuses have to stop. I kept telling myself that while I know this busy season of motherhood (and travel baseball) will not last forever and as everyone else tells me, it’s going to fly by, but the reality is, we’re in this for the long haul. When it’s over, it’ll feel like it went warp speed, but in the moments, they sometimes drag on. As they say–long days, fast years.
I couldn’t possibly wait until the season was over to spend more time with God. To spend more time with other moms. To lean on others who are trying to raise Godly children who know and turn to Christ. To let others lean on me in times of need. So I texted the leader, and told her I was in.
Cut the excuses. Make the time. That doesn’t mean getting up earlier or staying up later necessarily (of course, if you can make that work, it’s an option). It just means sometimes you have to prioritize and sometimes you have to multitask. Sometimes you have to figure out time to spend with God. Pray while driving to the grocery store. Listen to a Bible study while you’re making dinner. Play worship songs in the shower. Give yourself grace, but don’t make excuses. Don’t tell yourself that you’ll “start tomorrow.” Spoiler alert: you won’t. The messes you cleaned up today will be replaced with new messes. The practices you drove to will be replaced by something else. There will always be a new reason or excuse to put it off and say “later.” God wants you later, but He also wants you now. The beauty of this is that now Christ can infiltrate all parts of your life, not just your “quiet time.” I’m not saying that washing the dishes becomes a spiritual experience, it still is one of my least favorite chores, but when you look for little moments throughout your day to spend time with Him, you feel more fulfilled.
Have I figured out how to flawlessly balance it all? Nope. It’s all day-to-day. This week, I was able to read the four chapters for Moms’ Group and attend (after dropping one kid off at practice and chasing the other around while we had our discussion). What will next week look like? I have no idea. But I’ve decided to stop with the excuses and do the best I can. Will I fail? Probably some of the time. But another beauty of our Heavenly Father is that if I fall, He’s going to be there to catch me. Each and every time.
A few weeks ago, one of my dear friends from our small group reached out and asked if I would like to join a book club. I do love to read and I would love to have some time to do things for myself, but I knew that in this season, it just wasn’t physically possible. Between full-time parenting two kids ages 1.5 and 9, driving one of them to and from baseball practices, keeping the house in manageable order, training for a competitive fall 10k…I knew there was just not time. So I reluctantly declined.
He was telling me to STOP with the excuses. There will always be a reason not to do something. Too busy, too shy, too unknowledgeable. Too damaged. Too…whatever. The excuses have to stop. I kept telling myself that while I know this busy season of motherhood (and travel baseball) will not last forever and as everyone else tells me, it’s going to fly by, but the reality is, we’re in this for the long haul. When it’s over, it’ll feel like it went warp speed, but in the moments, they sometimes drag on. As they say–long days, fast years.
I couldn’t possibly wait until the season was over to spend more time with God. To spend more time with other moms. To lean on others who are trying to raise Godly children who know and turn to Christ. To let others lean on me in times of need. So I texted the leader, and told her I was in.
Cut the excuses. Make the time. That doesn’t mean getting up earlier or staying up later necessarily (of course, if you can make that work, it’s an option). It just means sometimes you have to prioritize and sometimes you have to multitask. Sometimes you have to figure out time to spend with God. Pray while driving to the grocery store. Listen to a Bible study while you’re making dinner. Play worship songs in the shower. Give yourself grace, but don’t make excuses. Don’t tell yourself that you’ll “start tomorrow.” Spoiler alert: you won’t. The messes you cleaned up today will be replaced with new messes. The practices you drove to will be replaced by something else. There will always be a new reason or excuse to put it off and say “later.” God wants you later, but He also wants you now. The beauty of this is that now Christ can infiltrate all parts of your life, not just your “quiet time.” I’m not saying that washing the dishes becomes a spiritual experience, it still is one of my least favorite chores, but when you look for little moments throughout your day to spend time with Him, you feel more fulfilled.
Have I figured out how to flawlessly balance it all? Nope. It’s all day-to-day. This week, I was able to read the four chapters for Moms’ Group and attend (after dropping one kid off at practice and chasing the other around while we had our discussion). What will next week look like? I have no idea. But I’ve decided to stop with the excuses and do the best I can. Will I fail? Probably some of the time. But another beauty of our Heavenly Father is that if I fall, He’s going to be there to catch me. Each and every time.
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