Feeding Your Spirit While Feeding Your Kids
This past Sunday, Pastor Kristie spoke on the discipline of studying scripture. Already overwhelmed by everything on my to-do list, I had an off-morning. However, tears filled my eyes because I knew she was right. How could I possibly take care of everyone else if I wasn’t allowing God the opportunity to take care of me?
That night, I looked at my to-do lists, wondering how to squeeze in time to study scripture. I knew Pastor Kristie said I could start small – five minutes a day, even. However, that doesn’t feel like enough for the God who goes before me. I desperately want to have an hour a day to pull out a Bible study, my Bible, and a notebook and really dive into the depths of His word. But that’s not my season.
Realizing this, I typed a desperate text to Pastor Kristie asking for ideas on how to squeeze scripture into the life of a tired, busy mama and wife. In case you’re also tired and busy, I thought I would share the things I have learned in this season for how to squeeze in more things that feed me while I feed my kids:
- Jesus music. This is an easy one, friends. After a stressful day at work, I’d rather blast a dance party in my car and let loose before getting home and putting on my wife + mama hats. I remember one day I was texting my sister-in-law, and she told me she had been blasting Jesus music all day to keep away the things the enemy was trying to tell her. Friends, this is the secret to Jesus music: it works even if you’re not paying attention. I turn it on in the background at work. I turn it on in the car. I turn it on while cleaning on Saturday mornings, and we dance to it. The best part about being intentional about this background music is that when you hit a moment of struggle, the music is already on to remind you of truth amidst the trial. Turning on Jesus music throughout your day is a preparation method for anything the world or the enemy have in store for your day.
- Conference sermons. Really, this can be any preaching you like listening to, but I prefer conference sermons. When I was a teenager, I went to every conference and retreat I possibly could, and I truly believe that this made all the difference in my spiritual life. There’s an energetic life behind the speaker at conferences that brings power to the words they’re saying. Usually at a conference, the speaker knows they have one shot with the audience. They also have often prayed and studied for months preparing for the occasion. Therefore, I prefer to listen to sermons from conferences on Youtube. (Just type “conference” in the search, and you’ll get a lot of options). For me, this is easiest to put on while I’m getting ready in the mornings. However, you could also do this while doing dishes, riding in the car, or folding laundry. Here’s the catch: I don’t worry about watching the whole sermon – which is often 30-60 minutes long. I listen to how much I have time for, and I don’t hold myself to standards that I can’t keep up with on this. I fully believe that God does not care if I watch the whole video; he cares if my spirit is constantly seeking and meditating on His truths.
- Prayer. I have a document on my phone where I type out prayers and prayer requests. Any time someone asks me to pray for something or updates me about a prayer request, I type it in my document. While I’m typing, I focus my spirit on prayer. I learned long ago the beauty of praying while talking/listening. Prayer is not necessarily the words you say, but it is the whispers of your heart to God and the listening of what He wants to say. I highly encourage you to learn this practice so that you can position your heart in prayer throughout your entire day – even when you’re talking to other people.
- The Bible Recap. This is the new takeaway I have for adding scripture to my life. This is a plan you can sign up for on YouVersion (Bible App). It has a matching podcast that’s about 8 minutes to dive further into scripture. I plan to listen to YouVersion read me the scripture during the day when I’m doing chores or waking up/falling asleep and then listen to the podcast immediately after or while I’m driving. You can learn all about The Bible Recap by clicking here.
Fellow busy, tired friends of mine, may we never be too busy or too tired for our Creator. May we never expect our starving souls to overflow with service to others when we aren’t taking the time to be fed. You are so faithful to feeding your kids (among all the other things on your to-do-list); the Father is faithful to you, too. Take time to breathe in His faithfulness.
“A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” Luke 6:45