Sweet Moments

After writing the previous post, I've been doing a lot of thinking about Little Man and raising him to be a man after God's own heart. Even though he's young, two months shy of two years old, I know there are things we can do to help soften his heart and prepare it to receive God's work in his life. For several months he has joined us in praying at meal time by holding our hands. I've noticed recently that he often bows his head. May our time to thank God for what He has given us and remind ourselves that ALL we have is His already mold his heart!

Then, I began to think about my quiet time and how possibly Ethan could have a time of study as well. We've had three quiet times this week, and oh how sweet they have been to this mother's soul. There are tears in my eyes as I write this. I LOVE teaching, and I LOVE my son, but the two together well...it's pretty close to heaven as I can imgaine on this side of things!

So, what does quiet time with an almost two year old look like for us? Ethan and I go to the window seat where I actually have my own quiet time. When we bought our house last August, I knew right away that this was going to be a special place for me! Ethan loves sitting up on the seat on a pillow. We've put his baby Bible and a small index card box in a basket nearby.

Today we started with a prayer that God would help us hear what He wants to say to us. Then we read from about Daniel in his Bible and talked about the story. Little Man liked roaring like the lion! I have chosen Daniel 6:26 as memory verse that we'll probably use for a month, and I read it to him and we talked about God being a living God. Then we thanked God for being a live and strong God. We closed our time by singing "What a Mighty God We Serve". Little Man is a good clapper! These moments truly were sweet moments!

Twice a week I would like for us to pray for people in Little Man's life. I've collected pictures and yesterday we went through the pictures and I said a sentence prayer for each picture. Eventually I want him to make up the sentences.

I'm so excited about this special time we've had. My prayer is that this time lays a foundation for what Little Man can later do independently and that God will also use this to prepare his little heart.

Thanks to those of you who shared what you do to train up your own children. May you be encouraged as you keep on this path!

How do they do it?

I've been thinking on some things in between extra loads of laundry from Little Man. How do moms really find time to be with God on a continual basis? I'm not saying that I'm not having time with God, but it's sometimes so broken up with the demands of the day that I wonder if anything is really sticking or getting through. I suspected that life could be like this as a mom, but now I'm thinking about it more, and wondering what the affects of more than one child is. To those of you who are mom's and you are maintaining a daily, vibrant time with our Father....YEAH! I'm cheering you on and I want to know your secret!

Prior to this week of mild "sickness" in the house, I was pretty good at being the first one up and enjoying some quiet time with my Lord then. Nothing like the Bible, a cup of coffee, and some "set things straight" prayer time to get the day going. Of course, that didn't mean I wasn't chatting with God throughout the day, but that morning time just seemed SO good. THIS week, I've been up with Little Man around 4AM changing sheets, letting him sleep on top of me in our bed, (since that's the only place he seems happy afterwards), and sadly missing my quiet morning time. He wakes me up and the day begins with a quick check in prayer and hopes to read something over breakfast.

I remember consoling my sister-in-law, who adventured into motherhood before me, that surely this was a season and that God would be faithful to feed her on the time she was able to make happen. I think that's still true, but sometimes you just get a little tired of quick prayers, hurried readings, and a "quiet" time punctuated with a baby's cry. Sometimes it feels like you're bailing out a boat that's taking on water too quickly.

So, if you're able to enjoy the luxury of having your time all your own, ENJOY your time with our Father. AND if you're in the motherhood boat, know that a fellow mom's encouraging you to keep bailing out your boat and that she's fixing her eyes on the One that was able to do all kinds of things from a boat!

AND seriously, if you have something that works for you to help build your relationship with God while doing the Mom thing, by all means, SHARE!