Spending Time With Him When You're Busy

Via: ginacostanza

As a new mom, my free time is precious. It's also few and far between. I love those times during the day when my sweet daughter naps away and I can get a few things done. Things like showering, putting on my makeup, doing my hair, getting dressed and eating. Usually Aubrey will nap long enough for me to get those things done and sometimes she'll sleep even longer. Those are the good days. :)

But on days when it's all I can do to sweep my hair up into a messy bun, I find myself valuing even more those moments where my hands are free to do what I need to get done. I don't anticipate having two free hands for awhile so I've had to make some adjustments in how I do things.

One of those area's is my devotion/quiet time with the Lord. I desperatly did not want to give up my time with him but in this season of being a new mom, I've had to adjust how I spend my time with the Lord. Here are a few things I've started doing.


1. Online Devotions.
I could quiet literally spend a couple hours at a time online. I nurse Aubrey and as she nurses and then eventually falls asleep, I find myself just sitting. (I sometimes don't dare move her as she is a very light sleeper during the daytime hours.) And while it's hard to balance a book over my baby, having my open laptop infront of me is not. I've subscribed to Proverbs 31 Ministries and their email devotions. There is a scripture and a very well written, heart provoking devotion that is delivered to my inbox daily. Each devotion has been challenging and has struck my heart. I'm so pleased with them!

2. Online Bible Reading
As I mentioned above, it's been hard to balance a book - let alone by big Bible - over my sleeping daughter, so reading the Bible online has been great! I use the website Bible Gateway for my Bible reading. The great thing is, you can search the site for specific topics you want to read up on. Or you can search by passage or a keyword. There are reading plans and you can even listen to the Bible audio style. One of my favorite features is that there are tons of different translations so you can see what each verse means in say The Message Bible, or NIV or New King James. Love that.

3. Reading Aloud
When Aubrey is awake, I'm starting to read the Bible to her. Though she doesn't understand what I'm saying, the very act of reading and talking to her excites her. I love that even at this young age, I'm instilling the Word of God into her life. This Bible is actually one I'm hoping to get. It's called The New Mom's Prayer Bible. I've heard really great things about it!

4. Praying
Every night for Aubrey's last night feeding, I pray over her. The lights are low and usually I have some sort of soft music playing. I pray over her precious little life. I pray verses over her. I pray for Shane and I as her parents. I pray for our friends and family and I also use that opportunity to lift of prayer requests of friends that they posted on facebook. I also pray for our friends babies who may be sick or suffering. I like to think that Aubrey is praying for her friends. :) This part of our day is one of my most cherished times.


So though my devotion time has changed, my devotion has not. Things have shifted in my life but I want to always make sure that there is time in my day for the Lord. So I'm curious, do you have any tips on how you spend time with the Lord that you can pass along? I'd love to hear them!