Rest in your Season

Before my son was born, I had a lot of “quiet time;” time spent in prayer, reading, meditating and resting.

Now, it seems that if I do get the chance to have a quiet time, it is often inturrupted and leaves me feeling less than more.

Do any of you struggle with this?

This week, I wanted to encourage you to rest in the season that you are in, the season you are called to right now. Whether that is motherhood with young children, motherhood with older children, wanting to be a mother, or not having anything to do with motherhood at all. 

I used to feel like in order to really fill up my tank, I needed to have “alone” time. It needed to be in the morning, with a cup of coffee to start my day right. I needed to have multiple devotional books to speak in to my life in different ways and I needed an ample amount of time (enough time to finish two cups of coffee, at least!)

That ideal picture above has since been laid to rest since becoming a mother. R.I.P. I will admit that every once in a while, I do have some alone time that is quiet and precious to me, but I have to be very intentional with my time to get it, and oftentimes it is with the help of my husband or another family member that has offered to be available for my son. 

If I am not careful, I notice that my mindset towards motherhood and my son start to shift from blessing to inconvenience. As I write this, the mom-guilt is building and I feel like I should erase it, but it is the truth. When I am in the middle of my alone time with God and have to stop because I am needed in some aspect, there is a little twinge of annoyance that can surface. If that’s not my sinful nature, I’m not sure what is. 

“When we feel that our environment must be ‘just so’ in order to have fellowship with God, any wild-card elements inherit the name ‘interruption.'” -Gloria Furman

Do I ever want to think of my son as an interruption?

No.

In my heart, I know that I am willing to interrupt everything, my entire life, for my son. 

So, it’s my mindset that needs a reset. Maybe it has needed it for a while. 

All through the old and new testament, there is a theme of offering firstfruits; an offering of the best of what you have to give. For everyone it was different, depending on what produce and livestock you had, but what was required was the same, the best. 

When I bring a heart of anticipation for what I am going to gain out of my quiet time, I can leave feeling disappointed, especially if I am having to cut my time shorter than I wanted. But what if I bring my firstfruits?

What if I say to the Lord, “Here I am. This is me. I am a mom in need of some Jesus grace and patience. I don’t know how much time I have, but I want to worship you with what I have. Please fill me up with your Spirit and guide me through my day.”

And what if it doesn’t need to be “alone?”

I have found that my son generally likes music and likes to hear singing. My worship time can be in the car, singing praises to Jesus with my son trying to sing along (and how does it get better than that?)

Prayer does not need to be alone, in a quiet space (although that is very nice.) It can be when you are sitting in traffic, while you are doing the dishes, while you are rocking your sick baby to sleep for the 15th time that night. 

The Spirit often calls us to worship the Lord, all throughout the day’s tasks and trials. Tune your ear to hear! How often we miss him, so close to us, so ready to help in times of need.

“As busy mamas who give and give and give, we must be sure to fill up so we have something to pour into those around us. The task of being a mom is too big and overwhelming to try to do in our own strength. If we don’t fill up, we will quickly dry up.” -Ruth Schwenk

Thank goodness I have the Lord’s promises that he will provide me with the strength, patience and grace I need to not only get through my day, but to be thankful for my day. 

“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” -Hebrews 4:16

This season of motherhood is constantly teaching me, causing me to grow and cling to the Lord in ways I have never known before. I hope you get to ponder some of these things, and get some time in with the Lord, in whatever way that looks like to you.