“You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up [in the MORNING].” — Deuteronomy 6:7

It's time to get real about my quiet time.  {And let it be noted that I believe God wants us to be nothing but REAL with Him and with each other so if you are here to pass judgement then please click on down the lane.}

My quiet time is nonexistent.  Having a quiet time is hard with three kiddos, especially when at least one of them is in public school and has to be there before 8 a.m.  That means my mornings are already filled with waking children who are not morning people, fixing breakfast for them and a bottle for a baby (who can't hold it and feed himself yet), get them dressed, teeth brushed, hair combed and fixed, lunches packed, backpacks stuffed, shoes on feet and out the door BEFORE 8 a.m.  It's tedious work.  Here I sit at 9:14, up since 6 a.m. and still haven't had time to make my five egg whites yet {which is totally against my meal plan instruction to eat within an hour of waking}.  I'll say it again…having a quiet time is hard.  BUT it is necessary to the life of a follower of Jesus and I NEED it, I CRAVE it. 

I have been a failure at quiet time ever since the baby was born seven months ago.  I see all these other women talking about how glorious their time with the Lord was this morning and I wonder to myself "where are the other moms like me who are struggling to fit it all in and are willing to say it out loud???"  So for those of you who are like me and just don't want to admit it out loud I am here to tell you it is OKAY to admit you suck at daily quiet time and you want to be better.  I WILL NOT JUDGE YOU.  In fact we can find joy in our failure together and then make a conscious effort to turn our failure into flourish.  We know from scripture the importance of spending quality time with the Lord and I truly believe that He designed the beauty and quiet of each morning so that we would be drawn to him at the beginning of each day.  But lately my time is sporadic and never in the morning.  Most days it is a chorus of praise in the kitchen or in the car.  A sprinkling of scripture from a devotional email in between folding laundry and cleaning up another mess. BUT, I do pray all.day.long.  I think that becomes the norm when you give birth to your first child and it just grows from that day forward.  Moms have a lot to pray about you see.  

“Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every MORNING… ” — Lamentations 3:22-23

I do want to rise up in the morning when his mercies are new (thank you Lord, because I need your mercy each day) and spend time with him and reading his word even if it starts with a  short five minute devotion and dedicated prayer time.  Soooo... I am posting it here so you can all read it.  Accountability is crucial to a faithful walk and that is what this is ladies.  {Say it with me} ACCOUNT-A-BIL-I-TY.  I currently have a stack of devotionals on my nightstand and I am working sloooooooowly through Unglued by Lysa TerKeurst.  {This is actually my second time in seven months to start it.}  I hope that this post makes me speed things up a little.  Than I will be moving on to The Strong Willed Child by James Dobson and finally The Four Seasons of Marriage by Gary Chapman.  So go ahead, find joy in your failure and then turn around and join me.  His mercy is new right now…and it will be new again tomorrow…in the morning.