31 Simple Solutions :: Use the Time You Have

I’m a little ashamed to admit this.

But maybe it will help someone else, so I’m willing to put myself out there.

It had long been drilled into me to have a quiet time everyday. You know, set apart some time to spend with the Lord. One-on-one with Him in a quiet place.

This is good! This is healthy!

Spending time with the Lord is vital to my life.

I had also been taught that the best time to have my quiet time is in the morning. Preferably before I did anything else.

This too is good! And healthy.

Back before I was married or had children, I had my routine. My set time in the morning and place for my quiet time. I loved it. I thrived on it. I had such sweet communion with my Savior.

And then I got married. And then we had a baby. And then we had another baby.

And things got busy. And I had little ones demanding time and energy from me.

So my quiet time got moved from first thing in the day to later in the morning.

Yet still, when the boys had their morning naps, I had my quiet time in my yellow chair in the living room.

And then we had another baby.

And then we started homeschooling!

And homeschooling? Homeschooling is what sent my morning quiet time into a downward spiral.

There I said it.

I needed to use the baby’s morning nap time to do school.

Getting up before my kids just plain doesn’t work for me. My husband is a night owl {and so am I! just not as much as I used to be}, and we normally try to go to bed at the same time. So getting up super-early in the morning is very difficult and results in a grumpy Jenna all day. Not to mention that my kids get up at the first peep or tiptoe, and once they are up there is really no quiet in the house.

And so my quiet times went by the wayside.

I missed them. But I didn’t know what to do!

I felt tremendous guilt for not having a consistent quiet time. And I also felt guilt for not having one at the start of my day. And I also felt guilt for not rising early before the sun and spending time with God.

Let me tell you, friends – guilt is not from God!

Conviction? Yes.
Guilt? No.

I was sitting in a Bible Study for moms about prayer. And the question was asked about having a quiet time. And will you believe the words that came out of my mouth?!

“I don’t have a consistent quiet time anymore. I can’t figure it out because now we use the morning time I used to have my quiet time to do school. And I can’t have my quiet time in the afternoon when the kids are napping because that’s the only time I have to get stuff done!”

As those words were blah, blah, blahing out of my mouth, I realized how utterly ridiculous they sounded!

“I can’t have my quiet time in the afternoon when the kids are napping because that’s the only time I have to get stuff done!”

Really, Jenna?

I have 2 sweet, mostly quiet hours in the afternoon when my kids take their afternoon naps {T has quiet, play time in his room}. I use this time to blog, to read blogs, to answer email, to make phone calls, to work on nursery and children’s Sunday School stuff {I’m the Sunday Morning Children’s Ministry Director at my church}, to work on projects, and who knows what else. Let me tell you – those 2 hours go by fast! And I often feel like I have so much to pack into those 2 hours.

So…..why couldn’t I have my quiet time in the afternoon?

I had several excuses:

• I had a lot I needed to do during nap time
• If I didn’t have it in the morning, I wasn’t a good Christian. {Oh yes, I did think that. Have you ever felt that way?}
• That I would forget about it if I didn’t do it in the morning. {Yes, I’ve done that too.}

God pricked my heart in the midst of all my excuses.

Was every excuse and reason more important than having time with Him? Was ministry more important than sitting at the Minister’s feet? Was not spending time with Him at all better than having it in the afternoon? Couldn’t I just schedule it into my life and make it priority so that I wouldn’t forget about it?

Y’all, I had to realize that my preset ideas of when a quiet time should be were messed up.

Spending time with Jesus needed to be priority with me.

I needed to use the time I had.

I don’t say this to guilt anyone. But…maybe…You’ve been feeling bad about this same thing. I just challenge you to think about spending time with the Savior in the time you have.

No guilt here, okay? This is my experience. God’s written your story differently than mine.

It’s not about rules and requirements. But it is about relationship. And people in relationships need time together. We need time with Our Love. You know?

Use the time you have.

So, friends, I just hope that you can walk away from reading this with a sense of freedom. A broadening of your view on this.

Yes, I do think it’s important to spend alone time with the Father. But if it doesn’t work in the standard, cookie cutter, “this is the way you must do it” way, it’s okay to look for other solutions.

The time you have is probably not the same time I have, but that’s okay. Just use the time you have.

Because spending time with Jesus is about relationship. He wants it with you.

So that’s my story.

I’ve learned to use the time I have.

I’m happy to report that God has been faithful! I use the beginning of my kids’ nap time to spend with Him. And I still have time to get everything else done. And if something else doesn’t get done in that 2 hour time slot – that’s okay. I know I have used my time in the way God has asked me to. And that’s the most important thing.

Are you making time for Him?