Meeting God in the Early Stages of Motherhood

As a mother of four, I know how hard it can be to balance time. Time for yourself, time for reading, time for house chores, time for wife life, and making time for God. It can seem daunting or “I don’t have enough time” kind of attitude. But friend, if we don’t fill ourselves with God, we get ourselves filled with the world and begin to have the worlds attitude, not God’s. I don’t want the world’s attitude. It’s negative, it’s cruel, it’s ugly, it’s “independent mindset”, it isn’t aligned with God. It is very draining. Very exhausting. Very tiring.

At one time I was a mother to a 4 year old and a newborn. I remember the newborn days as if it were yesterday. Quite frankly, I was there not too long ago with our fourth. I tried so hard to read the Bible. To meet God, but I just couldn’t. I couldn’t find the time, the energy, or the balance. I needed to be here and there, do this and do that. It seemed all too much for this little mama’s heart. Until one day I had seen we do have plenty of time in the day, we just don’t prioritize correctly. Or for me at least.

Days seemed dark, nights seemed darker, cloudy days seemed foggy, and sunny days seemed not so sunny.

My feelings, emotions, got a hold of me and I allowed them to redirect my life and agenda. I allowed all my yeses to be added to my calendar and all the mess in the house pile up. I gave up. I checked out. I was mentally, physically, and spiritually exhausted. I wanted more of God but I just couldn’t find the right time, the right way to read, I was too tired.

That is when I saw, my schedule is overpacked, my “rest” was never rest, and my house was more of a mess than I could bear to stand. Mentally I checked out. Physically I checked out. Spiritually I checked out. I could no longer do anything because I was too drained, to exhausted, too tired! Each day passes and I would get more tired than the day before. My feelings seemed numb and my heart seemed far. I wanted nothing to do with fun, but I wanted all the sleep I could get in.

How are you feeling friend? Tired? Sleepy? Exhausted? Drained? Energized? Overwhelmed? Unbalanced? Too much on your plate? Mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually exhausted? I get it. Especially in the early motherhood stage. You just want rest, sleep, and your body is trying to get back to its “norm”. Can I share something with you? There is grace sweet friend. Your body just went through a delivery that took a toll. Your body is trying to go back and strengthen yet again. Your mind is trying to recuperate with another new life, your heart is trying to make room for more, your spirit cries out for more rest and God…. But by God’s grace, your body can get its strength back. Your feelings can stay IF they don’t overtake or drive you away from God like they did me. And it is okay to rest throughout the day. Your body does need rest. We just have to not let sleep overtake our time with God either. This is where I learned…

How did I get here? How did I accumulate so much on my agenda? How do I even go about my day? I needed to clear out my agenda. I needed to be intentional and disciplined with my life. If our life has no discipline, we then become one to say yes to everything and add all the things to our plate. We allow the agenda and tasks to direct us rather than us directing our agenda and time. If we are ones to always say no, we actually are closing doors God is trying to open. Time with Him. There has to be a balance in the yes and no.

My tips that I will give sweet friend, isn’t going to be a one day fix. It will take intentionality and discipline. It will require a whole new mindset (much like Christ tells us to put a new mind), and it will require a heart that longs and wants more of Jesus rather than ourselves. It requires to lay down what is taking up our time from the Lord. And when you begin to get these down, and if you happen to have more children in the future, it will come easy to you.

Simple & Effective Tips for Meeting God in the Early Stages of Motherhood

Start off slowly sweet friend. We can’t expect to be like the woman we know who seeks and meets with God all day and all night if we haven’t even began ourselves. For me I was nursing all night and day. So I would read the YouVersion bible app or the First 5 app from Proverbs 31 Ministries on my phone in those times. Not every time I nursed but a few times I would. And the other times I nursed, I’d sit and pray. Pray over her, pray over me, pray whatever the Lord laid on my heart.

Find your best time. We all have different schedules. Though I love reading and meeting him in the early mornings, He meets us all throughout the day. It is important to try and spend time with him before we get into the world. Just like Jesus withdrew in the early mornings to spend time with his father, before the sun rose, we must try and do the same. When we rise in the early mornings with Him, we get our armor on, and begin to walk out our door covered. I’d come up with a time each day and stick with it. Right now I get up at 5:30am, one hour before the rest of the house. BUT it wasn’t always like that. And I surely don’t recommend to do that if you are not already getting up early. Gradually increase your time, but first find the time that fits you. For me, I would get up at least 20 minutes before the rest of the house. Yes it was a process, yes it was a bit difficult the first two weeks, but after that I was able to get up and be good about it. Give yourself 20 minutes earlier than the house friend, get on your knees and pray.

Decide what you are wanting to read. Get a gameplay going ahead of time so when you meet God, you won’t be scatter brained. It helps. I had YouVersion plans set, and I would also have the Proverbs 31 Ministries app for reading plans. I loved it because it was simple yet effective. It is called the First 5 app. Each day I would wake up, pray, wash up, and begin to read one of these. I would even have my bible nearby to reach to it when needed.

Give yourself grace. If you miss a day, don’t beat yourself up. I don’t want this to be a “task” or a “check” on the box as finished. This isn’t the kind of relationship we want to have with our Father. We can get so caught up in our sleep with newborns, or be endlessly tired. But give yourself grace. God will still meet you. He won’t be mad at you for sleeping in accidentally. He will be smiling at you waiting for you to wake up and come to him with an open ready heart.

Have a journal nearby. Always have something to write what He speaks. I wish I would’ve known this beforehand. There was so much He spoke to me in those early days to get me through Motherhood, but I didn’t have anything to write down what He spoke. Friend, let me say this really quickly. He speaks so much, that sometimes it may not make sense in that moment but days ahead, months ahead or even years ahead, it will! And this is why I say to have a journal, it would be great to have a separate one from your sermon notes or any other notes, to write in what he shares with you. You will reflect back on it years later and you will see so much greatness!

Be Intentional. Don’t give up but continue to press in even on the hard days. I hate to burst your bubble but there will be hard days ahead. I know because I have been through it, and quite frankly, still have hard days friend. But don’t give up on meeting God in that place. He will pour more into you than you could ever imagine. He gets you prepared for what the day holds. Keep pressing in every single day that you can. Even on the days you feel you didn’t get anything, still keep pressing in.

Have an accountability partner if needed. If you are struggle with sticking to it, reach out to a friend who will cheer you on as you begin this change. Surround yourself with other like minded godly women who want this for you too. They won’t disregard you if you miss a day, instead they will help you get back up and be the salt + light.

Allow the kids to see you meeting with God. When the kids see you in that sacred place, they too, will begin to wonder. You planted that seen in them without realizing it. You are training them in the way they should go just as Proverbs 22:6 says. Let them sit with you in the early moorings if they arise when you do. And most likely, they will. I had my two wake up early with me and I would hate it sometimes. But he showed me something in that. It wasn’t until years later when I had my other two little ones and my oldest ones (11 and 7) grabbed their bible in the mornings and read too. Friend, they begin to see you and they begin to have a heart after God too. We may not see it in those early newborn moments, but you will eventually see the seed you planted be sown and harvested. You will see it bear fruit in the most beautiful way. So if you have little ones, and they happen to wake up with you, turn on mickey mouse softly and have them sit in your lap or next to you. You still instill in them the Word of God.

Beautiful mom, don’t get discouraged if you cant get it right the first week. There really is no right way. We are simply tuning our hearts, ears, and eyes to the Lord first before we start the day in the world. We are allowing God to speak to us first before we begin to check our emails, texts, Facebook or Instagram. We are getting more from the Lord, getting filled and pruned, becoming more and more like Him rather than becoming like the world.

I know it sounds hard. And it is if we haven’t done this. But once the two to three weeks pass, once you get it down, you will not want to go back. You will think “why didn’t I begin and do this sooner”.

We shouldn’t let motherhood refrain us from meeting with God in the sacred place. Instead, we should allow God to use us in the mothering as we begin to seek Him and meet with Him each day of our lives.

Friend, he knows you are trying, don’t give up. He knows your stage and life. Don’t let the enemy make you think you can’t read the Word of God because you’re too busy. Or blame the “motherhood” stage. Remember he just wants us to stray away from God’s Word so we can’t grow more into Our Father and become more like Him.

Little at a time, one day at a time, as long as we meet God in the mothering, He will always show up.

Nicole

Sweet Mother, you are dearly and immeasurably loved!
Until next time,
Nicole