Did You Get Your Seven?

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Somewhere in the back of my mind there is always the thought that when I have my quiet time it must be just that: QUIET. No distractions. Nothing.

You might remember that I have four children generally running around and acting all crazy-like.

Quiet time is fairly non-existent in our house. And by the time of night that it generally does exist...there are so many excuses, because I just don't have the time {except to email, maybe blog, watch a show on tv...}. Those lovely priorities hit you every time, don't they?

I've been reading The Mentoring Mom by Jackie Kendall and the last chapter (or two) brought up some things that I've personally struggled with front and center.

And generally I don't care much for 'ouch' moments, but I know that they are needed and also can bring about great things too. Kendall made a few points that just hit me:

• Don't let your children or life circumstances sabotage your time with God each day.
• I have been challenging moms for years to at least get her seven minutes with God.
• Having devotions does not keep a person from sinning, but having devotions helps one respond properly when one has sinned.
• Are you modeling for your {children}the significance of a consistent, daily growing relationship with Jesus through God's Word?
  

Kendall talks about when her kids were younger she made a point to let them visibly see her having her 'quiet time'. They may have played nearby on the floor while she read her Bible, etc...but she felt it was important for them to see her modeling studying God's Word. If they needed something, she marked her place, helped out if needed and returned to her studies.

Ummm...how often have my kid's actually seen me doing that? {Ouch point number 1}. The modeling ~ not so much.

Time to take action.

Our kids are awake fairly early in the morning and continually come out of their rooms for little things {even though they are awake we ask them to stay in their rooms until 7:ish, but there are bathroom breaks, meandering here and there}. I sat down with the girls and explained to them that at 7:00 every morning, I needed them to stay in their rooms so that I could have 10 minutes to read my Bible and pray ~ my start for the day.

My goal was to have at least 7 minutes at 7am. The result ~ the last few mornings have been uninterrupted {mostly}, but if they are I just pick right back up where I was.

When I went in the girl's room to get them up the first day, they were both laying on Laurianna's bed together. Reading their Bibles together and having their own devotions.

Because Mommy was doing the same. Modeling 101 in action.

{And yes, that makes me cry}.

The neat part of it is, this has been consistent with them every single morning since. It's both encouraging and frightening at the same time to me, because it gives me another glimpse into the gravity of my actions ~ both positive and negative.

There are four little sets of eyes watching me. Learning from me. Modeling my behavior.

Seven minutes isn't nearly enough.