Now that the new year has begun, my thoughts have turned to the habits I want to change for the upcoming year. One of the things I would like to do better is to have a regularly scheduled daily devotional time. “Time alone” is nearly an oxymoron in our house with four little kids! Perhaps as a parent you feel this way too.
I have been re-reading one of my favorite books, “The Life You’ve always Wanted”, by John Ortberg. In it he reminds me that the point of any spiritual discipline is to help us become more like Jesus. He goes on to recount the story of a young mother who was frustrated that it was easier to “work on her spiritual life” before she became a mom. She completely overlooked the fact that she was now in a position, as the mother of two young children, to be transformed in a way that was not possible before. Caring for her kids, with an attitude of thankfulness, along with prayers for help and patient acceptance of trials, was a wonderful school of sorts for transformation into powerful servanthood beyond anything she had ever known.
This doesn’t mean I’m not going to continue to try to carve out daily uninterrupted time for Bible study and prayer, I believe it is vital. It’s just encouraging in the midst of parenting chaos to realize that God presents opportunities everyday for me to become more like His son. There is truly no “spiritual life” compartment. Life is life, and He is the center of every part of it.
Hopefully you too will realize that no season of life- whatever it is- is a barrier to becoming more like Christ. Happy parenting!
“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18
Tags: camp, jesus, Parenting, strong rock