The Problem With Quiet Time

I am going to be co-leading a Mom's Group this year and we had our first meeting this past week.  We are going to be going through a book about how to do a quiet time.  As we had our first meeting we were encouraged that having a quiet time is a little more difficult with preschoolers.  Our goal is to encourage moms to have that consistent time no matter how long to really get to know the God of the Bible.  The leader started with a story about a doctor who was talking with his medical students and they were complaining about having no time.  He assured them that he was were they were before and that you have time to do what you want to do.  He then amended that statement by saying, "This is true for everyone but mothers of preschoolers."  We all laughed.  She then shared this article from the book, "Looking For God" by Nancy Ortberg.  The author shares a story of how she had two children and was pregnant with their third and she struggled with when she found time to have a quiet time.  This portion just made my cry and I thought I would share it with moms out there who may be in the same boat as me.

Some background:  She was trying to figure out what to cook for dinner and decided to take the kids to the park so she could just have some quiet/a break and figure out what to make for dinner.  

"I watched as the girls dug in the sand and skipped around trying to catch the ducks.  The sun was warm and low in the sky and provided me a sort of silhouetted view of my little redheaded daughters.  I sat for a moment, relaxing into that scene when all of a sudden I was so very deeply struck by how much I loved those kids.  This wasn't just a recognition that I loved them but a very unexpected, visceral response.  While I had been mostly frustrated up to this point, as I sat on that bench watching them play and squeal with delight, I felt as if my heart would just burst with the amount of love it held for those two little girls.  I found myself fighting back the tears, feeling a tightening in my throat and an overwhelming sense of this deep emotion for my children.

"Almost in that same moment, when my defenses were down and I was flooded with intense emotion, God sent a tsunami that absolutely blindsided me.  He whispered to me, And that's just the tip of the iceberg as to how much I love you."

-"Looking For God" by Nancy Ortbert, Chapter: The Problem With Quiet Time