I recently shared that the women at our church were going through this incredible Bible Study by Priscilla Shirer all about the Sabbath and learning to take rest in your life. In the life of a busy mom who is knee deep in diaper changes, toddler adventures, and everything that comes with that territory it is extremely hard to find time to rest. It’s even more challenging to find time to focus on spiritual growth. There have been seasons where I have felt I have done incredible at it and then there have been seasons where I have noticed it really fall to the wayside.

God has been reminding me about my word for this year, purpose and the importance of having purpose in all that I do in life. Part of knowing the purpose behind everything that I do helps me to determine the priorities in my life and what needs to be at the top of my priority list. Having and knowing the purpose behind everything I do helps me to determine what needs to be removed from my life to make room to allow rest to move in.

Something I have noticed through my entire Christian walk is that if I do not purpose to spend time with the Lord, then it isn’t going to happen. Through all seasons of life there is always going to be something that is begging for my attention. I have noticed that the older I get, there is even more that begs for my attention increasing the need to evaluate my priorities that much more. In this season of life I am finding it increasingly hard to purpose in growing spiritually, but at the same time I am finding it more important now than ever before. Motherhood has increased my need for a Savior so much more because I realize I can’t do this on my own. I can’t keep it together because I can’t handle it without the strength I can only find in Jesus. I can’t be the wife I am supposed to be, the mom I need to be, the friend I could be, or the woman I am destined to be if I am not discovering who that is in Christ.

So I have realized that just as I need to purpose to do everything else I do in this life, I need to purpose to grow spiritually. To do so is not to place rules and guidelines on the way that this should look in my life and other’s lives because then I am missing the freedom in it all. It’s been an entire mind shift for me to realize and be okay with the fact that it will look different every day, it will look different in every season, but as long as I am purposing to bring spiritual growth into my life in some form or another throughout the day then I am doing what I need to do.

So today I want to share with you five things that you can do amidst a busy life, whatever your busy is, that helps you to purpose forward in spiritual growth. I have found these five things to make a huge difference in the way I view my day and the way I feel throughout the day.

1) Sign up for an email devotional. I just recently signed up to receive the daily devotional from Christine Caine which you can also do here. What I love about these devotionals is they are extremely short. It takes maybe less than five minutes to read through it. One of the first things I do in the morning is open my email to see if anything important is there and therefore I come across this daily devotional. I have started to make sure that before I get up and get Jase, or while I am sitting on the couch cuddling him when he first wakes up, I open that email and I read through it. It gets my mind focused on a truth from God’s word and gets me thinking about whatever that day’s devotion was. So it sets my mind on Him first thing and it carries with me throughout the day. I am also signed up for various weekly and monthly newsletters that do just the same.

2) Turn off the TV & turn on the worship. Have you ever been going throughout your day and started to realize you were very easily getting irritated, you had very little patience, the kids seemed to be on edge, and before it has even reached 9am you are wondering how you are going to make it to nap time? I know I have. These are the moments where I turn off the TV and get that worship music going because it is a definite mood changer. When I need my attitude to change and be uplifted, why not fill the atmosphere of my house with uplifting music? It works.

3) Turn on the TV. I bet you’re confused now. First I say turn off the TV and then I say turn on the TV? I promise it’s no mistake! Don’t be afraid to turn on a 30 minute TV show for your kids or let them play a game on the iPad. If that is what gives you time to sit down and soak up God’s word then do it. Your child is only going to benefit from you doing whatever you can to sit in God’s presence. I usually know I can rely on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or a few iPad games to occupy Jase without my attention for half an hour. Sometimes he surprises me and occupies himself even longer!

4) Get in the word with your kids. It doesn’t matter how young or how old your children are, focusing on God with them is a huge benefit to everyone. Since Jase was three months old we have read through the Storybook Bible with him. We have even added in doing stories through the Kids Bible App. Taking 15 minutes at the end of the day to read him a story before bed and say a prayer as a family not only helps him wind down and prepare for bed, but he loves it. He loves having story time and extra cuddles with mommy and daddy. I also cannot tell you how many times something has stuck out to me in a children’s Bible study that has encouraged me. Sometimes it just takes the simplicity of a Bible story for a child to reach you in an entirely different way. As your child gets older you can do different family devotions, we also love Jesus Calling for Kids. This grows both you and your children spiritually, you can’t lose with that!

5) Pray through tasks. Some days it is just plain hard to get a moment away. So pray while you give your child a bath, while you do the dishes, while you cuddle a fussy baby on the couch, while you are driving in the car, while you take a shower (even though you probably didn’t even do that today). Just pray while you’re doing things throughout the day even if it is just as simple as asking that God would help you to have patience to make it through the day. Sometimes we just need to pray so that we can look at the hard day before us with a different perspective.

Some days I may only get that five minute devotional in the morning. Some days I may only get a prayer in when I am doing the dishes. But what matters is that I am walking my day out with the purpose to acknowledge God throughout the day. This brings me closer to Him as I realize my need for Him more so then spending an hour of uninterrupted time in His presence. Though both are good, and I love when I can have that uninterrupted time. But I also realize there is no need to get down on yourself and be hard on yourself when you can’t find that. Learn to be purposeful throughout the day and take advantage of the times that you can find to grow spiritually in the Lord.