How to Do Personal Devotions With a Baby and Toddler

How to Do Personal Devotions With a Baby and Toddler

How to Do Personal Devotions With a Baby and Toddler

Every mom dreams of uninterrupted morning coffees, and peaceful time spent journalling or praying or being in the Word. Any mom with littles knows that this is not something easy to come by. In this phase of my life, my mornings are often spent with children in my hands rather than my Bible. I needed to find a more creative way for how to do personal devotions with a baby and toddler. 

how to do devotions when you have a baby and toddler

I didn’t even know where to start, as personal devotions was not something I was taught growing up. I knew I wanted to include Bible reading, prayer, and journalling. That felt like a lot to bite off in one chunk so I went back to baby steps and found a simple goal: read the Bible.

Did you know that if you read to 15 minutes of the Bible a day you can get through the whole Bible in a year? I learned that from an excellent book I read a while back. (Seriously one of the best books I’ve read on living a Christian life and that I referance often but I lent my copy out years ago and I miss it terribly and should really buy another copy!) If you are anything like me, that sounds way less intimidating than looking at that big fat Bible thinking, “I know I should read it but when can I find the time?”

So the first step to personal devotions was set: Read the Bible for 15 minutes each day

It was so easy and I felt great and mostly rocked it!

But then…

Quote Sample

The last few days I have been suffering from a terrible headache. I believe it was a side effect of mastitis and it even got to the point that, out of desperation, I took two extra strength acetaminophen, which I haven’t needed to take in… years and years. (In retrospect, I could have tried the peppermint essential oil that I have sitting in my cupboard). It helped take the edge off but the pain was still there. It hindered my ability to keep up with housework, play with the kids, and was made significantly worse when I read and write.

The thing about being a mom is that I don’t get any sick days. So now I am behind on my housework and haven’t spent as much time outside with the boys as normal.

I am also behind on my Bible reading.

I might as well be perfectly honest and tell you I was about two weeks behind anyway. I had recently given another pep talk to myself and seriously been trying to catch up though. I didn’t want to get even further behind!

My normal reading time had been in the rocking chair while nursing the baby down for his nap. (I use the term “nap” very loosely here because sleep is very challenging with him.) I held him a little longer than I needed too so I could read two days at a time. He had just started to get into the rhythm of napping at a semi-regular time but even the kids were thrown off by Mama’s sickness.

Once I got out of the rhythm of reading regularly I knew it would be tough to start up again

After a couple of days I reminded myself that the Bible app on my smartphone that I use to keep track of my reading plan has a wonderful feature: a British man with a soothing voice reads it out loud to you!

So I recommitted.

This left me with no excuse to get behind, even on mornings when my hands are busy with little ones.

Then I wanted to find a way to listen while keeping my toddler’s hands busy. He needs my constant attention and interaction.

Typical toddler stuff.

So I grabbed his crayons and coloring book and he and I colored and listened. It wasn’t ideal for me because I kept getting interrupted by my toddler asking me for my crayon or what color he should make something but at least we were both getting some scripture in our heads. It is a good thing the baby was napping or I would also have been distracted by picking crayon out of his teeth.

I had been looking for a simple way to get more Bible reading in with my boys and now I think I found it. So I thank God for showing me another way to make His Word a part of our daily lives. I have a feeling we will be doing a whole lot more coloring in the future.
Do you have an favorite ways to get your devotions in with little ones? Please leave a comment below as I’m always open to new ideas!

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Dealing with Worries as a Mother

Fevers and illness, daring activities that lead to injuries, potential kidnappings, government interference… there are so many things that we worry about as mothers. It’s so easy to spiral down into those worries and start to panic.

Dealing with most worries of a mother can be as simple as making a worst case plan and then releasing it to God. 

Deal With Worries of a Mother by Making a Plan

I am an INTJ, according to Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator.  One of the nicknames for this type is “Visionary” or “Mastermind”. This means that I spend a lot of time looking toward and planning for the future. I have done this I was very young and, as a kid, never knew it was unusual to have a fully laid out life plan, complete with a variety of options and contingencies.


I’m talking about an 8 year old knowing what she wanted to be doing 40 years down the road and mapping out a plan to get there.


Keeping this “future oriented” personality quirk in mind, it may come as no surprise that my typical response to worries is that I make a plan to deal with a variety of possible issues.


I like to plan out the alternative paths the particular concern could take and my potential responses to it. Usually that helps bring me some peace about the situation and puts things into perspective to remind myself that it isn’t the end of the world and that, no matter what, we’ll make it through to the other side (even if the interim is unpleasant, to say the least).


Having a plan to deal with the potential worst case scenarios helps me to imagine myself coming through the other end of the situation. It shows me that something may knock me down right now but I am capable of overcoming it.

As much as we love our children, God loves them more.

Conquor Worries as a Mother by Giving Your Children to God

After plotting out all my potential conclusions, I remind myself that my kids are not my own. They belong body and soul to God the Creator. And as much as I love my children, God loves them more. I give them, and all of my worries surrounding them, back to Him and to His master plan for them.

It is not easy, I’m certainly not going to say that. I have seens friends go through heartbreaking times and have had a few heartbreaking moments myself. But moments like that are a good reminder that we aren’t in control.

Which can be scary because we are often taught that controlling all the outcomes is the ultimate measure of success. But, if you really analyze it, giving up the unrealistic need for control is actually a good thing.

You and I don’t know everything that is happening or how everything in this world intertwines to affect each other. It’s a good thing that God does. All knowing and all powerful. It doesn’t mean that things will always make sense to us. It just means that we can trust that He really does know best and have our ultimate best interests at heart.
Worrying is a sin. It shows that we lack trust in God’s power and love.

I read a great quote a while back: “We just think we are in the land of the living and that we are going to die, but when we believe in God the opposite is true. We’re in the land of the dying and because of Jesus we’re going to the land of the living. The land where there is no more pain, no more tears, and where we’ll be with Christ for eternity.” (The Kissing Bridge by Tricia Goyer)

As Christians, we can find comfort in the fact that this isn’t our world. It’s easier said than done, especially when our worries seem very big and legitimate, but it’s the plain and simple truth.

Don’t Let Worry for Your Children Consume You

We act like worrying is a natural part of mothering but worrying is a sin. It shows a lack of trust in God’s love for us and His ultimate power over this world.

I need to give my kids back to God every morning and every evening.

I had been daily giving my pregnancy and my birth plans to God. A few weeks ago I had a scary incident that resulted in an ambulance ride (for myself, at 35 weeks pregnant) and a couple nights in the hospital. With no answers as to what happened, that’s one I give to God anytime it crosses my mind. I have some chronic health problems that made me worried I wouldn’t be able to hold my baby properly to nurse and cuddle when he arrived (which was 4 days ago, St Patrick’s Day, by the way. Stay tuned as I plan to share his birth story in the next month). So many things I could dwell on!

So today, and every day, give your worries to God and trust that He’s got this. I know it’s easier said than done and this is a sin that many of us struggle with on a regular basis.’m learning to trust Him more every day and I truly believe you can as well.

What worries have you been holding on to lately? Feel free to share them in the comments so we can pray for you. Or just say a prayer right now to give them to God. And give it back to Him every time you find yourself spiraling. Regular prayer time is critical to our walk as Christian mothers.

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Attitude of Gratitude – The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Life is stressful. Things don’t go according to our plans and sometimes it’s hard to see God’s hand in the picture that He is painting in our lives. Seasons of change, seasons of struggle, seasons of distress, seasons of darkness. We all have them. It can be so hard to consistently maintain an attitude of gratitude!
developing an attitude of gratitude through trials by seeing the Light at the end of the tunnel
The amazing thing about going through all of the trials is that, as a believer in God, we have a Light at the end of the tunnel. Even when that tunnel seems to go on forever and you can’t even see the Light through the dark, it’s there. We can cling to that hope.

Just because we can’t see the big picture doesn’t mean that it isn’t beautiful. 

I’m reminded of a story that I heard a long time ago about a person who looks at a beautiful tapestry. The Creator walks up beside her and they have a conversation about the rich and vibrant colors. God explains that this is the tapestry of the observer’s life. The person is confused because she can’t understand how her life, full of so many trials and tears, could weave such a beautiful finished product. God then points out to her that the crimson threads in the flowers are her trials, the dark blues in the sky are her tears.

God then points out to her that the crimson threads in the flowers are her trials, the dark blues in the sky are her tears.

developing an attitude of gratitude through trials by seeing the Light at the end of the tunnel

It occurred to me that this is the second time this week that I’ve written about attitude. On Monday I wrote about developing a mothering attitude and today I’m talking about an attitude of gratitude. Perhaps this is because the last few weeks (maybe even the last few years?) have been a mental struggle for me. I’ll be totally honest and say that it has been tough to be eating dinner alone with my kids nearly every night and telling them that daddy isn’t able to read bedtimes stories tonight because he’s working late. It’s tough to be woken up 25 times a night with an upset (read: screaming) toddler for what seems like no reason at all other than he’s mad that he’s not still asleep. It’s tough to remain positive when I’m in pain from my pregnancy and it feels like nothing is going right. Writing this post, as well as the one on Monday, has been a great reminder to myself to focus on the fact that this phase in our life will pass (i.e. the Biscuit will sleep again… someday!) and to look for the beauty within the trials.

God doesn’t appreciate grumbling and I don’t want to let it gain a foothold. I missed writing in my gratitude journal several days last week and it really affected my mental state.

Here are some of the things that I’m grateful for:

 

Biscuit is waking up. I would rather he wake up 25 times than never again.
I have a loving husband who is willing to put in ridiculous hours to feed our family.
I have been blessed with amazing friends who were willing to uproot their whole lives to follow God’s call to come work with us.
Since we now have extra help on the farm, I haven’t had to do chores and my physical pain has significantly lessened because of it.
The crops are off so Adam has been able to join us for dinner and bedtimes the last couple nights.
Have you had moments of grumbling too? Even though you may not be able to see the final picture, share in the comment section some things that you’re choosing to be grateful for, in spite of the trials. Feel free to share your trials as well so I can say a prayer for you. 

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Encouragement for Moms Who Are Overwhelmed or Discouraged: We’re All Broken

Encouragement for Moms Who Are Overwhelmed or Discouraged: We’re All Broken

One of the biggest things I have learned over my years as a mother is that we are two imperfect people raising imperfect people in a world that often works against us.


This can sound like a sober realization and a hopeless proclamation but I’d like to take the opportunity to explain why it is actually a huge encouragement for moms who are overwhelmed or discouraged or who just feel like God made a mistake when He made them responsible for such tiny creatures. 
encouragement for moms who are overwhelmed and discouraged. we're all broken
We were not designed to be broken. Our world, our bodies, our souls, were created to be pure and in perfect harmony with the Creator. A phrase I was taught at a youth retreat a couple decades ago is that “God doesn’t make mistakes.”
 

He didn’t make a mistake when he made you a mother. On the contrary, He gave you the exact children that you were meant to have, in the exact amount, and with the exact personalities He wanted for them. None of them were accidentally put into your heart, home, and family.

 

That is one aspect of this concept. The next is the acceptance that we will never be able to raise perfect children. We all have our own childhood issues from when our parents raised us that we need to deal with, some are more traumatic and some affects us less but they are all part of our story and who we are today. Our children will also be affected by their childhood, for better or worse. 

 

I have met amazing parents whose teenage and adult children chose to follow dangerous or heartbreaking paths. I have met parents who neglected or abused their children whose children found healing and hope and have gone on to become incredibly stable and hope-filled adults. 

 

Does this mean that parenting doesn’t matter? Absolutely not. When children grow up with a stable, consistent, and loving caregiver, they always remember what security and safety feel like, no matter the direction they take in life. 

Down to our very soul, God made us in His image to be amazing and world impacting people. His original design and desire for us is to worship Him in wholeness.

encouragement for moms who are overwhelmed and discouraged. we're all broken

Down to our very soul, God made us in His image to be amazing and world impacting people. His original design and desire for us is to worship Him in wholeness. Unfortunately we are attacked on a daily basis by the broken world we live in. We believe the lies that tell us we’re not good enough. That we are worthless because we don’t measure up to an arbitrary standard or because we are terrible sinners.

 

I will admit that I am not a thorough housekeeper. I don’t enjoy it and often do just the minimum to keep my house respectable. After 15 years of keeping my own house, I still haven’t found a way to actually enjoy it. (I’m guessing many of you can relate.) Does this make me any less of a person? Not in the slightest. We would never say that someone is worth less because they can’t manage to keep all the laundry cleaned, folded, and put away! Some days it is a struggle just to keep it all in the house! (Please tell me my kids are not the only ones who leave socks, shirts, and muddy jeans outside under the swing set.)

 

What you do (or do not do) does not define who you are.

 

Whether you struggle with minor things like math or laundry, or with more life-altering habits and sins, what you do does not change the fact that God did not mess up on you. The devil’s trick is to make you believe the lie that you are not enough. It is the same lie he will tell your children through their lives.

 

Do you remember when you first looked on your child? Born into this world and full of beauty and innocence. Potential. Wholeness.

 

All of that is still there.

As someone who is constantly battling the devil whispering in my ear and telling me that I’m not good enough, as someone who has been pushed down and trampled on by brokenness too many times to count, I can still confidently say that the world may break me but God still owns me. He is still the foundation, the core, that I am built on. And He keeps rebuilding me. I beg Him regularly to keep rebuilding me.

 

That same core is built into you and your children. We would never say there is such thing a worth more or worth less when it comes to our children so why do we believe the lie that there is such a thing when it comes to God’s children? 

 

Knowing this lie will attack our children, are there any measures we can take to prepare them? 

The number one thing we can do as parents is to fill up our hearts with so much Truth and Love, to allow ourselves to accept that we are broken but can be built up, that it can’t help but spill over into our children. They need us to fill them up with so much of God’s perfect Love that they can reject the lie that will be whispered to them, shoved at them, and sometimes even shouted from the rooftops, throughout their lives. 

 

No matter what way I look at this parenting gig, it always cycles back to my childhood song of “read your Bible, pray every day.” Always back to starting with good, faith building habits.

 

“We’re all broken but we’re all in this together.

God knows we stumble and fall,

But He so loved the world He sent His son to save us all.”

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Following God’s Call

Following God’s Call

Following God’s Call

Trying to sneak away from my toddler in the morning is difficult. He is crazy snuggly and between 5am and 6am loves to throw his soft little arms around my neck, lay his cheek against mine and hook his legs around my arm. 

I would love to have the solitary and productive morning I hear other mothers talk about but it has almost never been a feasible option for me. Sleeping with my babies and toddlers has always been the priority. And keeping the kids in bed until 7am is much easier if they think Mama is sleeping. 

I have been reading a couple of books lately though that have talked about thinking of alternatives to making excuses. Finding creative solutions to your problems. My problem was that I feel following God’s call leads me to write again but I had no idea how to add it to my life. Writing with kids running around is difficult as I can’t keep a full thought stream going for more than 2 sentences. Writing in the evening is difficult as my brain is fried from the day.

Enter the necessity of morning writing time. And then factor in my cuddly toddler and morning loving 5 year old. 

The solution I came up with was inspired by Jamerrill from Large Family Table. She is a work at home mom of many who lives in an old farmhouse and has some amazing recipes that you should definitely check out. I was actually perusing her recipes when I came across a few blog posts she wrote about her work-at-home-mom schedule through the years. In one of these posts was a picture of her in her bed surrounded by little ones and I thought, “I could never make my bed a work zone! Wouldn’t that taint the sanctity of sleep?” 

I thought, “I could never make my bed a work zone! Wouldn’t that taint the sanctity of sleep?” 

I couldn’t shake that picture though. So I set a (very quiet) phone alarm to wake up a bit earlier than usual and, for the first time in years, brought my phone to the bedroom. And now, two weeks later, here I am (slowly and with one hand) typing out this post on my phone with my sleeping littlest in my arms and my morning sunshine 5yo none the wiser. 

I’m more tired during the day with the earlier wake up (or perhaps that is due to the 3rd trimester pregnancy fatigue) but I have also been starting my mornings with a clearer mind because I’m able to check off an important task for my day before I even get up. That feeling of accomplishment first thing in the morning is amazing.

I come downstairs more inspired and my coffee and devotional time seems to flow quicker as my mind has already worked through the morning fog. This means I’m ready to start my morning routines with less feet dragging. 

[bctt tweet=”I don’t know exactly what direction following God’s call will take me with all of this but I’ve made the commitment to put one foot in front of the other”]

I don’t know exactly what direction following God’s call will take me with all of this, but I’ve made the commitment to put one foot in front of the other on this reignited blogging journey. I do have some exciting (and scary!) ideas for the next year so stick around if you’d like to see what becomes of them.

You can sign up for my newsletter below which I hope to send out weekly with new posts and some extra encouragement or goodies.

How to Do Personal Devotions With a Baby and Toddler

Every mom dreams of uninterrupted morning coffees, and peaceful time spent journalling or praying or being in the...

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