4. Do devotions every day for a month - Check!

Theoretically I know the importance of spending time with God each day…. but I haven't been putting my knowledge into practice. 

I have a tendency to put God lower on my priority list then He should be. 

My tendency is to spend my free time scrapbooking, or baking, or chatting with my husband, or blogging… I'm not prioritizing God. 

That's why I was excited about making one of my 14 of 14 goals to complete devotions regularly. 

Something about putting these goals down on this little blog, makes me feel accountable to everyone on the world wide web. I feel compelled to complete all my goals or my 5 faithful followers will know that I didn't! (that includes you Mom!)

Truth be told, I started trying to complete this goal in February and failed. 

But I put this down as a goal, and I had to keep trying!

So March came and I got right back into spending time with God daily!
I chose two devotionals to read regularly: 

1. Mommy Time by Sarah Arthur - This one is just for me. I usually read it while I'm up with Ellie for her 3:00 am (ish) feeding. It's written by a new mom, and I really enjoy reading through her experiences and thinking, "Yep, that just happened to me" or "Yep, I feel that way about my daughter too". Gives me something to do in the wee hours of the morning other than scrolling through Facebook. And something positive at that! 


2. Night Light (for parents) by James and Shirley Dobson - I've been going through this one with my husband. It's a little more difficult to connect to, because we only have one daughter, and she's not old enough yet for us to evaluate how our parenting choices are shaping her faith. But the writing is good. We hope to read the Night Light not-specifically-for-parents-version next. We use to try to do devotions together at the end of the night, but we would always fall asleep, or one of us would be too tired to focus, and it was never very fruitful. Now we read together after dinner each night and it's been so great. Although we still struggle to make it a priority, and have been slacking in the second half of the month. Good thing I was reading more than one devo!

Here's what I've learned for practicing this goal:

Spending time with God every day is rejuvenating! 

Truthfully, I already knew this. Aaaand I remember this every time I go back to reading devotionals regularly. Spending time with God daily gives me a sense of calmness that helps me get through each day. It puts me in the right mindset for the week, the month, the year.
Remembering to trust and obey God, remembering others in my prayers, and remembering that God is with me throughout the day… ah… peace.
So why don't I keep it up?
Like I said, I'm not prioritizing it.
I don't put it in my schedule. I make a point to eat breakfast every day, listen to the news, feed my daughter, but I neglect this?
Hopefully these experiences will motivate change in me.
As a family, I hope that we get better at spending this time with God so that I can pass on these truths to my children and teach them the same good habits.
I'm very happy that I made this one of my goals!
Here's hoping I keep up my new habit (*fingers crossed*), especially after the 3am feedings fade…
maybe next years goal will have to be a bigger challenge (like completing a devo book, or reading the new testament) to keep me on track for longer.

Anyway, this goal is now officially crossed off my 14 of 14 list :)

{xoxo}