Trying to get out of the quiet time doldrums

I didn’t know how selfish I was until I got married.  But motherhood has begun to kill the selfish parts of me.

I see this the most in the way I spend my time. So I thought this would be a good time for a couple of lists.

How I spent my time as a single woman:

• Work
• Quiet times / Bible study
• Preparing Bible study lessons
• Spending time with family
• Reading (LOTS of reading)
• Working out
• Hanging out with friends
• Mission trips / service opportunities
• Sleep

How I spent my time as a married woman with no children:

• Work
• Quiet times / Bible study (although a little less frequent)
• Spending time with my husband
• Spending time with family
• Reading (a lot LESS reading)
• Hanging out with friends (although less time than I used to)
• Sleep

And now…How I spend my time as a married woman with a baby:

• Taking care of my son
• Spending time with my husband
• Spending time with family
• Sleep

My list has shortened considerably. The Bookworm and quintessential Bible Study Girl now barely has time to crack a book. I can’t remember the last time I read a novel. And daily quiet times have become a struggle.

I’ve begun to realize that part of my struggle is that I’m putting too much pressure on myself to do quiet times the way I used to. Back in the day, I would spend an hour at least on my balcony, earphones playing worship music, while working on a Bible study workbook, doing some daily Bible reading, journaling and reading a book in the “Christian Life” genre. My biggest distraction was the cats trying to get outside to join me.

I don’t have that amount of time to myself every day anymore. I’ve been trying to learn to be happy if I can get through just half of a Bible study lesson before my little cherub wakes up from his nap. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, so this post by Priscilla Shirer really hit home for me. I needed this reminder to practice His Presence instead of getting hung up on not being able to do the things I used to do.

I still want to do my Bible studies when I can, but I plan to try a few other types of quiet times:

• Reading to my son out of his Baby’s First Prayers book (an Easter gift from his Abuela).
• Praying while I give him his morning bottle.
• Praying for people I see in the news.
• Storing Scripture to memorize on my iPhone for when I’m at red lights.

Any other ideas?