Busy Mothers and Fathers:
Finding Time Slots
for Reading the Bible
Years ago, a young mother asked my husband how she could find time to read her Bible, while she was raising several small children. She was just too busy. To alleviate her guilt, he told her that God understood if she didn’t have time to read, and when the children were older, she would have more time.
My daughter-in-law was not satisfied with that answer. What she wanted was a way to enjoy her Bible reading now, without neglecting the children. She also didn’t want to feel as if her Bible reading time was rushed or crammed into a time slot.
Over the years, I have given quite a bit of thought to this problem, especially since I, too, was a busy mother with small children.
We all have twenty-four hours in our day. We usually do what is most important to us. In the case of young mothers and fathers, they often do what is most pressing. Sort of “The squeaky wheel gets the oil” thinking. And children can be very squeaky.
So here are some ideas
for Busy Mothers and Fathers
- In the morning, get up earlier than the children. This will require going to bed earlier so you are not wiped out halfway through your day. Tiptoe. Make very little noise, so the kids don’t hear you. No coffee, no toast. Turn on a light where they can’t see it. And if one of them wanders in, snuggle that darling child onto your lap and enjoy reading the Bible to them.
- Use their naptime to read. I know: it’s tempting to get the laundry folded during that time, but the laundry will keep. Or maybe you usually want to take a nap yourself. Well, give God’s word a chance to do what it tells us it does: “The Law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul” (Psalm 19:7). Ask God to restore your soul as you read his word.
- What if they’ve outgrown naptime? Well, I always insisted that they still have a rest time. They need a rest (and they might surprise you by sleeping now and then). You need a rest. Give them books or quiet toys and a timer that will go off when they can get up. It might take a bit of gentle training, but eventually you’ll be able to curl up in your favorite chair for time in your Bible.
- Have a Bible reading time with the children. In Bible times, nursing mothers would recite the Psalms to the child. Pull the children onto the couch and read a Psalm to them every day. Ask them questions. Or read the same Psalm every day until you all have it memorized. I did that with Psalm 103, and my three-year-old grandson really enjoyed shouting, “He redeems your life from da pit!” and “. . . we are but dust!” (verses 4, 14).
- Curb your media: flee the television, close your laptop, turn off your phone, put down the I-Pad. Once the kids are in bed, you need to ask what your priorities are for the evening. Sleep, of course. Catching up on jobs left undone during the day. Can they wait? Can you do them faster? Wouldn’t it just be nicer to sit down and read your Bible?
- Experts are now saying that to get a good night’s sleep, you should turn off all media an hour before turning off the lights. What are you reading during that time? If your Bible is the last thing you read and think about before you go to sleep, you just might think about it all night. That’s called meditation. What a blessing that would be!
One more thought
for Busy Mothers and Fathers
Young parents very often find themselves eating at odd moments, finishing their children’s food, drinking cold coffee, and suddenly realizing that they haven’t had a square meal all day. But you are eating.
Perhaps it’s not so important when we eat, or how often we eat, or even what we eat, but that we eat.
- Leave your Bible or Bible phone app open in a place you rush past dozens of times each day – probably the kitchen counter. Stop to read a verse or two. Read it out loud to that noisy child. Invent a song to help you – and her – remember it.
- Have a Bible in the bathroom. Read it while you’re there. . ..
- If you or your child have a doctor’s appointment, don’t play computer games or read the depressing news on your phone while you’re waiting. Find a Bible app and read the next section you were going to read anyway.
Feed your soul.