But then God started bringing me Peace. It may have helped that I got out of the Old Testament prophets and into the Gospels and Psalms. I should know this by now, but I wanted to forge ahead with my reading plan and it turned out that as I was reading the Old Testament prophecies of doom and condemnation upon Israel, I was feeling the weight of my sin heavily. Duh, right?
Anyway, I started by just digging into some reading plans in the YouVersion app, and that lightened things up. YouVersion offers short devotionals centered, like Headspace, on what emotions you’re dealing with at the moment. The internet is amazing like that. I got helpful spiritual guidance while nursing my baby in the dark and reading on my phone. But I had to read the right stuff.
One thing I love about the YouVersion app is that it keeps track of your days in the app, and I really didn’t want to break my streak, so I kept reading the Word. Thus, small steps toward a stronger habit.
The more I’m in the Word, the more I feel like I need it. If I want to stay on an even keel through the highs and lows of homeschooling, five kids, the newborn phase, and potty training, I need more of God’s Word in my life, not less.
The same is true for you, no matter what your stressors are. The more stress, the more our need to lean on God and hear His Word spoken into our lives.
With everything we have going on during the school year, most of us barely have any time for self-care or any kind of personal time at all. (Toddler peeking under the bathroom door, I’m looking at you.) But the more that gets piled on, the more intentional we need to be about spending time with God, or getting centered or whatever you want to call it. Honestly, for me that just looks like me laying in bed longer while I nurse the baby and read some scripture on my phone. I could jump up immediately when I hear the house waking up, but I’ve learned to covet that time and let God use it to speak to me.
I hope you can find a similar practice. Summer’s a great time to try out some new practices like these so the cycle of anger and regret can take a backseat. Peace, friends.
(But seriously, message me on Instagram @rhikutzer if you feel like you’re going to lose it on your kids and I’ll stop whatever I’m doing to drink a glass of wine with you!)
