When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously. ~ Daniel 6:10, ESV

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. ~Mark 2:15, ESV

But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray. ~Luke 5:16, ESV

Quick Sip

As a mom one of the primary questions in my heart is, “How do I ensure my children grow up to be strong Christians?” The more I study and talk to friends the more I realize there is nothing I can do to guarantee my children grow up to be Christians. The “perfect” childhood doesn’t ensure it. The “perfect” church doesn’t ensure it. The “perfect” child doesn’t ensure it.

However, I have found there are two things I can do to give them the best chance possible. First, I can work to grow my relationship with God deeper each day. And second, I can introduce my children to him. Not to a church, but to God himself.

In the lives of my friends and myself, no matter the other circumstances surrounding our childhoods good or bad, these two things seem to have been the deciding factors on whether or not we still had strong relationships with God in adulthood.

From this I have learned that making God real in my own life, will help to make him real in the lives of my children, too.

Long Sit

I’m just going to write this next part. If I begin editing, I’m afraid I’ll edit it all out.

I cannot over emphasize the importance of God being lived out daily in the life of a mother. There have been studies done that support this idea like the one in Almost Christian. My own story supports it, too.

Though from the outside our family looked “perfect” it was not. Though I do have some happy childhood memories, most of them are of a dad that was physically there but not available in any other way. I was like living with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, I never knew which dad I was going to get and lived in fear of Mr. Hyde.

Despite these circumstances, my mother stayed and I remember coming through most every morning to see her reading her Bible. I later learned that she didn’t start this habit until after she learned about it from a Kay Gross conference when I was five. The effect this habit had on our lives can’t be measured.

My mother wasn’t perfect. However, since she showed up to meet God each day, he was able to work through less than ideal circumstances and an imperfect person to reach her children. From an early age God was very real to me. The song by A Capella “Where is my Father” seemed written for me.

In college my parents separated. One would think that this would have made things easier, but it really only complicated everything. At times I would sit in the sun room on 3rd floor Hall Roland Hall and think about how easy it would be to jump out the window and end it all. During those times, I could feel God wrap his arm around me and hold me. That presence kept me from doing something I would have regretted.

Unlike me, I also have friends that grew up in more ideal families, but they too experienced deep pain once they reached adulthood. However, like me it was the fact that a relationship with the living God was modeled for them by one or both parents that helped them through the pain.

This is why I’m so passionate about daily quite time with God. Yes, it is my soapbox. But I feel called to encourage other parents, especially mothers, to find even five minutes to spend with him. This is why I feel compelled to hunt down resources and make this website a resource for those who would like to find encouragement and help as they seek to spend more time with God.

It doesn’t matter if you haven’t started before. It doesn’t matter if you started and stopped. It doesn’t matter if you fall off the horse for a day, a few days, a few weeks, or even months. I had days just this week that I realized I had forgotten to spend time with God. The important thing is that you keep trying to carve out time daily for God. For how can you and I introduce our precious children and others to someone we don’t know ourselves?