Making Time for God as a Homeschool Mom

Are you a Christian woman who is homeschooling your children? If you’re like me and many other women I’ve spoken with, you’re feeling maxed out. You’re teaching, planning, running your children to their activities, and maybe trying to make some money on the side. You’re active in your church community, feeding your family three semi-healthy meals a day, and making sure not to leave a child in Walmart. All in all, your time is precious. You feel pulled in every direction. Making time for God can all too often be put on the back burner.

I’m right there with you. My best laid plans tend crumble when life takes over. Today, I’m going to share with you some ideas that have helped me when I get into a slump.

Making Time for God as a Homeschool Mom

Making time for God is no different for a homeschool mom than it is for anyone else. It only takes one thing. Dedication. If you decide to dedicate a portion of your day to studying the Word or prayer and you are dedicated to that decision, it can become part of your life. Just like you feel out of place if you skip brushing your teeth or eating breakfast, you’ll begin to feel out of place if you skip your prayer time or time in the Word.

But where do I start?

Getting started is probably the hardest step, especially if you’ve been out of a study routine for any length of time. Here are a few things that help me when I’m re-starting a prayer or study routine.

1. Choose a time of day. Making time for God at a specific time of day is one of the ways I’ve been able to really get into a routine. My most successful time depends on what phase of life I’m in. I’ve studied first thing in the morning, right before bed, during breakfast, or at nap time, all depending on what our other routines look like. The goal is to make it part of the routine.
2. Choose a length of time. Start small and work up as you can. I once was challenged to read the scriptures for five minutes in the morning before reading ANYTHING else. I began doing that and eventually worked up to longer amounts of time. Find the peace that comes in the small amounts of time with the Lord and you’ll begin to crave more.
3. Grab a friend. Sometimes it’s easier to be dedicated to making time for God if you have a friend to encourage you along the way. Grab another mom-friend who needs encouragement as well and check in with each other on a daily basis.
4. Go into your closet. Figuratively, of course…unless you have a really nice closet. Sometimes it helps to just shut and lock the door, and tell the kids you need 20 minutes. If you give them a set amount of time and actually set a timer, they will give you the time you need if they’ve been properly trained.
5. Study in the open. This is the opposite of the previous point, but this has worked for me in those phases of life where my little ones were too little to understand a locked door. I have brought my scriptures to the table and read them and prayed during breakfast. I’ve put on a movie and studied and prayed on the couch while they watched. Do whatever you can to make it work.

Why is making time for God so important?

As homeschool moms, we are pouring out into our families constantly. We teach our school-aged children all day. We prepare meals. We read to our little ones. Right now in the world, there’s this trend called “self-care”. I would like to offer up that spending time with the Lord is the MOST IMPORTANT self-care you could possibly find. You cannot pour out of an empty cup and who better to fill it than the one who created and loves you. He wants you to be full so you can spill out His love into the lives of your children. And more than that, He wants you to be full because He loves you so much. When your eyes are firmly fixed on him through prayer and reading His word daily, He can work in your life in ways you can only imagine.