A Quiet Time How To- Guest Post

I have asked Gail, The Imperfect Housewife, to post for me today on how she spends her personal quiet time.  Gail is one of God's favorites.  (We all are you know!)  She loves Him with her whole heart as well as loves being  wife to her sweetheart of over 7 years and the mother to 5 beautiful children ages 5 and under.  Gail is also a successful and encouraging blogger in all her spare time. :)  Due to a mean twist of online crazy she recently had to start her entire blog over again.  She is rebuilding it beautifully and I think you will find her as charming as I do!

My quiet time. I love it. It is essential to my day. If I decide "I'm too tired to get out of bed," ugh! I definitely wake up on the wrong side of the bed! My day seems to hinge on my quiet time with the Lord. Now, mind you, it doesn' t go perfectly every day. I do have 5 children! ;) Preparation is essential. I have everything out on my table and ready for me to dig into the next morning.

Here are some things I do during my quiet time. I have found that the morning works best for my life, and I really enjoy starting my day out in the Word. I highly encourage you to try the mornings for your time with God, and see if it doesn't make your day better! :)

Pray

Duh, right? I know that seems obvious that we should do that. I find I stay focused better, and am less likely to fall asleep if I write my prayers out. Also, Kat over at Inspired to Action has a great plan for praying for your children. You can find that HERE.

 Study

I have a few different methods of study that I use. One is to read the same passage of scripture for 30 days in different translations. It always amazes me how reading it for that long it gets ingrained in your brain, and you see things differently almost every time you read it. I like to keep a note book handy to write down my thoughts as I read it.

Also, what I have been doing lately, is picking a book and going through it with a commentary. I would recommend Warren Wiersbe, or J.Vernon McGee. They are both very good.

Notes

It is important for me to write things down and take notes. I jot down questions I might have and things like that. I also keep a piece of paper or notebook handy for when my grocery list pops into my head. Being able to write things like that down keeps me from getting distracted.

Children

So, what do I do when the children wake up at 6:15? A few things. My husband will typically take them back upstairs and put them back to bed. If they wake up closer to 7 they are allowed to quietly sit on the couch and look at a book, or they can just lay on the couch until I am finished. We have explained to our children that we wake up early to spend time with God. If they wake up early, they have learned they are going to have to wait for breakfast. This time is important to me. I need it. They need it! If something arises, and I truly can't finish what I have started, I bookmark it and be done. I don't want to be legalistic about my quiet time. If I only get through one verse, that's okay.

I hope this has encouraged you in your quiet time. Remember something is better than nothing! If you get up and only have 15 minutes alone before you are needed, it's 15 more minutes than you might have spent the rest of the day. Also, it's okay to teach your children to be entertain themselves while you are having quiet time. Give them a book, or crayons, or just tell them to lay on the couch. Let them know that your time with God is important!

You can read about how I spend my own quiet time here. On Thursday we'll show a recorded interview with a special guest on how she does her quiet time!  (Can you guess who it is Facebook friends?)  Remember that the only wrong way to have quiet time is NOT to have it!