We try to squeeze as much as we can into a given moment. On any given day, a mom can be seen:

  • carrying the groceries in (loaded down like a donkey),
  • calling instructions to the kids over our shoulder,
  • using the tiniest sliver of our index finger (otherwise weighed down with groceries) to open the gate,
  • kicking the gate closed with our feet,
  • already mentally planning which steps need to be done in which order, in order to have dinner prepared in less than 20 minutes, so we can nurse the baby when he wakes up in 25 minutes.

But sometimes there’s a tendency to think that we have to have silence and solitude in order to meditate or enter into spiritual truth in a deep way.  That the schedule has to be cleared in order to intake spiritual “food”.

Have you found yourself believing, like I have, that if you could just get away from daily demands, THEN you'd have time to retreat and find rest for the soul?

But one of the things I’ve come to know over the course of my time as a mom is this: silence and solitude and beautiful and rare… but a peaceful heart and calm spirit can happen in any setting, at any time.

“silence and solitude and beautiful and rare…
 but a peaceful heart and calm spirit can happen in any setting, at any time.”

~Jess Connell

HOW TO MULTI-TASK for SPIRITUAL GROWTH:

It’s as easy as this. As often as possible, combine one item from list A with one item from list B:

In a nutshell, use those times where the mind is free to fill it up with things that are meaty and spiritual and encouraging.  Don’t let the time fritter away and go to waste.  That’s not to say every moment has to be filled with noise.  Moments of just letting my mind be at rest, and nestling into solitude, can be healing and helpful.

But our minds are not naturally bent toward godliness. If we perpetually give our minds nothing on which to focus, we will easily drift into:

  • negativity– replaying hurtful conversations, or replaying hurt and criticism and reviewing failures.
  • self-focus—  mentally jotting down a list of things we “never” get or “always” have to do, replaying compliments and reviewing “successes”, or
  • busybodying about others– reviewing things they did (or didn’t) say, things they did (or didn’t) do, thinking of things they should (or shouldn’t) say, things they should (or shouldn’t) do.

Instead, we can click on the audioBible or head to YouTube (or a sermon app) and turn on a sermon by Chandler, MacArthur, Piper, Chan, Harris, Keller, Platt… we have, at our fingertips, such a large number of excellent Bible preachers!

PURPOSEFULLY MULTI-TASK!

Let me encourage you to try it– or do it more often: Give your mind something on which to focus during tasks when your hands or body are busy doing something otherwise mindless.

Please hear my heart:

DON'T LET THIS BE A POINT OF LEGALISM OR GUILT FOR YOU.

By all means, take time to enjoy the silence nursing your new baby… or if the kids have been at it all day, enjoy the solitude and relaxation of a hot, quiet bath.

But in moments when your mind craves something to do, or would tend toward self-focus or busybodying about other people, my encouragement for you is to give your mind something to do– combine list A with list B and let God renew your heart, mind, and soul as you go about your daily activities.