Spending Time with Jesus When You Feel Like You Don’t Have Time

Chapters

• 0:00 Summer Update with the Family
• 6:12 Inviting Jesus Into Your Day
• 10:47 From New Christian to Busy Mom
• 15:46 Finding Pockets of Time with Jesus
• 20:46 Encouragement for Your Spiritual Journey
• 25:46 Prayer and Resources for Growth

Transcript

Audrey: 1:24

Hello and welcome back to Grace For my Home. I'm Audrey McCracken and I'm so glad you've joined me here again this week. I hope and pray that you're doing well. We are in the middle of summer here in South Carolina. It's starting to get hot. This week it's going to get up into the 90s, and so we're trying to stay cool. This is. I love summer because it's a change of pace. It's different.

Audrey: 1:51

My boys are home from school. All of them are working this summer. They've all got part-time jobs. They like to have a little bit of cash and so it's interesting. It's interesting. They all have their own things going on. My oldest is getting ready to start college in the fall and he's bussing tables because he's found that that's a quick way to make some money. Then my middle son he wants to be outside, so he's helping a local farmer. He's working outside learning how to operate heavy equipment, because that's what he wants to do. My dad was a farmer and he passed away before he had a chance to teach my boys a lot of things. They always wanted to learn those things that Papa did. So that's what he's doing this summer, and he's also got football practice every day, so that's his other love. That's one of the things he loves. He loves football and he's trying to see about playing football on the college level next year because he graduates this year, and so he's going to a lot of football camps and just investigating. And then my youngest son, caleb, is working with me at the coffee shop and he helped us get it started. We were homeschooling at that time and he really learned so much. I wish we'd had the coffee shop when my other boys were younger, because he learned so much just about how to greet people, how to talk to people, money, and so he's helping me this summer. He's working a couple of days each week and I love having him with me.

Audrey: 3:26

My husband and I celebrated 23 years of marriage yesterday and to celebrate that we got away. He had something in Greenville, north Carolina for school. He received an honorary degree from the South Carolina chapter of the FFA and so he went up to receive that award, which was an honor, and we did that on Wednesday, and then we stayed a couple more days in Greenville, just me and him, and it was so nice. Greenville, south Carolina, is a beautiful place, and we stayed right downtown, walking distance of everything, and it was right downtown, walking distance of everything, and it was just nice to spend time with him, and we don't get to do that much during the regular school season, so it was really nice.

Audrey: 4:07

And now next week, the week of the 4th, our whole family is going to go on vacation and I don't have any more years I'm going to be able to do that. I don't know how many more years they're going to agree to go with us because they're becoming young adults. So as long as I can get them to go, we're going to do it. But we're going to an amusement park for a few days and a water park, because that's their thing. I just kind of hang out with them and, you know, take photos and hold stuff while they're on roller coasters.

Audrey: 4:41

So just a little recap on what I'm doing with my summer. I'm trying to enjoy it. Working at the coffee shop got lots of things in my head. I'm trying to get out on paper, but this change of pace is good for me. I hope that you're enjoying your summer.

Audrey: 4:55

Today I want to talk with you about something simple, simple but important. I want to talk with you about inviting Jesus into your day and walking with him throughout the day. You know that's the goal right. As Christian moms, we love Jesus, we want to please him, we want to walk like him and act like him. But, to be honest, we can't do that without him. You know, so often I want to do something for the Lord, for His approval, and I can't do that. You know he's already done everything that's worth doing, and now it's my job to walk close to Him and to become more and more like Him. And so many times, you know, I see myself as this little girl who is trying to do something to impress her father or do something to please him. And the truth is he doesn't want us to do great things so that we can get his approval, because he's already approved of us through the blood of Jesus. He wants us to walk with him and get to know him, and so each day is an opportunity for us to get to know him, for us to walk with him and not impress him, but to bless him with our love, and that's what he's looking for. He's looking for relationship, he's looking for commitment. He's not looking for us to impress him. And so I want to talk with you about each day inviting Jesus into your day I became a Christian, a true Christian.

Audrey: 6:32

In my early 20s I had my own experience with Jesus and he became real in my life. I finally saw Jesus with spiritual eyes. I mean, if you've had that experience, then you understand. And there's no way that I can explain it except for God opened my eyes and I saw him. I saw, you know, not physically, but I saw that God was real, that he loved me and that he had made a way for me. And that way is Jesus loved me and that he had made a way for me. And that way is Jesus. And I saw that all of the things that I grew up learning about in Sunday school were true and that he was inviting me to know him, to love him, to learn more about him, and that he was my life, that he was the life giver and that he created me on purpose, for a purpose, and the only way I could fulfill my purpose in life was through him. And so I started on an incredible journey, an exciting journey, learning who Jesus was.

Audrey: 7:39

And at the time I was in college, I was single, and I remember being so hungry for the word, being so hungry to get into the Bible and learn the truth and learn about this God who had saved me. And so I would spend hours reading and praying and studying, and you know, that was not a burden to me, that was a blessing, and I would just feed on the word. And I loved it. And at that time I had some people that were looking out for me, that were helping me to learn how to walk with God, and they gave me the best advice Every day, start it with Jesus. Every day, put him as a priority, get up, have a devotion, find a daily devotion, read through that devotion. Then get into the Bible, read the Bible, pray and start your day with him. Best advice ever for a young Christian, because that's where our strength is. It lies in him and in spending time with him and getting to know him, so that he's not just the God that everyone tells you about, but he's the God that you know. And so I developed a habit, and you know, once you develop a habit, you don't feel right if you don't do it. You know it's like brushing your teeth you don't feel right if you don't. That's how spending time with Jesus was for me. Every day I woke up and he was the first, and that was the first thing that I would do.

Audrey: 9:04

Well, fast forward 12 years later and I'm a working mom. I'm working probably 50 or more hours a week. I have three children, four and under. I have a home and a husband and we're in ministry. And at the same time, I'm trying to juggle all this stuff and I just remember thinking, thinking there is no time and there wasn't any time, there was no time to spend with Jesus, and the guilt because I had so ingrained in my mind that every day I will spend time with Jesus. Well, when you're trying to breastfeed and keep the dishes washed and get to work on time and not get fired, it doesn't always work out as smoothly as you think it should.

Audrey: 9:52

I remember thinking well, if I could just quit my job, if I could just quit my job, that would solve all my problems. I'd have all this time. I'd have time to spend with the Lord, I'd have time to read and pray, I'd have more time with my children, I'd have more time with my husband, I'd have more time for me. And any stay-at-home mom out there who's listening to this right now knows how funny that is. It's probably laughing right now because you know how unrealistic that is. It sounds good, but the truth is, when I finally did quit my job and I come home, I didn't find that extra time because at least when I was working full time, I had to drive or commute Right, and so I could pray on the way.

Audrey: 11:10

I had a lunch break. I didn't always take it, but on most days I had 30 minutes an hour where I could just sit in my car and read or listen to an audible book, and so I had some time where I could decompress and I could talk to Jesus and I could be an adult. So I felt like I was at least at least getting in time with him for a second. Well, when I come home, I didn't have any of that. I mean, I was on 24-7. And you know I love these children, but I felt like they were sucking the life out of me and I didn't have time to feel back up.

Audrey: 11:52

And at that time I was also going through some health issues, a health crisis that I brought on myself because of my poor eating habits and my refusal to believe that I was human and needed sleep and couldn't drink coffee at 11 o'clock at night. But all those things got me to a point where I had to come to some hard truths, and one of those was that I was in a different season and I was putting expectations on myself that Jesus was not putting on me. Jesus saw where I was, god understood where I was and he saw my heart, and my heart was to know him and to love him. But I was in a season where I could no longer put in hours of time, but at the same time, I still needed him. I still needed him and I couldn't go in my own strength and do the kind of things that I was doing. I couldn't raise my children for Jesus and love them and be patient and kind with them, unless I had spent time with the Lord, because in my own self, in my own strength, I was weak and I wasn't. I mean, I'm human, I'm flesh and he is divine, and so I needed time with Him, pouring with Him, pouring Himself into me and teaching me and showing me His kindness, so I could, in turn, show that to my children. And so, lord, how do we do that? Well, after I stopped beating myself up, after I came to the point where I realized that Jesus wasn't putting this heavy burden on me and saying no, you figure it out. He wanted to walk with me every day and that I wasn't impressing him by trying to spend hours at night when I should have been in bed sleeping because the next day was coming quickly. I wasn't impressing him, and so he started showing me how, each day, to walk with him and to talk to him throughout the day and to communicate with him in little ways, and each day I started inviting him into my life.

Audrey: 14:05

Each day, I would wake up, usually before I got out of bed, and I would pray a prayer something like this Jesus, I need your strength today. You know what today holds and I don't, but I ask you to help me walk close to you and I ask you, lord, to give me the grace I need to be the mom and the wife and the friend that you need me to be today. Strengthen me and help me find you, and that's the kind of prayer I would pray. And then I would get up and, you know, as time allowed, I would try to get up early and spend a little time with the Lord. Inevitably, it seemed like on those days when I got up the earliest, so did my children. I don't know how that works, but sometimes I would be able to enjoy 30 minutes or so in the Bible. Some days I didn't, but I didn't beat myself up in the Bible. Some days I didn't, but I didn't beat myself up. It was still my goal, but I didn't feel like a failure if it didn't happen.

Audrey: 15:09

And then I started finding ways and times that I could fill the pockets with Jesus is what I called it Fill the pockets with Jesus. There would be times in the morning when we would do breakfast. I tried to do devotions during breakfast because when people, when they, when my children had food in their mouth and they were usually quiet, so as they were eating, I would do devotions with them. And that became time that we got in the word together and for me that counted. That counted as time in the word. You know, it wasn't just me telling them, it was us reading the word together and growing together in God and I counted that as time with Jesus.

Audrey: 15:45

And then, you know, as they would go on and get ready for the day and, you know, brush their teeth and those kind of things, as they got older and they could do those things on their own and I would clean up the kitchen. I would put on a podcast. I would put on a Bible podcast. There are several out there, a chapter a day Bible podcast. I would put on something like that and listen to the Bible, listen to the Word. I had some very encouraging podcasts that I found, so I would listen to things while I was doing meals, while I was doing lunch, while I was doing supper, something to renew my mind in the word, rather than just listening to the news or listening to something frivolous. I would try to redeem that time. Another thing that I would do when I would take them outside to play. We had a little play set outside. They love to get in the water hose in the summer and I would just get my lawn chair and I'd get my Bible.

Audrey: 16:47

And as I could as they grew older, you know it became easier. I didn't have to be on them every minute I would read, I'd read the Bible. I had a little schedule where you know you have these schedules and you read the Bible in a year. Well, so what if you don't make it in a year? You know sometimes it takes. It might take you two years, it might take you three years, but each day I had a section that I would read and that was helpful for me because I didn't have to think about what am I going to read today? Others days I'd feel like the Lord had put his finger on something and I would go to that chapter, I would go to that verse and you know, I got note cards and I would have my note cards placed throughout the house to renew my mind, to help me to think about good things.

Audrey: 17:33

I remember we were doing a project for school one year. We were doing art. Remember, we were doing a project for school one year. We were doing art, and one of my boys, they painted on a piece of paper love and be kind and I think they got it from one of our Bible verses that morning and he was so proud of that paper and I put it up and I would see that. You know, I would see that painting that he painted for me on the refrigerator that said love and be kind and it reminded me to love and be kind. You know, when I felt my temperature rising or I felt, you know, my anger boiling underneath the surface, I would look up and it would say love and be kind and it was a reminder to me from the Lord, from my son, to love that day and to be kind.

Audrey: 18:27

And so see, it's not always in the big things, you know, it's not always in the hours that you can get in the Word. Sometimes it's just the pockets of time that the Lord helps, you see, helps you find, you know, the shower was one of them for me. I could go in the shower and I remember my husband asking me one time he said why do you take such long showers? And I said well, that's the only time that nobody needs me, that's the only time that I have 20 minutes of undisturbed time. And you know, his thing was we have no hot water by the time it's my turn to take a shower. But those little pockets, they saved me, they helped me to see that I can still communicate with heaven, I can still talk to Jesus, even though it may not be like it used to be, because this is a new season, and that he honors that time with me and that powerful things happen during that time. And, guys, this is one of the reasons that I do what I do, because the blogs, the podcasts that I listen to, the devotionals that I read during those times when it felt like I had no time.

Audrey: 19:41

But those little things, they encouraged me so much to keep on going, that God is not upset with you. He's proud of you. He sees you're trying. Keep on going. He's with you. Don't try to impress him. Walk with him today. Don't try to do it all and show him your love, because you're doing it all. Lean on him and trust that he loves you and he's going to help you do what's needed. And that's one of the reasons I do this because I want to be that encouraging word for you and for others who are trying and looking for Jesus and need Jesus in the everyday moments. And that's one of the reasons I wrote the devotional. That I wrote covered in prayer 31 prayers to cover you and your children in God's grace. That's why I do this podcast. That's why I want to start a daily devotion podcast, which I'm working on right now. You know, a short, five to 10 minute podcast that you can listen to, you know, while you're driving to the grocery store or while your kids are playing or watching a show on TV. I want to be able to give you a little boost through the day, and so it's kind of my way of giving back, my way of saying, hey, we're in this together and we can do this. You know God, god gives us enough grace. You know he gives us himself and he gives us each other, and he tells us to encourage one another in the word, and that's my job is to encourage you in the word.

Audrey: 21:19

I was working at the shop a few weeks ago and it was in the afternoon, which is much slower and I had a lady come in the shop who is friends with my mom, so she's my mom's age and she recently lost her husband mom's age and she recently lost her husband. And so when she walked in, you know, I told her I'm so sorry about Bill and she started crying and I felt bad. I wasn't trying to make her cry, I just wanted her to know that. You know that I'd been praying, for she said I came to the shop today to buy one of your books and I knew she had already bought one and I said okay. And she said I pray these prayers over my children every day, and her children are grown with children of their own. And she said I want to buy one today for my daughter so she can pray these prayers over my grandchildren and guys.

Audrey: 22:28

You know, when I wrote that book, my heart was to bless, and I want to tell you of all the accolades and all of the compliments that I've gotten over that book. That was probably the most encouraging thing anyone has said to me about that book the fact that each morning she starts her day praying a prayer, a simple prayer from my book, over her two grown children, and that now she wants to give that to her daughter to pray over her grandchildren. That was the biggest compliment that anyone's ever given me. I think no. We all need encouragement and it helped encourage me that I'm on the right track, that this is what I'm supposed to be doing at this time, at this season, at this juncture in my life. And so I say all of that to say you're doing a great job, okay.

Audrey: 23:14

Say all of that to say you're doing a great job, okay, you're going to make it. You can do this. You can grow closer to Jesus, no matter your circumstance, no matter how busy you are, no matter what's going on. He will show you how. He will help you to draw near to him. He will give you opportunity. It doesn't have to be impressive or doesn't have to be hours. It can be little moments that he shows you that he's right here with you, little moments to renew your mind, little moments to remind you that his grace is enough, that he understands that you are but flesh and that he doesn't want you to try to impress him, but just to walk with him.

Audrey: 24:00

I just want to pray over you today, father. I thank you for my listeners today. I thank you for these women who, lord, they're growing in grace, they're coming after you and I pray that you would give them the strength, the encouragement, the grace they need. I pray, lord, god, that they would know your great love for them, that you're cheering them on. Lord, you're not beating them down, lord, you're not judging them. Lord, you're encouraging them. You're saying come on, come on, it's not too hard. And I pray, god, that this week that they would have something special would come into their life, that, lord, something would happen. That, lord, an answer to prayer, lord, something they've been hoping for. Lord, I pray that you would bless them in a way that only you can. And, lord, I pray God just protection over them and their families. In Jesus' name, amen.

Audrey: 24:57

If you find this podcast encouraging. Reach out to me, let me know you're listening. Sign up for my weekly email. I send out an email each week to encourage you guys. I have a free devotional guide on my blog, graceformyhomecom. I will link that devotional guide. It's free. It's just a way to help you get started with a daily devotion, if it's not something that you do right now, and I will put a link to that in the show notes. Also, I encourage you to purchase, covered in Prayer, 31 Prayers to Cover you and your Children in God's Grace. I think it will encourage you. I think it'll bless you as a mom. I'll put the link to that in the show notes as well. Like I said, please reach out to me. Send me a text. You can text me right from the show notes. Send me an email. I'd so love to hear from you. God bless, have a great week.