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Kristine - posted on 06/08/2009

Time management is becoming more of a issue now that I've gotten married and my son is getting older. Between being a working mother and wife, my son's school work and after school activities, spending time with my husband, cleaning the house, cooking, carng for my aging mother, etc. etc. I am exhausted!! My mind and heart constantly tell me to be more diligent with studying the Bible and reading scriptures with my son. But, my body shuts down around 11 PM. However, I usually try and make sure my son and I say prayers every night and have a few moments to share what went on during the day. I try within those few moments to share a word about the Lord and speak encouragement to him. I must admit that sometimes at night my patience is worn thin due to the stress of the day and I rush through our evening prayer together or tell him to go straight to bed. My nights usually end with me asking God to forgive me and vowing to do better the next day. Thank God that He is so forgiving and merciful. But, I really do want more of those teachable moments and prayer time!!

Rebekah - posted on 06/08/2009

Welcome Erin! :) With 4 kids, I think I'd expect some chaos and challenges throughout the day. I only have one son who is 9 months old and I have a new found respect for parents with more kids. As for teachable moments, you can do those with food, movies, stories, walks in the park, etc. Everything is related to our Heavenly Father, just make it short and simple and kids will grasp onto it. Maybe have a family night where you watch a movie together and do some discussion questions and a reading from the Bible to show how they correlate. I have plenty of movie reviews you can use that do this with brand new released films from the theatre!

Carolee - posted on 06/07/2009

Hello Erin ! My name is Carolee .You are a mom of four uniquely made complex little people. I would be concerned about you if you didn't have some chaos.
If you can figure out how to get pleasure from each one of your kids in the midst of your imperfect, chaotic, wonderful life, you'll have 90 percent of it figured out:D Carolee Dalton @ SHINE Community

Heather - posted on 06/04/2009

We have four children also, ages 6, 4, and twins that are 18 months. I have found that the best teachable moments are part of the day to day. On days when it rains we talk about how God is the one making it rain, conversations can be held any time, whether you are washing dishes, eating lunch, or folding clothes. Plus they learn the most from watching us. So if we listen to Praise and Worship music or Hymns while we do our day to day stuff and sing along, they learn from that. While we are driving in the car we can talk about how God gave the people the idea of how to build the car, just little things that we relate to God are the best teachable moments. I certainly don't have time very often to just sit down and teach my children, but I know that they are learning by watching me, and the little conversations we have in passing. It is so wonderful when our children walk up and say something like, 'Mom I know why the sun is so hot.' and when we ask why they respond with 'Because God made it that way. It helps the plants grow and keeps us warm.'

Vicki - posted on 06/03/2009

Indeed !!

I have just one, but I still have the same challenge. It's like I have to intentionally focus my mind to surrender my wants in order to be the mom God is teaching me to be. Prayer is a great tool for transitioning from household time to Vicki time to mommy time to wife time. I find that if I am proactive about structuring my time, things have a more natural and comfortable rhythm.



As far as teaching moments, I believe every moment is one of those, if you are in the right frame of mind. The most powerful teaching moments I've witnessed are the ones that happen after I've prayed about them. Also, praising my son for doing something right is 100 times more effective than criticising him for doing something wrong. I've come a long way, with God's help, in changing the way I interact with my family, These days, when I am tempted to criticize, I am able to stop myself and rethink a better way to handle it.