I had taken the kids to Starbucks to have breakfast outside on the patio. They asked a lot of questions and I answered them, mostly while skimming through apps on my phone.

After that we headed to the park. They played hard, as they always do, and I kept the baby happy in the grass. We left for home once lunch time came around. I turned the music up in the car to discourage more question-asking.

I served lunch and let them play with toys in the living room while waiting for nap time to come. Actually, if I'm honest, I was kind of begging for nap time in my head. For no particular reason, other than I've formed the habit of eagerly waiting for nap time, and bed time ... basically all the times my children are quiet and away from me.

Five minutes before it was time to lie them down, my son Leland, jumping up and down and accompanied by his little brother, brings me a white piece of paper and excitedly asks me to make them paper airplanes.

"No, honey. I don't know how to make one that will fly, and besides, it's nap time."

His little face dropped a little and a disappointed moan made me feel a little guilty. I brushed it off and got up from the computer, where I was browsing Facebook, killing the time before nap time.

I don't know where it came from or what caused it, but I suddenly stopped and thought about everything, the whole day, their whole lives in one sad flash ... Mom on the phone, Mom on the computer, Mom saying no again and again and again.

Maybe later...

Just be quiet...

Stop...

No...

Not right now...

I realized in one very quick but powerful moment that I rarely say yes, and I've been wasting these precious years with my children waiting around for the next time they're asleep.

I felt like something was pressing down on my chest. The realization was just so very heavy.

The boys were walking down the hallway to their bedroom with their little heads hanging low when I told them to come back. I typed in "How to Make A Paper Airplane" on YouTube and made two of the most perfect paper flying machines ever constructed.

They were so happy!

We spent the better part of an hour playing with those little paper planes. Kids are so simple, so easy to please. They don't need iPads and Netflix on a constant reel; they don't want more things or more toys to keep them occupied.

Kids want you to give them YOU

Kids grow up, fast, so I hear. They become adults with jobs and to do lists and responsibilities and a past. That past is written by a pen that's in your hand. What are you writing?

Editor's note: This article was originally published on The Purposeful Housewife. It has been republished here with permission.

The post How I stopped waiting for nap time and started enjoying my kids appeared first on FamilyToday.

While you wait for the water to boil, you grab your phone and open Instagram in hopes of drowning out the screams and catching a small break. It's here that you see a tidy little square, mostly white, with a mom sitting down and reading her Bible. Her thumb nail is painted a glorious shade of pink, her jeans are for sure a size two, and her couch is filled with clean, perfectly fluffed throw pillows. Her caption reads something like "Soaked in my Savior before my day got started! Always worth it." Guilt sets in and you think, when was the last time I spent time with God? I don't even know if I've used the bathroom today. Actually I really need to use the bathroom right now...

Oh mama, I want to hug you! I want to take you by the hand and look awkwardly-deep into your eyes and shout the truth to you!

Let's take a step back and I'll explain. Legalism is basically doing works in an attempt to get 'in' with God. It's doing something in order to win His love. Legalism is works-based faith; it is everything Jesus came to abolish.

When we spend time with God out of obligation, guilt, or just to check it off our to do list, we're living out a legalistic faith. I believe with every ounce of my being, that this breaks the heart of God in a very deep, very painful way.

Why? Because you already have God's love, and it's unconditional. This means no matter what you do, how you spend your time, how you mess up your kids, God loves you. Actually, He adores you! He's head-over-heels crazy about you, all the time, no matter what.

God is in your midst ... He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love. He will exult over you with loud singing. - Zephaniah 3:17

Now, let me clarify. I am not saying that setting aside quiet time to spend with God is legalistic. Absolutely not. I am talking about the motive behind the time spent.Is it anything other than needing Him? Wanting Him? God looks at the heart, and it's a heart He desperately wants.

The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. - 1 Samuel 16:7b

God does not want your obligatory acts of forced worship. He wants YOU!

Spending time with God in the morning, then going about the rest of your day without Him is the equivalent of going to church on Sunday, then living a very ungodly life Monday through Saturday. Works out of obligation do nothing; acts of worship bring us closer to the God who so desperately wants a relationship with us, He has done everything to show us.

God knows the season you're in better than anyone else because He placed you there. He sees you trying desperately to find five minutes to shower and brush your teeth, He sees you battling depression, He sees you rushing to get dinner ready before t-ball practice. And guess what? He's not sitting on His throne, looking down at you, judging you for not waking up at 4 a.m. to fit in quiet time with Him. He's not counting how many minutes you've spent on your couch with an open Bible this week. He stands at the door and knocks for you. He stands at the door and knocks for your heart.

Your life is the perfect stage for beautiful acts of worship. Whether you go to work or stay home, whether you cook or order take-out most nights, whether you have babies or teenagers or both, right where you are is a sturdy platform for you to honor the King in the most humble, real way.

I recently had about twenty minutes of purposeful, set aside quiet time with the Lord because I was really anxious about something, and I desperately needed to soak up His presence and His peace. Do you know when the last time was that I did that before this week? I couldn't tell you. It wasn't recently, that's for sure. Why? Because I have four kids under age seven, we've moved away from all helpful family members, and I'm starting a business from home! But I dare to say that I have spent some incredibly profound moments with my Savior on an almost-daily basis for a long time.

My life is an act of worship. My work is worship; it's obedience to the call of God on my life. When I serve my family it's worship, when I wash the dishes it's worship, when I fold everyone's laundry, it's worship.

Not only are the things I do all day acts of worship, but my attitude while doing them can be an act of worship. It's so easy to become ungrateful. When I choose to see three sick kids and a to do list as long as the Great Wall of China as a worship opportunity, ingratitude no longer has a place to take root in my heart. When I choose to see that pile of dishes as an opportunity to listen to worship music and spiritually pause for a second, ingratitude, again, has no place to grow.

I have spent so many beautiful moments at the foot of Jesus while scrubbing my countertops. I have felt the very breath of God wash over me while I mopped the kitchen floor. I walk with a God who wants my heart, and obligatory acts of fake worship are not his thing. He meets us where we're at, and that's the most amazing thing about Him for an overwhelmed mom.

Editor's note: This article was originally published on The Purposeful Housewife. It has been modified and republished here with permission.

The post Why you should stop trying to make time for God appeared first on FamilyToday.