I get asked quite a bit about how I find time to study, and do all the mom things. and I don't have all or any of the answers. but. have learned a few tricks that help ME. so maybe they'll help you too. :)
one.
wake up before everyone else. no matter how painful it is.
sleep is precious. and I don't have a baby waking up at night, so this season allows me to get up a little earlier. if you DO have a child that gets you up in the middle of the night, well your season may not allow for it! and that leads me to the more important second thing:
two.
allow the seasons to BE, and let go of expectations.
resisting whatever season you're in does no good. it doesn't facilitate an open heart. it doesn't motivate to carve out the time to study and connect. This season where you stand is yours. and all seasons change. adapt! be creative. I believe strongly that if you decide to consecrate the time it takes to be spiritually fed, God will be there. letting go of expectations breaks the cycle of guilt on what you're not doing, allowing room for what you CAN and ARE doing. if you miss a day, a week, a month, ok. what about today?
three.
ten minutes. TEN. that's not a lot of minutes. that's less time than it takes me to check Facebook, Instagram, email, and the news. way less time. I hate to throw that in there, but hey, it's the truth. T E N minutes is all you need. some day's it's just to reread a verse you read the day before. it's finding those ten minutes to CONNECT to yourself, to God, to The Book of Mormon. Some days our study is just to sit in prayer. Some day's it's to write and focus on a specific topic or word and how it resonates with your life.
habits are hard to make. and little bites at a time is all you need.
one step, and then one more. one verse, and another.
four.
link arms. Something I want to start in my own little circle, is one day a month where me and my closest friends study together. These guides are going to be great for group study. There is power in together. Let the kids run around, make a salad, sit and talk about how the gospel is living and breathing in your life, in your motherhood, in your marriage. lean on one another through struggle and heartache. Celebrate one another in your joys and triumphs. This face to face, no makeup, kids running gathering could be, a life preserver to us all.
and that at then end of the ten minutes, you are FOUND.
Also!
I wanted to keep you in the loop at what the next few months are going to look like over here! I am not going to be releasing conference study notebooks this time, I just have a lot of life things going on, and trying to be very careful where I pour my energy! I will, however, be creating a free wide margin PDF of the talks soon after October's General Conference! yay!
I am also working on a reeeeeally special Mini Study Guide for Advent this year! I am so excited to see it come together & FIND this December together!
Kids Study Guides are still on "back to school special"! I'm holding out until my kids go back to school.. Monday! (enter all the nervous mom feels here)
I'm going to be in Utah the weekend of 9/8 for Salt! I can't wait to meet you and hug you in real life. I'm tossing around the idea of doing a small meet-up that weekend as well. Would you be interested?!
Okay. That's all I have for now! Thank you sticking with me through thick and thin over in this corner of the internet. It means a LOT.
hugs!
