I pray the Lord blesses you richly through your family today, that they will celebrate you for all the many ways you have deeply loved them.
But even if that doesn’t happen, I want to encourage you with this word:
You matter. All you have done for your family has not been in vain. Even if you have not been acknowledged by those you have poured your life into, God has seen you. He saw every sacrifice. Every attempt to do what is right. Every effort you made to keep the peace. Every act of love. And He has a plan, even through every mistake and every wrong turn, to work it all out for the good.
All is forgiven. TODAY is what matters. Rise up, woman of God, and LOVE. Not in your own power, but through the life-transforming power of the One who loved you first and gave His life so you and your family can LIVE. No matter what they choose today, you choose love.
And never lose hope. For the One who is the Living Hope lives within you. You are stronger than an army in His power. More lovely than all the roses through His love.
Rise up, woman of God, and be who you are … in Him.
Join with us in prayer for mothers throughout the world at the Prayer Wall:
For the deep devotional Bible study for women on covering your family in prayer and breaking free from anxiety and other strongholds, Delight to Be a Woman of Wonder, as well as the accompanying Prayer Journal and Power Planner, visit MoreThanAConquerorBooks.com.
Delight to Be a Woman of Wonder – deep devotional Bible study for overcoming the enemy and tearing down the barriers to oneness with Christ and others
Delight to Be a Woman of Wonder Prayer Journal – guided conversations with the King for freedom from anxiety and other strongholds, accompanies the Delight to Be a Woman of Wonder devotional Bible study
Delight to Be a Woman of Wonder Power Planner – an undated day planner for building a life-time habit of walking in Christ’s leadership and power moment-by-moment, accompanies the Delight to Be a Woman of Wonder devotional Bible study
If you’d like to help your children draw near to God and practice inviting Him into every circumstance and difficulty all throughout the day, we highly recommend Listen to Me: Heart Talks with Jesus prayer devotional packed with questions to recognize God’s voice, questions to ask Him, and steps to healing from trauma and fear. An accompanying Listen to Me Prayer Journal helps kids process what God is teaching them through the devotional, and the Every Day with JesusPrayer Journal diary helps them get in the habit of seeking God every morning and inviting Him to guide them throughout the day.
Family read-aloud prayer devotional
Prayer Journal for Listen to Me
Daily Diary for adventures with Jesus
Mikaela Vincent and her husband are missionaries who live by faith, trusting in God to provide for their needs as they pray for and share Christ with the nations. If you would like to help their ministry through a donation, or by shopping at Mikaela’s online bookstore, click the buttons below:
For more deep Bible study workbooks, Pure-As-Gold Seal novels and homeschool Bible curriculum for all ages, visit MoreThanAConquerorBooks.com:
Bible study ages 8-12
Prayer journal ages 8-12
fantasy with a purpose
fighting lies with the truth
Family read-aloud prayer devotional
Prayer Journal for Listen to Me
Daily Diary for adventures with Jesus
Help kids to freedom from fear
beginning reader
Great mom-daughter read-aloud
Any proceeds this author receives from the sale of the deep devotional Bible studies and other MoreThanAConquerorBooks.com books mentioned in this post go to shining Christ’s light in the darkness and seeing the nations come to Him.
Thank you for your support! If you have any questions or want to help with this ministry, please contact Mikaela.
Do you think children can’t understand the gospel fully? That they’re too young to repent of their sins and choose Christ?
Don’t be that parent who hinders your children from coming to Jesus.
Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14
As a parent, you can be the catalyst to help your children know Jesus in deep, intimate ways.
The first thing you’ll want to do is cultivate an intimate relationship with Christ yourself. We recommend Delight to Be a Woman of Wonderfor moms and Dare to Be a Mighty Warrior for dads. In fact, the 100 strategies for removing the barriers to oneness with Christ and others in those two books are the same, so you can study together.
Put in place a daily time in the Word together with your children. You can read through the Bible a few verses at a time, as God leads, and talk about it together, or use a deep age-appropriate Bible study, like thePure-As-Gold Seal books for children and youth available at MoreThanAConquerorBooks.com.
Help your children recognize God’s voice of Truth, so they won’t be led astray by enemy lies. We recommend Listen to Me: Heart Talks with Jesus. If you need help with this yourself there’s a free guide to knowing God’s voice at MoreThanAConquerorBooks.com.
There is much we can say about helping connect your children with friends who will grow together with them in the Lord rather than lead them astray, but ask God to lead you to a church with a children’s program where your child will be safe and nurtured in his/her faith.
And last, listen to your child’s heart. If God is drawing that precious one to Himself, don’t be the one to stand in the way. Share the gospel in a way he/she can easily understand. We recommend pages 40-47 in 1-2-3 Walk in Step with Me for ages 8-12, and pages 47-53 of Listen to Me: Heart Talks with Jesus for ages 4-8.
A Pure-As-Gold Seal Bible study workbook for ages 8-12 packed with powerful activities to help the truth go deep in their hearts, so they can know the King who knows them, let His power change them, and let His love in them change the world around them
Go all the deeper in your walk with Christ with this Prayer Journal designed to practice what you’re learning in the 1-2-3 Walk in Step with Me Bible study workbook. Available lined or unlined (for those who like to write and draw).
Mikaela Vincent and her husband are missionaries who live by faith, trusting in God to provide for their needs as they pray for and share Christ with the nations. If you would like to help their ministry through a donation, or by shopping at Mikaela’s online bookstore, click the buttons below:
For deep Bible study workbooks, Pure-As-Gold Seal novels and homeschool Bible curriculum for all ages, visit MoreThanAConquerorBooks.com:
Bible study ages 8-12
Prayer journal ages 8-12
fantasy with a purpose
fighting lies with the truth
Family read-aloud prayer devotional
Prayer Journal for Listen to Me
Daily Diary for adventures with Jesus
Help kids to freedom from fear
beginning reader
Great mom-daughter read-aloud
Any proceeds this author receives from the sale of the deep devotional Bible studies and other MoreThanAConquerorBooks.com books mentioned in this post go to shining Christ’s light in the darkness and seeing the nations come to Him.
Thank you for your support! If you have any questions or want to help with this ministry, please contact Mikaela.
It is hard to be a kid these days. Constantly on the go to the next activity. Always surrounded by people, whether it’s classmates or siblings. Someone always expecting something.
Oh, wait, it’s also hard to be a mom … for the same reasons.
In today’s culture, slowing down and being alone seems to be a rare occurrence. And whether you and your children are introverts or extroverts, whether they get drained or energized from being around others, we need down time.
Brain science shows that memories are actually stored when we rest. Things are committed to memory when we have time to reflect. Adrenaline actually keeps us from learning well. Pace matters.
I know you’ve seen it as a mother when your child gets tired: they are more emotional, more distractible, and struggle to make good decisions.
Being on the go all day long is actually bad for both their emotional development and brain development.
One of the best things that I implemented (honestly it was for my own sanity at the time!) was what we called “Quiet Rest Time.” It started when my toddler gave up his last nap and I was pregnant with number two. But what I saw come out of having this regular rhythm and practice in my home over the years made me hold onto this practice for years past the toddler stage. And even though my oldest is way past the toddler years now, we still pull it out regularly when I can tell everyone needs a break.
So, first, what is it?
“Quiet rest time” was simple and the parameters are inside the name itself – quiet rest time in their room. It is not a punishment, and your children must understand that this isn’t meant to be a discipline for poor choices or behavior. It is a reset time. And truly is a blessing for your family dynamics and culture.
You see, all day long, whether kids are doing school or just playing with friends or siblings, they are “on.” Their brains are taking in information, figuring out how to interact with others, working on being kind and sharing, and dare I say, growing new brain connections called dendrites. And just like when your muscles get tired when you exercise, their brains get tired. Older kids might find “brain breaks” are a quick and easy way to rest their brain. But for younger kids, actually stepping out of the group and going to recharge in the quiet of their room really helps set up everyone for a better second half of the day.
During “quiet rest time,” young children have time and space to play with something they want to without having to consider another person’s wishes or feelings. They don’t have to figure out sharing. They don’t have to verbally communicate their wishes. They can do whatever they want in their rooms as long as its quiet.
Even older children can step away from being “on” and recharge without having to think about what task is next on their schedule. They can relax and be a kid again, simply playing or reading whatever is on their heart and mind.
Resting their body if they need.
Resting their minds so they came come back ready to learn and grow.
What benefits could you see in your home when implemented regularly?
After “quiet rest time,” siblings will come back together ready to share and play nicely, no longer squabbling over small things.
After, children are ready to come back and try something again, whether it is learning something new or going out somewhere fun.
After, both parents and children are refreshed and ready to engage with each other again with new energy and delight.
So how would I go about implementing “Quiet Rest Time?”
If you have nappers still, the ideal time for “quiet rest time,” would be while your littler one naps. Tell your older kids that we are all going to have some down or alone time to take a break, you can even tell them that it’s for you, mama (because it is!). I usually assign or do a rotation for what room (or space!) each child goes to if siblings share bedrooms. Set a timer if that helps. I remind them of the rules – quiet and in the room and that this isn’t a punishment. I would encourage younger kids to take a rest/nap if they are amiable to it. For readers, this is a good time to read. Encourage them to play with a special toy they don’t want to share or build with legos without having a crawling baby to be careful of. But this time does not include any sort of screen. Research shows us that screens actually fire up the brain in a different way than face-to-face interactions so having your “Quiet Rest Time/Room Time” include screentime will not meet the intended purpose.
If you have a child that is giving up naps but still sometimes needs them, have some method to have them lie down in bed for 30 minutes for the “rest time” before the “room time” part. That way, if they need a nap, they’ll take one and if they don’t, they are learning to rest their bodies, which if anyone has raised toddlers, you know they need a little practice doing. Around the time my children turned five years old we dropped the “rest time” part, but that will depend on the child. Just be careful not to give it up at their first fight against it.
If your children are having a hard time implementing this or staying in their room, start with small increments of time. Five minutes. Then 10 minutes. Work your way up to the desired amount of time. During different seasons, our “quiet rest time” was different lengths based on what I could tell we all needed but it typically ranged from 1-2 hours.
And you may find that certain of your children dislike it – they are probably your extroverts! But even those extroverts need down time and I found that they, too, played better with their siblings after having some alone time each day. They might just need a little more coaching and training to get started and learn why these times are important for everyone.
Follow Alicia @MobilizerMom on Instagram or Facebook for more parenting tips, encouragement for moms, family discipleship ideas, and learn how to let God renew your motherhood journey.
This is a sweet word from the Lord He asked me to share with you as I prayed for our kids here in this Kingdom Culture Parenting community….
You don’t have to be the best. You ARE the best, because the One Who is the Best at EVERYTHING is within you. And success by Heaven’s standards is not how many “A”s you get or how many people approve of all the the things you do, but only this: Did you love? Matthew 22:37-40. Are you loving God? And are you loving others? Then you are doing all I have asked you to do. So, whatever new task you take on that seems overwhelming, just ask Me, and I will help you do that. I will empower you. Philippians 4:13. Because asking Me to help you is one of the ways you love Me. And doing well at your chores and schoolwork is loving Me AND loving those around you. But you can’t love like that on your own. It’s My love that makes it easy. So, receive My love for you. Know how much you mean to Me. And then, let Me empower you to also love those around you. Okay, let’s go! Today, let Me help you triumph over that mountain of stuff you’ve got to do. Because through My love, you are more than a conqueror! Romans 8:37-38.
If you’d like to help your children draw near to God and practice inviting Him into every circumstance and difficulty all throughout the day, we highly recommend Listen to Me: Heart Talks with Jesus prayer devotional packed with questions to recognize God’s voice, questions to ask Him, and steps to healing from trauma and fear. An accompanying Listen to Me Prayer Journal (actually on sale now at Amazon for just $3.75!) helps kids process what God is teaching them through the devotional, and the Every Day with JesusPrayer Journal diary helps them get in the habit of seeking God every morning and inviting Him to guide them throughout the day.
Family read-aloud prayer devotional
Prayer Journal for Listen to Me
Daily Diary for adventures with Jesus
Our featured photo below gives you a peek into one of the many truth-packed pages with life-changing instructions for walking as one with Christ.
Mikaela Vincent and her husband are missionaries who live by faith, trusting in God to provide for their needs as they pray for and share Christ with the nations. If you would like to help their ministry through a donation, or by shopping at Mikaela’s online bookstore, click the buttons below:
For deep Bible study workbooks, Pure-As-Gold Seal novels and homeschool Bible curriculum for all ages, visit MoreThanAConquerorBooks.com:
Bible study ages 8-12
Prayer journal ages 8-12
fantasy with a purpose
fighting lies with the truth
Family read-aloud prayer devotional
Prayer Journal for Listen to Me
Daily Diary for adventures with Jesus
Help kids to freedom from fear
beginning reader
Great mom-daughter read-aloud
Any proceeds this author receives from the sale of the deep devotional Bible studies and other MoreThanAConquerorBooks.com books mentioned in this post go to shining Christ’s light in the darkness and seeing the nations come to Him.
Thank you for your support! If you have any questions or want to help with this ministry, please contact Mikaela.
Kingdom Culture Parenting 