A Mama's Morning Confession
Let’s face it; mornings can be a little hectic. Cooking breakfast, packing lunches, getting kids ready for school, getting yourself out the door, hopefully, some quality time with God, and a quick workout sure would be nice. Juggling all of these tasks before 8:00 A.M.? What’s a mom to do?
I can tell you, some mornings around our house are smoother than others. A little prep work and organization sure make my family’s mornings easier and less stressful. This year we’ve implemented a few tips from The Joyful Home Blog and have seen positive results.
My youngest daughter used to worry about school in the mornings. Every morning, for the several weeks she would get so nervous during our commute to school, her stomach would hurt. I tried cherring her up from many angles. Nothing seemed to help. You all may laugh at what worked, but I still have to share. We started singing our own version of, “The Joy of the Lord is My Strength.” We would take turns making up what we wanted everyone to do for joy. For example, “If you want joy you must say, “Today’s going to be a great day.” I was not sure how they would like our song at first, but I kept going. Day after day, I could not believe it worked! Months later, we still do it every day. When we first started, we did more silly actions like moo like a cow, do the sprinkler, laugh, and smile. Now the girls seem to add more faith-based phrases.
I challenge you all to try it one morning. I would love to hear about your results. All I know, it works for my family. Over six months later, we are still doing it. Every. Single. Morning. I am amazed at the difference it makes in all of our days.
We also enjoy saying our key scriptures as I learned from my mother and reading our morning devotionals.
There are so many great devotionals on the market today. Growing up, our devotional was Proverbs for Kids from: The Book. It was such a big part of my sisters’ and my life. I had to buy copies for both my daughters and nieces. They are no longer in print, so I’m so thankful they are still circulating the resale market.
Here are a few of our favorite devotionals:
The Veggie Tales devotional is great for all ages. We have been using this one for many years, and it has been great for the various cognitive levels. My twelve-year-old nephew even led us in a few devotionals, and we all were blessed. Each devotional contains a silly story related to the topic, a God Connection tying the story to the devotional, a Bible story, a family activity, and discussion questions. There are even some holiday lessons for New Year’s Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Our family Easter service at the river was quite meaningful when the grandparents participated in our VeggieTales Easter activity.
This is a newly published book, so it is still pretty new to us. I purchased this book as a devotional to do with my older daughter. She is approaching the tween stage, and the situations discussed in this devotional are applicable to her age. You can also visit For Girls Like you to receive their Five Day Mother Daughter Devotional by email.
“Tween girls have access to an unbelievable amount of media and information with just a simple click of the remote or mouse. Every outlet they turn to attempts to subtly influence their worldview…and what they believe about themselves directly affects how they live.
Wynter Pitts, founder of For Girls Like You magazine, gives girls a new devotional showing them a correct definition of themselves, opening their eyes to God’s truth and the difference it makes in their lives. Each daily devotion includes a prayer to help girls apply the lesson.”
Max Lucado is one of my favorite authors. I was thrilled when he came out with Grace for the Moment 365 Devotions-Kids. This daily devotional is more for older kids, but the message still soaks into my youngest daughter’s heart. Grace for the Moment is more Bible based. This devotional is relatable for both boys and girls.
“Give Your Child the Gift of God’s Grace—Every Day. Grace is: God’s best idea . . . More than we deserve … And greater than we imagine. But how can you plant this important message of grace into the heart of your child?”
“Grace for the Moment: 365 Devotions for Kids presents the message of God’s grace in a way that children can understand. It’s perfect for families to read together or for older readers to enjoy alone. Each day offers a devotion and scripture to encourage regular time with God. And because giving grace is just as important as receiving it, a “Growing in Grace” opportunity accompanies each devotion, offering practical and easy-to-do activities to help kids apply God’s grace—every day and every moment.”
We received this devotional from a sweet friend. God’s Little Princess Devotional Bible is full of fun, encouraging devotionals. The book contains quizzes, plays to act out, beauty secrets (Example of the beauty secrets: reminding the girls they are God’s precious jewel and so much more to go along with the devotionals.
“A good dose of God’s truth combined with lots of sparkle, God’s Little Princess Devotional Bible will help your little girl blossom into the faithful princess she was created to be! Actual International Children’s Bible® text is joined with devotionals and activities that focus on such virtues as compassion, generosity, and kindness in fun and engaging ways. Girls are sure to love the updated, extra-shimmery cover, and the content speaks to every family’s felt needs as they work to raise daughters of the King.”
Finding ways to include God in our busy mornings makes a world of difference not only in our mornings, but our entire day.
I would love to hear your morning confessions or favorite devotionals!
