October 29th: The Contemplative Mom

Restoring Rich Relationship with God in the Midst of Motherhood. It's possible.

The idea of having a consistent quiet time when my children were tiny and I was working full-time was completely overwhelming to me. This often-undone task made me feel as if I was a failure as a Christian and as a mother, when I could barely find time to read a verse or two some days, or pray while I was driving to work.

Enter Ann Kroeker and her wonderful book.
Ann's book gave me permission to let myself off the hook of proving my devotion to God by actually taking moments in my day to adore God, pray to him in between potty training sessions and kindergarten coloring and grading yet another set of student essays. To find God's presence smack-dab in the middle of my everyday and not feel guilty.

"This is not about earning His favor, nor is it about doing. This is about the relationship, not the sacrifices incurred while building the relationship" (page 20).

Building communion with God in our everyday is the focus of this wonderful book.

I still remember realizing all of this over and over in those early gradeschool parenting years, and I think I'm due for a reread now that I'm smack-dab in the high school years.

And now, for the fangirl part. I got to meet Ann with my friend Nattie, who had introduced me to this book in the first place...and it hit me today that it was ten years ago this month, when I went to Indiana for my mom's graduation from business college! I drove to Indy and met up with these ladies, and we had a  precious communion time at Panera.

From left: Nattie, Pattie, and Ann
Nattie passed away 7 years ago and we still miss her.

To read more of this #31DaysofBooks series, visit the introduction post.