My Journey as a Mum with Jesus: 2000 – 2020

And resources to help you journey with Jesus!

First published 2012, and added to over the years!

In the year 2000

I was a stay-at-home mum with two little boys, one just two-years-old, the other a few months.

I was living in Malaysia where most mums work.

I was lonely, finding it difficult to get along to church meetings, or at least if I did, not finding it easy to connect with God with my little ones around.

I felt far away from God, and felt terrible about it.

Then something changed.

I went on a conference in Thailand, and met up with friends, mums like me living in other countries. I was amazed – nearly all of us were feeling the same way.

God stirred something in me.

He must have a way for all these mums, and presumably others like us, to be able to stay close to him, even with everything that comes with being a mum, and living in a foreign country.

I began to get excited. God began giving me ideas, and a heart to help other mums who were feeling like me.

I started to write these ideas down. They became an article called Mums with Jesus which I sent out as an email attachment to friends.

These ideas were not just for other mums – they were for me! As I began to put some of them into practice, something fresh happened inside of me – I began touching God’s presence again.

You can read the Mums with Jesus ideas here or get a printable copy here.

 

In the year 2003, three years on, I wrote:

I still don’t have long quiet times, I haven’t kept up with all the Mums with Jesus ideas and I’m not much involved in church. I can struggle for months at a time to open my Bible and know what to read. Even now I know I need to find a new Bible reading scheme to help me find life in God’s word again (Update: I found one! Check this one out.)

BUT, having said all that, something has changed inside of me. I am quietly conscious of God’s presence always with me, and know that it is that relationship with Jesus that is the most important thing.

The spiritual highs and buzzes are great when they come, and I look forward to those days again, but Jesus is the most important thing. And He is always there.

 

In 2012, almost 12 years on:

I am living in a different country…again!

I have four kids now, not two.

I homeschool and have three of my kids home all day with me.

I am part of a Turkish speaking church….and have virtually no opportunity to worship or fellowship corporately in English.

It’s not always easy!

BUT over the years I have come to recognise God’s presence with me more and more in daily life.

I cannot look to church, to meetings, to others to sustain me….

I can only look to Jesus….and I know that’s how it should be.

I am so grateful to God for what he deposited in my heart all those years ago, and, as I blog about it, am freshly challenged to implement some of these things in my life again.

It is all about Jesus.

I know him in my day-to-day life maybe more than ever, but there’s always more to hunger for!

It really is possible to be intimate with him in the busyness of being a mum. 

 

In the year 2020, 20 years later!

I’m in a very different season of life!

Two of my children have left home. The other two are teens and highly independent.

I’m part of an amazing church, involved in leadership, and experiencing God as never before.

He is so faithful!

The hard years were hard years! But through them God grew me, and shaped me. I’ve learned (and am still learning) to practise His presence in my everyday.

Song of Songs Chapter 2 sums up much of what God has done, and is doing in me:

10 Arise, my dearest. Hurry, my darling.
Come away with me!
I have come as you have asked
to draw you to my heart and lead you out.
For now is the time, my beautiful one.
11 The season has changed,
the bondage of your barren winter has ended,
and the season of hiding is over and gone…

I share more in this recent blog post Summer 2020: My Heart is Full of All God is Doing

God has more for you, too. He longs to draw you to himself and whisper words of love to you.

You don’t have to wait 20 years!

 

How about you?

Are you hungry for more of God in your day-to-day life? Do you find it difficult to have time with God? Are you weary and needing help?

If so, I’ve written an email series just for you: 10 Days 10 Ways to Meet God in the Midst of Motherhood

Sign up for FREE by clicking the image below, and for 10 days you’ll receive a short email with an idea and resources to help you draw close to God that day. Each idea will be simple, practical and doable for busy mums!

Give it a go! You’ll experience a fresh touch of God as you commit to meet with him.

 

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All the free resources mentioned in this post:

30 Practical Ideas to Intimacy with Jesus…When You’re a Mum (the original Mums with Jesus article)

30 Practical Ideas to Intimacy with Jesus pdf

10 Days 10 Ways to Meet God in the Midst of Motherhood

If you are feeling spiritually dry and isolated, you might also like to read my experience of God’s faithfulness in dry tough times:

Desert Times Part 1: For When Life is Spiritually Dry

Desert Times Part 2: How to Keep Going When It’s Tough

 

 

This post is part of the Mums with Jesus Series. Thanks for reading!