What to do when life seems too busy for God.

We are now in Week 5 of the Summer Sizzle Blog Hop series. Where 9 Bloggers are sharing their best work with each other for 9 weeks. Last week I introduced Valerie Murray with her post, How Blogging can stretch your own Faith.

This week I am introducing Shannon Guerin. She is a dear sister in Christ to me. Shannon and I also collaborated on Salt & Light Link Up together along with two other friends, Natalie and Alisa. So, over the past few months I have gotten to known Shannon more and more. She is truly in love with Jesus and her strength to fight for righteousness is inspiring.

by: Shannon Guerin

Life is busy.

This morning I am just breathing.

Life lately has been a bit overwhelming. From graduations – anniversary’s – cleaning out my house – estate sales – moving – letting go (of my daughter to college) and even, shall I say it, presidential elections…

The emotions are difficult. They range from bitter to sweet. I can be happy one moment and crying the next. My poor husband…

So, this morning I’m just breathing.

And drinking my coffee, of course.

I feel like everything is happening at once and I feel like my life is spiraling out of control…but the reality is that it’s not. I’m not spiraling out of control.

Because God keeps me and sustains me. Honestly I don’t have a clue how people make it without God in their lives.

I also don’t know how people make it without an active presence of constant communication with Him.

Because there is a difference, ya know. A difference between constant communication with God and just believing in Him.

It seems life lately has been in constant competition with my time with God. #Godfirst Share on X

It’s one thing to believe in God and to say you love Him. It’s a whole ‘nother thing to believe in Him, love Him, and talk to him daily.

It seems life lately has been in constant competition with my time with God.

Here’s my idea of a perfect day:

5:30 AM – I wake up with fresh, wide eyes. (Honestly mornings make me giddy. Is that weird?) I make coffee, then sit on my comfy sofa with my comfy blanket and my perfectly blended cream and coffee in my favorite coffee mug and spend precious, focused time with God which includes reading the Bible, maybe reading a devotion, and praying.

6:30ish – Catch up on social media, write, and blog. Wake girls up for school or rather, wake up girL (emphasis on singular since one of my girls will BE IN COLLEGE this year. omg. Dear Lord help me).

7:30 – send the girl off to school then go about my daily activities whatever they may be (grocery shopping, cleaning, mentoring, or writing, etc)

But lately my schedule has been wrecked and I’ll be honest to tell you that I have not had “focused” time with God in several weeks.

Yes, how lovely it would for me to be able to say this:

“Even though life has been hectic lately I am committed and make sure that I wake up early and have focused, quiet time with God.”

But, if I said that it would be a lie. Because honestly, I’m just grateful to wake up at all. Now- I realize by saying that it seems as though I’m stressed out to the max and in a really bad place.

I’m not.

I’m actually in a really GOOD place, I’ve just been super busy.

Before you get to thinking that I’ve fallen off the proverbial spiritual wagon please know that I haven’t. I don’t think that not having focused time with God means that I’m going to hell in a handbag. While I wish for focused time, and I think it’s necessary and important, my relationship with Him is still strong, if not stronger than ever, and here’s why.

#Bestofnine What does it mean to you?

Testimony Tour: How God saved us.

Jesus and my fan.

When it seems like life is too busy for God, make sure of these things:

God is rooted and grounded in your day to day.

I’m never “too busy” for Him, because he is a part of everything about my life. Does that make sense? Focused time in the mornings with Him is incredible…but it’s more of a “bonus.” An add-on; so to speak. He’s like an appendage of me. He’s in my day to day.

You surround yourself with inspiring people.

Man is this ever important! I’ve got some pretty amazing friends in my life. Friends who support and uplift me. Friends that “speak” life into me and keep me accountable in my relationship with Jesus. Not that they “preach” to me, but just the example they provide is inspiring.

Have bible/devotional apps on your phone.

While I would “prefer” to have focused time with God alone on my sofa with my comfy sofa, fuzzy blanket or my perfect cup of coffee with the perfect amount of creamer inside, it’s not “required” in order to sustain my relationship with Him.

There are some amazing apps out there. A couple of my favorites are:

First 5

She Reads Truth.

I love these apps because they are specifically for women, written by women. Of course there’s always You Version, which is an ah-mazing bible app that has literally thousands of devotionals.

While there are tons of articles out there about the negative-icities of the mobile phone and how it has negatively impacted our kids and our world and blah-blah-blah… I will say that it’s so refreshing to be able to click on promising words of hope at any time.

There are some that say you need to read the Word from the Bible. Like, the actual printed version of the Bible. Listen- God’s word is God’s word. Whether you’re reading from a printed version or an app on your smartphone, it’s the Word folks. Don’t let yourself get drowned in religiosity- that inhibits your relationship with God!

You have a personal relationship with Him.

My relationship with God is just an everyday thing. I don’t have to schedule time with Him. I don’t have to request his attendance in order to meet with Him. He is a constant presence in my life. Whether I’m sweeping my floor, putting my make-up on or meeting a friend for dinner. He’s there.

God is just a part of me and I talk to Him all the time.

Please hear me.

I’m not perfect by any means. I’m sooooo not a religious person. I am the type of girl that will “show” you God in my actions rather than “tell” you about Him.

In the past, I used to condemn myself for not “taking time out of my day” to read the bible and pray. I left me feeling guilty and even more distant from God.

That’s just nonsense. God is not up in Heaven with a whip, looking for chances to “get us.”

While I believe it’s necessary for us to have “on-purpose” time with Him, there are “seasons” of life when it’s difficult, and I believe that if we are rooted and grounded in Him we can survive if only for a season.

Shannon is fun-loving and authentic. She loves big and fierce, and at the top of that love list is Jesus, her husband John and her two daughters, Alex and Averee. She’s a woman who has been rescued and restored and knows how to fight. Shannon believes every woman has a calling and she has a passion to see women everywhere rise up into who God has designed them to be. Although a book is in her future, you can currently read her blog and her story at www.shannongeurin.com.

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