Every Season. Every Space. All for Him.
I found myself doing it again yesterday – staring at my unopened Bible while my toddler played independently nearby. I had maybe five minutes, tops. “Not enough time,” I thought. “I’ll wait until naptime for a proper quiet time.” But naptime came, and the baby only wanted to sleep in my arms.
Sound familiar?
As a stay-at-home mom to two littles, my “free time” comes like sun breaks during a PNW winter – fleeting, unpredictable, and impossible to plan around. Some days, I get a glorious 30-minute stretch during synchronized naps and other days, it’s stolen moments while:
But here’s the trap I kept falling into: refusing to start anything unless I knew I could finish it properly. The result? Going to bed feeling frustrated and defeated, telling myself I’d do better tomorrow. Tomorrow, I’d somehow find time to:
Recently, God has been softening my heart to a new truth: He’s not waiting for my perfect quiet time. He’s waiting for my willing heart, even if it comes in three-minute increments. He is teaching me to look at my time differently. For example:
Instead of sitting in the paralysis that comes from waiting for the perfect time to get something done, I’m learning to embrace:
Because here’s the truth: these fragments of time add up to something beautiful when we release them to God.
Instead of waiting for the “perfect” time, here are the practical ways I’m learning to use the precious pockets of time I find in my days:
Here’s what I’m learning: God’s grace doesn’t come in perfect 30-minute segments. It comes in whispered prayers between toddler meltdowns, Bible verses murmured during middle-of-the-night feedings, worship songs sung during diaper changes, quick devotionals read over cold coffee, and brief moments of movement between the chaos.
If you’re going to bed frustrated that there aren’t enough hours in the day, I invite you to join me in this journey of letting go. Let’s release:
Instead, let’s embrace the beautiful truth that something is always better than nothing. That five minutes in God’s Word is eternally better than five minutes of mindless scrolling. That moving our bodies for eight minutes honors God more than waiting for the “perfect” workout time that never comes.
Remember, every minute is a gift. Even the interrupted ones. Even the messy ones. Even the ones that don’t go according to plan.
Sometimes, the most beautiful moments happen not in the perfect hours we’re waiting for but in the in-between minutes we choose to embrace.
“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” – Psalm 118:24
(Even if it comes in one-minute increments. 😉)
Lord, help us to see the beauty in the fragments of time You’ve given us. Show us how to use each minute as an offering to You, even when it’s messy, interrupted, and imperfect. Thank You that Your grace meets us not just in the quiet morning hours, but also in the beautiful chaos of life. Amen.
Emily is a founder of For This House, and the middle sister to Lauren and Ally. She is a graphic design maven by trade, currently living in small-town and staying home with her two beautiful girls. Learn more about Emily.