christianity and being a mom

[feeble]

Has anyone else found combining Christianity and motherhood difficult. I get distracted by the kids in church and am so busy day to day that sometimes I feel I am missing something and slipping away from God. Has anyone else felt like this?

anyone?

I think having small children makes it very hard to have any time to do things for yourself. Don't be too hard on yourself - you may feel you're slipping away from spending time with God - but God is always there after all, and won't forget about you if you haven't had time to pray or concentrate in church.

Can you carve out a small bit of time each day to pray or read your bible? Even a few minutes is fine, just to focus on this instead of the hurly-burly.

Does your church have a creche or children's groups - or are there other young families that you could start soemthing up with? That way you might get a bit of time to focus on the service, at least some weeks!

It really does ease up as your children get older, you may just need to hang in there while they get past the most needy and disruptive phases.

Yes, yes, yes. The christian prayer thread Mumsnet Prayer thread herer saved my sanity, as I could get some fellowship, prayer and fun online, when the dcs were asleep. Do pop in and say hello to us.

Church was immensely difficult for me, with two very active boys, who just don't do sitting still. Dh isn't a church goer, so would stay at home with them if I wanted, or it was up to me to manage them in church alone . . . we muddled along. It is much easier now they are older (4 and 8) and can choose to come with me.

I still find it quite challenging to behave as a christian and be a mummy - combine sleep deprivation with your patience being stretched to the end and beyond, by whinging or whining, I'd love to think that I could always be patient and loving and kind and have a sense of humour - but I see all of my failings, magnified hugely at home However, enjoying Bible stories together (OK it had to be David and Goliath, or at a push Noah's ark for the first 3 years, and doing night time prayers together has been really precious too.

HTH

thanks a lot its really cheered me up. my kids are very active and unfortunately for me the other mums are fortunate enough to have those lovely children who at 2 sit quietly through the whole service{envy]. my 2 at 2 and 4 need a boot load of toys and are up down up down!!

Ooh they sound just like mine Feeble. One mum I know keeps a little book of prayers in the loo - it's the only place she ever has to herself. (Though I must admit at 2 and 4, mine never let me go to the loo alone either!)

Hang on in there. It does get easier!

feeble, are you me? I keep asking those parents with the quietly-sitting-and-colouring children, what is their secret? It eludes me but take heart , DS1 is a little better now he's started school.

You are not slipping away from God by the way, he will still be there when you get a moment or two!

I ask the Holy Spirit to allow me some peace and stillness in Church and it is honestly the only time my boys ever sit still!

(Either that or I chill out so much that I don't actually notice them running around knocking little old ladies off their zimmer frames).

I can't really say that I have experience what the OP has said.

I have found that with babies, the church family really rallies around and looks after you when you and really rallies around when you have a new addition. As they grow, there are natural babysitters. Giving back to the community, you run the mother and toddler group (or similar).

We have loads of kids in our church and they are pretty much free to do what they want - it is blissful when they go to their own groups though (200 family members gone means instant peace). Midweek, in our church, we have a couple of women's bible study groups where there is a creche - so no getting distant from God.

serin thanks for some reason i never thought of that

blithedance yes my oldest has been better recently but DS well thats another story. Even if the church had activities it wouldnt help cause he is just one of those kids you cant take your eyes off cause hes into mischief (climbing etc)

Squeakypop - bible study sounds great- just what i need where is your church?

Can so agree with you feeble, it is hard work. My 2 are much older now and go off to their groups very happily. CBS was a lifesaver for me when they were younger, is an international interdenominational Bible study group during the day with a creche, whereabouts are you I could try and find out if there is one in your area?

sadly the nearest appears to be about 2 hours away. If anone knows of anything similar please let me know. I live near Chester. Thanks for all your encouragement though!

Hey feeble,

I know this is an old thread but I really relate. We keep a One Minute Bible in a Year in our downstairs loo and that's the extent of my bible reading these days! At church I do take any opportunity to hand my baby over to anyone who wants a cuddle otherwise I'd never be able to concentrate on anything.

Hang in there though - I know it won't always be like this.

Question for riven. I have always managed how Muslim mums do manage. Do you just pick up where you've left off or do you have to start over?

I second Riven's point - no matter your faith it will always be harder when you are rushed off your feet with little ones to find that inner peace and calm when you need it most. I find it helpful to remember that everything I do to look after my child, every hug, every meal, every wash, every nappy and every second of play is watched by God and is in the service of God so I'm actually getting closer not further away

mariagoretti - you have to start over but it only actually takes a few minutes. When ds was tiny I used to carry him while I did my prayers, he is 9months now and sits quietly at my side most of the time - sometimes plays with my hair when my head is on the ground. If he ever gets upset or wanders off somewhere I don't know he is safe then I stop and start again later but if he is just whinging or wandering around the room I leave him to it and finish - he can wait 2minutes. I imagine it is much harder for riven - one is easy and I'm naively hoping I can teach him to entertain the next one for a few minutes!

One thing I've found useful is to set my home page on the web to a daily Bible study service, so it is the first thing I see when the PC goes on. Because somehow I do always find the time for email/MN etc, despite the distractions. Even if I only spend 5 minutes reading the passage, I end up mulling over things that it has raised during the day.

Praying while plodding along with the buggy is good sometimes.

I'm lucky to have a church that does have children's activities, so we have 15-20 minutes of anarchy while they are in with us and then they go up to Junior Church/creche and I can concentrate. It really is worth looking around to see if there is any church nearby that offers this - it will give your kids a great foundation, too.

And on that note, do hang in there. Think about the exposure you are giving your children to the habits and practices of a faith-filled life. They will absorb them without even knowing and then they are always there for them to come back to. So many children are being brought up with no exposure to the stories and rituals of faith (any faith) and I think they are seriously missing out on something that is very innate within us.