I can't! I'm a mom!

I don't know about you, but I really enjoy a good read. Curled up in bed all day long with a steaming mug of hot cocoa, reading away the hours without any interruptions, this is my idea of The Most Relaxing Day There Ever Could Be. But who am I kidding? I am a mother now (I tell myself often). I don't have time for that kind of thing anymore. Sigh.

Except for when we have to drive long distances over the holidays, that is!

Granted, there are numerous interruptions and frequent potty/bottle/snack/carsickness breaks (don't ask), but good grief, I have been able to squeeze in more reading over the last couple of weeks than in the whole year combined! I feel so refreshed and renewed! Are you sensing how nice all this driving has been for me?

The most encouraging read I've had is a book by Nancy Leigh DeMoss called A Place of Quiet Rest, which is on finding intimacy with God through a daily devotional life. This is hands-down, one of, if not THE, best book I have read in a really long time. This book has been sitting in my bookshelf for at least 2 years, ever since my secret sister at church gave the book to me, and for some reason I happened to notice it while I was packing to leave for my parents' house. I Just Happened to Notice. Uh huh. But since I really do believe in the sovereignty of God, I have to admit that He WANTED me to read that book that very weekend, so He caused my secret sister to buy it for me 2 years ago! Is there anything more amazing than living the Christian life? I am constantly blown away by how personal and detail-oriented our God is!

I'd like to share some of what the Lord taught me through the book over the next several weeks, but for now, I'll leave you with some of the preface of the book.

"There are many morning when I have allowed the pillow, the phone, or piles of office work to win out, and have ended up spending only a few hurried moments with Him...but over the years I have come to believe with all my heart that this is something worth fighting for. I have come to understand that one of the reasons it is such a battle is that the Enemy of my soul knows if he can defeat me here, he will ultimately be able to defeat me in every other area of my spiritual life.

Satan hates God, and he works tirelessly to convince Christians that they can operate on their own, independantly of God. If we concede the battle to him, he knows that we will end up defeated, frustrated, barren, and useless to God. Worse, we will end up doubting God, despairing of His goodness, in bondage to our flesh, and resisting His will.

In more recent years, I have discovered another, even more important, reason for pressing on to protect this time alone with the Lord. I have come to see that "devotions" is not so much an obligation of the Christian life as it is an incredible opportunity to know the God of the universe. He has issued to you and to me an invitation to draw near to Him, to walk right into the "Holy of Holies" to enter into an intimate love relationship with Him...

I am convinced that few subjects evoke such feelings of guilt, failure, and frustration among believers as the matter of "daily devotions." Having talked with and listened to thousands of women across the country, I believe there is within most Christian women a feeling that "I ought to be more faithful and consistent in this area."...

There are those women whose lives bear the sweet, rich fruit of meeting with God on a consistent basis. I have been drawn to a number of these women over the years. The fragrance of their lives has deepened my own longing to know God...

Wherever God finds you, if you are His child, I believe there is within you something that will never be satisfied with anything less than intimate fellowship with your Creator, Redeemer, and heavenly Father. Until you see Him face-to-face, you will never cease to hunger and thirst to know Him more. I know that longing deep within my soul."

I too know that longing, that deep desire for more of Him. I have been working at being more consistent with my time in the Word, but I ache for an even deeper relationship with the Lord. Do you find yourself there too? I want to know His heart, what He's doing, what He desires, and how I can please Him more. Everything about Him.

This is what I am prayfully aiming towards this year. And you know, those of you who faithfully tune into this blog, I am praying it for you too, that you too would have a deepened longing to know God. My question is this: what if 2007 were the year that our hearts were revived and the Lord was able to work mightily?