90 minutes to myself

Well, it looks like it has been well over two months since I last blogged. Abby has recently dropped her morning nap and pushed her bedtime back in the evenings, so it's becoming harder and harder to snatch a moment for myself. She usually naps for only an hour and a half right after lunch time, and every day I find myself torn about what to accomplish in those 90 minutes. Should I do that next load of laundry, or catch up on email, or spend time in God's Word.  I have recently been reading a really great book loaned to me by a friend called Six Ways to Keep the Little in Your Girl by Dannah Gresh. It has been such a thought provoking read. It basically talks about the ways in which our consumerist and sex-driven culture is pushing our little girls to grow up far too quickly. The book talks a lot about the fact that if we as parents, and especially mothers of little girls, don't take on the responsibility of teaching our little girls about the values of modesty, integrity, and purity, that the rest of the world will gladly teach them their own lessons instead! One point Dannah made that jumped out at me was that my little girl is watching every move I make, and as she watch me, my actions will show her what is truly important to me.  My actions will have a far greater impact on her than my words alone.  Dannah talks about how image-driven our culture is, and she challenged me to think about how much time I spend on my outer appearance, whether it be my make-up, hair, or even just the appearance of my house, versus how much time I spend on my inner self, praying and reading the Bible. She said that one good habit to form is to make sure you spend as much time in devotions each day (your inner self)  as you spend on getting ready in the morning (your outer self). And while, truth be told, as the mother of a 16 month old, I am lucky to get a 5 minute shower every day, much less spend time fretting over makeup, the point still hit home to me. Abby is only a little over a year old, but I see how she watches everything that I do. She is facinated by everything! And she wants to copy every move I make, whether it's putting laundry in the dryer, or brushing her teeth while I brush mine.  And so as she grows, I know I will need to purpose in my heart to make time to show her that it is really my inner self, my character and my soul, and my relationship with Jesus that I need to spend the most time on. So I've been trying to use my 90 minutes more productively lately. The laundry and dishes will wait, I need to spend that time working on my inner self.