Discipline that has Nothing to do with Spanking

This is a long read, but hopefully worth it.....

So I've been volunteering with the church nursery for a few months now.  I volunteer for the 11am service and Dusty and I go to the 1pm service.  I was scheduled to work on Mother's day and when I got there, the coordinator handed me a book as a Mother's day gift...The Busy Mom's Guide to Spiritual Survival by Kelli B. Trujillo.  After my shift was over I immediately began reading.  I'm not really sure why I was so eager to start reading it, maybe because I'm not really in the spiritual place my heart desires to be right now, but I sat down on the floor at the entrance and started the introduction as I waited for Dusty and Liam to get there for the 1pm.

Quoting the back of the book, "Don't Just Survive...Take a fresh look at some classic spiritual practices through the eyes of the busiest people on earth, mothers of small children.  You'll find out why these practical disciplines are so important for maintaining a vibrant spiritual life and discover realistic, doable ways to implement them in everyday life - with kids.  As a bonus, you'll garner some age-appropriate ideas for fostering growth in the lives of your children."

Now I'm not sure about the rest of you young moms, but that pretty much summarizes what I've been longing for these last 14 months (and longer if I'm honest).  

I've read The Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster at least a couple of times and have gone through the book with two different small groups.  I think it's safe to speak for anyone who has ever read that book that it's a "little" on the heavy side and as important as all of those spiritual disciplines are, the book left me feeling a little "spiritually inferior" (a description that spoke to me in the new book).

To read a book about how to realistically implement different spiritual disciplines in MY life is just what this spiritually parched life needs right now.  I haven't made it past the first chapter Discipline that has Nothing to do with Spanking yet.  Each chapter ends with discussion questions and personal reflection questions and I've decided to take this seriously and answer all of the questions in my journal and take notes along the way.  They suggest reading this book along with one or two other moms who can keep you accountable and be your supporters and encouragers, but I've decided to read it on my own first.  I've realized after answering the first chapter's questions that I'm a whole lot more honest with myself knowing that no one else has to hear my answers.

The book discusses 15 different spiritual disciplines:

-Silence

-Solitude

-Scriptural Learning

-Prayer

-Meditation

-Life Change

-Evangelism

-Hospitality

-Service

-Simplicity

-Stewardship

-Fasting

-Fellowship

-Worship

-Celebration

I think as I go through this book, I'll share some of the questions that I feel are important for every mom to ask themselves and maybe share my answers.  If nothing else, maybe I'll inspire some of you to do more than "just survive" as busy moms.