Putting On the Spirit: Ten-Minute Devotions for Busy Moms

As I type this I am thinking long and hard about handing in my SuperMom Cape. No. Really. I’m bone tired. My laundry is procreating. My son is eating instant mashed potatoes for an afternoon snack. 

And I’m busy. Way too busy. I’m so busy that I have to make appointments with myself to get anything done. 

I can’t be the only one who has ever been there. It is times like these that I also recognize I sadly neglect my spiritual life. So what do I need (besides an intervention and a live-in maid)? I need encouragement. I need to make the time I have count. 

Recently, I was blessed to be able to review Putting On the Spirit: Ten-Minute Devotions for Busy Moms. It was written by woman who knows all about being a busy mom, Katie Hornor. 

Katie wrote Putting On the Spirit using the Fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. All I can say is OUCH. Anytime I hear a sermon or read a devotion on the Fruits of the Spirit I am immediately convicted. Let’s just say that some of my “fruits” haven’t been as juicy as others. 

 

The study is only 28 days long. Katie spends 2-3 days on each Fruit. One thing I really like about this study is that it’s something I can pick up again and again. It is available on Kindle, so it was really handy to tote around with me. It is a convenient read during Josiah’s swim team practice! 

I want to share with you one of my favorite devotions. I have to say that this book review has been so timely for me. It had to be a God thing. This devotion was Day 6 and dealt with Joy. Ugh. Sigh. Do I have to? Some of the main points included that there is joy is sharing. There is joy in loving others. There is joy is weakness. What? How could that be? I love what Katie has to say.

“The answer to the above question is: when I choose to maintain a right attitude and to recognize God as the strength-giving God of this circumstance, and when I recognize that he lovingly arranged this circumstance just so that he can walk with me through it – that realization brings joy.”

Katie then gives us an assignment. What has God given you that you can share today? Choose one person to whom you will show God’s love in action. Write out their name and what you plan to do. What situation in your life today has God lovingly arranged, so that you can have joy because he is walking you through it?

It really helped me nix my “negative nelly” attitude and focus on choosing joy. 

Here is another great quote. Ouch! I told you!

And another. Sigh. I really needed this.

The daily readings are very manageable and there is available notebook to download for FREE to use along with the devotion. You can also use a notebook of your own. I have a darling little notebook I have in my Bible Stack (doesn’t everyone have a Bible Stack) that I used. Katie is great at giving us practical tips and assignments.

 This is absolutely a wonderful devotional for moms.  I appreciated the encouragement. Sometimes I just need to be told that I don’t need that SuperMom cape. Sometimes I need that correction. I need to be reminded of what God says. Jesus is my source. My dependence on myself is just plain sin.

Here is a little bit more about Katie.

Katie and her husband Tap have been missionaries in Mexico since 2007. They homeschool their four children and minister through church planting, Bible training, bookstore ministry, and homeschool curriculum development.

Katie is a teacher at heart, and by trade, and loves to encourage women in their God-given roles through speaking, writing and blogging. She is the author of this and two other ebooks (at the date of this printing) as well as the Lemonhass homeschool curricu-lum for Spanish Speaking families. 

Katie blogs about marriage, motherhood, and ministry at ParadisePraises.com  and she blogs about home education (in Spanish) at EducandoEnElHogar.com. 

Other notes of interest: Katie’s four favorite things are elephants, dark chocolate, the color purple and the mayan hammock in her living room. Oh and she’s due with baby #5 in early Feb. 2014.

You can read more here.

Putting on the Spirit is available today and tomorrow for .99! That’s a deal. I recommend everyone scoot on over there and grab your copy. After December 13 the price will go up to $4.99 (which is still a great deal in my opinion!). And I can’t forget to mention this. It is also available in Spanish!