Featured Essay For We Are Beautiful + The Best Devotional Books For Busy Women

If you haven’t already figured so by now, I love to write. I’ve had a journal or a diary or a running note pad going ever since elementary school. Writing and storytelling has always come second nature to me – it has been a way for me to creatively express myself while gathering my thoughts and processing the inner workings of my heart.

After starting this blog in 2014, I saw the opportunity to create a platform that would provide a safe space of encouragement, support, and relatablity for other women in the same walks of life as I am. The Mini Apartment has since grown into a brand, where not only do I blog here but I also guest post on other blogs/have been featured on podcasts/help create other brands develop their voice for their own blogs and written mediums. I truly love what I do here in this space, and love that I get to share it with you.

One of the platforms that I frequently guest post on is We Are Beautiful – an organization for women in the word to dive deeper in their fellowship, identity, and pursuit for Christ. You might remembered my friend Meagan Thompson whose guest post was featured here on the blog last summer – she is We Are Beautiful’s San Diego Chapter founder and has become a sweet friend of mine!

This month for We Are Beautiful I wrote a piece on spirituality, and the deep desire we need to have as busy gals to root ourselves in truth, grace, and wisdom that stems from the Bible. Click here to see the post on We Are Beautiful’s Blog, or stick around and read the full post below. I hope you enjoy! <3

---

TENDING THE GARDEN

‘I cannot tell you the number of devotionals I have read over the years. I have several that are jam-packed with notes and highlights, and others that I wish I could go through and read again with fresh eyes after being in a new season. The Lord has fed my soul through countless words and affirmations over the years, but lately, in this season of motherhood I am in, I have felt a thirst for the Word that I have not been able to fully quench.

As a busy mama who stays home raising a 1 ½-year-old toddler, is pregnant with her second baby that is due in May, and who also works from home, finding that sweet and sacred downtime to quench my spirit with the Word is rare. In order for a garden to blossom to its full potential, the gardener has to tend to it daily to experience the joy of growth and harvest. If I do not make time to tend to the garden of my heart and spirit, how can I ever expect to bear the fruit that was planted? How can I ever get my cup filled if I’m allowing myself to run on empty.

As busy gals seeking the heart of Jesus – whether you’re a mom or not – it’s so important to make time to deepen your roots within the Word. Cultivating a spirit of perseverance throughout the hard and busy seasons or the seasons of waiting will allow for your heart to become fully reliant on the Lord! How greatly can He use us in our day to day if we obediently abide in Him and fervently seek Him through the encouragement, reflections, and truth-soaked words of the Bible?

Just the other day as I was on my hands and knees picking up the tornado of toys my little one left in her post-naptime wake, I was reminded of this analogy in John 15 (verses 5, 7, and 11):

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in them, they will bear much fruit for apart from me you can do nothing…If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you…These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

What power and hope the Holy Spirit can weave through us during the moments we spend in the trenches! I paused mid-reach for a toy car and looked at my surroundings. As I sat there, I saw joy in the form of a spunky little girl as she pounded on the piano. I saw joy in my reflection in the TV, a mom who was blessed with the opportunity to stay home and immerse herself in motherhood.

I discovered in that moment of pressing pause that joy can be found in performing the small, repetitive tasks of motherhood because it requires complete selflessness for the sake of pouring into a tiny human with the love, grace, and patience that Jesus has with me as His daughter.

In whatever circumstance you find yourself in during this season, call upon the Lord and He will cover you in His grace. Ask to be presented with sacred time to spend in the Word. Pray over the tools He has already equipped you with and for them to be revealed and used for the glory of the Kingdom. You will find rest and will become filled with His peace as you seek to draw near to Him.

Here are a few of my favorite devotionals that equip, nourish, and sustain me when I am in need of some serious spirit-quenching goodness for moms, wives, and women:

1. Pressing Pause: 100 Quiet Moments for Moms to Meet with Jesus by Karen Ehman and Ruth Schwenk
2. The Better Mom Devotional: Shaping Our Hearts as We Shape Our Homes by Ruth Schwenk
3. Find Rest: A Women’s Devotional For Lasting Peace In A Busy Life by Shaunti Feldhahn
4. Gracelaced: Discovering Timeless Truths Through Seasons of the Heart by Ruth Chou Simons
5. Redefined: Defining Identity Through The Mirror of God’s Word by Well Watered Women
6. Planted: Be Rooted Deeply in the Lord Throughout Every Season by Well Watered Women

No matter what season you find yourself in right now sister friend, know that there is always grace upon grace that covers you. If you’re struggling to find the time to dive deep into the Word, know that the Lord is waiting to quench your thirst for His Word. This week, make a plan to grab a friend, order a devotional (or three!), and keep each other accountable to deepening your roots in Jesus.’

Want to read more? Check out my previous posts for We Are Beautiful here:
Sharing Three Truths – a quick study on the second book of Mark
To Be Known And Loved – a reflection on vulnerability