Five Minutes Alone

TRANSCRIPT: Clear View Retreat brings you this ‘Five Minute Family’ radio devotion to help in both the norms and storms of life. A Five Minute Family is one who is trying to choose God and His relationship principles, no matter what chaos is raging around them. We consider all family compositions when we write our devotions because we know that families come in all shapes and sizes – kids in the home, no kids, single parent families, blended families, and more. This particular ‘Five Minute Family’ is primarily for families with kids still in the home, although God’s relating principles are true for all of us and can be applied in many ways. With kids in the home, life has its own unique level of stress. Is the baby needing constant holding making you wish you hadn’t become a mom? Is the toddler damaging something else making you wish you could spend more time at the office – AWAY from home? How about that teenager whose hormones are making the teenager in you come out? Parents, we all need a timeout sometimes. Don’t feel guilty if you need to evaluate how you are handling family life and take a step back briefly. As a young mom, I loved spending time with my son. I had friends who within weeks of their kiddos’ births wanted a weekend away or a night to themselves. But, I truly did not understand their feelings. I enjoyed waking up with him in the night, playing games throughout the day, tending to all his needs, holding him all day long if needed. I didn’t doubt my love for him, and I didn’t doubt my willingness to do anything and everything he needed. Until… our second baby came along. Napping while the baby napped was no longer an option. Being pulled in two different directions for two different sets of needs developmentally became a challenge for me. I kept feeling that I needed desperately to get away. As an exclusively nursing mom, getting away for long was not an option. Once I was going to go to a movie so I could have some “not mommy” time, but Jim was concerned that our younger son (and possibly th