A basket of God
Making your daily appointment(s) with your Father irresistible
As busy women — especially with children at home — it is far too easy to miss our time with God. Every disciple of Jesus needs this time as I wrote about here… and here, where I offered more practical planning for this crucial soul-building time.
And I’m back with more now — especially if you love curling up under a cozy afghan with a steaming mug of something tasty, and a good book! Or actually, even if you don’t love cozy afghans and steaming mugs, but you love books — this one’s for you.
Author Sally Clarkson is one of my favorites. Her book Educating the WholeHearted Child was pivotal in how we approached homeschooling our kids. (Stay tuned for more on homeschooling in the future.) But she’s written a lot of books (watch for reviews soon, too) and I love her emphasis on creating beauty in your life and your home. This idea is hers, with a few tweaks from me!
Find a beautiful basket that you love - big enough to hold multiple books. Fill it with the following:
Your Bible
A pretty notebook or journal for notes or recording prayers and answers
Pens you love using (different colors if you like) and highlighters if you use those
A Bible commentary, dictionary, and/or other study helps (I use John MacArthur’s Study Bible to keep this basket not too bulky!)
At least one devotional book — the kind with a Bible reading and a thought or activity for each day (some offer both a morning and an evening devotional for each day)… don’t forget holiday devotionals (Advent/Christmas and Easter in particular)
At least one spiritually-enriching book you want to read (books I’ve reviewed on this blog qualify, like The Gospel According to Jesus, The Invested Life, Total Truth, and Chasing Perfect — there will be many more, so subscribe below if you haven’t already!)
Try to vary the category of these books — Bible study books (focusing on specific scripture or books of the Bible, topical studies, studies for women, etc.), Christian biographies (of both historical and more current day saints), Christian classics (by authors like Calvin, Pink, Sproul, Packer, Stott), books on Christian living (including but certainly not limited to those aimed at women), apologetics books (strengthening your “defend the faith” muscles), books on heaven (a most worthy topic on which to focus our minds), books on Christian hospitality and homemaking — really any topic authored by a Bible-literate Christian who can help us see the world through God’s lens a little more clearly
Optional: classic Christian fiction. I’m talking about things like Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, or fiction by C.S. Lewis — books that have a track record of building faith.
Now place your basket wherever you’re most likely to spend time alone with God — the comfy chair in the den, the kitchen table, a sunny porch, a window seat — wherever you want to be. To that space add things that will give you pleasure as you spend time with Him — a scented candle, a vase of flowers, whatever device you use to play worship music, that cozy afghan we were talking about! Build your space so that all you have to do for your next God time is grab that steaming mug we were also talking about, and settle in.
The beauty of the basket is that, although you should have a general plan for how you want to work through the various items in your basket, having all those options means you can let the Holy Spirit guide you as well. It also means that later in the day you can grab another steaming mug, if you like, and settle in for another round of time with Him.