#103. This Rhythm Has Been Key to Our Sanity: Establishing Quiet Times or Thinking Times

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Happy New Year everybody.

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I hope you have checked out the

new Dwelling Place podcast for busy

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moms This is a great way for moms to

read the Bible when they have time.

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thanks, honey.

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Happy New Year.

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As we head into 2026, I wanted to

share one of the things that was

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pivotal for helping me keep my

sanity as my kids were outgrowing

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naps and getting a little bit older.

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I wrote this on the Entrusted

Ministries blog years ago, I'm

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gonna kind of flash back to those

years when my kids were younger.

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It's a concept that Betsy talks about

in Entrusted with a child's heart,

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and she labels it thinking time.

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We've always called it a quiet time

in our home, whatever you call it.

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I think it's really good for kids to

establish some independence and help them

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to have some peace and quiet on their own,

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This is a routine that we have kept even

as they have gotten older, especially on

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Sunday afternoons, my kids often have

a rest time, so we can take a breath.

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That's a time my husband and

I communicate, and we can just

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have a little peace in our home.

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And Betsy recommends the following

guidelines that it would be when

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they've outgrown naps and that it's

kind of a precursor to having a

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daily Bible time or daily quiet time.

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She didn't give them toys during

this time, but said having

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music or a book would be great.

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She even says that nothing is good too.

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to give them time to meditate or

think and to give mom a small break.

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She recommends 30 to 45 minutes

long and that they might even

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fall asleep during the time.

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For her day.

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She really liked it to be around the

time that she was beginning dinner and

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that she could have the house calm for

when her husband arrived home from work.

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I took the heart of this idea and

modified it slightly for our family.

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We have always had it right after

lunch because I wanted a quiet home to

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put my littlest ones down for a nap.

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Additionally, if the kids were gonna

fall asleep, I certainly wanted that to

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happen earlier in the day and not later,

so that it would extend their bedtime.

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Even though my three boys always

shared a room, I found it was

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necessary to separate them if this

was actually going to be a quiet time

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and you may not believe me, but when

I say, all right, it's quiet time,

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their little feet start to run up the

stairs, how did I get them to do this?

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It's because I had a deal that the

first one up the stairs got to pick

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the room that they would rest in.

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resting in the master bedroom or in the

guest room was really exciting for them.

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It was just a very motivating thing.

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As soon as I would say that phrase, it's

quiet time, they would rush up the stairs.

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Of course, right before that, I would

make sure that they'd gone to the

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bathroom, that they had some books.

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And then set a timer for about 40 minutes.

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If they didn't hear the timer go off,

I'd come upstairs, open each bedroom to

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see who fell asleep and tell anyone that

was awake to come back down to play.

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During the school year, we would do

school all morning, then have lunch,

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and then quiet times, and they would

know that after the quiet time, if

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we got through everything, that they

could watch a show if they didn't

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have additional schoolwork to finish.

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There was a neat moment when a

neighbor boy knocked on the patio door.

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My son jumped up from the table to

slide open the door and said, hi, John.

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We're eating lunch right now, and

then I have a quiet time, but I can

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ask my mom if I can play after that.

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I was so thrilled that this routine

was really established and that

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he knew that this quiet time was a

non-negotiable part of our day at home.

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with almost anything in parenting, I've

realized You may have a frustrating

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week or month or sometimes even years of

setting a standard, but you're gonna be

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so blessed for years so don't give up.

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Was it difficult to initiate this

practice since the transition from

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napping to No Napping can be hairy.

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Having a quiet time really helped.

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However, I have to be honest that

there were those moments that little

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ones wanted to escape from their

rooms because mom, it's just so long.

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I did set the timer for shorter periods

as I was first training . But remember

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for the moment, all discipline seems

painful rather than pleasant, but later it

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yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness

to those who have been trained by it.

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As Hebrews 1211 says,

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but truly, this daily practice

has been such a blessing to me.

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My boys are energetic and loud, and it

gives me a little sanity to have them

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each in a room by themselves focusing

on books or their thoughts or prayers

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and that I can organize my own thoughts.

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I would usually start out the time

finishing up a few housekeeping

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items, like responding to emails or

making a doctor call, and then I'd

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end it by having time with the Lord.

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What I liked about this is that when

my kids came down from their quiet

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times, they saw me having mine too.

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I wish I could have been more of a

morning person, but especially during

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those years where you're having

newborns or not sleeping through the

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night, it was so much easier for me to

read my Bible later in the afternoon.

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I tried to play worship music in

the morning to start my day out and

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invite God in, but my focus time in

the word was in my afternoons And

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during some of those really tiring

pregnancy months, there were days

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where I just needed to doze a bit too.

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Regardless of how you use that time when

your children are resting, it's really

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a mental reset to have some solitude.

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and the training that I was providing

for my kids in a world so inundated

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with constant communication, I gave

them a gift to learn to be still.

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and I also helped instill a

love of books in them because

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they had so much time to read.

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Maybe you have a similar practice in

your home or maybe you're thinking,

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I have got to establish this.

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Regardless.

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I hope that you do have a plan

for seeking the Lord this year.

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And our heart and Entrusted Ministries

has always been to help you do that.

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And that's why we launched the Dwelling

Place Bible Podcast for busy moms.

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The episodes are under 10 minutes a day.

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In it.

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We'll read scripture over you.

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We're gonna point out some key truths

for parenting and then we'll pray.

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pray over you and your kids.

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I hope that you've checked that out.

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I'm gonna link it in the show notes.

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There were some prep episodes launched

December 26th, but don't feel any pressure

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that you have to listen to all those.

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They were just to help

set you up for success.

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but today at the beginning of

January, You can begin to walk

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through scripture with us.

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Seeing the heart of God,

to dwell with his children.

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And hopefully that helps your drawing

place be transformed into a place

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where Jesus Christ is glorified.

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It's sometimes hard to start

a new in your house, but.

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That is so true.

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before I let you go, I wanna

tell you what's coming ahead

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for the, again podcast.

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I wanted to deliver this episode

to you to remind you about

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the Dwelling Place Podcast

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and encourage you to have some rhythm

in your day that you are able to think

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thoughts without being interrupted.

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we'll give you a couple weeks

break, and then I have some

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amazing interviews coming your way.

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The first will be about.

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How do you parent A DHD in a biblical way?

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still instituting all of the teaching

that we encourage and Entrusted with the

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child's heart and following scripture,

but adapting for how these kids are wired.

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I also am sitting down with Dan Trippy.

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He is from the Center for Christian

Thought and Ethics, and he's gonna

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guide us in how we discuss some of

the most controversial, difficult

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topics going on in culture today.

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How do we talk to our kids and then

others around us that may wonder,

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why do Christians think like they do?

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Stay tuned.

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We've got a lot coming, but we hope

that we can encourage you in the Word

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through The Dwelling Place Podcast too.

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Happy New Year and thanks for listening.