{"id":26805,"date":"2024-04-09T07:04:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-09T07:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.themom.co\/?p=26805"},"modified":"2025-01-11T17:41:32","modified_gmt":"2025-01-11T23:41:32","slug":"the-power-in-spiritual-disciplines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themom.co\/fr\/the-power-in-spiritual-disciplines\/","title":{"rendered":"THE POWER IN SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was a Tuesday morning as my three girls and I were driving to swim class. At the next red light, I abruptly turned off whatever we were listening to, and fumbled with my phone to quickly turn on hymns. My oldest daughter noticed this shift and asked why I changed the music. I took a deep breath and said, \u201cMommy really needs some worship music right now. You can worship with me if you\u2019d like.\u201d In the car, we both start singing along to \u201c<\/em>Nothing But the Blood\u201d<\/em> with our hands raised, praising God together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not long into the song, she says, \u201cMom, I don\u2019t think I like separate music anymore.\u201d As I tried to interpret what this three-year-old was trying to tell me with her limited vocabulary, I concluded that she mistakenly substituted the word \u201cworship\u201d for \u201cseparate.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh. Well, that\u2019s okay. Maybe one day you will like worship music. Worship music is the music we listen to in church. That\u2019s why I like it. It makes me think of Jesus.\u201d I replied. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, but I don\u2019t like separate music.\u201d She countered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight. Well, I hope one day you like worship music.\u201d I repeated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She went on to explain, \u201cYeah, I don\u2019t like separate music. You know, like Trolls, and\u2026\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTrolls?\u201d I think to myself. What is she talking about? Then, the lightbulb lit up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJuliette, do you mean to say secular<\/em> music?\u201d I say, hearing the hope in my voice that she wasn\u2019t actually talking about worship music. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah! Sec-a-luh music!\u201d she responded, matching my excitement. \u201cI only like songs that are about Jesus because I love Jesus. Not sec-a-luh music.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The remainder of the car ride, we continued our conversation – a conversation we\u2019ve now incorporated more frequently into our weekly rhythms. We talked about how secular music isn\u2019t always bad. How God wants us to enjoy music that makes us want to dance, smile and have a good time – how we can still see God in secular music, even if it wasn\u2019t intended for that. However, music is a lot like the food we eat. Some food is good for us and makes us big and strong. Some food, while yummy and fun to eat, isn\u2019t good for us and can actually make us feel weak. So, while it\u2019s fun to eat a cupcake occasionally, we can\u2019t eat cupcakes all the time because we wouldn\u2019t grow big and strong. We\u2019d be grumpy, tired and weak. That\u2019s not what God wants for us! Just like food, secular music can be fun to listen to occasionally when you\u2019re dancing and playing with your friends. But if we only listened to secular music, then we would float further and further from God. That\u2019s not what God wants! He always wants us to be super close to Him.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, this moment while on paper seems magically spontaneous, was actually a trained behavior over a span of the previous six months. If I\u2019m being honest, Tuesdays hold rank for my most stressful and dreaded mornings. They consist of me taking on the morning responsibilities solo while my husband attends an early morning bible study and heads to work right after. So, I handle getting all the girls up and ready for the day, completing our morning liturgies, and somehow managing to get three kids (three and under) ready for nine o-clock swim class. The chaotic environment heightens my anxiety straight into the Slough of Despond<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One discipline that has helped in grounding me during these moments of spiraling negative thoughts and dynamic environments is turning to worship. When my mind is racing internally, and multiple external variables are also pulling at my attention, focusing on prayer becomes very challenging. By taking two minutes to stop what I\u2019m doing and turn on my favorite worship playlist, I am actively making a decision to welcome God into my chaos instead of letting the chaos control me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making this decision to stop and worship did not come without cost. It wasn\u2019t an easy shift for my two toddlers who are overly passionate about their music. I had to persevere through the constant whining and tantrums because, \u201cI wanted to listen to Moana!\u201d But over the weeks, I persisted to explain to a two and three-year-old the \u201cwhy\u201d behind our new daily shift to \u201cJesus music.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMommy is feeling sad today, and Jesus music helps me not feel sad anymore.\u201d I would say. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMommy is feeling very overwhelmed right now, so I need to focus on Jesus music.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMommy keeps being mean today. I need Jesus music to help me be joyful and kind to you.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes it would be as simple as, \u201cMommy just needs Jesus music right now!\u201d In those circumstances, the urgency in my voice would usually be enough to prevent further questioning from my two Disney princesses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turning to worship doesn\u2019t necessarily \u201cfix\u201d the problems I\u2019m experiencing. Although, sometimes it certainly can. Worship is simply a spiritual discipline we\u2019ve adopted in our house for this season of our lives to anchor us to God\u2019s truth when we\u2019re floating further from our heavenly Father. And as I told Juliette, \u201cGod always wants to be super close to us.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benefits to practicing spiritual disciplines with your kids: <\/p>\n\n\n\n