Cuddle Time

As a parent I have always struggled with family devotions. Prior to the boys being born I had visions of us sitting quietly and reading the Bible, praying and singing together and then the boys came along and reality set in. When they were little exhaustion often won. After fixing dinner, giving them a bath,and reading Good Night Moon what felt like 800 times I could barely keep my eyes open through our bedtime prayers. Devotion time took a backseat and life went on. 

Before I knew it they we in elementary school and with it came homework, lots of homework. Our nights were filled with homework, karate, soccer practice, and once again our time together with God took a backseat to life. 

I never thought it would be this way. God is such a central part of my life how is it that I was not sharing Him with the most important people in my life. Then one day everything changed. Our family was going through some changes and one of the things we decided to do to add a sense of security to our lives was to add cuddle time to our days. Cuddle time is my favorite time of day. 

Every night cuddle time has three parts:

1. We talk about our day, the highs, the lows and everything in between.
2. We recite our gratitude alphabet. We go through the alphabet and tell one thing we are thankful for each letter. 
3. We read our devotional and our Bible. We are currently reading though Jesus Calling for Kids. 

Cuddle time is magical. During this time my boys will tell me things that do not come up in regular conversation, They open their hearts to me and each time they do I realize what a privileged it is to be their mom. More importantly, during cuddle time they open their hearts to God, 

Last night during cuddle time Aiden said, "isn't it amazing how our devotion is always about what we were just talking about." "Yes, Aiden. God is amazing," I said. 

I encourage you to try cuddle time. It isn't always magical. Sometimes my kids stick their stinky feet in my face and begin to talk about Nerf guns in the middle of reading a Bible verse, but that's OK. Cuddle time is messy and unpredictable, but it's worth the effort.  

Does your family have a cuddle time? What are some of the challenges you face? What are some of the victories? Please share your journey with us by commenting on this blog.

Submitted by Damaris Allen