{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"4161 Make Time Before There's No Time","description":"There's a shift that happens every year around this time. You can feel it coming. The backpacks come out. The schedules start stacking. The buses start appearing in droves. And before you know it, the days that once stretched long and slow are suddenly chopped into thirty-minute increments between drop-offs and deadlines. If you're a parent, you know exactly what I'm talking about \u2014 all the more reason why you know it matters to make time before there's no time. Once school starts, calendars fill up fast. Between homework, activities, friends, and screens, meaningful conversations can easily get pushed aside. The noise of the schedule drowns out the quiet moments where trust actually gets built. Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the Kairos FREE Online Community. https:\/\/createyournow.com #ConfessionsOfAnUpsetMama #CreateYourNow #TodaysParent And the thing is, it doesn't happen all at once. It's gradual. One skipped dinner conversation becomes two. One "we'll talk later" becomes a habit. And slowly, without anyone meaning for it to happen, distance creeps into the space where closeness used to live. But it doesn't have to be that way. Right now, you have an opportunity. The season hasn't fully taken over yet. Your kids are still in transition, still adjusting, still open. This is the window. Not next month. Not after things "settle down," because if you've been a parent for more than five minutes, you know things don't ever settle down. They just shift into a different kind of busy. Proverbs 22:6 reminds us, "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it." Training doesn't just happen in the big moments \u2014 the lectures, the lessons, the corrections. It happens in the ordinary. At the breakfast table. In the car on the way to practice. In the ten minutes before bed when you sit on the edge of the mattress and simply ask, "How are you really doing?" Those moments are the foundation. And foundations don't get poured in the middle of a storm. They get laid when the ground is still and the conditions are right. That's where you are right now. The ground is still. Don't waste it. I think about how easy it is to confuse presence with connection. You can be in the same room as your child and still be miles apart. You can drive them to every activity, attend every game, sign every permission slip \u2014 and still miss them. Because connection isn't about logistics. It's about locking eyes, leaning in, and letting your child know that who they are matters more to you than what they do. James 1:19 says, "Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger." When you listen first \u2014 really listen, without fixing, without redirecting, without glancing at your phone \u2014 you're telling your child something words alone can never say. You're telling them they're worth your full attention. So what does it look like to start today? How do you take the opportunity to strengthen your connection and create a foundation of trust that will serve your family throughout the year? As you know, you've gotta make time before there's no time. The K.I.S.S. ~ Make time before there's no time! Think about how you've handled this in the past. Regardless of your kids' ages, how did you make sure that they knew they were a priority? 1. Start one daily conversation that has nothing to do with school. Ask your child about their dreams, their friendships, what made them laugh today. Get out of the information-gathering mode and into the knowing mode. You're not their manager. You're their parent. 2. Put your phone down for the first and last ten minutes. The first ten minutes after you see your child and the last ten minutes before they go to bed are sacred ground. Guard them. No scrolling. No multitasking. Just you, fully there. 3. Speak identity over them before the world speaks performance. Before the grades come in and the comparisons start, remind your child who they are \u2014 not what they produce. Tell them they are loved, they are seen, and they belong. Say it out loud. Say it often. Let it be the voice they hear above every other. You don't need a perfect plan. You don't need to overhaul your entire routine. You just need to begin. One conversation. One moment of undivided attention. One declaration of who your child is in your eyes and in God's. That's enough to start building something the busy season can't tear down. The calendar will fill up. The noise will come. But if you've already laid the foundation \u2014 if your child already knows they can come to you, that you see them, that you're not too busy for what matters most \u2014 then the chaos won't have the power to separate you. It'll just be noise. And your family will have something deeper than a schedule holding you together. Start today. Not tomorrow. Not when things slow down. Go and create your now. "Be present. Be incredible. Be YOU!!!"   \ud83d\udd14 Desire to be supported and encouraged by other like-minded women? Join us at the Kairos FREE Online Community. https:\/\/createyournow.com TAKE A.I.M. ~ Action Ignites Motivation  - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will discuss your specific situation while gaining tools and strategies to move you forward. (https:\/\/form.jotform.com\/62988215824163) \ud83d\ude4f  Create Your Now TV on Pray.com (https:\/\/pray.com) \ud83c\udfa5  Create Your Now on YouTube (https:\/\/youtube.com\/createyournow) \ud83c\udfa7 Create Your Now on Spotify, Pandora, and Audible. \ud83c\udfb6  Create Your Now on iHeart Radio (http:\/\/www.iheart.com\/show\/263-Create-Your-Now-Your-Best\/) \u270d\ufe0f  YourBestSelfie@CreateYourNow.com  Instagram @CreateYourNow @KristianneWargo Twitter @KristianneWargo @CreateYourNow Facebook www.facebook.com\/TheKISSCoach www.facebook.com\/CreateYourNow   Cover Art by Jenny Hamson Photo by Canva.com   Music by Mandisa - Overcomer http:\/\/www.mandisaofficial.com Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright \u00a9 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music -  Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. 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