How to Create a Quiet Time Routine That Works For YOU!

Mentor Mama:

Today we are going to be talking about the importance of quiet time and creating habits to spend time with God daily that is simple and achievable. You know, to say that we are busy people today is truly an understatement and finding time to fit everything into the day that we need to do and that we want to accomplish is a huge task not to mention exhausting. We know that setting aside quiet moments with God is important, but for one reason or another meeting with him on a regular basis, sometimes just feels hard. Our guest today, Naomi Vacaro, creator of the Wholehearted Community and author of the book, "Quiet - Creating Graced-Based Rhythms for Spending Time with Jesus," will be joining us today to share her approach to quiet time that will refresh your heart and soul. She will help us see how having daily time with God is possible no matter what season of life you are in.

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Mentor Mama:

Naomi Vacaro grew up in Outer Mongolia as a missionary kid before moving to Central Florida at the age of 18. After getting a degree in graphic design, she started working as a wedding photographer and married Matthew Vacaro shortly thereafter. In 2018, Naomi designed a journal called the Quiet Time Companion and launched an online ministry to help Christians develop the daily habit of Bible reading and prayer. She now spends her time writing, running the Wholehearted ministry, and being a stay-at-home mom. Please welcome Naomi.

Naomi Vacaro:

Hi, thanks so much for having me.

Mentor Mama:

I'm so delighted to have you on our podcast today. Naomi, it's been such a joy reading your book called, “Quiet,” and just being on your website and learning about your ministry and all the work that you're doing and you've had just such an interesting life, so I'm so excited to talk to you today. The term, “quiet time,” might bring up a variety of feelings in people. It could even be guilt or, maybe the idea that a devotional time must be done a certain way in order to be right. How would you describe quiet time and its purpose?

Naomi Vacaro:

So, my story is that I personally lived under the power of guilt for many, many years. And that is one of the main reasons why I wrote my book, “Quiet,” and why I started the Wholehearted ministry is to address this thing that I've walked through myself and that I know so many other people walk through. So oftentimes we'll hear the words like daily devotions or quiet time and the first feeling we get is one of failure. I don't know if you've ever felt that way, but I've felt that way so often. It's like we know that we should be reading the Bible and praying more often and there's just an unlimited number of books and articles and podcasts that urge us to do so rightly, but it's really hard to know what success looks like in this area because there always seems to be someone else who's reading their Bible and praying more than we are. So, it's just really easy to misconstrue quiet time and just make it a source of guilt and comparison instead of what it's really meant to be and that is an expression of our personal relationship with Jesus. So, in my book, I use this analogy of tree roots in the introduction specifically regarding the difference between shallow roots and deep roots. So going back to 2017, Hurricane Irma tore through my city here in Central Florida, and the day after the hurricane came through, you would wake up and just see trees everywhere and not little trees, huge trees. So, any tree that had shallow roots in the sandy topsoil just came right up out of the ground. Whereas the trees that were really deeply rooted remained standing. So I like to use this analogy because I think it's a great way of viewing our walk with God. So, like trees, we each choose to stand on something as the foundation of our lives. We choose where to draw our nourishment from, and that's where we choose to stand. That's where our roots will inevitably be planted. So, for example, we can choose to make the things of this world our main source of joy and purpose and those things are, not necessarily bad things, but they're like money or fame or popularity, health, beauty, whatever. But the problem is those things are just like sand, they are not meant to last forever. They're not meant to be our foundation. So, when the storms of life, the hurricanes of life come, our foundation will crumble if that's what we're standing on. On the other hand, if we plant our roots and draw our source of life from the Rock, the Everlasting Rock that is Christ, we will be secured by a foundation that never shifts, never changes, and never falters. And so that's what we want, we want to be firmly fixed on the Rock of Christ, and this is where quiet time really comes into play. When I talk about what a quiet time even is, it's about rooting us in Christ and being in a consistent relationship with him, and just like any relationship, there needs to be that back-and-forth communication and that's Bible reading and prayer in our relationship with Jesus. So, as we practice this rhythm of relationship, our roots will grow deeper into Christ and we will just be more intertwined with the things that are eternal and fixed and secure. So that is just a little bit of my heart regarding quiet time and why I'm so passionate about helping believers become firmly rooted in Christ.

Mentor Mama:

Yes. I love your analogy because it's just so critical that when we're not in that hurricane of a storm, we are taking the time to nourish ourselves and let the roots grow deep so that when we do have the storms in life, they don't completely destroy us. That is such a great analogy. Naomi, you created the Quiet Time Companion a few years ago, and that kind of led you to create this business, which is all about helping people spend time with Jesus. Tell us what led you to do that.

Naomi Vacaro:

It's interesting because before Wholehearted, I was actually a wedding photographer and at that point in time, I really loved my job, but it was a lot and I had just gotten married and I knew I wanted to have kids. So, part of this journey really did involve me thinking that I want to create work for myself that doesn't take me away from my family as wedding photography would. So, I prayed and prayed for months. I really sought the Lord and asked Lord, what are you doing? Where are you leading me? And after several months of prayer and trying a lot of different ideas, I'm an entrepreneur at heart, so I had a lot of different ideas, but nothing really seemed right. Nothing. The Lord didn't really confirm any idea until one day I was sitting in my living room in my newlywed apartment, and I was having a quiet time and on the dining room table were just strewn all of these different journals and pieces of paper and pens. It was just a lot of stuff. And I remember thinking, man, it would just make it so much easier to have a quiet time if I could have some kind of organizer or planner, like a calendar planner, but specifically for a quiet time, not for your schedule. So, at that moment, I just felt like I needed to create this, that this was something that God wanted me to do. And so, I really got down to work. I gathered a support team and a focus group of my friends and we designed this journal called the Quiet Time Companion, and as I was designing it, my vision grew beyond just the product and I began to realize, wow, this actually touches on an even deeper need in my community and that is help and discipleship to have a quiet time and a grace-based quiet time, not just religious duty, but how do I help my friends create this rhythm in their lives? So that's why Wholehearted then was founded because it coincided with the Quiet Time Companion and it gave a ministry side to the product and to the business and now Wholehearted has been around for almost four years. We help believers all over the world create this habit of Bible reading and prayer. We have a team of, I think now we're over 20 women who write for us, work for us, help us, and we offer just a bunch of different resources, to help in this quiet time endeavor. So, that's the story of how Wholehearted came to be and it has been a wonderful journey from the very start.

Mentor Mama:

It's so exciting. And I would just encourage our readers to check out your website too, for even more resources than what we're talking about here with your book. Let's talk about what changes when we reframe quiet time as a habit or rhythm of life, rather than it just being one more item on our schedule.

Naomi Vacaro:

I don't know about you, but I'm obsessed with my schedule— I'm a to-do list person. And so, my temptation is to make my relationship with Jesus something to check off my list, so that's not good, but let me explain why. So, a habit or a rhythm of life, really does become a part of who we are. It's not just what we do. It really becomes a part of who we are. And so on one hand, I do think it is good to put important things on a daily checklist. Like we do want to get really good routines into our lives because they're important. We should make it a priority to brush our teeth and go to the grocery store and work out and quiet time can be on that list because it is a rhythm that we want to include. However, as I mentioned, the temptation is to then kind of diminish the relationship we have with the God of the Universe to a 30-minute quiet time every morning. And I say this a lot, but having a quiet time with Jesus, that's only part of the Christian walk. The Christian walk is more than that, but it is not less than that. That is really foundational, but it goes beyond those 30 minutes, and beyond just the checklist. So once our Bible reading and our prayer are done, it's really easy to cross it off and just forget that we need the help of the Holy Spirit for every other task on our to-do list and I forget that all the time, but this is the whole point of having a quiet time is it infuses the rest of our day with truth, with life, with purpose, and with joy, even though we encounter things that will definitely throw us for a loop. So, we will need to come back to Christ again and again, and those moments really you can't predict those with a to-do list. So, framing quiet time as a kind of a rhythm helps us remember that our true identity is Christ's child. We belong to Christ. We are followers of Christ first. We're not moms, wives, workers, or writers. You know, those are not our first identities. Our identity is that we belong to Christ and that relating to God is part of who we are and it's not just what we do for 30 minutes every day. Quiet time is the foundation, it's the launchpad and it's not just another mundane to-do list item.

Mentor Mama:

Absolutely, and I would just add to that and say that once you are in this rhythm, you just look forward to it so much and I think people, maybe who haven't started reading the Bible, and I just would want to encourage you to do that with a good study Bible even if you're not familiar, it helps you understand it more but when you start learning about the different qualities of God in any of the readings of the Bible, I've been reading through Ezekiel and I've been amazed at what I've learned about God and his heart, just that he looks forward to hearing our prayers it says in there. And so, I think when you get into this rhythm and you just can't wait to do it, because like you say, it gets your day off to such a tremendous start and you're building your roots very deeply. What advice would you give to someone who's just newly starting or perhaps restarting their quiet time habit?

Naomi Vacaro:

So, even just to kind of touch on what you said, Ellen, I think it's important to let people know that this quiet time rhythm, will lead to a delight in our relationship with Christ. However, it won't always feel delightful. There are going to be seasons where having a quiet time actually feels more like drudgery than a delight. And this is something I write about, I think in chapter three of my book is just, that there are different seasons and sometimes the feelings just don't line up with reality. The reality is a delight, but sometimes our hearts are just not there, so don't be dismayed. Whoever's listening, don't be dismayed. If you are really struggling to feel delighted in your quiet time, you're not enjoying it—don't worry, stick with it. Those feelings of joy will come. I promise you, they will come as you are faithful to seek the Lord. So, if you're just starting or if you're trying to restart your quiet time habit for like the 20th time because I've been there totally! My encouragement to you would be to really just start small. So often we overcomplicate things and maybe this is because we compare. We compare ourselves to our friend who has all the highlighters and all the study guides and they really love that aspect of quiet time and then we think we need to do that too and we make quiet time a lot harder than it actually needs to be. So, I just say always remember, it's about having a relationship with Jesus. You don't have to do a super in-depth Bible study or pray for an hour right off the bat, right? That's not the definition of a successful quiet time. Those are really good things and I would encourage you to pursue those things if you can. But if you're in a busy season and you just want to create a habit that will stick longer than a few days, it might be better to just start small and then grow and add in things from there. So, I recommend choosing a Bible reading plan. This is huge. It's a little thing, but it's huge because it really takes away the stress of trying to decide what you're going to read every day. So, just have a plan for what you're going to read before you sit down and open your Bible. After that, I would say write down three or four things that you want to pray about every day. Include something you're grateful for, include something that you need the Lord's help for and this can be a sin struggle that you confess and a physical need or something else, and then finally, include something that someone else needs the Lord's help for. So those are the three basic things I try to add to a prayer list. And once you have those things, a Bible reading plan, and a prayer list, then just look at your daily schedule, choose a time, and get practical. It's okay to get practical, choose a time that makes the most sense, and then just set your alarm each time you sit down to be with the Lord. Start with 20 minutes, just 10 minutes, reading your Bible, 10 minutes praying and it's okay to go over but the point is we don't want to overload ourselves. We don't want to make it overwhelming because then it'll be harder to come back the next day. Then, my final encouragement here is just to remember that if you are in a busy season, as I think most of us are, isn't that just kind of the word of our culture? Is busy? It's like, how are you? I'm busy. We're all busy. If you're in that season, then your need for God is deeper than ever, it's greater than ever, and investing your time into a relationship with Jesus is not wasteful. It does not waste your time to sit with him for a few moments every day. In fact, the time you spend with him will set your tone for the rest of the day, and your busy schedule, I believe, will have less power to overwhelm you and discourage you if you are taking it to Jesus first.

Mentor Mama:

Yes. I love that. I completely agree with that. Also, when I've sat down to do my quiet times before too, I have realized that I've approached it in more of a legalistic way and I've jumped into my reading and then I've actually stopped myself and said, good morning, God, how are you today? Do you know what I mean? I’m trying to think of it in this personal relationship like I just read all about you, but I haven't communicated with you. And so, I encourage people to just think of it as if you were sitting across from someone and having a conversation when you approach your quiet time.

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Mentor Mama:

How can we say, no to a works-based, never-good enough mindset when it comes to making a consistent quiet time habit?

Naomi Vacaro:

So, I walked in that mindset for years and I really thought that my quiet time was a ritual that I had to perform in order to be a good Christian. And I wonder how many believers maybe think that way themselves without knowing it or that's how you're treating spiritual discipline. And it might actually be keeping you away from the delight of a relationship with Jesus when it doesn't need to be. So, guilt-based, quiet time, as I said, sees Bible reading and prayer as a ritual that we absolutely have to perform or we're off the mark and we failed. It sees God as a taskmaster who just keeps track of our failures, versus our good works. And then worst of all, guilt-based, quiet time. It really does pull us further away from the relationship that Christ wants us to have with Him. So we really do need to say no to it. We need to say no to this guilt-based, works-based, quiet time that takes God's love out of the picture. On the other hand, when we practice grace-based quiet time, here's what that looks like. We are making that rhythm more about a loving relationship than a religious rule. We just have to get it into our heads first it's a relationship, not a rule. We need to remember that the grace of Christ has already made us perfectly acceptable in the sight of God, and now we don't have to do anything to prove ourselves or gain his favor, and I just have to say that to myself again and again and again, because I am such a performer. I am such a works-based mindset person but Christ has taken care of that. We now can operate because of his work on the cross, we can operate from a place of love, responding to the grace that God has already shown us. So, when we flip that around, that's grace, that's the Gospel when his grace reaches down for us first and we respond to that grace, that's the difference. So, with a grace-based, love-fueled, quiet time. Guess what? There is freedom. There's the freedom to miss a day here and there and just pick it up again tomorrow. Just keep trying, keep coming back, but there is freedom and there's the freedom to change up your routine to better accommodate your season. You have nothing to prove. You have nothing to earn. You have everything to enjoy in the presence of Jesus, and eventually, once that clicks, you're going to realize, I don't want to miss out on that. I don't want to miss out on what Jesus has for me in his presence. And that's what grace-based quiet time is all about.

Mentor Mama:

That just makes me want to put a big sign over in my little quiet time chair that says, grace-based quiet time. Thank you so much for reminding us that it truly is grace-based and that we are always trying to do, do, do, and, I know people struggle with feeling guilty or not getting enough. I know there have been times when the phone rang and then I got distracted and I've never got back to it, and I’ve like, ugh, but you're right, we have to give ourselves grace and allow the love of Christ to be more overwhelming to us than having this sense of, this is just something I have to do.

Naomi Vacaro:

Right.

Mentor Mama:

What would you say to someone who feels like their quiet time has just become stale or boring?

Naomi Vacaro:

As we mentioned earlier, this is really normal, so if that's you today just don't be alarmed. This happens to everyone and I used to think that if my quiet time became boring, somehow, I had gotten off track in my relationship with God. And really, sometimes that might be the case. Search your heart and try to find the reason, but it really could be that there's actually nothing serious going on and that you're just in a season where your feelings aren't lining up with the reality of Jesus and his love for you. There could be a more serious reason like deep-rooted sin issues that can cause us to fall into these ruts where we just don't enjoy God's presence. We need to dig those out, you guys, we need to get serious about that, or significant suffering really can cause our quiet time to lose its luster. Now that changes for people. I tend to get more joy out of time with Jesus when I'm suffering, but sometimes not. Sometimes it's really hard to pray when I'm walking through grief. So in any case, you really just need to start. Don't be too alarmed, but start by asking the Lord to just reveal to you why it's become boring, why it's become stale, and ask him to restore your joy. Again, it's a relationship you guys, so bring him into it. Tell him, Lord, I'm super bored right now. Tell him what you're feeling and he will help you. There are also some practical things that you can do. You don't have to passively just let it go by, you can shake things up and make your quiet time a little more interesting. So, for me, this looks like worship music, I like to go on prayer walks when the weather's nice, or even start a new book or a new Bible study, that can spark my excitement to sit down with Jesus. So, at the end of the day, just don't take your own lack of emotion too seriously, you know, pray and search for the reason, but just trust that as you remain faithful in the discipline, in the consistency, by God's grace, the delight, it will come again in time.

Mentor Mama:

Yes, that was just so beautifully said, and you're right, we will have ebbs and flows of how our life changes over time. Speaking of changes, what tips or advice would you have for someone who's experiencing a big life change coming up like a move or a wedding or a new child? How can they prepare to adapt their quiet time to this new season?

Naomi Vacaro:

Well, I have been through all of those transitions and they are doozies! They are no small thing and it's okay to realize that new seasons really do affect us and they affect all of our routines, not just our quiet time. So how to prepare for that? I will just say that if you start to have a quiet time now, when you're not in a big season of transition, it will be easier to maintain the habit or revamp the habit later on. It's really hard to try to start something new in the midst of a transition, or maybe for some people that works, but it does not for me. So, starting right now, right where you are, is always a good idea. But more than that, I would just say, just try to spend a good amount of time praying over the season ahead. The answer will always be, go back to Jesus—always. Just trust that the Lord will give you grace as you transition into this new role and just prepare your heart because it's a sanctification, all of these transitions, it is a furnace of sanctification and the Lord will use it. He will, even though it might not feel great, so when the time comes, step into the new season confidently, trusting that the Lord is using all of the chaos, all of the change, and then do your best to maintain your quiet time routine, but don't worry if things get lost for a little while. If it takes you some time to regain your footing after a big transition, that's really okay. The main thing is that you just don't give up altogether, you know, keep it on your list of priorities, and then as you get settled into your new season, it will be easier to get that back into your rhythms. So personally, it took me probably six months to relearn my quiet time after I got married. Just getting married made my quiet time more difficult and then, y'all, after I had a baby, that's like a whole other level! After I had my first baby, and every mom can agree, it's a huge transition and it's exhausting and terrifying and amazing, but it took me a solid year before I became consistent again. And in that time, I was really careful not to let guilt overwhelm me. I was like, no, Naomi, it's not about performing. You have a newborn right now. Pray when you can, pray in the middle of the night when you're nursing, come to Christ for help, walk with him, but you don't have to perform the religious ritual of quiet time. That's not what it's all about. So, just because you're struggling in a new season to have a quiet time, that doesn't mean that Jesus isn't walking with you. He is and he is making you into more of his likeness even as you struggle to spend time with him.

Mentor Mama:

Absolutely, and I would also like to encourage working women because I have been through that season. I was a stay-at-home mom for 10 years, and then I went back to work and it was so hard for me to reestablish a quiet time. There was this season in my life when I had gone back to work and I just was struggling and I was having this feeling of guilt about not being able to do what I used to do. Then I just really looked for other creative solutions and I remember I would listen to praise and worship music while I was driving. I would listen to Moody Radio because they have wonderful morning programs teaching God's Word. I remember just doing breath prayers while I was driving all the way to and from work. Now with apps like YouVersion, you can actually have the Bible read to you while you're in the car and driving. So there are so many creative solutions. I don't want people to feel discouraged. I know I personally felt discouraged during that time, but now looking back at it and just seeing how I allowed it to evolve and really, what you said, just that remember that God loves you and no matter how you're trying to communicate to him, he loves that. Naomi, tell us about you personally. What does your quiet time look like now in this season of your life?

Naomi Vacaro:

Well, I love that you mentioned what you just said, Ellen, because there are so many different ways to connect with God and to consume His Word, and those really are the two main things. Listening to him by consuming Scripture and speaking back to him, and with him, through prayer and there are so many ways to do that. It's not all just in your little quiet time nook with your highlighters and pens and coffee. That's one way. Personally, I will say that it was really becoming a mom that helped me to see that quiet time could and should be flexible and it can look different depending on your season and I actually think that's a really good thing to learn, because, as we said at the very beginning of this conversation, we don't want to diminish or box in our relationship with God into a 30-minute quiet time in our chair every morning. He's with us in the car, he's with us in the shower, he's with us everywhere, and we can talk to him anywhere. So, I'm just really, really passionate about that and when I became a mom, it was such a hard transition. It drastically challenged my quiet time and I had to get really creative. As you said, I had to listen to the Bible being read on an app. I would pray as I nursed in the middle of the night, but now thankfully, my son is a little older, so he's sleeping through the night. He's getting up at a semi-reasonable hour, though I don't know how I feel about that really, and so thankfully, also my husband works from home and so we're able to kind of tag team things, especially in the mornings and the evenings. So, we try to give each other the time we need to seek the Lord because that is one of the priorities in our home, which is so nice when you have a husband who's really on board with that, it makes all the difference. So right now, in my life, I spend about 30 to 45 minutes with the Lord at about 7:00 AM most days. And I say most days because I miss plenty of days in this season. I missed this morning, so don’t worry, you guys, it's not perfect and that really did use to eat me up with guilt, but I am not a slave to my own imperfections anymore, like I used to be, which is amazing. It's not about perfection, it's about the person of Jesus. Anyway, I start my quiet time by journaling in the planner I designed, the Quiet Time Companion, and then, I read a passage from the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Psalms. I'm trying to go through the whole Bible. I try to do that every year. Then I spend about 10 to 15 minutes just praying to the Lord about various things and then I'm off on mom duty and then work and all the crazy things. So that is what it looks like in this season. It's hit or miss, but it's consistent and that's the whole goal.

Mentor Mama:

How can we as women encourage and support one another in our quiet time habits?

Naomi Vacaro:

I feel like this question can be so charged because first it implies that we should encourage and support one another but it's such a fragile thing because of the guilt associated with it. So, it's really, really hard, but it is very important and I would just say that first, before anything else, we really do need to be in community. We need to be in face-to-face, in-person community with one another in order to encourage and support one another in this habit and in all of the other areas of life. So, start there. I would just encourage the listener to find a local body of believers to do life with, and not just Sunday morning service. Find people that you can see multiple times a week and then just start to get vulnerable and involved in each other's lives, you know, get into each other's dining rooms and kitchens, and start talking about quiet time, start talking about your relationship with Jesus, and once those relationships open up and the trust is built, then you can start to really keep each other accountable and encourage one another with grace, not just, you know, condemnation or a demanding spirit, which that's kind of what comes across when you do this with people you don't really know very well. You can come across not very nicely. So, get into that relationship first and then, I really believe that in order to love one another well, ultimately, we just need to start with our own private relationship with God. If that vertical relationship is in alignment, then our horizontal relationships with others will come into alignment too, as we are living on mission together to seek him. So, begin with your relationship with Jesus, get involved in community, and develop relationships that are genuine and face-to-face and then you can start doing the more practical things like accountability partnership, and getting a mentor, and those things come eventually too.

Mentor Mama:

Yes, absolutely. I love too, just sharing with people, a good lead-in is just to say, you're not going to believe what I learned in my quiet time today. Sometimes you can encourage people just by saying what you're learning and experiencing, and that kind of has a trickled-out effect.

Naomi Vacaro:

I love that.

Mentor Mama:

Let’s talk about your book, "Quiet," which we will have linked here. What is your prayer for readers of your book?

Naomi Vacaro:

I have thought long and hard about this because there's so much, I mean, every chapter is just my soul poured out on paper and there's so much that I would desire to be the results of reading that, but really when it comes down to it, my prayer for those who read, “Quiet,” is that once they finish my book or even before they finish, I just want them to put my book down and run to Jesus. I really just want them to crave God's word and long for prayer, long for that relationship with Jesus. My prayer is that they would not wait another moment to just hit their knees and cry out to God and start actually walking in relationship with him. Jesus is just so ready. He is so ready to embrace us and I'm sick of this lie that our sin and our quiet time inconsistencies somehow make us too unworthy to approach him or make us something that he doesn't delight in. He always delights in us and he always wants to spend time with us because he took care of our failure on the cross once and for all. And so, just like we embraced the Gospel when we first became Christians, we need to cling to the Gospel now as we continue on this journey of creating the habit of a quiet time. So that is my prayer for those who read my book, that they would just not wait any longer. Just go to Jesus, go to Jesus.

Mentor Mama:

Naomi, it's been such a joy to have you on our podcast today. Can you tell everyone how they can find out more information about you and your ministry and your book?

Naomi Vacaro:

Yes. It's been such a joy to be here. Thank you very much for having me. I've loved having this conversation. So, if you are interested in Wholehearted and our ministry, you can visit wholeheartedquiettime.com and that is also our handle on Instagram @wholeheartedquiettime. We would love to have you join our community, and then, personally, I am on Instagram @naomivacaro, no spaces, no periods, nothing just Naomi Vacaro. I do a lot of sharing on there as well from just my personal life and other things so come on, join the fun, I'd love to meet you and connect with you.

Mentor Mama:

Awesome. We'll have her links throughout this blog as well. Before we go, I just want to ask you some of our favorite Bible study tool questions. What Bible do you use and which translation is it?

Naomi Vacaro:

I bounce around between translations, but I am using the Christian Standard Bible right now and I just love it. It's a great translation.

Mentor Mama:

Yes. It's an excellent translation. Do you have any favorite journaling supplies that you like to use to enhance your Bible study experience?

Naomi Vacaro:

Well, I mean, obviously, the only tool I use is the Quiet Time Companion. So, I use that, a pen, and my Bible. So that's really it and it's funny because I really did design this quite selfishly because it was the tool I wanted for my quiet time and now I get to use it every year because we make enough of them.

Mentor Mama:

Oh, it's so great. They're so beautiful too. So yes, we'll put a link to that below. And lastly, what is your favorite app or website for Bible study tools?

Naomi Vacaro:

I don't know if this is technically Bible study, but I personally just love the Dwell app. Oh man, this really was a lifesaver when I became a mom and it's so beautifully read and the music in the background is just really such a blessing. So that is my favorite—the Dwell app.

Mentor Mama:

That is a great app. Naomi, thank you so much for being here today to share your tips on having a quiet time that is meaningful and guilt-free. I hope that's such an encouragement to our readers. You can pick up a copy of Naomi's book, "Quiet," from the link, also please leave a comment on this blog. We would love to hear your thoughts and learn what your quiet time looks like!. Finally, head over to the Coffee and Bible Time website for our prayer journals that will help guide and document your prayer life at coffeeandbibletime.com. We also have two new courses available on how to pray using our prayer journal and prayer binder. Thank you so much for joining us today. We love you all. Have a blessed day.