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Throughout my life, my faith in God has always been absolutely central to my sense of identity and peace and purpose. But to be perfectly honest, in the three years since I started 3 in 30, my relationship with Him has felt more and more distant because I’ve been busier than I’ve ever been in my life, and I just haven’t prioritized connecting spiritually with God the way that I used to. This isn’t something that I’m proud to admit, but I also believe that He understands and loves me anyway,, and I am consciously working to bring back more spiritual connection into my life.  This is why a recent comment on Instagram really resonated with me, and it turns out, it did with many of you as well. I asked the 3 in 30 community there “If you could hear an episode of 3 in 30 about anything, what would it be?” One wise mother left a heartfelt comment about spiritual disconnection and craving a closer relationship with God, and dozens of other women liked the comment and replied to it sharing their agreement and their advice and ideas.  Based on the big response to that comment, as well as my own personal yearning for more connection to God during this busy time in my life, I knew this was something I wanted to cover on the podcast, even though it is a bit outside the scope of what we usually talk about here. To set the stage for this interview, I want to read that comment for you: Lindsey Leon on Instagram wrote: "My biggest issue currently is feeling any kind of spiritual connection–to God, to my own soul, anything. I think the busy noise of motherhood is making it hard for me to hear/feel the quiet [Holy] Spirit, plus the lack of peaceful alone time for meditation and prayer or scripture study. And I’ll be honest, I’m so tired that all of that doesn’t make it high on my priority list anyways. I’ve been reading a lot of articles and listened to several podcasts on the subject but they all come from a (well-meaning) place of assuming that we are all totally able to dedicate more time and attention to spiritual practices. I’d love some ideas for feeling the Spirit without the extra time and attention to give to it. Because I’m certain that God loves me even when I don’t have the time/energy." Yes, God loves you even when you don’t have time and energy, and today on the podcast, I have a guest who is going to share three takeaways for nurturing your connection to Him, even in your busiest seasons. Darla Trendler has been a podcaster for 2 1/2 years hosting the Spiritually Minded Mom podcast interviewing guests about their experiences learning to navigate motherhood by partnering with God. Now she's sharing on a new podcast, http://www.spirituallymindedwomen.com (Spiritually Minded Women), helping Christian women embrace their personal and unique spiritual journey.  Dara has been married to her husband, Tim, for 23 years. With two girls and two boys ages 21-13, Darla's current stage of motherhood involves watching her children leave home, loving teenagers, and being her kids' biggest cheerleader. Darla is passionate about helping women gain confidence in their ability to hear and follow God’s voice, and I can’t wait for you to hear her takeaways today: Three Takeaways on Connecting Spiritually with God, Even When You Don’t Have Extra Time:Set an intention to be closer to Him and then do small things to remind you of that intention. Use everyday moments within motherhood as triggers, such as every time you touch water, think of Him; every time your feet hit the ground in the morning, say a one-sentence prayer; or everytime you feel overwhelmed throughout the day, recite a memorized scripture verse to help you reframe the moment. Reimagine what prayer looks like, and embrace that God wants to communicate with you in the ways that fit with your unique personality, gifts, and passions. You might pray through your writing, painting, enjoyment of music, work outs, cooking, or mothering. Try out different