GLIMPSES OF GRACE
I sat down to read "Glimpses of Grace" as a pretty new mum. I felt as if I had already spent my fair share of time with my nose in a blog, article or book on godly motherhood and home making. I quietly had my fingers crossed that this was not going to hold another "smile as you skip through the glorious blessings of motherhood" or "suck it up, because being a mum is just plain hard" kind of message. It's only taken 12 months for me to know that is just not helpful. I had known that holding onto the Gospel was the answer to the joys and pitfalls of homemaking - I just wasn't sure how. I was desperate for something practical.
Gloria Furman was the reality check I needed. She literally writes from a place where it isn't unusual to be up for the 5th time in one night at 3am with a screaming toddler, greasy hair (because you haven't managed a shower in days), and baby vomit dripping down your back, not to mention a husband who shoulders just as much responsibility and has to be up and off to work at 5am! She knows me, because she's living in the same world.
It was a serious comfort, but also left no room for excuses. If this woman can be planting a church in the Middle East, as well as raising 4 kids under 6 in an unknown culture and seeing glimpses of grace in her home - then so can you and I!
She spends chapter upon chapter spelling out how to embrace Jesus in the sometimes mundane everyday, when you have a house that's filthy by the time you finish cleaning it and a two year old who has an unhealthy obsession with the toilet. She addresses the tiredness that comes with kids, your attitude towards service and hospitality, our relationships, our pain, our idols of self and the picture perfect home, and all in the light of God's word. She does this in a way that doesn't sound pretty yet unachievable, but that makes an actual difference in the way you go about your day.
She says, "When we serve our families with the strength God supplies instead of from our own energies and motivation, we can serve with cheerfulness to the praise of his glory. We don't have to be embittered martyrs on the alter of motherhood and hospitality." We will find glimpses of grace in our homes when we learn how to cherish the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
If you want to find out more about how to do just that, I strongly encourage you to take whatever time you can find to read this book.
REBEKAH SLIGAR IS THE WIFE OF PASTOR ANTHONY SLIGAR FROM DISCIPLES CHURCH SPRINGFIELD. AS WELL AS SERVING ALONGSIDE ANTHONY SHE IS THE MOTHER OF CALEB AND EZEKIEL AND SERVES IN THE DC WORSHIP COLLECTIVE.
Gloria Furman was the reality check I needed. She literally writes from a place where it isn't unusual to be up for the 5th time in one night at 3am with a screaming toddler, greasy hair (because you haven't managed a shower in days), and baby vomit dripping down your back, not to mention a husband who shoulders just as much responsibility and has to be up and off to work at 5am! She knows me, because she's living in the same world.
It was a serious comfort, but also left no room for excuses. If this woman can be planting a church in the Middle East, as well as raising 4 kids under 6 in an unknown culture and seeing glimpses of grace in her home - then so can you and I!
She spends chapter upon chapter spelling out how to embrace Jesus in the sometimes mundane everyday, when you have a house that's filthy by the time you finish cleaning it and a two year old who has an unhealthy obsession with the toilet. She addresses the tiredness that comes with kids, your attitude towards service and hospitality, our relationships, our pain, our idols of self and the picture perfect home, and all in the light of God's word. She does this in a way that doesn't sound pretty yet unachievable, but that makes an actual difference in the way you go about your day.
She says, "When we serve our families with the strength God supplies instead of from our own energies and motivation, we can serve with cheerfulness to the praise of his glory. We don't have to be embittered martyrs on the alter of motherhood and hospitality." We will find glimpses of grace in our homes when we learn how to cherish the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
If you want to find out more about how to do just that, I strongly encourage you to take whatever time you can find to read this book.
REBEKAH SLIGAR IS THE WIFE OF PASTOR ANTHONY SLIGAR FROM DISCIPLES CHURCH SPRINGFIELD. AS WELL AS SERVING ALONGSIDE ANTHONY SHE IS THE MOTHER OF CALEB AND EZEKIEL AND SERVES IN THE DC WORSHIP COLLECTIVE.
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