Gloria Furman speaks about the challenges and blessings of being a busy mother.
Transcription
Welcome to UP, the Union Podcast. My name is Dan Hames, and this week I’m speaking to Gloria Furman. She is a pastor’s wife, a conference speaker, and an author. Gloria, thank you so much for taking the time to be with us. Well, among your books is Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full: Gospel Reflections for Busy Moms, and I want to ask, what do you think are the challenges for Christian parents, especially for moms?
The challenges for parents are, I think, what the challenges for any believer are: mortifying our sin, looking to Christ for everything that we need, looking forward to life forever with him, and choosing not to obsess over what we see in front of our faces.
I’ll give you my day as an example. I’m a mother of 4 young children from nearly 8 down to 18 months, one of them was home ill with some nasty virus that she can’t kick, and the other two are little boys and they’re just home with me all the time anyway, and the biggest one had to get kept home from school because of an afternoon event, and they were just running around destroying the living room, all four of them together all cooped up. And the thought occurred to me that I have not only not made any progress on all the things I wanted to do today, but I’m actually taking steps backward, and they’re creating more work. And the thought occurred to me that the reality of the presence of any work at all means that we’re alive, that we’re outside the garden. And that is mercy; that’s grace. We get to live outside the garden, east of Eden, after the fall. God is intentionally holding our lives together for this very moment. And that reminded me that the posture of my heart ought to be worship all the time. And as annoying as it is to have the work that you’ve done undone, by the little people that you love so much, because of who Christ is and what he’s done and the gifts that he’s given me, in these kids, instead of choosing to be against my children, I wanted to see that I am together with them, and we’re all needy for Jesus.
That was a particular moment for me this afternoon, that every mom can say happens every day; every mom is listening thinking “This is my life!” But so many dynamics are going on there at the same time. The bedrock thing being: is the truth that I’m telling myself, is it grounded in God’s word? Or is it all the things that I’m telling myself, that the world would tell me to hope in? That’s just one little anecdote that I think bears itself out in lives of moms all over the world; they all have different lives. I come from a church where there are 60-ish different nationalities all over the membership roll; I know moms from all over the world. It is such a privilege to worship Christ together with them, and it’s been one of the most rewarding things to see that in this way, we’re all the same. We all need the hope that comes from the gospel, and all of us moms need to treasure Christ when our hands are full.
It’s great thinking myself, not being a mother, that the basics are the same really, so thank you for giving us encouragement for every believer. We’ll hear more from Gloria tomorrow on UP, the Union Podcast.
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UP0002: How is Christ Becoming Man Vital for our Salvation? Peter Mead
UP0003 What Does the Incarnation Mean for Me Every Day? Peter Mead
UP0004: Does Emphasising the Incarnation Risk De-emphasising the Cross? Peter Mead
UP0005: Does Understanding the Incarnation Change the Way We Share the Gospel? Peter Mead
UP0006: What is Our Starting Point for a Doctrine of Scripture? Andrew Wilson
UP0007: How Can Jesus Really be the Centre of Scripture? Andrew Wilson
UP0008: Wasn’t the Canon of Scripture Decided Really Late? Andrew Wilson
UP0009: Why Does the Bible Seem so Outdated on Issues like Gender and Sexuality? Andrew Wilson
UP0010: Why Have You Debated Steve Chalke and Rob Bell? Andrew Wilson
UP0011: Does “Read Your Bible Pray Every Day And You’ll Grow” Work in Adult Life? Dane Ortlund
UP0012: How Can I Stop My Daily Devotions Being Legalistic? Dane Ortlund
UP0013: What Should I Expect From My Daily Devotions? Dane Ortlund
UP0014: How Has the Bible Been Important to You? Dane Ortlund
UP0015: What Advice Would You Give to Someone Who Struggles to Read the Bible? Dane Ortlund
UP0016: Luther on the First Commandment 1: What is a god?
UP0017: Luther on the First Commandment 2: True Worship
UP0018: Luther on the First Commandment 3: Receiving from God
UP0019: Luther on the First Commandment 4: A Threat and a Promise
UP0020: Luther on the First Commandment 5: Reflect for Yourself
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UP0022: What Does it Mean to See God? Kyle Strobel
UP0023: Is God Religious? Kyle Strobel
UP0024: What Is Christian Spirituality All About? Kyle Strobel
UP0025: What Is Missing From Our Prayer Life? Kyle Strobel
UP0026: What Challenges Face Christian Parents? Gloria Furman
UP0027: How Does Becoming a Mother Change Your Spiritual Life? Gloria Furman
UP0028: How Do You Teach Your Children and Stay Spiritually Healthy Yourself? Gloria Furman
UP0029: Why is it Important to Keep Christ at the Centre of Family Life? Gloria Furman
UP0030: How Can We Treasure Christ Each Day in Our Busyness? Gloria Furman
UP0031: What Is The Nature Of Spiritual Authority and How is it Open to Misuse? Mark Stirling
UP0032 What is Power in the Bible and What is it for? Mark Stirling
UP0033: How Does Jesus Teach Us About Power? Mark Stirling
UP0034: Should Christians Avoid Power? Mark Stirling
UP0035: What Can I do if I’ve Exercised my Power Sinfully? Mark Stirling
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UP0039: Are Good Works Important at All? Graham Tomlin
UP0040: What aspect of Luther’s theology do we most need to hear today? Graham Tomlin
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UP0043: How did Newton pastor his people? Tony Reinke
UP0044: What was the central message of Newton’s life and ministry? Tony Reinke
UP0045: What encouragements and challenges might Newton direct towards believers today? Tony Reinke
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UP0055: Escaping Escapism Dave Griffith-Jones
