UP0026: Being a Busy Mother

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  • UP0026: Being a Busy Mother 00:00

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.

UP Episodes

UP0001: Why Think About the Incarnation When It Isn’t Christmas? Peter Mead

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

UP0021: How Should We Talk about the Presence of God? Kyle Strobel

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

UP0036: What was Luther’s spiritual background and how did he change? Graham Tomlin

UP0037: What was Luther’s “Theology of the Cross”? Graham Tomlin

UP0038 How Did Luther Understand Law, Gospel, and the Word? Graham Tomlin

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

UP0041: How did you discover John Newton and how has he blessed you? Tony Reinke

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

UP0046: How were Old Testament believers saved? David Murray

UP0047: In what ways is Christ present in the Old Testament? David Murray

UP0048: How can I see more of Christ in the Old Testament? David Murray

UP0049: Is there a difference between happiness and joy? David Murray

UP0050: Why is happiness so important in the Christian life? David Murray

UP0051 Why the Reformation Still Matters Michael Reeves

UP0052: The Ascension of Jesus Gerrit Scott Dawson

UP0053: The Star of Bethlehem Colin Nicholl

UP0054: A New Day Emma Scrivener

UP0055: Escaping Escapism Dave Griffith-Jones

Gloria Furman

Gloria Furman

Gloria Furman is a wife, mother and author. In 2008 her family moved to the Middle East to plant Redeemer Church of Dubai where her husband, Dave, serves as the pastor. She is the author of 'Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full', and she blogs regularly at Desiring God, The Gospel Coalition, and GloriaFurman.com.
Gloria Furman

Gloria Furman

Gloria Furman is a wife, mother and author. In 2008 her family moved to the Middle East to plant Redeemer Church of Dubai where her husband, Dave, serves as the pastor. She is the author of 'Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full', and she blogs regularly at Desiring God, The Gospel Coalition, and GloriaFurman.com.