New Book: "Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full: Gospel Meditations For Busy Moms"

Watch Video Here

Tonight I started to read a little booklet that I got at the CBMW conference this week called: Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full: Gospel Meditations for Busy Moms by Gloria Furman. (The entire book was just published this March! I can't wait to buy it!)






Just in the short first introductory chapter my heart was spoken to as I read the words from another mom with young children who wrote of looking to Christ and His gospel for your strength and not to the world.

I must share some of my favorite quotes thus far:

"It doesn't matter where you are from or what your circumstances are; the greatest reality a mother can appreciate and rest in is the work that Jesus has done on the cross on our behalf. " (pg. 14)

"Day and night, moment by moment, we must choose to rest in Jesus. That's what it means to treasure Christ when your hands are full, whether you have one child or a dozen. " (pg. 15)

"Because of the gospel, we mothers can rejoice as we find our hands full of blessings in Jesus, because all we know is Grace. " (pg. 15)

This here is my favorite quote of them all:

"The gospel stands above and beyond all the most practical, family-friendly, or cost-effective philosophies of mothering. The good news of Jesus Christ is superior to our to-do lists and metaphorical mother-of-the-year trophies. This is because the greatest problem a mother has is not a lack of creativity, accomplishment, or skill, but her inability to Love God and others as Jesus loves her (John 13:34)." (pg. 18)

WOW!!! What conviction! What humility that brings to ponder that my greatest problem is not that I completely fail at mothering many days... or that I can't keep my house clean with toddlers... it's that I cannot love God or others apart from Christ! Instead of focusing on all of my failures and struggles as a mom, I need to focus on God and how I stand before Him.

Because of Christ: FORGIVEN!

I cannot wait to delve into this book and learn more about applying the truth of the gospel to motherhood. My heart longs to grow in this and to be found faithful!

New Books to Read!

At the CBMW Conference that I attended yesterday, each person received a free bag of books to take home. I'm super excited about a couple of them, specifically for women and mothers. Here are the titles:

Christ in the Chaos: How the Gospel Changes Motherhood

by Kimm Crandall

I'm pretty sure that I NEED to read this book! haha... Chaos? Motherhood? Yup! I need it! :-) 

The Measure of Success: Uncovering the Biblical Perspective on Women, Work, and the Home

by Carolyn McCully with Nora Shank

I read Carolyn's book "Did I Kiss Marriage Goodbye? Trusting God with a Hope Deferred" as a single adult and loved her heart and writing! I can't wait to see what this new book has to offer!

Check out an interview with Carolyn HERE about her new book!

A couple fun books for Kyle:

Manhood Restored: How the Gospel Makes Men Whole

by Eric Mason

Prepare Them To Shepherd: Test, Train, Affirm, and Send the Next Generation of Pastors

by Brian Croft

For Both of Us:

Risky Gospel: Abandon Fear and Build Something Awesome

by Owen Strachan

CBMW Conference 2014

Today I enjoyed the privilege of attending a conference by the Counsel on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood as a pre-conference to the Together For the Gospel conference, happening here in Kentucky these next three days.

Here is a video of what we got to expect from the conference:

We were not disappointed and by the time I finished taking notes off each session, my thumb was more than sore! Haha...

If you're not familiar with the term "Complementarianism", you can read more in this fun read called Complementarianism for Dummies. 

Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

*See Here for the Live Blog from the Conference. *

"Complementarianism is important because God has created men and women different. These differences need to be recognized and taken account of in the course of Christian discipleship." -Ligeon Duncan

"Men and women face different temptations. If we don't recognize this, we fail in Christian discipleship." -Ligeon Duncan

Kevin DeYoung spoke about the "eager posture" of men and women. The woman's biblical posture is to be a helper to her husband. The man's biblical posture is to lead his wife. "The most important posture in complementarianism is not for the woman to sit down but for the man to stand up."

Complementarianism is not about forcing women to submit or making them slaves to their husbands who rule them with iron fists. Rather, its encouraging men to STEP UP and take on their God-given roles of servant-leadership in their homes and for the wife to willingly support and submit to him as her leader and head.

For the Women's Panel, there were a couple quotes that really stood out to me too:

"Respect your husband through the little kindnesses that were characteristic of your dating." - Candice Watters

"When you see things you desire to change in your husband, pray for him in that. This is work and growth that only God can do." - Jodi Ware

Lastly, I must post a fun picture of my dear friends who attended the conference with me. We then enjoyed lunch together at Zoe's Kitchen. It was my first time eating there and Oh My Goodness! How have I been missing out on this Mediterranean food? I LOVE greek-style food! Yum!

To read some wonderful articles for women, specifically, check out this link for the CBMW.