Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full

Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full: Gospel Meditations for Busy Moms by Gloria Furman

I'm pretty sure you're going to want to read this one, so if you want to pop on over to Crossway to order it and then come back to whet your appetite while you wait for your order to be processed, that's fine, I'll wait.

Let's start with the things I *didn't* like about this gospel-centered encouragement for mothers first.  1)  She says bedtime is a "maturing experience for all of us."  (grrr, bedtime makes me cranky)  2)  She pointed out that I should be loving my children to the glory of God alone rather than falling into the ego trap of seeking my glory in my parenting.  3)  She convicted me that I shouldn't be allowing the tyranny-of-the-urgent decisions to take over my days.  4)  She claimed that serving my family all day should not be motivated by the goal of them all going to bed and no one bothering me again until morning.

Oh wait, those are all really good (though painful to my toes) points.  Seriously, there were only two rather minor points I disagreed with which she references only in passing and I doubt most readers would object to so I'm not even going to bother to mention them.  My other small complaint (hey, I'm digging here in order to give you a 100% honest review) is that a couple of the chapters seemed rather choppy, but that might have been because I had lots of interruptions and it took me about five days (five days, five kids--are you hearing me?) to get through those two chapters.

Overall, this message is Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.  Allow your children to point you to Jesus.  Allow your days and nights with them to work sanctification in you.  Point your children to Jesus.  Jesus forgives.  Jesus extends mercy and grace.  Create a community with other women, not competition for "we need other Christian women in our lives to help us grasp how wide, how long, how high, and how deep is the love of Jesus" (43).  Put your hope in Christ instead of in perfect circumstances, perfect children, or a naptime where children go down without a peep.  See those challenging moments in your day as a "CALL TO WORSHIP".

Her account of how her mother loved her through her adolescence was particularly powerful to me.  "I was a scoffer; she loved me sincerely.  I walked in the counsel of the wicked; she loved me enough to tell me that I was going astray.  I stood in the way of sinners; she loved me enough to tell me about Jesus's forgiveness" (85).  Wow!  I want to be that kind of mom, grace and love-filled--not the annoyed, critical, unable-to-be pleased kind of mom.

This is not a book that condemns or sets a bunch of rules on how to be a good mom.  Rather it gives encouragement and hope.  The gospel.  "The gospel changes how we view our failures, and we see how God redeems our flaws for his own glory" (117).  Oh, I'm not going to say I didn't feel a strong measure of regret at times in reading this, for it opened my eyes to mistakes I have made in my approach to parenting.  But truthfully, I'm not sure this book would be as meaningful to a new parent.  I think it's the seasoned mother, the experienced mama who has made her fair share of mistakes, who is going to gain the most from this hopeful book for she is the one who will more fully realize the power of the gospel in the day-to-day of parenting.

Take heart, fellow mamas, "God is able to make all grace about to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work."  II Corinthians 9:8

(You may remember Gloria Furman's previous book I reviewed.  It was really good--this one was even better.  I received this book in exchange for my honest review.)