A brand new dispatch from China

Since we live "way over here," we usually get things late rather than early. One year a Christmas box arrived in March, for example.

So... you can imagine how thrilled I was to view a pre-release copy of Episode 8 in the "Dispatches from the Front" DVD series! Who doesn't love getting good news early? 

Last year I counted down the days until I got my copy of the book, which is on my Top 5 list of books I recommend to moms. Our family has long benefitted from the DVDs-- they fuel our prayers and expand our imaginations as we see what God does through ordinary people who have a big view of his gospel. All that to say, it was exceptionally special to watch "No Retreats, No Regret" with the executive producer, Tim Keesee. Episode 8 is set in China, home to 1.35 billion souls - the highest population of God's image bearers on the planet.

The kids thought they were meeting a movie star -slash- Indiana Jones hero. He even brought "the bag," "the orange watch," and "the journal" with him. They all enjoyed Tim's famous "M&M diplomacy," his strategy for making friends with kids all over the world.

Watch the trailer for Episode 8, "No Regrets, No Retreat," then go check out the website to buy a copy and take advantage of their free US shipping. 

Passed Over

Can it be that we should gain an interest in the Savior's blood?

My friend Caroline Cobb co-wrote this song with Sean Carter to tell the story.

Caroline's album, "The Blood + the Breath," was gifted to me by a friend, and is now one of the few albums that I share with others saying, "You need to listen to this." I love to listen to it from the beginning to the end, as Caroline beautifully sings the story of redemptive history.

Ministry as a Minister's Wife

I'm often asked by other pastor's wives, missionary wives, and elder's wives what they ought to do about using their gifts. In sum, I turn the questions back to them and ask: "Tell me about where has God placed you." And here's my 2-minute answer:

Check out the hashtag #PastorsWifeAppreciation and Crossway.org/PastorsWifeAppreciation to find more resources to encourage the ministry wives in your life!

Moms are not alone

Sometimes authors compare their books to babies. The subject at hand is conceived in their heart. Then it grows, kicks you in the ribs, and steps on your bladder until it is time for the book to be born. A host of helpers preside by the author as the book is born-- editors, publishers, agents, cheering friends, and if you're lucky, an anesthesiologist. :) Sometimes there’s the random groups of interns standing in the delivery room taking notes. Finally... the author holds the book in their hands for a moment, and then instinctively passes it along to share with others.

Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full turns one year old this week. Instead of renting a bouncy house, I thought I’d jot down a brief reflection. (And maybe eat a piece of cake?)

Perhaps the dominant theme of the conversations I’ve had with moms this past year is that they are not alone. Two reasons come to mind: 

1. We have fellowship with other moms. What do you do when you think your child may have stuck a Lego in their sinus? If you ask another mom (or ten), you’re sure to find the help you need. As odd as you feel your circumstances may be and as isolated as you feel, you are not alone. Here's an example: One common confession I heard from moms was this-- they are tempted to think of their children as obstacles to their joy, even their joy in God. (Where’s my quiet time?) The more I heard from other mothers the more obvious it became that our struggles aren’t weird or uncommon. For every little anecdote I shared in the book about my own insecurity as a mother, the weariness I feel in my body, and the anxiety that creeps into my heart, I heard from scores of mothers who feel the same way. “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man...”
    
2. We have fellowship with God. Over and above all the camaraderie that mothers can have with one another, God is with us. He is with us in our fight against sin. “...God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Cor. 10:13). And he is with us as we serve his disciple-making purposes. Jesus said in his Great Commission that he would be with us to the end of the age. I’ve read and heard testimonies from moms all over the world that Christ’s presence in their lives is the sum and goal of all their hope and peace. They’re convinced that if he is with us to the end of the age, then he is with us to the end of a stack of adoption paperwork, to the end of a noisy carpool, to the end of a difficult third trimester, to the end of a grocery store tantrum, to the end of a thin budget month, and to every end between now and the end of the age. Christ is our sum and goal; our motherhood is worship. 

I’m thankful for these reflections because they build my faith and remind me that I’m not alone. It’s all too easy for me to look to the world for hope and peace when my hands are full. But the world’s cliche encouragements really are like cheap diapers. Only the gospel can persevere your faith through a spiritual blowout.

Faith that consents to your children's earthly loss

I remember when this engagement proposal "went viral" among my friends after John Piper wrote these reflections on the life of Adoniram Judson.

Only a rock-steady hope in future grace can steady your hand to write a proposal letter like this one. And to respond to a request like this one. A young, twenty-something Adoniram Judson wrote these words to John Hasseltine, the father of his beloved Ann. In case you're not one for suspense... Dad consented and said that he would let his daughter decide. And she said yes. 

I marvel at their faith and the God whom they all trusted. And, as all marveling tends to lead us to do, I reflected on my own heart. Would I, like Mr Hasseltine, reject my tendency to hover over my children in unhelpful ways and times, entrusting them to the Lord? Would I, like Mrs Hasseltine, affirm the songs my children sing of a God who is "so big, so strong, and so mighty" and shake off the fears that try to grip this mother's heart? Would I, like Judson's parents, raise my children to look to the God who raises the dead and acts for those who wait for him? Would I, like Ann Judson, plant my feet firmly in the Bible-- that burgeoning treasure chest full of God's unshakeable promises-- when faced with the prospect of certain earthly danger? As a mother, would I (do I) have faith to consent to my children's earthly loss in light of eternal gain? I pray that I would.

You can read more of Adoniram and Ann's story in the exquisite biography: To the Golden Shore.

Food that Mom AND Kids Will Love

I recently had the delightful privilege of recording some podcasts with UP, the podcast of Union (a ministry of WEST in South Wales).

They asked me several questions on the nature of motherhood and Christianity, and how the two topics intersect. One of my favorite questions was this: 

How Do You Teach Your Children and Stay Spiritually Healthy Yourself?

Here's how I answered the question:
 

Gloria Furman speaks about helping your children to know the Lord while staying close to him yourself.

Pastor's Wife Appreciation Month

Throughout the month of March, we're hoping to pile on an avalanche of encouragement for the pastor's wives and other ministry wives in our lives.

Now, as I'm thinking of other words that end-rhyme with -ives...

Dive into this webpage to see how you can be involved in #PastorsWifeAppreciation

Screwtape vs. Moms

We do not wrestle against flesh and blood.

"Those who suffer the fallout of 'the mommy wars' will be relieved to hear that their suspicions have been confirmed. There are forces at work in this world that are hell-bent against them. But this devilish letter, intercepted by the Ministry of the Defense Against the Dark Forces, reveals that their strategy is coming unhinged."

Read the rest of Screwtape's letter to the frontlines of the Mommy Wars on the Desiring God blog.

5 Best Books for Moms

The Lifeway Church Leaders blog asked me to share names of the top books that I recommend for moms and why.

So, here are five of the books I've been commending most often to moms lately. Click the link to read the "why" behind this list.

1. Mom Enough by Desiring God contributors

2. The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs

3. Future Grace by John Piper

4. Dispatches from the Front by Tim Keesee

5. Taking God at His Word by Kevin DeYoung

Oh, that we may be found in him!

Ephesians 1:3-14

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory."

Mom Enough - a new book from Desiring God

I don't have time for fake hope.

And if you're a busy mom like me, odds are you don't have time either.

Mom Enough: The Fearless Mother's Heart and Hope is a new book out from Desiring God aimed at encouraging moms with timeless, anchoring truth. You can download it from the DG website for free, or buy a paperback copy on Amazon.

What makes this book unique is not only the content, but the diversity of contributing writers: Rachel Jankovic, Rachel Pieh Jones, Christine Hoover, Carolyn McCulley, Trillia Newbell, Christina Fox, and yours truly.

Even the table of contents is chock-full of genuine hope:

Table of Contents

Contributors
Editor’s Preface
1. Motherhood Is a Calling (And Where Your Children Rank)
2. Motherhood Is a Mission Field
3. Motherhood Is Application
4. How Eternity Shapes Our Mundane
5. Desperate, Breathless, Dependent Parenting
6. Are You Mom Enough?
7. The End of the Mommy Wars
8. Mommy Wars in the Local Church: A Parable
9. Mommy Wars Are Spiritual Wars
10. A Pregnant Woman’s Defense Against the Schemes of the Devil
11. The Everyday Question of Motherhood
12. A Treasure Greater Than Our Homes
13. Femininity: June Cleaver, Clair Huxtable, or the Valiant Woman?
14. The Amazing Calling of Motherhood
15. Grace Greater Than All Our Worries
16. The Most Frightening Prayer I Could Pray for My Children
17. It’s Good to Be a Jar of Clay
18. The Real Life of the Pro-Life Home
19. A Tantrum for My Transformation
20. Kissing the Wave
21. A Prayer for the Worried Mom’s Heart
22. Our Children for Our Joy
23. The Idols of a Mother’s Heart
24. Missional Motherhood
Endnotes

When Gathering with the Church Seems "Meh"

When we struggle to see the relevance with the week-in and week-out gatherings with the church it helps to remember the big picture. Ephesians 3 provides such perspective. Here's a devotional I wrote for the CBMW Karis blog, where they are currently doing a series on Ephesians:

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Faster and faster, the world seems to be spinning out of control. Talk of cultural revolutions in the West and political instability in the East is in the air. In light of this, questions of the church’s relevance fly at us from the left and the right.

Ephesians chapter 3 answers those questions by throwing back the curtains on a mystery (3:9-10). In eternity past the mind of the Triune God conceived of the script for a grand megadrama. He created the universe to be the cosmic stage for the glory of his Son, and he predestined the church as the leading lady. In this drama, the mystery of the church is like one big “aha moment,” and it reveals God’s wisdom to those who inhabit the spiritual realm. You could say that the church is God’s cosmic booyah.

From the various stipulations of the covenants, sacrifices, feasts, and temple worship, to the priests, judges, kings, and prophets—these “copies” give way to the “true things” (Heb. 9:23-24) and shine one collective spotlight on the eternal Son. God realized his eternal purpose in Christ Jesus—in his Incarnation, sinless life, sacrificial death, triumphant resurrection, ascension back into heaven, the gift of his Spirit, and his continued work on earth through his Body, which includes believing Jews and Gentiles (3:6).

The gospel frees us to know the love of this Christ that surpasses knowledge. This love has a context—the garden of community (3:17-19). God plants us in the body of Christ where we are “filled with all the fullness of God” (this is a phrase that Paul uses to describe spiritual maturity). The context in which we grow to maturity is the garden of the local church. Jesus dwells in the hearts of individuals by faith, and it is together “with all the saints” where we explore all of the geometry of Christ’s love. How wide, how long, how high, and how deep is the love of Jesus?We were made to help each other discover the answers of these questions. In this garden of community we seek the flourishing of others. Seeds of envy, favoritism, arrogance, racism, and gossip will find no place to cast down their roots when we are all rooted and grounded in love.

Our membership in the church will never expire. The Spirit has descended, indwelling believers and carrying out Jesus’ work. The triumph of Jesus is displayed both to the unseen realm and to the watching eyes of our neighbors as we walk in his ways of cruciform, servant leadership. May the mysterious kingdom of God grow like a garden without borders and gracefully cover the wasteland that our sin has made of this world.

The sovereign Christ who fills all in all through his body the church is at work in the world still. Will we ask him to do far more abundantly than all that we can ask or think?

What did Edwards preach to kids?

"Mommy and Daddy and your siblings love you so much. But guess who loves you m-o-o-o-ost of all?" This is a question we've asked our children since they were tiny, prompted by the excellent children's book by Noel Piper, "Most of All Jesus Loves You" (illustrated by the talented Debby Anderson). Our response to Christ's love is to love him with our everything. We love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19).

This is what Jonathan Edwards preached to children in his congregation. In a sermon preached to children, Edwards gives many reasons "why children ought to love Jesus Christ above things in the world."* A few of his reasons are excerpted below:

• He is more lovely in himself. He is one that is greater and higher than all the kings of the earth, has more honor and majesty than they, and yet he is innately good and full of mercy and love. There is no love so great and so wonderful as that which is in the heart of Christ.
• He is one that delights in mercy. He is ready to pity those that are in suffering and sorrowful circumstances as one that delights in the happiness of his creatures. The love and grace that Christ has manifested does as much exceed all that which is in this world as the sun is brighter than a candle. Parents are often full of kindness towards their children, but that is no kindness like Jesus Christ’s.
• And he is an infinitely holy One. He is God’s holy child, so holy and pure that the heavens are not pure in his sight, so that he is fairer than the sons of men, as the Psalmist says. He is ‘the chiefest among ten thousand,’ and ‘altogether lovely.'
• He is so lovely and excellent, that the angels in heaven do greatly love him. Their hearts overflow with love to him, and they are continually, day and night without ceasing, praising him and giving him glory.
• Yea, he is so lovely a person, that God the Father infinitely delights in him. He is his beloved Son, the brightness of his glory, whose beauty God continually sees with infinite delight, without ever being weary of beholding it. ‘I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before Him’ (Proverbs 8:30). And if the angels and God himself love him so much above all, surely children ought to love him above all things in this world.
• Everything that is lovely in God is in him, and everything that is or can be lovely in any man is in him: for he is man as well as God, and he is the holiest, meekest, most humble, and in every way the most excellent man that ever was. He is the delight of heaven.
• There is nothing in heaven, that glorious world, that is brighter and more amiable and lovely than Christ. And this darling of heaven, by becoming man, became as a plant or flower springing out of the earth. And he is the most lovely flower that ever was seen in this world.
• There is more good to be enjoyed in him than in everything or all things in this world. He is not only an amiable, but an all-sufficient good. There is enough in him to answer all our wants and satisfy all our desires.”

*Excerpted from a sermon by Jonathan Edwards, "Children Ought to Love the Lord Jesus Christ Above All," The Works of Jonathan Edwards, 22:174ff

The Global Rhythm of Prayer and Praise

A friend of mine sent me the text of this hymn as she was going to bed on the other side of the world, encouraging me in my work of carrying on "the global rhythm of prayer and praise."

And now, at bedtime here in Dubai, I'm reminded of the profound truth that God's mercies are new every morning-- and it's always morning somewhere.

Enjoy this hymn written by John Ellerton (1870):

1. The day Thou gavest, Lord, is ended,
   The darkness falls at Thy behest;
   To Thee our morning hymns ascended,
   Thy praise shall sanctify our rest.
    
2. We thank Thee that Thy church, unsleeping,
   While earth rolls onward into light,
   Through all the world her watch is keeping,
   And rests not now by day or night.
    
3. As o’er each continent and island
   The dawn leads on another day,
   The voice of prayer is never silent,
   Nor dies the strain of praise away.
    
4. The sun that bids us rest is waking
   Our brethren ’neath the western sky,
   And hour by hour fresh lips are making
   Thy wondrous doings heard on high.
    
5. So be it, Lord; Thy throne shall never,
   Like earth’s proud empires, pass away:
   Thy kingdom stands, and grows forever,
   Till all Thy creatures own Thy sway.

5 Ways to Set Your Heart on Heaven

In the intro of Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full, I confessed my ongoing struggle to set my mind on things above (Col. 3:2). When Mount Laundry is erupting cotton everywhere while the kids are fighting over the obstacle course they built in the living room and you’ve got company coming over and then you see an email that just makes your heart drop… it’s hard to keep an eternal perspective.

That’s why I’ve adopted this short prayer by Jonathan Edwards as my own heart's cry:

“Lord, stamp eternity on my eyeballs.”

In his sermon, “Heaven, a World of Love,” Edwards gives five practical applications for how to “set your heart on heaven, that world of love, and press toward that better country.” In the spirit of “gospel meditations for busy moms,” here are the five applications summarized:

1.  Don’t let your heart chase worldly things as your chief good. Worldly things are not your chief good in heaven or here.
2. Think often of heaven and what it is like. Communing with God is our business in heaven, likewise let it be here.
3.  Be content in the sufferings you undergo on your way to heaven. The joy of heaven is certain and worth it.
4.  Think of Christ and all that he is. Both now and forever, Christ is our motivation, example, mediator, interceder, strength, and victory.
5.  Live a life of love toward God and men. Even now, let us live as citizens of heaven, which is a world of love.

For those who have a few more minutes to read, I’ve abridged his points a little bit for length below. And if you’ve got about a half hour, you can read the full text of his sermon HERE.

“First, let not your heart go after the things of this world, as your chief good. Indulge not yourself in the possession of earthly things as though they were to satisfy your soul. This is the reverse of seeking heaven; it is to go in a way contrary to that which leads to the world of love. If you would seek heaven, your affections must be taken off from the pleasures of the world. You must not allow yourself in sensuality, or worldliness, or the pursuit of the enjoyments or honors of the world, or occupy your thoughts or time in heaping up the dust of the earth. You must mortify the desires of vain-glory, and become poor in spirit and lowly in heart.

Second, you must, in your meditations and holy exercises, be much engaged in conversing with heavenly persons, and objects, and enjoyments. You cannot constantly be seeking heaven, without having your thoughts much there. Turn, then, the stream of your thoughts and affections towards that world of love, and towards the God of love that dwells there, and toward the saints and angels that are at Christ’s right hand. Let your thoughts, also, be much on the objects and enjoyments of the world of love. Commune much with God and Christ in prayer, and think often of all that is in heaven, of the friends who are there, and the praises and worship there, and of all that will make up the blessedness of that world of love. “Let your conversation be in heaven.”

Third, be content to pass through all difficulties in the way to heaven. Though the path is before you, and you may walk in it if you desire, yet it is a way that is ascending, and filled with many difficulties and obstacles. That glorious city of light and love is, as it were, on the top of a high hill or mountain, and there is no way to it but by upward and arduous steps. But though the ascent be difficult, and the way full of trials, still it is worth your while to meet them all for the sake of coming and dwelling in such a glorious city at last. Be willing, then, to undergo the labor, and meet the toil, and overcome the difficulty. What is it all in comparison with the sweet rest that is at your journey’s end? …

Fourth, in all your way let your eye be fixed on Jesus, who has gone to heaven as your forerunner. Look to him. Behold his glory in heaven, that a sight of it may stir you up the more earnestly to desire to be there. Look to him in his example. Consider how, by patient continuance in well-doing, and by patient endurance of great suffering, he went before you to heaven. Look to him as your mediator, and trust in the atonement which he has made, entering into the holiest of all in the upper temple. Look to him as your intercessor, who forever pleads for you before the throne of God. Look to him as your strength, that by his Spirit he may enable you to press on, and overcome every difficulty of the way. Trust in his promises of heaven to those that love and follow him, which he has confirmed by entering into heaven as the head, and representative, and Savior of his people. And, 

Fifth, if you would be in the way to the world of love, see that you live a life of love — of love to God, and love to men. All of us hope to have part in the world of love hereafter, and therefore we should cherish the spirit of love, and live a life of holy love here on earth. … Happy, thrice happy those, who shall thus be found faithful to the end, and then shall be welcomed to the joy of their Lord! There ‘they shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and lead them to living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.’”

When you think about "women's ministry"

What comes to mind?

Here's a short video of Kathleen Nielson, Jen Wilkin, and me talking about what encourages us the most about what we've seen in ministry among women.

On Efficacious Grace and Baby Bath Time

When my youngest child learned to walk and climb a few weeks ago I was reminded of a habit his older brother used to have regarding bathtubs and pajamas. Which, in turn, made me think of efficacious grace. I explained the [goofy] connection in Glimpses of Grace:

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Being conformed to the image of Christ is not an entirely passive activity, like receiving a set of genes upon conception or someone’s family name in adoption.

While salvation is initiated by God, we are not passive recipi­ents of his grace. Jonathan Edwards called this grace “efficacious,” which speaks of its effectiveness and ability to accomplish God’s purposes in our lives. This efficacious grace implies work on our part. As Edwards described it, “In efficacious grace we are not merely passive, nor yet does God do some, and we do the rest. But God does all, and we do all. God produces all, and we act all. . . . We are, in different respects, wholly passive, and wholly active."* This change is 100 percent initiated by God, 100 percent dependent on the work of Christ, and 100 percent administered by the Holy Spirit.

God’s efficacious grace could be described in terms of the dif­ferent ways you put pajamas on a baby. My son prefers to streak after he takes baths. He even tries to climb out of the tub early before everyone is soaped up and rinsed in order to increase his odds of getting to run around in his birthday suit.

But it’s all fun and games until a naked baby has an accident on the carpet, so I quickly chase him down to put on his diaper. Some nights he runs away shrieking and hides under tables and behind chairs trying to avoid the inevitable. Some nights he quietly lies on the bed while I diaper him, and he might even stretch his legs into the pajamas I hold up.

Either way, whether I have to wrestle his clothes onto him or he peacefully submits to the work I am doing, that boy has never gone to bed without a diaper and pajamas on. Of course, we should love to submit to God’s efficacious grace as he purposes to make us more like Christ! But sometimes we’re like a naked baby hiding behind the couch, reluctant to hold still and thank­fully allow God to work in our hearts and get us ready for what he has next.

Our growth in holiness is initiated and produced by God, and we are to actively pursue holiness. The Bible uses some physically laden descriptions of our participation in grace: we “walk in love,” “run the race,” and “fight the fight of faith.” You get the idea that growing in grace is sweaty, hard work. God works in us as we work out our own salvation. “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:12–13).

This kind of grace frees us to love God! Because Christ acquired salvation for us, we can pray as Augustine did, “Give me the grace to do as you command, and command me to do what you will! . . . When your commands are obeyed, it is from you that we receive the power to obey them.”**

* Jonathan Edwards, “On Efficacious Grace,” in The Works of Jonathan Edwards (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1974), 2:557; emphasis mine.
** Augustine, Confessions, bk. 10, chap. 31.

Excerpt taken from Glimpses of Grace: Treasuring the Gospel in Your Home by Gloria Furman copyright ©2013. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, Il 60187, www.crossway.org.

On Labor Pain and Redemption

References to childbirth in the Bible always make me pause when I’m reading them. My personal experiences and those of the women I’ve served as a doula are brought to my mind. Childbirth in the Bible—whether it is spoken of as an event or used as a metaphor—conjures up multi-sensory memories for me.

I think it would be an edifying study to compile a biblical theology of this subject from the garden to the garden-city… “be fruitful and multiply,” “in pain you shall bring forth children,” “we were pregnant, we writhed, but we have given birth to wind,” “desire when it is conceived gives birth to sin,” “you must be born again,” “my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,” “yet she will be saved through childbearing,” “the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth”...

One such passage stood out to me this week as I was reading.

“For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Rom. 8:22-23).

Without wishing to hyperextend the metaphor, here are just two aspects of childbirth that I think help us to envision this pan-creation labor Paul is describing:

1. The pain of childbirth is all encompassing yet focused. God designed childbirth to be accompanied by a wondrous multitude of complicated processes working together to accomplish one thing. In this event, every system in the woman’s body from the endocrine system to the cardiovascular system focuses on the singular goal of bringing new life into the world.
2. Once labor has begun then childbirth is both imminent and inherently unstoppable. In other words, when a woman is in true labor then one way or another a baby is coming (and not a manatee, like I heard one woman half-joke while in labor). It is unstoppable in that the pains of childbirth can only be managed or masked until the process is over.

In this passage in Romans we read that the whole creation is groaning together in pain as we wait for one thing—our Blessed Hope. All things are aligned under God’s sovereign purpose to glorify himself through the redemption and adoption of his chosen people through the work of his Son. And though we would like to walk out saying, “That’s it; I’m done” in the middle of our pain (a sentiment I've felt and heard laboring women express), we can be assured that deliverance is coming. Lastly, Romans 8:22-23 states clearly that it is redemption and adoption that is nigh (no surprise manatees). Our groaning is not for anything less than this glorious, guaranteed, impending reality.

These hopeful thoughts put all of our present sufferings in their rightful place in God’s redemptive plan as productive, meaningful, focused, and never, ever wasted.

What does God's kingdom have to do with our family life?

Have you heard about the Gospel Project curriculum? Here's the description from their website:

The Gospel Project is a Bible study resource that invites Adults, Students, and Kids of all ages to dive deeply into God’s story of redemption through Jesus Christ. In every lesson, participants are immersed in the gospel and learn how when the gospel works on them, they become a part of the story, too, the very hands and feet in God’s gospel project.

Led by General Editor Ed Stetzer and Managing Editor Trevin Wax, The Gospel Project is designed to unify an entire church under a single Christ-centered curriculum. Separate study plans for adults, students, and kids ensure the proper focus and depth for each age group.

I was honored to contribute a blog post to the GP blog on family life and God's kingdom. Here's my intro:

“But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15b).

Could there be a grander vision for the family than this? It is no wonder this verse is brought up in premarital counseling sessions and emblazoned on artwork in our homes. The highest aspiration of every Christian family is to have this kingdom mentality and live rightly under the King’s rule.

But how can our family be faithful to do what our heart sets out to do? We find the answer in the story surrounding this verse.

Celebrating God's story of faithfulness together

We tend to think of our years, days, and even our moments in terms of stories. Some are mundane and some are surprising, but all of them are worth celebrating in light of God's grace.

Looking back on 12 years of marriage (today!) I have fond memories of that time I met Dave in Evangelism Explosion class at church. His reputation preceded him, because when I met Dave I thought to myself, "Oh, so this is the man I've heard about who has a discipleship group of college guys that meet early on Saturday mornings in the dorm." You just don't hear about that kind of ministry very often. What kind of coffee does this man drink and where can I get it?

It wasn't long before I understood what would convince a bunch of college guys to wake up early on the weekend to study the Bible. Dave embodies the kind of zeal that draws you in to his relentless joy-quest. If you've met Dave or heard him preach then you know what I'm talking about. And on a related note, people are always astonished to learn that he is (and always has been) caffeine-free. (Crazy!) 

As Christians we understand that the stories of our lives are guided an unseen hand. I wrote in the dedication of Glimpses of Grace that every day Dave reminds me that "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Ps. 118:24). Through Dave's witness over these years I've had the privilege of seeing up close what it looks like to trust God's merciful hand as he fires for us solid joys that are wrought in the furnace of suffering. From where I sit, I can see that this kind of pain hasn't dampened my husband's zeal, but lights it even brighter for others to see, marvel at, and ask him-- "Give me the reason for the hope within you."

They have sayings about couples. One saying is that "opposites attract." So, do I, as his less-energetic-caffeine-requiring counterpart "only hope to contain him?" I should certainly hope not. As God gives me life and grace my aim is to be his helper in this race of endurance, helping throw more fuel onto his godly zeal and looking to Jesus as we lay aside every weight and clinging sin.

Everlasting joy waits at the finish line, and the pleasure of God is not absent in the journey. In every moment-- from the mundane stories of "toothbrush tangoes" fighting for space to stand in front of a small bathroom mirror each day to the surprising "Honey, can you believe this happened?" stories.

I'm grateful that we get to live out the story of God's faithfulness together. And eat fried pickles and burgers to celebrate!