Tweet-sized words of massive encouragement for overseas ministry

Here are some short and sweet words with massive, encouraging implications for people preparing to serve in ministry overseas...

You will marvel at the work God is doing in front of your very eyes… through the prayers of people who live on the other side of the world (2 Cor. 1:11).

Culture-crossing has a way of revealing just how insufficient you really are, so revel in the fact that your sufficiency comes from outside of yourself (2 Cor. 3:5).

You will never bear a single burden that is heavier than the eternal weight of glory that is waiting for you (2 Cor. 4:17).

You will never see a single need that God is unable to meet (Phil. 4:19).

Your grief will be borne by your hope (1 Thess. 4:13).

How do you do it all?

How do you do it all?

Ask any woman this question and you will likely hear a variety of responses. My practical answer today would involve disciplined routines, Curious George, and dark roast coffee. Not a day goes by when I don't need a nice, tall glass of perspective on the circumstances that give rise to this question.

This summer three of us collaborated on the ERLC blog to briefly answer: How do women do it all?

Megan Hill insightfully pulled back a few layers of our assumptions as she asked: Are we wrong about what "all" is?

I began talking about "Whose do we think we are?", circled the runway with thoughts about grass looking greener for other sheep, and suggested that we need to ask an additional question.

Aimee Byrd wasted no words and landed the plane with "Loving the simplicity of faithfulness."

So, how do women do it all? You can read our answers on the ERLC blog. 

Looking for bread in all the wrong places

Mindless snacking. Perhaps we all have a tendency to do this to some degree. I suppose it isn't too harmful if you're crunching on carrot sticks and not walnut brownie mix.

Sadly, we can even mindlessly feed junk food to our soul. A lot of times we hardly ever notice that we're doing this until a friend mercifully points it out. Those can be awkward conversations, but we all need people in our life who are willing to step into the awkward fray and bring out Isaiah 55:2 for our consideration. Friend, why are you spending your money on things that aren't bread, and working for things that don't satisfy? Eat what is good instead!

When Jesus meets people who are looking for bread in all the wrong places, he consistently points thirsty and hungry people to himself. He is the one who gives water from the fountain of life (John 4:14, Rev. 21:6) and he is the one who gives the food that endures to eternal life (John 6:27). This is no mindless soul food snacking-- Jesus is inviting us to a feast! The cost of bread in Jesus' kingdom is simply to be hungry for him.

Isaiah 12:3 says, "With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation." Our faith does the work of dropping our bucket into the well of salvation, joyfully drawing upon Christ for everything we need.

I love how John Calvin has carefully parsed out the implications of Christ's sufficiency in the packed-solid sentences below (I added some bullet points for fun). This quote from Institutes is worth a slow read.

"We see that our whole salvation and all its parts are comprehended in Christ. We should therefore take care not to derive the least portion of it from anywhere else.

• If we seek salvation, we are taught by the very name of Jesus that it is 'of him.'
• If we seek any other gifts of the Spirit, they will be found in his anointing.
• If we seek strength, it lies in his dominion;
• if purity, in his conception;
• if gentleness, it appears in his birth. For by his birth he was made like us in all respects that he might learn to feel our pain.
• If we seek redemption, it lies in his passion;
• if acquittal, in his condemnation;
• if remission of the curse, in his cross;
• if satisfaction, in his sacrifice;
• if purification, in his blood;
• if reconciliation, in his descent into hell;
• if mortification of the flesh, in his tomb;
• if newness of life, in his resurrection;
• if immortality, in the same;
• if inheritance of all blessings, in his Kingdom;
• if untroubled expectation of judgment, in the power given to him to judge.

In short, since rich store of every kind of good abounds in him, let us drink our fill from this fountain, and from no other." (John Calvin, Institutes 2:16.19)

Perhaps eternity is an eternity long because we'll need that much time to drink our fill of the infinite perfections of Jesus.

Where will you be 30 trillion years from now?

If you are "in Christ" then you will still be there 30 trillion years from now. Our identity in Christ is fundamental both now and forever. I hope I never get tired of hearing this truth and being reminded to live rightly in accordance with it.

I had the privilege of sitting down with Jamie Ivey and Fabs Harford to talk about this and more in this podcast for Verge Women (11 minutes).

4 Tips for Bible Memory

Why is Scripture memory like the unicorn of spiritual disciplines?

The seemingly magical prize of a heart brimming with Bible is a treasure that many of us long for, but few profess to have found.

If the Word of God is our very life (Deut. 32:47), why is storing it in our heart so hard for us? Lots of reasons come to mind. One reason is that despite our good intentions, we are very easily distra-- Squirrel!

I can certainly identify with the struggle of being distracted from pursuing the good things I want to pursue-- like Scripture memory. But rather than dismiss this "unicorn" as a myth, or a creature of a by-gone pre-Internet era, I think our distracting circumstances can be leveraged to serve us. Not only that, but I've even gone on record to say that I think God intends for the circumstances he brings into our lives to propel us-- to lead us-- to draw us into meditation on his Word.

Over at the Crossway blog I've written down four ways that our distractions can serve our efforts in memorizing God's Word. It's a short, non-comprehensive list I made up with an acronym to help me remember today what God has said in the P.A.S.T. 

Don't Tell God He Can't Give You Good News

We rightly spend a lot of energy talking about our duty to respond rightly to the gospel. But have we given adequate air time to talking about God's right to give grace to sinners?

How does this perspective reshape and refresh the way we share the gospel with our family, friends, and neighbors?

Watch this 2-minute clip from John Piper's conference plenary at the TGC women's conference last month. You can watch the whole thing here.

Confidence in the Wake of Easter

Sometimes when we survey the landscape of missions we feel a tremor of despair in our hearts because of either the magnitude or the complexity of the task. My own feelings of boldness come and go for different reasons, and I felt the familiar tremors of discouragement as I read the news this week.

But there is a heart-lifting truth that holds us fast in the midst of the ground-shaking wars and rumors of wars. There is one piece of earth-shaking news that our forgetful hearts need to always remember. We live in the wake of Easter. Two thousand years ago the ground shook as the Son of God died on a cross, and three days later the earth trembled again as he walked out of his tomb never to die again. Our confidence is not in our earthly circumstances, but in a Person.

Here are just a few reasons we can have that assurance:

1. We’re assured that Jesus has authority over all things because he made us. “The earth is the Lᴏʀᴅ’s . . . the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it” (Ps. 24:1-2).
2. We’re assured that Jesus has authority to save sinners because he redeemed us by his work on the cross. “You were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9).
3. We’re assured that the gospel is for all people; we are all among the nations for whom Christ died, and all the peoples will praise him. “Let the peoples praise you, O God;let all the peoples praise you!” (Ps. 67:3).
4. Sheep are sheep, and sheep will do what sheep do; all who belong to the Good Shepherd will follow him. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).

Our confidence in spreading the good news of reconciliation with God through Christ is founded on Christ’s confidence. He will receive worship for he is the Lamb who was slain for us and was exalted above every name. And all those whom his Father gave him, will be assuredly kept forever (John 17:11).

Christ is confident so we can be confident in him. He is our confidence who settles our nervous hearts as we implore our neighbors to repent of their sin and cling to Christ. He is our confidence who strengthens our spirit as we endure the suffering that marks our path.

The Day is coming soon when the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father (Matt. 16:27). What a Day of rejoicing this will be for all who eagerly wait for Christ’s return! And what a Day of distress it will be for all those found outside of Christ. Until that Day, God’s message of peace through Christ rings in our ears and sets our hearts ablaze. “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Rev. 7:10).

Missional motherhood's one message

Is living “on mission” compatible with motherhood?

I spoke on the subject of “Missional Motherhood” in a workshop at the TGC women’s conference in Orlando. I made the case that our mission to obey Jesus’ “Great Commission” to make disciples everywhere (Matt. 28:18-20) doesn’t merely rise to the top of the list of our priorities, but it informs the way we think of everything, including motherhood.

As a mom I have a lot of responsibilities, priorities, and messages. One time at a church potluck my preschool-aged son was standing by the dessert table that was piled high with donuts. (Ok, this scene probably happens at all of our church potlucks.) A woman saw him eye-ing the donuts like he was a three-year-old standing next to a table of donuts. (You get the picture.) She asked him, “I don’t know if you can have that, little guy. What does your Mommy say?” With great flourish and conviction my son answered, “What my Mommy says? My Mommy… she says to me, ‘Judson! Flush. The. Toilet.’”

We have a lot of different things we tell our kids, don’t we? The things we communicate ebb and flow in urgency, frequency, and tone. But there is one message that we hold out to everyone around us as the most urgent, most relevant, and most important message.

Being a disciple-maker means that the gospel is that one main message. It’s what we are to be most zealous for. It’s what we labor to communicate clearly. It’s what compels us to dream big, creative dreams about how we might invite the world to worship together with us at the feet of Jesus for all eternity.

Making disciples according to Jesus’ Great Commission is the priority of missional motherhood and the gospel is the message.

The gospel is not nice advice from the Bible, is it life-giving news. It is something we herald. It’s an announcement.

The good news isn’t just for our kids, as though we were morally superior to them and have matured past having a need for the good news. Moms need to hear, believe, remember, and live in light of the good news, too. As we go about our days and nights as those who have been saved by the shed blood of Jesus we remind ourselves:

God is utterly holy and he cannot abide the presence of evil. This is bad news for sinners like us: “But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap” (Mal. 3:2).

God is holy. Our only hope is that he would show us mercy. And this very thing he planned to do since before time began. Before we ever sinned, the Triune Godhead devised the plan of redemption: “Even as he chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him” (Eph. 1:4).

Malachi asked, “Who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand in his presence when he appears?”

God’s gospel supplies the answer. The answer is Jesus Christ: “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen” (Jude 1:24-25).

God is extending his mercy to us through the death and resurrection of his Son. Jesus died for sinners, and through faith in him we can stand in God’s presence justified. When we repent of our sin believing this gospel we have Christ to gain.

Since Christ is the end of righteousness for everyone who believes (Rom. 10:4), his person and work is the message we communicate to our kids and neighbors. How does that old hymn go?

“For my child’s pardon, this I see,
Nothing but the fact that my kid earned the Respectfulness Award in her class?
For my child’s cleansing, this my plea,
Nothing filthy like Cheetos has touched my son’s lips?”

Of course not! We hold out the gospel- which is the same good news that we believe for ourselves and live in the light of every day,

"For my pardon, this I see,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
For my cleansing this my plea,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus."

Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb! (Rev. 7:10)

July is "Women of the Word" Month at Crossway

Don't miss this month-long campaign to help encourage one another to dive into God's Word!

You can sign up on Crossway's website to get free resources (devotionals, blog posts, videos) in your inbox during the month of July. Click here for more info.

Assurance and Salvation Statistics

I bet it has been statistically proven that you can find a statistic for just about everything.

There are even statistics regarding parenting and the likelihood of your success as you attempt to “train up a child in the way he should go” (Prov. 22:6). As Christian parents we resolutely affirm that “salvation belongs to the LORD” (Ps. 3:8), but sadly, we are tempted to place our trust in our ability to fit in with statistics.

Recently I read a stat that said two out of three children who are missionary kids grow up to be faithful church members and marry believers. But I’ve got four kids, so…?

How is a mother’s heart supposed to respond to “statistics” like these?

We can certainly learn a lot from considering statistics, provided they are based on truth. Ed Stetzer has written a helpful article on how to recognize bad stats.

And with that said, I think one of the best ways to set your heart aright if you’re tempted to rest in your ability to fit a stat is to meditate on these kinds of “statistics” instead…

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“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day” (John 6:37-39).

“And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd” (John 10:16).

“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand” (John 10:28-29).

“When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him” (John 17:1-2).

“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age’” (Matt. 28:18-20).

“For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (Rom. 10:12-13, see Joel 2:32).

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8-9).

“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” (Rev. 7:9-10).

So, if we want to gain assurance from a statistic, Jesus has been given 100% of authority over 100% of everything, so we can trust him with 100% of our concerns.

On Flying with Babies

What is often a novel thing for a mother to do, flying with babies is something that is part and parcel to what I get to do as someone who lives and works overseas.

Lord willing, next week on my way to Orlando for the TGC women’s conference I will embark on my 77th flight with a baby in tow. However, these upcoming flights next week will be quite special since I will be flying alone with only one child, which is something I haven’t done since 2007!

Just for fun and in honor of this especially laid-back flying occasion that I am looking forward to, I would like to share with you some of my very exclusive best-practices tips for flying with babies.

First things first—the question that everyone always asks:

“What do I need to bring on the plane?”

My answer is always: A sense of humor. If your sense of humor has been feeling a bit out of whack lately then you must borrow someone else's. Think of it—you are about to walk inside a metal tube holding a baby and sit on a tiny foam square in rows with a few hundred other people who are sitting on tiny squares and spend the next twelve to twenty-ish hours of your lives together. You may have a brief (or not-so brief) respite on a layover, but for now 37F is your new, temporary parenting cubicle while jet engines propel you through the air over oceans and continents. You have to admit, that’s kind of funny. Don’t leave your sense of humor at home! And don't forget the baby(ies) either.

Next, use this scientifically-proven formula to determine the number of diapers you need to put in your carry-on bag:

1 diaper per 3 hrs of travel + 2 extras

Expert tip: for easy access during the flight(s), put a few diapers and a baggie of wipes in the seatback pocket in front of you.

Third, don’t over-pack or you’ll regret carrying (and losing under the seats) all the stuff you didn’t need. You need far less than the advertisements and marketers would have you believe. No one is paying me to say that (because no one would pay me to say that.)

This afternoon I asked my bigger frequent-flying kids what their favorite things are about flying on international flights:

• Judson (3) – “It makes me go to Grandma’s house. I fly around like that [swish]! I get headphones and I don’t share; they’re just mine.”
• Norah (5) – “I like the juice they bring you in cups with ice cubes. Ice cubes you can even eat and it's okay. My favorite thing is watching movies, but sometimes a little plane doesn’t have any movies.”
• Aliza (7) – “Movies, food, and sleeping time, in that order. No, wait! Food, movies, and sleeping. Yeah. Oh! And showing them my passport is fun but Daddy always holds it.”

Will you please pray for me as I'm knee-deep in packing and preparing for this quick trip? And pray for my gracious husband who will stay here in Dubai with our three big kids.
 

Tell Me Something #GOOD

Desiring God and CBMW have teamed up to provide a new FREE ebook, available for download here.

Good is about the joy (but of course!) of Christian manhood and womanhood. Every page is overflowing with good news, which is a welcome relief in a world that is confused and conflicted about what it means that God created us male and female. I was delighted to contribute a chapter on the nature of a woman's nurture.

"This new resource — the collaboration of 14 contributors — seeks to cast a vision for manhood and womanhood that is rooted more in beauty than mere ideology, more in gladness than mere position.

The book’s aim is to capture and highlight the glorious reality that God, after creating humans male and female, looked at his creation and called it good."

Wisdom for Social Media (HT: King Solomon)

If you read James 3:5 from the perspective of a person holding a smart phone in their hand, you can see that we have a need for wisdom regarding our words (and the Lord's deliverance!):

So also the thumb is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!

The wisdom of God displayed at the cross of Christ delivers us from even the restless evil that overflows out of our hearts and is announced by our tongues. We see in the book of Proverbs a store of wisdom that helps guide even our digital communication. I’ve listed a few of the words-related proverbs below - if it appears without quotation marks then I've subbed in a social media word (direct quotes are noted with “”).

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When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his thumbs is prudent. (10:19)

There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the thumb of the wise brings healing. (12:18)

“Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.” (12:25)

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh comment stirs up anger. (15:1)

“To make an apt answer is a joy to a man, and a word in season, how good it is!” (15:23)

Better is writer’s block with quiet than a blog full of content with strife. (17:1)

“Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.” (17:27)

“A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.” (18:2)

My inmost being will exult when your status updates speak what is right. (23:16)

A word fitly tweeted is like apples of gold in a setting of silver. (25:11)

“Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.” (27:2)

“Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” (29:20)

“She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.” (31:26, MT: King Lemuel’s mom)

A Ridiculous-Sounding Affirmation for Those Fainting on the Inside and Out

A woman sent me this question in an email the other day:

“I love God’s Word! I want to spend more time reading and studying, but it’s so hard because I feel like I need to stick toothpicks in my eyelids just to keep my eyes open because I’m so worn out raising my young kids. What do I do? HELP!”

I can certainly empathize with her – how about you?

There’s no doubt this woman is not alone in her feelings or experience. I’m pretty sure this question has been asked by our brothers and sisters all over the world - from all times - in all their various languages - and in all their diverse contexts. We’re exhausted and we’re hungry for God’s Word. Pass the toothpicks, please. (I'll take a latte and a bag of M&Ms to go with my toothpicks.)

This blog post is not a list of top ten practical suggestions-- just one ridiculous-sounding affirmation and a description of what our calling, pursuing, feeding, and preserving triune God does to help our weary, Word-hungry souls.

First, the ridiculous-sounding affirmation: What a tender place the Lord has you in! To have that feeling of longing for his Word and to have that be your big question emerge in the midst of those circumstances is a precious gift. We’re not Word-hungry on our own; it’s evidence of the Spirit’s work when our heart is inclined to his testimonies (Ps. 119:12). And what a blessing it is to your young children that they see your appetite for God’s Word being played out in front of their watching eyes. Where does Mommy want to run to (or limp) when she’s starved for spiritual nourishment? God’s Word is so treasured that time spent meditating on it is hunted down instead of brushed off. It’s an assuring and tender grace of God to feel that even in your bone-weary physical fatigue you feel just as deeply that your soul longs and even faints for fellowship with God.

And next, to address the matter of help. I don’t have a  top ten list of helpful suggestions or a packet of toothpicks today, but a description of the ready and willing help we are given by the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit:

"SO-CALLED INTERRUPTIONS

When we feel that our environment must be “just so” in order to have fellowship with God, any wild-card elements inherit the name “Interruption.” A toddler’s plea for help with a game is an interruption. The children’s early bed­time is an interruption. The baby who refuses to settle down is an interruption.

What if God wants to fellowship with us right where we are—even in the commotion of ordinary life? Most assuredly, he does. Consider how the triune God is working to ensure that you behold his glory throughout your days and nights.

Your heavenly Father is sovereign over all things. A sparrow drops its feather on the ground, escaping the clutches of a curious little boy. A car battery dies in the parking lot after a play date at the same moment your overtired children reach their limit. A pacifier falls out of a baby’s mouth just before the baby nods off to sleep. Nothing—nothing happens without the sovereign Lord’s ordaining it. He is trustworthy and praiseworthy in every moment in every circumstance.

The eternal Son of God is Immanuel—God with us. Jesus fulfilled God’s holy law, was crucified in our place, rose victorious from the dead, and is reigning at the Father’s right hand. Jesus satisfied God’s wrath against sin and purchased us from the slavery of sin. By faith we receive Jesus’s perfect righteousness, and he creates in us new hearts that are prone to love him. Even when you don’t feel this is true about yourself, a daughter of the King, it is. Even when you imagine that your life is hell and you have forgotten that you’ve been transferred into the king­dom of God’s marvelous light, you’re still his forever. You can be sure that nothing will separate you from God’s love for you in Christ Jesus your Lord—“neither death nor life” (Rom. 8:38).

The Holy Spirit of God indwells the heart of believers and writes God’s law on their heart. When we meditate on God’s Word, the Spirit delights to confirm in our heart that God is who he says he is. The Spirit graciously awakens us to the affliction of our sin, and he enlivens in us an affec­tion for God’s holiness. When we put our hand to the plow (or rather, the scrub brush), the Spirit enlivens us to work as unto the Lord. The Spirit helps us in our weakness and ignorance, praying for us as we don’t know what to pray for. The Holy Spirit is like the neuron that travels from our taste buds to our brain with the message that dark-chocolate-covered orange slices are exquisite. When we taste things such as providence or our union with Christ, it’s the Spirit who tells ours heart that the Lord is good."

Adapted from Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full (Crossway 2014).

Countdown to TGCW14

Lord-willing, in a month's time I'll be getting on a plane along with my youngest child to head to Orlando. I've been looking forward to this upcoming women's conference hosted by TGC ever since the first one in 2012!

I'm excited about this conference for several reasons--

• Fellowship! Skype and Google Hangouts can only go so far in facilitating fellowship among friends. I'm looking forward to face-to-face fellowship with old friends and new friends.
• Nehemiah. The conference plenaries are going to be a real treat. I'm especially looking forward to the live reading - how apropos!
• Missional Motherhood. I'll be leading a workshop on a subject that is dear to my heart.
• Teaching Children About Jesus. I've been given the privilege of moderating a panel on this topic with Mary Mohler, Trillia Newbell, Kristie Anyabwile, and Elyse Fitzpatrick.
• Rain. The last time we were in Florida the sky opened up and poured buckets of water onto the ground. It's just not something we see here every day. Or year. Or ever.
• Troy and Mom time! My amazing mother is flying to Orlando help look after my son. One of the sweetest things for us since we moved overseas has been savoring what precious time we do get to have with our parents. I'm also looking forward to a relatively relaxing travel time with only one child in tow. Who knows - I might even get to take a nap on the plane. :)

What about you? Will you be at TGCW? What are you looking forward to?

Share the Comfort You've Been Given

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction,
so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction,
with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” 2 Cor. 1:3-4

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We’ve all gone through things that lead others to seek us out for the wisdom of experience and sympathetic support.

Today I had the privilege of encouraging a woman who never expected that her family would see the challenges they are facing. She and her husband have two young children and they work in a nearby country, serving among least-reached people. This week her husband suffered terrible burns in an accident. By God’s grace, he’s going to be okay.

While I haven’t faced her exact set of circumstances before, I can relate to several things. When I heard her story I couldn’t help but remember that I’ve tasted those tears—sitting in hospital waiting rooms hopeful for a good report from my husband’s numerous arm surgeries. Making hard decisions. Pressing on in caring for my helpless babies in the middle of it all. Wondering what the future—tonight, tomorrow, years from now—is going to look like for our family. Learning practical things to help us creatively adjust to life with physical disabilities. And walking by faith.

Sometimes we hear about someone’s suffering and we can only imagine what that person must be going through. From the perspective of someone who has received great comfort from others, let me encourage you that it strengthens the heart to hear from someone that they are trying to imagine. Lonely feelings multiply at the thought that those around you can’t (or won’t) imagine.

Even though the affliction of others may be worlds apart from what you’ve gone through, the source of our real and abiding comfort is one and the same. It is God who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction.

Jesus not only imagined our suffering, but he entered into it. There is no sympathy like the Lord's, and the comfort he gives is so great that it multiplies.

Yummy versus Yucky - on sharing soul food with friends

If you have young children in your home, no doubt you have to teach them what to eat and what not to eat.

Crackers = good. Crayons = bad. Bananas = good. The sticky fuzz that is stuck to the bottom of the broom = bad.

And if you live in my home, then you believe that under no circumstances can raisins = good. If the grapes are frozen, however, that is a different story.

When it comes to food for our soul, we're still a lot like little kids. Our pickyness needs to be trained to savor the right food. We need to be reminded to feast on God's word which he has given to nourish us. We need to be reminded to avoid the spiritual junk food that rots, festers into cavities, and ultimately fails to satisfy.

Over at the Desiring God blog today I've written about an occasion when my friend Melanie served up a helping of soul food for me when I was dangerously close to becoming content with the equivalent of broom fuzz. Read about "Soul Food for Mom" here.

Talking about what Christ has done for moms...

...and is doing and will do!

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I wanted to share a link with you for a really neat radio program called Haven Today, which is broadcast in the States and in Canada. In honor of Mother's Day they are airing a two-part interview I did with them about the hope and help we have in Christ as moms. You can take a listen here if you like.

Why motherhood is only for the faint of heart

Grace can turn burnout into a blessing.

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I know it sounds goofy and backwards to say this, but when we feel burned out we’re in one of the most tender times when we can have communion with Jesus. When I’m in the middle of an exhausting day or someone has just sincerely complimented me that the dark circles under my eyes don’t look too bad, I have to remind myself: I don’t really want to look back over the day and think, “I totally nailed it! Gimme a high five, Jesus, because we’re a great team with you on the sidelines cheering me on.” That’s not what I want at all.

What I really want is to have child-like faith in my loving Father who ordains the good work I’m walking in (Eph. 2:10), consciously give my burdens to Jesus (Matt. 11:28), and to walk by the Spirit as I resist the temptation to give up (Gal. 5:16). I don’t want to forget the Lord because my heart has become proud (Deut. 8:14). I don’t want to be so preoccupied with my own strength that I forget the Lord and all his benefits (Psalm 103).

The middle of burnout mode is actually an opportunity to say and believe with all the strength God supplies: “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen” (Rom. 11:36).

Here’s a short clip from Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full that elaborates on this idea:

It’s common knowledge that the work of mothering is demanding and difficult, but sometimes we don’t live as though we need any help. Spoken as a testimony to a woman’s strength, we hear that “motherhood is not for the faint of heart.”

However, a case can be made that motherhood is only for the faint of heart. When the first child was born, Eve said, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord” (Gen. 4:10). On occasion in my doula work, a woman will admit to me that she doesn’t think she can do it—endure to the end of her pregnancy, give birth to her baby, or raise her child. When we acknowledge our inability to mother our children apart from the Lord’s provision and strength, we honor God. Of course we are not able to do this work of raising children and training them in the instruction of the Lord. That’s why we desperately need the Lord! We are to “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” (Eph. 6:10).

This kind of absolute dependency on God insults our pride. We’re so quick to embrace other solutions for our emotional, physical, and mental fatigue. “I can figure this out on my own,” we tell ourselves. More often than not in our trials we pretend everything is okay, and we dive headlong into self-sufficiency. Faith, rather, acknowledges the fierceness of the storm and throws us into the sea, and we swim as fast as we can to where we see Jesus walking on the water (John 6:16–21).

Physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, we need the Lord’s strength to honor him in our motherhood.

Sometimes the pitter-patter of little feet means that your child is running a marker along the wall in the hallway while he toddles away from you. The sweet, bleating cries of a newborn can turn into sassy comebacks and spite­ful words. In every occasion, moms must rely on God’s strength. If we think we can do “this motherhood thing” in our own strength, then we are fooling ourselves. …

In the English Standard Version of the Bible the subtitle for Psalm 71 is this: “Forsake Me Not When My Strength Is Spent.” This is profoundly descriptive of a psalm that lauds the Lord as the one who saves us in his righteous­ness and is to us a rock of refuge. Whether you feel that you just can’t endure or that you don’t “have it in you” anymore, or if you feel that you’ve “got what it takes,” the gospel triumphs over all. Only God’s grace in the gospel can strengthen our faith to let Jesus carry our burdens in parenting.

Excerpt adapted from Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full: Gospel Meditations for Busy Moms by Gloria Furman copyright ©2014. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, Il 60187, www.crossway.org.

Moms have their hands full of blessings - a book trailer

I am so thankful to Crossway for making this book trailer for Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full!

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In my conversations with moms from all over the world I've learned that our circumstances are all so very different. But one thing stands out that is the same-- we don't need fake hope. (In this broken, fallen world, who has time for fake hope?)

I hope this short video encourages you to look to Christ as your sufficiency for everything today.

Motherhood is a gift from God, but sometimes it can be overwhelming. Reorienting exhausted moms to the soul-satisfying grace of God, Gloria Furman helps readers learn to treasure Christ in the mundane moments of life. Learn more: http://www.crossway.org/books/treasuring-christ-when-your-hands-are-full-tpb/