Risen Motherhood: Gospel Hope for Everyday Moments

Gospel hope for motherhood
The gospel changes everything – continually. The Risen Motherhood book is a faithful proclamation of the beauty of the gospel story, and how mothers (and others) can practically frame our daily actions, choices, and struggles through a gospel lens.Laura’s and Emily’s writing is beautifully clear and allows the truths of God to do the heart work. Each of the chapters teaches the reader how to take one aspect of our our motherhood – whether it be our marriages, our mundane moments, our relationship, our schooling choices – and cast them in the light of the gospel, calling us to glorify God with everything we have.I was encouraged and challenged by each of the chapters in this book, but the insight into the “mundane moments” as mothers was the most profound to me. I work full-time outside the home, and I’ve never enjoyed the mundane parts of home life: the sink that always seems full of dirty dishes, the constant piles of laundry, trips to the grocery store, disciplining for the same behavior over and over again. It all seems too boring and takes time away from the more fun and exciting parts of life, the parts that make for big smiles and cute pictures. I have always just made this a joke about myself, but in reading this book I was remind that God can be glorified in our simple acts of obedience day in and day out. He sees our faithfulness and heart attitudes as we quietly love and provide for our loved ones. He is the author of our lives, and He gives purpose and joy for every part of them – not just the Instagram-worthy parts. “I trust that there is no mundane moment too small for God’s glory to shine through it.”

A gem of a book!
This was a gem of a book. Highly recommend for alllll the mamas out there! Actually this would be great for any Christian but it’s definitely written with moms of littles in mind.The focus of the book was learning to apply the truths of the gospel to all of life’s struggles. I think so many of us as Christians understand how the gospel impacts our salvation, but fail to see how it transforms our daily living. But getting saved is more than just a ticket to heaven – it’s the power of the gospel that allows us to live the Christian life here on earth. Our need – Christ’s supply. The struggles that this fallen world lays at our feet are redeemed and transformed by Christ’s finished work on the cross and his continuing work in our lives.I’ll admit, while on a particularly hard day I was reading the chapter about “The Gospel and Our Heart Attitudes” I nearly threw the book across the room in a moment of frustration. Here I was losing my mind in the chaos of homeschooling and mothering my littles, and this book is telling me that we can relinquish control of our external circumstances because Christ did everything for us – Christ is our patience and our peace and everything we need. While I know the truth of these words, I was struggling to see how that helped me in that moment of that day when all I could see was mess and confusion and failure. I could give you an answer that sounds good right here but the truth is, I’m going to need to keep wrestling with this. I’ll be thinking on the principles in this book, and really the truths of the gospel and how they apply to my daily life for a while. And I think that’s a very good thing.I don’t mean to give the impression that the book is full of “pat answers.” Far from it. I think it did a really good job of wrestling with the fears and doubts and frustrations we face. And I really appreciated that they acknowledge that many situations (abuse and mental illness for example) require professional assessment and help.Overall this book was a really refreshing, soul-nurturing read. I’ll be pondering it for a while and I expect to be coming back to it again and again as I practice applying gospel truths to my daily life.

Risen Motherhood – Gospel Hope for Everyday Moments by Laura Wilfer and Emily Jensen (2019)I have followed Risen Motherhood on Instagram for about a year. I’ve always enjoyed reading the posts, but the demands of small children and chores made me feel like I had no time to look deeper into their resources, full blog and podcasts: how could I possibly listen to something uninterrupted for a whole 30 minutes? The book coming out looked like a great opportunity to read their main ideas all in one handy place – yet the central theme of this book challenges that premise. It is about how being a mother with small children makes it essential to be a theologian, because we all have thoughts and ideas about who God is.Laura Wifler and Emily Jensen argue that ‘the little years aren’t the lost years’, but rather sanctifying moments that need to be worked out in light of the gospel. In this season of life it can be so easy to feel too busy to take part in church, to make idols of our children and to see our worth through our parenting achievements. All the while forgetting all that Christ has done for us as daughters of God.Laura and Emily’s style blends deep theology with relatable anecdotes, so you feel you’re at the women’s bible study you’ve always wanted to be part of. This is not a ‘how to’ book for parents. It is an encouragement that everything we do is by God’s design and for his purposes. Our children are not saved by our perfectly orchestrated teaching moments. Nor by being clean, tidy and on time for church each Sunday. The authors remind us that our children’s salvation is in God’s hands. Our own limitations – physical, emotional or financial – are set by God, our gracious and loving father. As long as we stay true to his word and reflect his love, the gospel will shine through to our children.After having my first baby, I decided I’d get back to bible study when things settled down. Seven years and two more children later, I’ve realised that isn’t going to happen! Laura and Emily point out that all of life is sanctifying. You do the work that God has set out in front of you right now, and ‘there is no mundane moment too small for God’s glory to shine through it.’Reading Risen Motherhood has helped me to tackle the frustrations of day-to-day life with the gospel message, that ‘God has good purposes for today’. It has renewed my desire to dig deeper into scripture.

Ok. Not only is this book absolutely beautiful (hello, green and gold, classic black and white, and floral accents), but it has changed my concept of motherhood completely. Emily and Laura do an excellent job of walking the reader through how the gospel impacts motherhood, and discussing different topics through the creation/fall/redemption/consummation lens. It’s super easy to read, and is convicting without condemning; they point you back to Christ without making you feel judged or ashamed. It has so impacted me, especially the sections on everyday, mundane moments, that it seeped into my conversations with friends and fellow moms over the holidays countless times. I bought several copies for friends, started a book club about it at my church, and have recommended it to so many people. Buy this, and prepare to be changed for the better.