Gloria Furman

I really enjoyed how this author took you into her daily life and showed you her struggles and how she is learning how to handle them in a way that glorifies God and clings to the gospel of grace. She is a stay-at-home mom, a writer, and in a cross-cultural environment and it was interesting and encouraging to read those things she is learning.

I liked her beginning thoughts on why she wrote this book: "We live in God's world, we're made in God's image, and we interact with other people who show more have eternal souls. That makes theology vastly important and immensely life changing in our everyday mundane. Theology is for homemakers who need to know who God is, who they are, and what this mundane life is all about." show less

If you are a Christian homemaker just trying to live a gospel-centered life as best you can, this book is for you! I picked up this little book on a whim and then forgot I had it. After enjoying Mrs. Furman's essays in [b:Mom Enough: The Fearless Mother's Heart and Hope|23599760|Mom Enough The Fearless Mother's Heart and Hope|Tony Reinke|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1416668103s/23599760.jpg|43201875], I was delighted to find it buried in my Kindle. I determined to read it immediately show more and I'm so glad I did. This book spoke to me, the exact stage of life I'm in, and the current battles in my walk with God. I was impressed and blessed by the tremendous amount of scripture infused in this book. Mrs. Furman really does present the Gospel in it's purest form - Gospel meaning "good news" - and how to apply it to homemaking. Although some of the illustrations were a little difficult for me to connect, I appreciated her honesty and transparency. Beyond the "normal" struggles of being a wife and mother of three young children, Mrs. Furman also deals with her husband's chronic disease, living in a foreign country, sharing her home with her church, etc. with so much grace. Grace being my word for 2017, I found this book encouraging, convicting, and a worthwhile read. I will be returning to it several times in the future I'm sure. Highly recommend! show less

Another win from Gloria Furman. I got a copy of this book for myself and one for my friend who is also my pastors wife. I wanted to read it to gain some insight into the world of pastors-wife-ing but having read Gloria's other books, I knew there would be encouragement to be found for myself as well. The thing I love most about her writing is that it is centered around our need for Jesus, so although it may be written to moms, wives, etc, there is a deeper truth that applies to everyone. I show more loved that even starting out she prefaced saying this was not a how-to book, because she was not an expert, but that she was living and learning and in the process she has learned she needs to continually look to Jesus and be reminded of truth. I love that no matter the 'theme' of her books, I am always pushed to slow down and just be reminded of some core truths that breath life into my heart.

She breaks this book down in three sections: Loving the Chief Shepherd (how everything we do in ministry and life has to be rooted out of our relationship with Him), in this she touches on motives for ministry and how to detect and kill idols, as well as how to survive the heavy expectations and standards anyone who serves in ministry can find themselves under. Loving the Under Shepherd (how to serve your husband who is called into pastoral ministry), in this she did not give a play by play on how to be a good wife, but went over the hard gospel truth that because all of our needs are met in Christ, and because He is our sustaining strength, we are freed up to love and serve without fear of 'What about me?' I found many parallels here on how to love and serve the church. And lastly, Loving the Body (how to love and serve the church, people), in this she talks some about giftings and the willingness to serve in whatever ways He puts in front of us, regardless of how we uniquely feel like we are equipped.

Overall it is a great read and another one that I will be recommending. It is small and easy (because she is a mom, pastors wife, church planter, missionary, homeschooler and she gets it!) and would be a great gift to purchase and read along with any woman in ministry or trying to lead people in a spiritual context. show less

As a non-married, non-mom, I found this book encouraging and helpful still. Although written towards moms, Gloria touches on a lot of deeper concepts that we all deal with such as busyness, the importance of Christian sisterhood, trying to act like we've got it all together, and how to show grace when we're running low. The chapters are short and within each chapter she has it divided into smaller sections so it's convenient for people that only get reading time in small spurts. Overall a show more great concise read. There is a study and discussion guide available on her website as well for group study and further application. show less