| Title | : | Glimpses of Grace: Treasuring the Gospel in Your Home |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1433536056 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781433536052 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 192 |
| Publication | : | First published May 1, 2013 |
Glimpses of Grace: Treasuring the Gospel in Your Home Reviews
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I couldn't have read this book at a better time. I read it over the last few months of my first year of motherhood, and I desperately needed the encouragement, wisdom, and gospel reminders that Gloria Furman provides. I highly recommend this one, especially for young moms.
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This was an ok book. I guess I was looking for specific things to do to treasure the Gospel. It felt theoretic to me. Maybe it was my mood, but just was glad to be done with the book.
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Yet another attempt on my part to understand the world of a mother and homemaker. I’m picking up on the fact that mothering is a strange mixture of the mundane and the chaotic.
Here’s what I appreciated about Gloria Furman’s book: she is endeavoring to take the gospel into that mundane and chaotic environment and find contentment and peace. But it’s not a peace that comes from having the house picked up and everything in order. It doesn’t come from having all your kids under perfect control at all times. And it’s certainly not a peace that comes from having your image and reputation as a faultless homemaker preserved among an elitist community of ideal mothers. And, surprisingly, this peace doesn’t come from escaping the day-to-day reality and necessity of the mundane. (That may be the great take-away for many mothers reading this book.). No, it’s a peace, Furman rightly argues, that comes through fellowship with Jesus Christ.
Here’s what she writes at the end of the book: “We see glimpses of grace in our homes when we cherish God through the gospel of Jesus Christ. The solution to our problems in the home and the impetus for our enjoyment of life in the home is fellowship with God through Christ Jesus’s atoning sacrifice.”
Easier said than done, right? Absolutely. But my hope is that Furman’s book (and others like it) will encourage tired and beleaguered Christian mothers everywhere to seek the grace of God in the mundane and chaotic, not apart from it, and to treasure the gospel in their homes.
If you have a pretty good grasp of the gospel, you can probably safely skip to part 2 of the book (though it’s always dangerous to assume the gospel and always good to review it). It includes more of Furman’s personal application of the gospel to her situation as a wife and mother of four living in the Middle East.
Don’t expect Furman to be as entertaining, energetic, and concrete in her writing style as, say, Rachel Jankovic. Sometimes I felt like I was plodding and pushing forward. However, Furman is no theological lightweight. And for that I commend her and commend the book to you. -
5 ⭐️because readers were made for a certain book or is it that a book was made for you the reader? Or both? This author reached my soul like no other. Or maybe it's because I need her books at certain times! Grace! Love her authenticity and depth of thought.
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As I ate up the reasonably sized chapters in this book by Gloria Furman, I was happy to find a balanced view of salvation and its affects on our thoughts, motives, and behavior as Christian women. Glimpses of Grace offers theologically sound but practically helpful counsel for cherishing Jesus, Who He is, and His beautiful gospel in the midst of the mundane moments that a woman’s life is made up of.
The balance of this book is clear throughout, including in the following quote from Chapter 3:
"I believe it is helpful and necessary to retreat to quiet places to pray and read God’s Word. But silence is not necessary for you to have a vibrant relationship with God. your spiritaul life is not restricted to early mornings before the noisemakers in your life wake up. If you feel that God meets with you only when the house is empty or quiet, you’ll view every noise and every noisemaker as an annoying distraction to your communion with God."
Here we see the well-rounded philosophy that it is helpful and even necessary to retreat to quiet places for quality time with God. Yet if we legalistically believe that we can only commune with Him in that setting, we are opening ourselves up for a lot of unnecessary frustration and wrong reactions to the interruptions He has ordained.
One of my favorite things about this read was Mrs. Furman’s emphasis on the Person of Jesus Christ as our object of contentment. I’ve realized in recent months how easy it is to think I’m content because I’m choosing to enjoy my housework, my job, and the other mundane pieces of life. That’s great, but I really need to take it a step further. Mrs. Furman explains,
"Surely these things–a cheerful attitude and sense of hopefulness–are wonderful by-products of rejoicing in God while in the midst of our homes. But that’s just what they are–by-products. The source of our faith, hope, love, joy, and gospel-grounded optimism is God Himself and not our stuff or our circumstances."
I also love the connection drawn between dwelling on Jesus and becoming like Him.
"We study Christ because we’ve been saved for the purpose of being transformed into His image, and in our beholding, the work of transformation occurs."
In terms of practicality, Chapter 7 “All Grace and All Sufficieny for Every Dinner Guest” was my favorite. Serving through hospitality must, like everything in our lives, must be done out of a deep-rooted love for Jesus. I’m sure every woman can relate to the fear of man that is shown in letting earning the satisfaction and admiration of our dinner guests become an idol as we prepare to open our homes.
"When we serve with the strength God supplies instead of from our own energies or motivation, we can serve with cheerfulness to the praise of His glory. We don’t have to be embittered martyrs on the altar of hospitality."
Quite possibly my favorite quote from the book is also in Chapter 7:
"When grief over our sin and thankfulness for the gift of grace meet together at the cross, a powerful work of transformation occurs in our hearts."
I hope these few quotes whet your appetite enough to compel you to pick up Glimpses of Grace. As a young wife looking ahead to, Lord-willing, many years of serving primarily from my home, the truth and encouragement Mrs. Furman had to share rang true in my heart when held up against Scripture. Her sense of humor and realism kept the book light and enjoyable, and her illustrations and real-life examples skillfully brought heady theology down to a practical level, while not trivializing the magnitude of the Cross. I believe this is a book I will return to in years to come as I fight carnal thinking in the mundane moments of life, and I highly recommend it to any woman seeking to love Jesus through her day-in, day-out routine. -
The Overview
AMAZING!
I love to read about gospel grace and it's impact on our every moment of every day. Because of this I was delighted to read this book that talked about gospel grace from the perspective of a woman applying it to the mundane and not so mundane hours of daily life.
I enjoy reading non-fiction books, but Glimpses of Grace was addicting! Gloria eloquently simplified deep theology and applied to some of the biggest issues in the average woman's life. This book may appear to be for Moms, but it's not. Yes, it covers some "mom" topics, but it's a book that any woman could read and greatly benefit from. It talks about hospitality, friendships, cleaning your home, and more!
The Readability
This is one of the easiest reading books on the topic of gospel grace that I have read thus far. For the category of gospel grace books for women, it's by far the easiest read and best read I've come across yet. Gloria's sense of humor makes you giggle in the light sections and in the deep sections. And you'll never hear the word "smurf" again without laughing to yourself! Her style is not so much "explain the hard things and then apply it" but rather weaving deep thoughts in with how they flesh out on a daily basis all through the book. You are both unpacking and applying truth from the beginning to the end.
The Highlights
All of it! But if I have to name a few, then the first is her genuineness. I felt like I made a new friend as I read this book. She does not just preach what to do and not to do, she openly shares from her own failures and joys. Also, I liked her everyday approach. You don't need a dictionary on hand to figure out every other word as you read. And each chapter could stand alone so that you don't feel like you are trying to "get back into it" every time you pick up the book. However, if you are like me, you'll be barely able to put it down in the first place!
The Downside
None. Whatsoever.
The Recommendation
Read this book. Buy multiple copies of this book. Hand those copies out to your friends like a candy bar or cup of coffee! Encourage teen girls to read this book. And lastly, but not least, be sure to discuss what you've learned with anyone else who reads it. Enjoy! -
In the beginning of the book Gloria says that often the encouragement given to someone in the midst of raising children is something like "this too shall pass" or "grin and bear it", and then we talk about what we're going to do one day when we get our life back. Those phrases used to sum up what she felt. If she could just get through this season of life, then perhaps she would be able to serve the Lord and be content. She'd be able to have a 'proper' prayer time, uninterrupted, and her spiritual life would be so much better. Until finally she came to believe that we need to glorify God in whatever we do, even in the ordinary and mundane. Even in washing the dishes and 3 am feedings. She says "The biggest questions I want to explore in this book are these: What does the gospel have to do with our lives in the home? How does this grace change the way we live?"
Everyone wants to be content, but it seems elusive. Contentment is something that has to be learned. It's an issue of the heart, not brought about by circumstances, and discontent in the heart must first be dealt with. Then we can be content in whatever circumstance we find ourselves, even the ones out of our control. Paul says in Phillipians that he has "learned the secret of being content" Phil 4:13.
I appreciated to candid look into the author's life and thoughts. It is not so much a new revelation as a new way of thinking about it, kind of one of those "Well when you put it that way..." moments. An encouraging read for every mother in the trenches! There can be joy and contentment for you, too.
I received this ebook from Netgalley and Crossway for the purposes of an honest review. My opinion is my own. Thank you Crossway. -
I wasn’t expecting to love this book as much as I did! I tried reading it several years ago when we only had our first child and he was a baby at the time. I enjoyed it much more this time around because I’m in the little years of motherhood with multiple children now, hospitality is a regular rhythm for our family, and we’re in ministry now! Gloria was raw and real and made me feel less alone. I really resonated with her and some of her struggles and I was so encouraged by how she brought the gospel home in every chapter. There were several times throughout the book that I felt the Holy Spirit convict me and stop me to pray and ask the Lord for forgiveness about how I’ve viewed some things and my actions in certain circumstances, and also times where I couldn’t help but stop and give thanks to Jesus. I was glad this wasn’t a practical book telling me how to do things but was a book full of pointing to Jesus and who He is in our everyday mundane lives. It wasn’t a book that I felt discouraged/like a failure after finishing (which has happened to me with other books pertaining to motherhood and biblical womanhood for sure), but I felt encouraged and hopeful in my trials and sinful habits after each chapter. These were a couple of the many quotes that spurred me on:
“Jesus is the sovereign Lord over every square inch of your home—from the pipes to the television to the mattresses. He is Lord over it, and desires that you use what he’s given you to glorify him.”
“God will not hold sins against you that he has held onto his Son’s dying body on the cross. Those sins are paid in full. This is the truth that sets you free!” -
Glimpses of Grace boldly takes on our complaints about the little things in life. Yes, laundry overflows, children misbehave, we lose sleep, friends offend us, husbands lose things, and ministry responsibilities keep growing. However, God is FULLY AWARE and FULLY CAPABLE to handle our burdens if we allow him. Gloria reminds us to face each challenge, discouraging moment, anxiety builder, and responsibility with the heart of Christ. He cares about each noun that concerns us. So while we are changing diapers, cooking meals, cutting fingernails, homeschooling, speaking, working, and more we should focus on using our spheres of influence for God's glory.
I always felt peace when completing a chapter in this book. I appreciated how she used personal examples to share insightful that was relatable. Her points about the differences between gospel grounded optimism over circumstantial optimism were eye-opening! She used plenty of scripture to edify, educate, encourage, and motivate women just as Titus 2 commands. The repetitive themes of repentance, gaining joy by offering grace, and doing ALL your work unto the glory of God were explained with such love. In conclusion, fold laundry with joy, discipline children with grace, and clean up after your family with peace of mind because God is pleased with your work. -
Things to remember from book:
Ch 1: "God can use the ordinary moments in your life to glorify himself by conforming you into the image of his Son. That is precisely what he intends to do...They're opportunities to see glimpses of grace."
Ch 3: Even as we make it our aim to do all things with excellence and be good stewards of our home and children, our focus can easily be shifted to "whatever you do, do all to promote your own glory."
Ch 6: God made food such an integral part of our everyday lives so that we would have an idea of what Jesus meant when he said, "I am the bread of life."
So in your homemaking, cooking, wifey, kid raising, and hospitality, feast your soul on the bread of life and do whatever you need to do in order to help people yearn for the true bread that gives life.
Ch 10: The liberating power of the gospel allows up to reach into each other's lives and ask good, soul searching questions...we're free to think of others before we think of ourselves. We don't have to be afraid of the answers we hear, because we trust in God who raises the dead and always finishes the good work he's started...We can lock arms together and be for one another instead of competing against each other, because we are all looking to the reward.
Ch 11: I turn homemaking into a grandiose display of my personal style. I forget homemaking is primarily to adorn the gospel because the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people.
Faith believes that we are who God says we are...God is delighted to use fragile jars of clay and our imperfect homes for the sake of his fame among the nations! -
•Inspirational: this isn't a practical book, but a book about remembering and holding onto the gospel in the midst of every day, ordinary chaos in the home.
•Theology: don't shut off your brain while reading, but over all theologically sound. I am still waiting for the homemaker book that talks even a little bit about how important church is to the homemaker. Most of them focus entirely on your personal Bible reading and not at all, or very little, on the means of grace or preaching.
•Personal: I must admit I neither loved nor hated this book. I was very indifferent through the whole read. It wasn't really practical enough to be a book on homemaking, and not really deep enough to be theologically enriching. There were parts I enjoyed, but most of it was just kinda blah for me.
This could be a helpful book if you are just lost in the depths of the ordinary and are having a hard time remembering the bigger, ultimate truth. -
Read it! If you’re a Christian that knows the gospel is supposed to inform your mundane but aren’t quite sure how…read this book. Gloria Furman is a gifted communicator of the gospel for the “saved.” Chock full of scripture, this book promotes meditation on the Word of God and helps the Christ-following reader understand the Bible. Christian, the gospel is for you! If that sentence doesn’t make sense to you, pick up this book and absorb the scripture contained.
Gloria cuts through the crap and gets straight to the theology that informs practicality. Since this is a book for the individual “trapped” in their mundane, I appreciated that her illustrations were quick, to the point, and not drawn out. After all, her target audience doesn’t have time to finish a cup of coffee while it’s hot, she’s wise not to expect them to have time to read about other peoples’ mundane. Her content is Life-giving, not entertaining. If you want quick fixes, a 10-step process, or something to motivate you to fold the next load of laundry…move on. If you want meaty, deep content that helps you understand how theology, doctrine and the gospel matter for your present season, look no further. -
This book is a bold reminder for moms to treasure most importantly, the gospel in our homes. It encourages us to give ourselves grace day to day, including in motherhood and homemaking!
“As we’re making breakfast, we can plan the day around serving others, knowing this is what God created us to do.” -
It has good points, but a bit too anecdotal. This is the second book I've read by the author, and she seems to use the same illustrations from her life that include the hardships from having a physically challenged husband and busy motherhood.
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A good reminder of what we really have in Christ. Worth a reread at some point. Not a lot of practical suggestions on how to implement this in your daily life though.
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Fist half more theoretical and hard to get through. Second half more practical and I enjoyed more. Very gospel centered. Quotes from many other gospel centered writers/speakers
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Read this book during my quiet time! Found it very encouraging for moms in all walks of life!
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“May Jesus be our Treasure” and nothing else.
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4.5 ⭐️
This is a very specific kind of book, fortunately enough, it was exactly what I needed. -
Well-written and encouraging. Every mom should read this book!
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I'm a homemaker who wants to honor God by loving my husband and children and managing my home well. There is a wealth of information and products out there that promise to help me do just that. If you are anything like me, you probably have several Pinterest boards full of ideas or have read a dozen books and magazines to get a plan together.
My problem is I never stick with my plan for very long! Why? Because, as Gloria Furman shows in her book, Glimpses of Grace, my real problem is not my plan, but how I view my life in light of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In Part 1, Gloria explains our foundation in the mundane. The gospel is clearly spelled out, not in, as she says, "smurf" or "Christianese", but the basic truths are laid out: the fall of man, the substitutionary death of Christ, and our need to respond in repentance and faith.
Gloria also helps us understand some key ideas to really grasp the grace that is offered to us:
The Gift of God is God himself not our stuff.
God's grace in the mundane is experienced in living daily life to reflect His glory.
Our relationship with God is not just during a quiet time, it includes all of our life.
Salvation is marvelous and exciting, not boring!
Part 2 is all about experiencing the miraculous in the mundane:
This is not the "believe and achieve" or "reach for the stars " kind of fluff that I think most moms are tired of hearing. Gloria challenges us to take a look at life through the lens of the gospel - every attitude, responsibility, and motive. Our friendships, contentment, organization - all have to be rooted in the gospel of Jesus to be honoring to God. Gloria really addresses our heart/sin issues, not just the surface issues. She does so by explaining deep theological truths - but don't worry, she's a good mom and has cut those meaty truths into bite-size, easy-to-digest pieces seasoned with personal examples.
Warning: this book is for serious homemakers only! Don't pick up this book unless you're ready to have your worldview challenged. The point is not to get you to change your actions, but to change your way of thinking. Glimpses of Grace will stretch you in how you view your everyday in light of the gospel of Christ. Thank you, Gloria, for reminding me of God's grace in my daily life as a homemaker!
*Special thanks to Crossway for providing this book for review through Netgalley.com -
The author is a missionary's wife, homemaker, and mother of three young children. She writes to encourage Christian homemakers to nest their identity in the gospel, be content in the gospel, reflect on the gospel to gain a better perspective on their sinful nature, rely on transformational power.....etc. Basically she encourages readers to understand, honor, and cherish the gospel and let that understanding apply to the weaknesses or challenges they experience in their daily life. It's a good message, and Christians do need to be constantly reminded in order to renew our mind. But the chapters feels repetitive when you read it in one sitting, since all 13 chapters have the same thesis, just different examples of life situations. (Sometimes I can't even tell how the life situations used as illustration in one chapter is different from the next.....) I eventually changed my reading pace one chapter per week. That worked much better, kind of like listening to a sermon every week.
My favorite part is the last chapter, discussing contentment:
" The world recommends manipulating your circumstances to achieve contentment. Earn more money to buy what you need and want. If your current spouse doesn't suit you, then find a way out of your marriage to find someone who makes you happy. There's the philanthropic strain that says to give away what you have to others to find happiness in your good deeds. Asceticism would advise you to get rid of whatever is distracting your soul from inner peace.....Christianity would have you submit to God so that he can give you contentment in him.....In other words, seeking God's kingdom is directly related to our contentment."
" Action steps are good things! Reduce the number of trips you make to the grocery store by careful planning. Slim down your busy schedule by carpooling with others. Recycle your belongings into the hands of more needy people. Simplify your world with careful discipline and more sophisticated planning. These are all very good things. But none of these "things to do" can deliver the peace they promise, especially if they become elevated to the status of an idol in our hearts." -
Gloria Furman is a pastor’s wife and mother of four. She and her husband moved to Dubai in 2008 to plant a church, where her husband now serves as pastor. Gloria is a homemaker, doula, blogger, and author.
Before I started reading Glimpses of Grace, I wasn't sure how applicable it would be for me. This book was written for wives and mothers whose days are filled with “mundane” tasks of homemaking. As a disabled wife and mom, I cannot physically take care of most of those tasks, so my life is very different. However, this book was very practical and applicable for me! I would recommend it to any woman, whether single or married, with children or without children, healthy or chronically ill.
In Glimpses of Grace, Gloria Furman explains how the gospel makes a difference in our everyday lives. The gospel isn't just something we believe so that we can be saved. It has implications for all aspects of life. Gloria shows how the gospel affects our home life, friendships, hospitality, generosity, contentment, and cheerfulness. She shows how the gospel removes our shame and gives us hope. I found this book to be thought-provoking, challenging, and encouraging.
Glimpses of Grace is theologically rich, yet easy to read and understand. It is helpful and practical. It is a book that is full of good teaching and solid truth. I highly recommend it! -
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
Mom Enough: The Fearless Mother's Heart and Hope, I was delighted to find it buried in my Kindle. I determined to read it immediately 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! -
I listened to this book in audio format. It wasn't what I was expecting, which has left me struggling to rate it now. I seem to be in the minority of Christian women in that I don't enjoy real-life scenarios used as metaphorical examples of theology or lessons in faith. I was expecting application of theology to real-life scenarios, not the other way around. I'd rather be taught directly how to deal with a life scenario, or be directly taught about theology. I don't like when stories are told and then we are supposed to metaphorically relate them to a larger concept. So due to that, I struggled to get through this book. Despite this, the book contained wonderful insight and knowledge and the author did well turning nearly any life story into a reason to celebrate our salvation through Jesus. I think it would be a good book to possibly read in very short chunks so that the theological concepts can be digested and related to other areas of life that she does not discuss.
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Gloria Furman is no stranger to suffering or looking for His grace in the midst of everyday living, and one of my favorite chapters from this book is the one in which she shares about her husband's illness and the impact it's had on their family and how God continues to use this trial for His glory. Sound theology and good reminders throughout about the difference the gospel should make as we make a home for our families.
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It's easy to get sucked into the idea that this mundane living isn't what it's cracked up to be and find myself discouraged. This book brought to life the motivation for the Kingdom-impacting role of home manager all over again for me.
