It’s hard being a mom. I know in my heart that the gospel changes everything – even how I view my role as a mother. But I so easily forget that Christ’s love for me, His work on the cross, His living Word – these gifts offer me the opportunity to respond to frustrating situations and mundane circumstances with His perspectives. What a breath of fresh air this book was for my worn-out self. I’m sure I’ll be revisiting this wonderful little read in the years to come. (Thanks to my sweet sister-in-law for gifting it to me a couple of years ago!)

Check out a few of my favorite quotes from my March reading.

A greater gift than time is the gift of forgiveness of our sins through Christ Jesus so that we can behold our holy God. ¹

No mother’s nighmarish valley is so dark that Jesus cannot bear her burdens the whole way through. ¹

More relevant than our mothering choices or strategies is whether we are walking in a manner worthy of him, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God (Col. 1:9-10) ¹

Oh, let none think his labor of love is lost because the fruit does not immediately appear! Nearly forty years did my father labor here… I took some pains among this people too, and my strength also seemed spent in vain… but the seed, sown so long since, now sprang up, bringing forth repentance and remission of sins. ²

… I mention these little circumstances to show how easy it is to redeem every fragment of time (if I may so speak), when we feel any love to those souls for which Christ died. ²

Two kinds of people, but all lived and died by the same sword. ³

We were outcasts without a kingdom to save us, and the gods were too far above in the heavens to hear our cries. ³

“Maviah…” I turned back. “Yes?” “You will find that Yeshua loves you.” ³

Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? – Isaiah 55:2

Gloria Furman, Treasuring Christ when Your Hands Are Full ¹
John Wesley, John Wesley’s Journal ²
Ted Dekker, A.D. 30 ³

A good friend of Freedom gifted each of us missionaries a copy of Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus. Lois Tverberg looks at important biblical truths and interprets them from a Jewish point of view. This book made me realize just how much I don’t know about the Bible. I felt like I was underlining every sentence. Lots of interesting and convicting information to take in. How deep and rich and precious is God’s Word!

Some of my favorite thoughts/quotes from my reading this month:

When Jesus sent his disciples out, he told them to heal the sick and proclaim the kingdom, as he did himself. Not one or the other, but both. We need both words and deeds to bring God glory. ¹

A child’s main classroom is usually what they overhear from their parents’ conversations. ¹

[Regarding gossip] Have you heard something? Let it die with you. Be brave, it will not make you burst. -Sirach 19:10 ¹

Being angry, I’ve discovered, usually indicates judgment… Whenever I get angry, I look for the selfish or wrong-headed motive that I assume lies behind the person’s actions. ¹

How you pray reveals what you believe about God. Since I heard this, I’ve listened more closely to what I pray and what it says about what I believe about God. ¹

… the faith that we’re supposed to have is not in the outcome, but in God himself. God wants us to be absolutely convinced of his love for us and of his power and desire to take care of us. ¹

The task is not yours to complete, but neither are you free to desist from it. – Mishnah , Avot 2:21. ¹

“Sir, you wish to serve God and go to heaven. Remember you cannot serve Him alone. You must therefore find companions or make them. The Bible knows nothing of solitary religion.” ²

Our end in leaving our native country was not to avoid want (God having given us plenty of temporal blessings), nor to gain the dung or dross of riches or honor; but singly this–to save our souls; to live wholly to the glory of God. ²

I went to America, to convert the Indians; but oh! who shall convert me? … I have a fair summer religion. I can talk well; nay, and believe myself, while no danger is near; but let death look me in the face, and my spirit is troubled. Nor can I say, ‘To die is gain!’ ²

After my return home, I was much buffeted with temptations, but I cried out, and they fled away. They returned again and again. I as often lifted up my eyes, and He “sent me help from his holy place.” And herein I found the difference between this and my former state chiefly consisted. I was striving, yea fighting with all my might under the law, as well as under grace… ²

… the shortest distance between a human being and the truth is a story. Surely this is why Jesus preferred to use stories. ³

As it turns out, it’s hard to see when your vision is blocked by planks of secret judgments and grievances against yourself and the world. ³

His Way of being in this world is full of joy and gratefulness. A place where all burdens are light and each step sure. Contentment and peace rule the heart. A new power flows unrestricted. ³

¹Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus, Lois Tverberg
²The Journal of John Wesley, John Wesley
³A.D. 30, Ted Dekker

I’ve been in a biography/autobiography kick recently. This book has been on my “to read” list for awhile, and I’ve been pushing it off. But when reading Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret, I saw that George Müller had given to Taylor’s work in China. I was amazed. Wasn’t Müller the man who took care of thousands of orphans, not with his giant pocketbook, but through his faith in God alone? How did he have any money to send to overseas missions? Incredible story. Honestly, the book was a bit difficult for me to wade through in some parts, mostly due to writing style. But the way this man trusted the Lord is something I envy.

Below: some of my favorite “quotes” from my reading this month.

Money is really worth no more than as it is used according to the mind of the Lord; and life is worth no more than as it is spent in the service of the Lord. ¹

Of late I have seen, by God’s grace, more and more how entirely unworthy I am of being used by God for this glorious and honorable service, and I can only say: “Lord, here is thy servant, if thou art pleased to use such a one as I am.” ¹

How blessed to have the living God to go to! Particularly precious to know him in these days of widespread distress! ¹

But the riches of God are as great as ever. He knows that our expenses are great. He knows that a little will not do in these days, when provisions are so dear…. My soul is at peace. ¹

Six hundred and seven days I sought the help of God day by day, before we came so far as to be able to commence the building; yet at last he gave me the desire of my heart. ¹

I find the great help, the uninterrupted help which the Lord has given me for more than fifteen years, a great reason for going forward in this work. And this, trusting in him, I am resolved to do. ¹

But I desire more than this for the orphans. I cannot be satisfied with anything concerning them short of this, that their souls be won for the Lord. ¹

We can only give to him of his own; for all we have is his. When the day of recompense comes, the regret will only be that we have done so little for him, not that we have done too much. ¹

When Jesus called his disciples to “walk after” him, he meant the word in both ways [halakh and halakhah]. First they would follow in his literal footsteps; later they would follow in his teachings, taking his message out to the world. ²

…we find Jesus’ words call us beyond what is going on in our brains. We are not just to “hear” but to take heed, to respond, to obey. And we are not just called to believe in the oneness of God, but to place him at the center of our lives. ²

Love is both inward and outward, both the warm fuzzies and the actions that result from them. ²

If there is one thing you can learn from Jewish culture over the ages, it is an utter passion for learning one’s religious faith…. You might think that an education that revolved around memorizing the Bible is excessive, but in most societies from ancient times up to the present, people have been far more literate in their sacred texts than we are today. Indeed, our modern Western culture is one of the most secular in the history of the world. ²

Loving God with all of your life is the exact opposite of our culture’s expectation that you’ll wedge a few moments for God in between work, hobbies, sports, TV, and the latest movie. ²

If you are generous, your whole life will show it. And if you are selfish, it will infect your very soul. ²

Caring for those around us isn’t merely a nice habit to cultivate; Jesus says that it is central to our character as a whole. ²

¹ George Müller, The Autobiography of George Müller
² Lois Tverberg, Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus

I was hoping for lots of reading time with the coming of the holiday season, but reality hit instead. I moved forward in a couple of books, but I only finished one book completely: C. S. Lewis’ A Grief Observed.

Wow. What to say? My heart ached as I read of the pain and anger and sadness that Lewis experienced after the death of his wife. But empathetically reading about someone else’s sorrow isn’t the same thing as living it. While I didn’t completely understand his pain, I appreciated Lewis’ descriptions, word pictures, and his raw honesty through it all. I’ll keep this one tucked away on my bookshelf for the time when my own grief will be observed. My biggest take-away from this read: I will not be immune to death’s touch forever. Life is a mist.

Some of my favorite quotes from the last two months…

You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you. It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong and sound as long as you are merely using it to cord a box. But suppose you had to hang by that rope over a precipice. Wouldn’t you then first discover how much you really trusted it? …. Only a real risk tests the reality of a belief. ¹

… there is nothing we can do with suffering except to suffer it…. It doesn’t really matter whether you grip the arms of the dentist’s chair or let your hands lie in your lap. The drill drills on. ¹

You can’t see anything properly while your eyes are blurred with tears. ¹

God has not been trying an experiment on my faith or love in order to find out their quality. He knew it already. It was I who didn’t. ¹

… bereavement is not the truncation of married love but one of its regular phases–like the honeymoon. What we want is to live our marriage well and faithfully through that phase too… ¹

Not my idea of God, but God. Not my idea of H., but H. Yes, and also not my idea of my neighbor, but my neighbor. For don’t we often make this mistake as regards people who are still alive–who are with us in the same room? Talking and acting not to the man himself but to the picture–almost the précis–we’ve made of Him in our own minds? ¹

Lord, thy servant is a poor man; but he has trusted in thee, and made his boast in thee, before the sons of men; therefore let him not be confounded! Let it not be said all this was enthusiasm, and therefore it is come to naught! ²

Our hour of trial continues still. The Lord mercifully has given enough to supply our daily necessities; but he gives by the day now, and almost by the hour, as we need it… I have besought the Lord again and again, both yesterday and today. It is as if the Lord said: “Mine hour is not yet come.” But I have faith in God. I believe that he surely will send help, though I know not whence it is to come. ²

This way of living brings the Lord remarkably near. He is, as it were, morning by morning inspecting our stores, that accordingly he may send help. ²

The words in the prayer of Jehoshaphat, “Neither know we what to do, but our eyes are upon thee,” are at this moment the language of my heart. I likewise know not what to do, but my eyes are upon the Lord, and I am sure that he will help this day also. ²

I labor because I am the Lord’s, bought by his precious blood, and he commands me to labor. ²

But he grimaced and blurted out, “Why on earth would you want to go there? Those Jews never did nothing good, except give us Jesus.” Wouldn’t that be enough? ³

Ironically, as our world has become more sensitive to embracing ethnic differences, some have done exactly the opposite with Jesus. ³

Just as rain water comes down in drops and forms rivers, so with the Scriptures: one studies a bit today and some more tomorrow, until in time the understanding becomes like a flowing stream. – Song of Songs Midrash Rabbah 2:8 ³

¹C. S. Lewis, A Grief Observed
²George Müller, The Autobiography of George Müller
³Lois Tverberg, Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus