Lately I have been reading the book Glimpses of Grace by Gloria Furman, and I can’t tell you how many times it has brought me to tears. I think the tears kept coming because I was getting a greater vision for treasuring Christ in my home and in my parenting. 

Having two little boys (3yr. and 1yr.), a husband, and a home to care for, I needed to be reminded of the significance that the gospel brings to my ordinary days. I love that as I do my mundane chores and tasks, I can bring God glory and experience real joy.

I was so deeply impacted by this book that I have  invited Gloria to come and share a little bit about her book. I am so excited to share this with you because I hope that you too will meet Jesus as you read her book. I can’t recommend Glimpses of Grace enough!

Here is the interview I had with Gloria.  

What inspired you to write Glimpses of Grace?

My days (and nights) are full of all things “ordinary,” and I struggle to see how the extraordinary gospel of grace intersects and informs my life. I wrote this book because I wanted to remind myself (and others) of the supreme governing reality in our lives when we belong to Jesus—that of being “in Christ” forever. Learning to believe and apply the gospel became very important for me in beginning to understand this—hence the subtitle: treasuring the gospel in your home. 

Who were some of the authors or other theologians that impacted you?

Since seminary I’ve had a fascination with some of the Puritan pastors who have a way with communicating about the supernatural work of God and our ordinary lives. Richard Baxter, Jeremiah Burroughs, John Owen, and Richard Sibbes come to mind. In more contemporary literature, JI Packer, Jerry Bridges, Paul Tripp, John Piper, and Milton Vincent are among those who have impacted me.

How did you balance writing and having a family?

This is a fun question! My family is my primary 24-hour commitment, and after that comes our local church and my neighbors. When life is busy, writing is pretty far down there on the food chain. As a general rule of thumb, my laptop stays closed until the kids are in bed. Otherwise, I find that random Facebook posts of nonsensical words may appear on my timeline because my two-year-old loves technology.

But there are times throughout the days, weeks, and months where I’m able to write in a capacity other than an occasional article here and there. My husband Dave is a great support to me in this, as he sees the great personal benefit that I gain from processing my thoughts verbally (on “paper”).

Tell me a little bit about the writing process? What did that look like? Did you ever face writers block?

Presuming that your question refers to the writing process of the books, they both started as outlines in my head. I tossed around some of the main ideas in various blog posts, and then later developed those thoughts further into chapters. The beautiful thing about working from an outline is that is greatly minimizes writers block. However, I’ve found that trying to force an outline that just isn’t there is where writers block can come into play.

What is your favorite part of the book? / favorite quote?

I think the passages that talk about contentment would be my current favorite, simply because I keep coming back to those lessons over and over again!

How did the Lord encounter you as you studied and wrote the book?

I think the Lord was gracious in revealing to me just how much I need to depend on his Spirit in order to comprehend his word. Although there was a ton of academic work done in preparation and writing of the book, the comprehension of spiritual things had to be by God’s Spirit illumining his word. Another grace I experienced was that as I attempted to write about treasuring the gospel, I became painfully aware of how my heart is divided. My prayer for myself became the same as the psalmist in Psalm 86:11, “Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.”

What have you written? (book, blog, other websites, etc..?)

Glimpses of Grace is my first publication. I’ve written a second book that is explicitly to mothers called Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full (releasing March 2014). I mainly write articles for blogs, and on occasion I find myself contributing to publications about cross-cultural ministry and missions, which is always sheer joy.