Devoted: Great Men and Their Godly Moms

This book consists of eleven chapters about the devoted mothers of great Christian men. These were originally postings, Tim Challies the author, had written on his blog. Each chapter also includes a section called 'A Mothers Reflection', which was written by Melissa Edgington.

Here are the chapter heading:

1.   The Hidden Strength of a Weak Mother - John Newton
2.   The Prayer of a Godly Mother - Hudson Taylor 
3.   The Unbreakable Bond of Training and Tenderness - J. Gresham Machen 
4.   The Perseverance of a Godly Mother - Christopher Yuan
5.   The Power of a Godly Mother's Surrender - William Borden
6.   The Lasting Influence of a Mother's Devotion - Charles Hodge
7.   The Quiet Grace of the Ordinary - John Piper
8.   The Virtue of a Pleading Mother - Charles Spurgeon
9.   The Patience of a Godly Mother - Augustine
10. The Impact of a Hard-Working Mother - D. L. Moody
11. No Greater Accolade - Timothy

One thing these mothers had in common was prayer. They prayed for their children.

I thought I'd share one of Melissa's reflections that I found encouraging:

"One thing we can remember, especially in light of this story, is that even when you are at your absolute weakest as a mother - when you feel like a complete failure, when you feel you aren't doing anything right, when you feel that you are lacking most everything you need in order to show your children how to live for Christ - you can always pray. 

That is one thing that even a little child can do. You can always sit at Jesus' feet and pour out your sorrows, your anxieties, and you can take those precious babies that you feel you are royally messing up and lay them at his feet, knowing that you are too weak and too imperfect to bear the weight of saving them yourself.

Any mother who is at the end of her parenting rope and is all out of strength and ideas and just about out of hope for her children, can pray. She can find all the power and strength that she needs there, not in herself, but in Christ."

Later, in chapter eight,Tim Challies says this of prayer:

"...our prayers really do make a difference, and they're the ultimate way to love our children." 

This is what stood out for me in this small book of 124 pages: The power of a praying mother, more accurately, the power of Christ in a praying mother.

I really enjoyed these stories and highly recommend this book!


Note: Here is a link to another post I shared about prayer from Oswald Chambers... Prayer: A Holy Occupation





Buy it HERE on Amazon

What I'm Currently Reading

Happy first day of Autumn! It's been awhile since I've put up a blog post, but I'm hoping to get back to it again. Life just seems to go by, and the longer you take a break from something, the harder it seems to get back to it.

I thought I'd start with what I'm reading right now.

Church History in Plain Language by Bruce L. Shelley

Yes, I'm still reading this one! It's one of those books that you can read a chapter and put it down for awhile and easily pick up again. I just need to pick it up more often. : ) I'm about half way through and it's really interesting.

SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard

I'm almost finished this one and discovering things I didn't know about the Romans and how they lived. The author takes the time to inform the reader about the misconceptions we may have through our modern eyes. For example we often think of the Romans as conquering lands, and yet that is not how they thought.

The author says here:

"It continues to be convenient to measure Roman power in Italy in terms of geographical area. Yet Roman dominion was primarily over people, not places. As Livy saw, the relations that the Romans formed with those people were the key to the dynamics of early Roman expansion."

I'm right at the part of history where the Christians come in, so I'm interested to see how this author talks about them concerning the Romans. So far she has stated that Nero set fire to Rome (64 AD) and blamed it on the Christians, which was horrifying, yet true.

Lots of interesting things to learn and think about from this book.

The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden

This book is a 1906 nature diary, sorted into the months of the year. Each month has diary entries, poetry, paintings by the author, as well has a short history of each month.

The art work is beautiful, showing you lovely birds and butterflies and plants, from the authors walks in the English and Scottish countryside.  I'm reading through the September chapter now, so almost finished.

Shine Like the Dawn by Carrie Turansky

I'm about half way through this one and really enjoying it. The novel is set in 1903 about a young lady's struggle with trust, and how God draws her to Himself through these struggles. I enjoy Carrie's writing and stories. Hoping to finish this one soon.

I'm also reading the book of Matthew. In chapter 13 the disciples are asking Jesus why he was speaking to the crowds in parables. If you want to know you can find out in Matt. 13:10-52  : )


What are you reading? Feel feel to share in the comments!




Note: Painting above: Autumn Walk In The Park is by Georgi Dimitrov