Mothering Against Futility (Gorton)

Simona Gorton calls women to embrace the God–glorifying tension between the seemingly meaningless work and the weighty responsibility of motherhood. We know the gospel impacts the repetitive, mundane work so inherent in homemaking and mothering, but how does that knowledge work itself out in the fabric of late nights and spilled oatmeal? As mothers, we live in the tension between the seemingly meaningless ‘everyday’ of our callings and the magnificent realities of the gospel and what God promises to do through us as mothers as we raise up the next generation to His glory. This book was written to showcase how God uniquely uses the ‘vanity’ inherent in the work of motherhood to display the beauties of the gospel in and through us as we fix our eyes on its truth. If there is value in the mundanity, we can glory even in this ‘menial’ work as we come to see even in this the wisdom of God. The mundanity itself is a signpost pointing us to the glory of God if we’ll let it. In the calling of motherhood, God transforms our sight and opens our eyes to the gospel paradoxes of weakness as strength, smallness as glory, inefficiency as faithfulness. Our lives and actions as mothers, surrendered to Him like loaves and fishes, can become stunning showpieces of gospel hope and glimpses of eternal hilarity and joy. Simona pulls together themes from the book of Ecclesiastes to see how it speaks specifically to many of the challenges we face as mothers in this encouraging book.