The birth of our babies—especially our first—is supposed to be magical. We expect a quick rebound from what’s often the most physically challenging experience in our lives. Messages fired at us on television, through the internet, and on social media aim to convince us: once we embrace our child for the first time, we’ll float our way through bliss.

What if our stories are different?

My first encounter with childbirth, for example, left me feeling as if I’d been tossed into a furnace.
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I suffered, but I didn’t despair. Why not? I credit the hand of God. From the abundance of baby meals sent by friends and family, to the compassionate care of my OB, to the willingness of many to listen as I retold the story of my traumatic birth—I was cared for. The Lord met me in my furnace.

Through the fire, I had my clearest-yet view of Christ. I saw and felt his dedication to me. I learned to trust him not just day-by-day, but moment-to-moment. Postpartum depression slowed me down. I learned to savor the good moments.

Division and disunity with other moms can surprise us at every turn, even in the most common situations....

With so many gray-area choices in the context of orthodox, biblical motherhood, how can we love one another well? How can we get below the surface, resisting feelings of shame, embarrassment, comparison, and judgement when we see another mom doing it differently?...

...Instead of judging each other, sizing one another up, and making broad brush stroke statements about “moms who work” or “moms who stay at home” or “moms who homeschool” etc., let’s seek to be kind and generous with our assumptions. Let’s resolve to learn the scriptures together and pursue Christ, living out the gospel in our daily lives. Let’s lovingly help each other see different people groups, especially those who don’t have a voice in our culture, and advocate for them.

Peace with the different mom but sister-in-Christ is possible. It comes through the cross as a subsequent overflow from peace in our vertical relationship with God. Unity isn’t going to come from everything-is-like-me motherhood, but from every-believer-made-one-in-him theology.

Hi friends, we wanted to take a moment to share about something new at Risen Motherhood!

Our belief is when you influence a mother, you influence a family. She listens to gospel-centered Bible teaching, and her husband might listen to it as well. She purchases a children’s Bible, and her children might hear scripture at breakfast. She thinks deeply about the gospel, and her husband is challenged by her example while her children see it in action. When a mom's heart is softened to the gospel, it overflows into living rooms, breakfast tables, bedtime routines, school meetings, playdates, and more.

We started RM because we believe in the impact a mom can have in her family and those around her. We create gospel-centered content through our podcast, social media platforms, and equipping resources, with the hope that moms will fall more in love with Christ, and better understand how the resurrection transforms their lives.

This work is incredibly important to us, and many of you have shared testimonies of how God has transformed your view of motherhood through RM's content. If this is you, we'd love for you to come alongside us in this eternally important mission as we launch Patreon, a platform for supporting brands and ministries like RM. When you join the RM community through Patreon, you partner financially with us and contribute directly to the work of this ministry. As a supporter, you'll not only gain access to insider perks and gifts, but you fund ongoing expenses for the website, resources, and podcast.

No matter what, our current content (like the podcast episodes and Abide Together tools) at RM will remain free – we want all mothers to have access and grow together in the gospel – but if you’re able, will you consider pledging a contribution as you see the value of what we're doing?

Please only give as you feel led, but even $1 a month will make a difference for the ministry. You can learn more through the blog post Laura wrote and on our Patreon page (both linked in profile).

Thank you again for partnering with us, as moms all over the world hear about the transforming power of the gospel!

Laura & Emily

"The fog of physical exhaustion, emotional weariness, and feelings of constant failure didn’t lift for at least the first year... I simply wasn’t myself; I felt like a hollow shell of a person. I didn’t enjoy being around people, was increasingly short-tempered...The difference was Postpartum Depression...

For those of you in the throws of PPD...You can rest. It isn’t solely up to you to fix yourself - physically, emotionally, or spiritually. Healing takes time. But as you wait, know God is working on your behalf...

By God’s grace, you can be honest with your husband, open with friends, and seek the counsel of medical professionals, boasting all the more gladly of your weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon you. 

Postpartum depression can’t separate you from the love of God, friend (Romans 8:39). Because of the reconciling power of the gospel for believers, “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing” (Zephaniah 3:17).

Even when you’re hurting, trust the gospel’s prescription for your heart and the healing comfort of his nearness."
 

I’ve never felt a joy quite like becoming a mom. Parenthood has brought out so much of the best of us.

And, yes, some of the worst too. From the I’ve-never-felt-this-consistently-tired-in-my-life fatigue; to transitioning to one income; to (not) figuring out sleep routines; to anxiety and feelings of inadequacy; we’ve had our share of marital strife since becoming parents...
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I must remember that God’s overarching purpose for my life is to prepare me for an eternity with him by making me more like Christ...This means marriage isn’t about my spouse completing me, living our best life now, or sweet tax breaks. Our main goal as husband and wife is to help prepare each other to see Jesus...

Like me, you will fail. You’ll feel fatigued. You’ll let your spouse down one way or another. You’ll wonder if grace has run out. In those moments, I pray you remember: “He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young” (Is. 40:11).

Your Savior is Greater. His grace is a bottomless ocean. Keep walking with him. He is gently leading you. He will see you through.
 

As mothers, we can be tempted to find our righteousness in giving our children the picture-perfect childhood, filled with super-food meals and the best education possible. Somehow we falsely believe that if we can be the ideal Proverbs 31 wife and mother, we will earn favor with God.  

Yet our hope is solely in what Christ has already done, what he accomplished for us on the cross.

Our righteousness will never come from being good enough. It comes from Christ, who granted us new life in himself and placed trust in our hearts—trust in the one atoning death that covers all our sin. Second Corinthians 5:21 tells us, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Every day, each time we fail to keep God’s perfect commands, what glorious assurance we can have.  For we know that our righteousness is not in anything that we do, but in Christ alone. When we fail, when we sin, amidst the remorse and regret, we can thank God for his commandments.  For they reveal our imperfections and lead us to the cross, our only hope of ever being counted good enough."
 

Whether you’re doing dishes or doing desk work, God has called all moms into the service of Christ within the context of their particular families. No matter what kinds of work we do, we can reflect the image of God who is always at work in the world and in our lives.

This post is part six of a six-week series on how to start and facilitate a women’s Bible study group. Leading a Bible study can sound intimidating—but it doesn't have to be! Today, we’re walking through a few simple ways to lead your Bible study group well.

We claim to believe it, but what really stirs in our hearts when we don’t get the job we applied for? How about when our kids disobey, or don’t do things the way we hope? What runs through our minds when dinner burns, or—even more practically—when our little one wakes early and interrupts our morning “quiet time?”...

What if we accepted the beauty that God, in his sovereignty, wants to cultivate something different than we expected in the hours of that missed nap? We might have a fussy toddler on one hip and a screaming baby on the other, but circumstances like these press us into the joy of sanctification that the Lord graciously ordained in order that we might look more like his Son.

He isn’t asking us to go anywhere that he himself hasn’t been. Isn’t this what Jesus did for us over 2,000 years ago as he prayed, ““Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).

By his example, Jesus enables us to surrender everything about our lives for the sake of those around us.
 

This post is part five of a six-week series on how to start and facilitate a women’s Bible study group. Today, we're walking through how to love group members well and maximize discussion.

As we consider all of the demands on our time during the Christmas season, it’s important for us to count the cost of decorating. When your two-year-old removes every ornament from the bottom third of the tree, your one-year-old is chewing on baby Jesus, and you’re sweeping up pine needles multiple times a week, you need a reminder of your reasoning!...

So, if you’re getting ready to bring that tub of Christmas paraphernalia out of storage (or maybe you’re a person who decorates right after Halloween!), take a minute and consider how you can be more intentional with it this year.

Not to add another burden, but to use what you’re already spending time on to point yourself and your whole family to Christ. Put up the printable with the verse from “O Holy Night” and sing it to your little ones. Talk about the wonderful gift of Christ’s coming when you set out the kid’s nativity set on the coffee table. Tell your children that Jesus is the light of this world when you wrap the tree with the tangled mess of string lights from three-years-ago.

It’s all a chance to spread the good news!
 

Like anyone, moms are susceptible to the conforming pressures of the world. The world tries to squeeze us into its mold like the play dough in our playrooms. 

Conformity comes from the word for “masquerade” – “to wear a mask” or “play a part.”...When our doxology and theology is conformed to the world, it gives the outward appearance of substance without an inward reality...

As we yield our minds to be renewed in the truth, our doxology and theology are transformed. The word reorients and realigns everything we think and do.

Transformation is radical, and sometimes messy, but in the end, glorious! The goal of transformation is to look like Jesus. The word of God (theology) reveals the glory of God (doxology) and the Spirit of God transforms us to be like the Son of God (2 Corinthians 3:17-18).

We are continually becoming what we will be – and what we are becoming is what we behold.