Humble Moms

How the Work of Christ Sustains the Work of Motherhood

Kristen Wetherell

• Publisher: B&H Books
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN:
  9781087751016
• eBook ISBN:
  9781087751023
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Do you ever feel a disconnect as a mother—like you’re doing all the "mom things” you’re supposed to do as you stoop to serve your kids with your hands, but your heart isn’t in it?

While being a mom is one of the most rewarding jobs, it is also one of the hardest. We grow weary as we pour ourselves out for our children, wondering where we’ll get the strength to serve another day. If we’re honest, we can become exhausted by the constant call to tend to our family. We can even sometimes resent the posture of humility and servanthood it requires. We can easily go about humble work without a humble heart.

Kristen Wetherell has been there, and instead of offering you a parenting plan, a pep talk, or a list of things to do, her words in Humble Moms offers you exactly what she needs in moments of exhaustion: life-giving and biblical meditations on Jesus, who humbly serves you not only in hand, but in heart.

As you journey along with Kristen through the entire life and work of Christ, you’ll find that your life and work as a mom is sustained in the process. Momma, it is truly possible to have hands and hearts that look like Jesus. Open Humble Moms and take in all that Christ is for you—and you’ll find that his heart and posture is changing yours!

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 1:1–5

Extra Reading: John 1:1–18

Who gets the credit for bearing a child?

The baby, or the mother?

Take a moment to remember the birth of your first baby. If your experience was anything like mine, you labored for hours on end with trembling, sweat, and groans, enduring excruciating pain for the joy set before you: a precious newborn. Now imagine that after all is said and done, you hold your baby in your arms, and your daughter or son looks up at you and says, “I did a pretty good job, didn’t I?”

The picture of a talking baby is ridiculous, of course, but so is the thought that any child, born of his or her mother, could take the credit for being alive. No baby gives birth to him or herself; the mother did all the hard work. She carried the child, labored over the child, and, with some helping hands, delivered the child. Even after this, the baby’s mother will sustain his or her life.

No human being can take credit for existence. We are weak, helpless, and entirely dependent on our parents from the moment of conception—

From the beginning.

In the opening verses of John, we read about another beginning, the birth of creation itself, and we read of the One who existed even before the beginning began:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life . . . (John 1:1–4)

John, the author, holds nothing back from the start. He dives into the depths of who God is and invites us to swim with him there. So, friends, let’s dive with him. His theology may be deep but it is also deeply practical and will actually help us. The rest of his Gospel (and this book) are dependent on what he says—and what he says is profound: “In the beginning was the Word . . .”

Who is this Word? John goes on: He is “with God,” and he is also God. To be “with” someone implies a distinction between two people, so John is telling us how God and the Word are the same and also distinct. A few verses later, we learn how the Word would become flesh (1:14)––a truth we will explore in the next chapter—and so we can rightly conclude that this Word became Jesus, the holy Son of the Father who clothed himself in humanity and came to us.

But before the Son of God came, he was.

Just as historical events come into focus when we learn what happened beforehand, John wants us to zoom out and get the big picture about the divine nature of Jesus before we zoom in on his earthly ministry. But this big picture is unique since the Author of history, in all his divine glory and power, has always existed outside of space and time—something theologians call “infinitude.” And infinitude is impossible to comprehend for finite creatures like you and me. (But not impossible to desire—what mother wouldn’t love to be infinite?!)

When you hear the phrase “in the beginning,” does it feel like you’ve heard it before? John intentionally uses this phrase to jog our memory about Genesis 1: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. . . . And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:1–2). John wants us to see how the Word, the Son of God, is the life-giving Creator at the beginning, the one and only God who made and sustains everything.

The Son—the second person of the Trinity—is God and always has been. Dwelling in perfect unity with the Father and Spirit before the beginning of time, the Son of God is the Word, speaking into being the things that once did not exist and making all things, including time and history themselves. “Without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3).

This is good news, Mom: nothing—nothing at all—exists apart from Jesus. All things hang upon, rely upon, depend upon the Word of life. Including you and me. Including our kids. Including the little basil planters in our kitchen window (that we may or may not remember to water).

We’re all under the jurisdiction of everything the Son of God created, owns, and sustains.

At the end of the day, friend, it’s not you that keeps the world spinning. It is Christ. (Whew!) Colossians 1:17 would put it this way: “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” That’s his work: holding all things together. So, let his work sustain yours today. After all, he made and upholds everything you are accountable for, long before you ever laid eyes on any of them.

For a brief moment, let’s consider the Trinity. Are you ready?

How might we describe the relationship between Father, Son, and Spirit?

Here’s what Jesus said about it when he walked the earth:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing.” (John 5:19–20)

“[The Spirit of truth] will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:14–15)

“And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. . . . you loved me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:5, 24)

How beautiful. The Trinity is a picture of perfect, everlasting relational happiness. God is love (1 John 4:8), and so Father, Son, and Spirit love one another with perfection. Think about the happiest relationship you have, perhaps with your spouse, kids, a family member, or a friend. A healthy, loving relationship brings mutual enjoyment. Now imagine an intimacy with zero limits and infinite happiness with a companion who never disappoints!

This is what God enjoys in himself between Father, Son, and Spirit: unconditional love, unrestricted delight, and fullness of joy. Sweet fellowship, perfect companionship.

In light of this, an important question begs to be answered:

Why w...

Table of contents

• Introduction: What's in a Mom?
• Part 1: Humility in the Flesh
• Part 2: A Humble Servant
• Part 3: Humble unto Death
• Part 4: Humble in Heaven
• Acknowledgments
• Discussion Questions