Courtney Reissig - Glory in the Ordinary: Why Your Work in the Home Matters to God

Chapter 1: The Changing Nature of At - Home Work

Louise Story, Background: Reporting on the Aspirations of Young Women, The New York Times , September 23, 2005, http:// www .nytimes .com /2005 /09 /23 /national /23women -side bar .html .

Louise Story, Many Women at Elite Colleges Set Career Path to Motherhood, The New York Times , September 20, 2005, http:// www .ny times .com /2005 /09 /20 /us /many -women -at -elite -colleges -set -career -path -to -motherhood .html? _r=0/ .

See, for example, Deborah A. Kahn, The Huffington Post , May 19, 2014, http:// www .huffington post .com /deborah -a -kahn /what -research -shows -about _b _5352 .html .

Paulette Light, Why 43% of Women With Children Leave Their Jobs, and How to Get Them Back, The Atlantic , April 19, 2013, https:// www .the atlantic .com /sexes /archive /2013 /04 /why -43 -of -women -with -children -leave -their -jobs -and -how -to -get -them -back /275134/ .

Carolyn McCulley and Nora Shank, The Measure of Success: Uncovering the Biblical Perspective on Women, Work, and the Home (Nashville: B&H, 2014), 36.

Ibid., 44.

Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique (New York: W. W. Norton, 1963), 91.

Ibid., 28.

Even with the busy lives that pull them between work and home, parents today spend more time with their kids than previous generations. Some studies show dads tripling the amount of time spent with their kids in comparison to their parents.

Helaine Olen, A Truce in the Mommy Wars, Salon , March 15, 2006, http:// www .salon .com /2006 /03 /15 /mommy _wars/ .

Newsweek Staff, Mommy vs. Mommy, Newsweek , June 3, 1990, http:// www .news week .com /mommy -vs -mommy -2061 .

DVera Cohn and Andrea Caumont, 7 Key Findings about Stay -at-Home Moms, April 8, 2014, http:// www .pew research .org /fact -tank /2014 /04 /08 /7 -key -findings -about -stay -at -home -moms/ .

DVera Cohn, Gretchen Livingston, and Wendy Wang, After Decades of Decline, a Rise in Stay -at- Home Mothers, Pew Research , April 8, 2014, http:// www .pew social trends .org /2014 /04 /08 /after -decades -of -decline -a -rise -in -stay -at -home -mothers/ .

Sue Shellenbarger, At- Home Dads Make Parenting More of a Guy Thing, The Wall Street Journal , January 22, 2013, http:// www .wsj .com /articles /SB10 .

Liz Pardue -Schultz, Unpopular Opinion: Being a Stay -at-Home Mother Is Not a Job, XO Jane , March 6, 2015, http:// www .xojane .com /issues /being -a -stay -at -home -mom -is -not -a -job/ .

Paul David Tripp, Trading One Dramatic Resolution for 10,000 Little Ones, Desiring God website, December 29, 2013, http:// www .desiring god .org /blog /posts /trading -one -dramatic -resolution -for -10 -000 -little -ones/ .

Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 44.

Chapter 2: Is There Life out There?

Tim Keller with Katherine Leary Alsdorf, Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to Gods Work (New York: Dutton, 2012), 4849.

I get this idea from Martin Luther: In his vocation one is not reaching up to God, but rather bends oneself down toward the world. When one does that, Gods creative work is carried on. Gods work of love takes form on earth, and that which is external witnesses to Gods love. Quoted in Gustaf Wingren, Luther on Vocation (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 1957), 10.

Nate Green, How to Get a Cheap Private Chef, http:// www .thenate green experience .com /how -to -get -a -cheap -private -chef/ , accessed April 7, 2016.

Anne Kadet, New York Citys Grocery Delivery Wars: Whos the Winner?, The Wall Street Journal , February 6, 2015, http:// www .wsj .com /articles /new -york -citys -grocery -delivery -wars -whos -the -winner -1423 .

Wednesday Martin, The Captivity of Motherhood, The Atlantic , July 15, 2015, http:// www .the atlantic .com /entertainment /archive /2015 /07 /the -captivity -of -motherhood /3985 5/ .

Keller, Every Good Endeavor , 49.

Ibid., 46.

Jenna Goudreau, Why Stay -at- Home Moms Should Earn a $115,000 Salary, Forbes , May 2, 2011, http:// www .forbes .com /sites /jenna goudreau /2011 /05 /02 /why -stay -at -home -moms -should -earn -a -1150 -salary/ .

Jen Wilkin, FAQ: Should I Pay an Allowance for Chores?, The Beginning of Wisdom (blog), April 16, 2015, http:// jenwilkin .blogspot .com /2015 /04 /faq -should -i -pay -allowance -for -chores .html/ .

Gene Edward Veith develops this theme in his book God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2002).

Michael Horton, Ordinary: Sustainable Faith in a Radical, Restless World (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2014), 14.

Chapter 3: What about the Chores?

This quote is often attributed to Shane Claiborne, but it actually was posted on a sign in a New Monastic community. Tish Harrison Warren quotes it in her blog post, Courage in the Ordinary, The Well Blog , April 3, 2013, http:// the well .intervarsity .org /blog /courage -ordinary/ .

Kim Bhasin and Patricia Laya, 26 Shockingly Offensive Vintage Ads, Business Insider website, June 14, 2011, http:// www .business insider .com /vintage -sexist -and -racist -ads -2011 -6 ?op=1/ .

Elizabeth Broadbent, What Normal Looks Like, Scary Mommy (blog), accessed April 7, 2016, https:// www .scary mommy .com /what -normal -looks -like/ .

Tim Keller with Katherine Leary Alsdorf, Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to Gods Work (New York: Dutton, 2012), 49.

Kathleen Norris, The Quotidian Mysteries: Laundry, Liturgy, and Womens Work (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1998), 2122.

Keller, Every Good Endeavor , 59.

I am greatly indebted to Rachel Marie Stones book, Eat with Joy: Redeeming Gods Gift of Food (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2013), for giving me clarity in this section. She explores the purpose of food, the problems we have with food, and the ways we can find joy in eating our food in much greater detail. If you want to study this topic further, I recommend her book.

Rachel Jankovic, Fit to Burst: Abundance, Mayhem, and the Joys of Motherhood (Moscow, ID: Canon Press, 2013), 63.

Edith Schaeffer, The Hidden Art of Homemaking: Creative Ideas for Enriching Everyday Life (London: Tyndale, 1971), 81.

Ibid., 88.

Chapter 4: My Home, My People

Jennifer Senior, All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenting (New York: Ecco, 2014), 10.

Ibid., 154.

Ibid.

Gustaf Wingren, Luther on Vocation (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 1957). This whole idea of loving your neighbor through work is taken from Wingrens book on Luther. It was the key idea that shaped Luthers understanding of vocation.

Martin Luther quoted in Wingren, Luther on Vocation , 120.

Ibid., 5.

Martin Luther, The Estate of Marriage, sermon, https:// www .1215 .org /law notes /misc /marriage /martin -luther -estate -of -marriage .pdf , accessed April 27, 2016.

Jen Wilkin expands on this in FAQ: Should I Pay an Allowance for Chores?, The Beginning of Wisdom (blog), April 16, 2015, http:// jen wilkin .blogspot .com /2015 /04 /faq -should -i -pay -allowance -for -chores .html .

Michael Horton, Ordinary: Sustainable Faith in a Radical, Restless World (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2014), 149.

Kathleen Norris, The Quotidian Mysteries: Laundry, Liturgy, and Womens Work (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1998), 67.

Wingren, Luther on Vocation , 33.

Chapter 5: It Takes a Village

For a Year, Shonda Rimes said Yes to All Things That Scared Her, All Things Considered , November 9, 2015, http:// www .npr .org /2015 /11 /09 /4553 /for -one -year -shonda -rhimes -said -yes -to -all -the -things -that -scared -her/ .

Jennifer Miller, Growing Families That Stay Put, The New York Times website, October 25, 2015, http:// www .ny times .com /2015 /10 /25 /real estate /large -families -in -tiny -apartments -for -the -sake -of -the -kids -friendships .html? _r=0/ .