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Glory in the Ordinary: Why Your Work in the Home Matters to God
For stay-at-home moms, it's easy to view other people's work as more valuable to God, dismissing the significance of seemingly mind-numbing, everyday tasks. In this life-giving book, Courtney Reissig encourages moms with the truth about God's perspective on their work: what the world sees as mundane, he sees as magnificent. Discussing the changing nature of stay-at-home work and the ultimate meaning of our identity as image bearers, Reissig combats common misunderstandings about the significance of at-home work—helping us see how Christ infuses purpose into every facet of the ordinary.
160 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2017
105 people are currently reading
2030 people want to read
About the author
Courtney Reissig
15 books35 followersCourtney Reissig is a wife, mother, and writer. She has written for numerous Christian publications including the Gospel Coalition, Christianity Today, and the Her.meneutics blog. She lives in Little Rock, Arkansas, with her husband, Daniel, and their three sons.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 126 reviews
April 13, 2021
I just finished this and I have so many thoughts, I'm going to take a break from it next week, and then re-read it again so that I can process it. This was the big picture reading. My next will be more breaking it down. On my first run through, my basic reaction is she's making the point that all work is profitable, including at-home work. (She seems to avoid the term homemaker at all cost.) She tackles different issues if working at-home and provides encouragement and corrections.
My biggest questions revolve around her mixing of homemaking and child rearing, her 1 Kingdom Theology in which she roots much of her encouragement, and what seems to be a lack of robust philosophy/theology when it comes to women and homemaking. I want to see if I can understand this in a second read through.
This was a convicting and encouraging book that is giving me a lot to think about as I read it. For that I'm thankful.
----
Sorry it's so long:
I’ve now read this book twice. Once to get a big picture overview, and the second time to dig down deep into it.
First, there was much that I agreed with and much that I found helpful and encouraging. Some of the accusations hurled at conservative Christians for idolizing homemaking served as a good check to make sure I wasn’t doing that, even though I think she would think I land soundly in that group. I agree with her wholeheartedly that our identity is in Christ.
I appreciated what she pointed out about the Prov. 31 woman being a wise woman, not a saint. I didn’t appreciate her constant whining about the Prov. 31 woman having servants. It seemed silly. Yes, the woman had servants, but we have cars, grocery stores, microwaves, dishwashers, Roombas, washing machines, dryers. We have so many ‘servants’ we look back at times without them as simpler. So that irked me. It came across as a convenient way not to have to deal with the Prov. 31 woman’s purposed, wise, diligent management of her home.
Her first four chapters cover is homemaking important and why. She says all work is important so homemaking is important, it’s important even if we’re not paid, the chores are important because work is important, and it’s all important because the people in our homes are important because they’re created in the image of God. So far so good. Chapters 5, 6, 7 deal with common pitfalls: not getting help to manage your home, being lonely, not resting, idolatry, being lazy, dealing with feelings of guilt. Things got a little more hit and miss through here, but overall, I agreed with much that she said. Her last chapter was on the big picture value of the work. Not only did this chapter feel the least well-rounded, but some deeper doctrinal issues came to light.
Second, the target market for this book is a woman fresh from her career who has decided to stay home with her children and is now floundering about. It is important to recognize this because for older, longer-serving homemakers some of the things in the book will come across as shallow answers to big questions. She is a very young woman and mom writing to younger women and younger moms. If you have conscientiously been diligently homemaking and childrearing for many years, if you’re all in on those two things, this book isn’t meant for you. It is meant for someone just starting out wondering if she made the right choice to come home. That doesn’t mean don’t read the book, but if you’re looking for some deeper encouragement to go at the work, this book probably won’t provide it.
Third, she does correctly identify the struggles a new mom and homemaker faces, and many of us long-running homemakers, outlining the issues with the feminist movement, the mommy wars, wanting to significantly impact the world, and hunting for something amazing and glamorous. But, she also seems to think that we can solve much of this by going back to a better time when things were better, more agricultural. It subtle but seems to be there.
Forth, I loved how she pointed out again and again that no matter what job you worked outside the home it had mundane, boring, and annoying aspects, so stop acting like it was just oh so amazing.
Fifth, I love how she correctly identifies the intangible benefits of homemaking and encourages women to seek out how they can use homemaking to serve others. She gives good practical examples.
Some issues:
• She comes at this from a postmillinalist, semi-reformed, we’re redeeming our culture perspective, so she roots our encouragement to keep working in the home in the idea that this is how we change the world. Our job isn’t to change the world. We’re not working to save this world. We’re working to faithfully serve our churches and our husbands because that is what Christ has called us to do in this world while we sojourn.
• She consistently mixes homemaking and childrearing to the point of mass confusion, in my opinion. I think some issues would become much clearer and easier to deal with if we would understand that those are two different jobs. Yes, there is much overlap, but when you raise children, your goal is to work yourself out of a job. Your homemaking will be your job all your married life. There were points when she was complaining about one thing or another (yes, there is a subtle sense of complaining throughout the book) that I wondered if she wasn’t dealing more with a discipline issue, both of herself and her children, than anything else.
• There is a subtle but strong sense of gender equality in the home. I say subtle because I didn’t note it the first time through, and then I picked it up based on one quote in one of the later chapters. She never once addresses the issue of the husband’s authority and the wife’s submission. In fact, in her good attempt to encourage women that the home is to be productive not just consuming, and that the whole family should take place in this production, she levels the playing field between genders. I don’t know enough about her to know if this is on purpose or just an accident, but by the time you finish the book, you have a sense that the home has no leader, we all just do the work equally. She talks about not having a boss, and while I yes, understand that we don’t have a boss constantly looking over our shoulders, we do have a boss in our husbands. They are setting the tone and direction for the home. We’re the homemaker to their homebuilder. So, it was a very subtle thing in the book, but it did put me on high alert.
• Unlike many homemaking books, she did hold a high view of the church. I appreciated that, but she could be easily misunderstood to be teaching that the church and our church membership is about community and not the means of grace, not about the preaching. She wasn’t clear and specific about the fact that the community found in the church is an outflow of the means of grace, not the goal of the church.
• She avoided using the term homemaking with a passion. It got annoying after a while. I think this is partly because she confuses homemaking and childrearing, and I think it was to make a point. My husband liked the term at-home work. I don’t. I think it tells me where I’m working, not what I’m doing. I’m making a home, I don’t just work here.
• Because this is a young woman talking to other young women, I was highly tempted to become a crotchety old lady. One must laugh at one's self, right? Most of this came from the fact that there were points where I wanted to cup her face and remind her that this is a phase and to be patient. Your babies will not always be babies strewing messes about. I want to tell her not to just have the view that the work is good because work is good. It’s important to understand why your specific work is good, regardless if it is the work of a doctor, janitor, nanny, or homemaker. I wanted to tell her that complaining is wrong and she needs to learn to be thankful for the laundry and speak of it with thankfulness.
In the end, did I enjoy this book? Yes. It was a good challenge to read and helped me further refine my thoughts on homemaking. Would I recommend this book? That’s a harder question to answer. I would be comfortable with a woman with wisdom and experience reading it, but it’s not written for a woman with wisdom and experience. So, I guess the answer is no. This book is written for a young mother coming home and I would be concerned that a young mother reading this book might find it temporarily helpful but in the deeper, harder parts of life unhelpful and subtly destructive. I’m concerned both in where she roots the encouragement, the subtle gender equality wafting through the book, and the confusion between homemaking and child rearing. I’m very torn on this, because I can see some helps to a new homemaker/childrearer, but I can also see several pitfalls. If I did recommend it, it would be with a fair amount of caveats. Just take this book with a big grain of salt. Better yet, go find a solid older woman who has already raised her children and who is a good manager of her home and pick her brain, regularly.
My biggest questions revolve around her mixing of homemaking and child rearing, her 1 Kingdom Theology in which she roots much of her encouragement, and what seems to be a lack of robust philosophy/theology when it comes to women and homemaking. I want to see if I can understand this in a second read through.
This was a convicting and encouraging book that is giving me a lot to think about as I read it. For that I'm thankful.
----
Sorry it's so long:
I’ve now read this book twice. Once to get a big picture overview, and the second time to dig down deep into it.
First, there was much that I agreed with and much that I found helpful and encouraging. Some of the accusations hurled at conservative Christians for idolizing homemaking served as a good check to make sure I wasn’t doing that, even though I think she would think I land soundly in that group. I agree with her wholeheartedly that our identity is in Christ.
I appreciated what she pointed out about the Prov. 31 woman being a wise woman, not a saint. I didn’t appreciate her constant whining about the Prov. 31 woman having servants. It seemed silly. Yes, the woman had servants, but we have cars, grocery stores, microwaves, dishwashers, Roombas, washing machines, dryers. We have so many ‘servants’ we look back at times without them as simpler. So that irked me. It came across as a convenient way not to have to deal with the Prov. 31 woman’s purposed, wise, diligent management of her home.
Her first four chapters cover is homemaking important and why. She says all work is important so homemaking is important, it’s important even if we’re not paid, the chores are important because work is important, and it’s all important because the people in our homes are important because they’re created in the image of God. So far so good. Chapters 5, 6, 7 deal with common pitfalls: not getting help to manage your home, being lonely, not resting, idolatry, being lazy, dealing with feelings of guilt. Things got a little more hit and miss through here, but overall, I agreed with much that she said. Her last chapter was on the big picture value of the work. Not only did this chapter feel the least well-rounded, but some deeper doctrinal issues came to light.
Second, the target market for this book is a woman fresh from her career who has decided to stay home with her children and is now floundering about. It is important to recognize this because for older, longer-serving homemakers some of the things in the book will come across as shallow answers to big questions. She is a very young woman and mom writing to younger women and younger moms. If you have conscientiously been diligently homemaking and childrearing for many years, if you’re all in on those two things, this book isn’t meant for you. It is meant for someone just starting out wondering if she made the right choice to come home. That doesn’t mean don’t read the book, but if you’re looking for some deeper encouragement to go at the work, this book probably won’t provide it.
Third, she does correctly identify the struggles a new mom and homemaker faces, and many of us long-running homemakers, outlining the issues with the feminist movement, the mommy wars, wanting to significantly impact the world, and hunting for something amazing and glamorous. But, she also seems to think that we can solve much of this by going back to a better time when things were better, more agricultural. It subtle but seems to be there.
Forth, I loved how she pointed out again and again that no matter what job you worked outside the home it had mundane, boring, and annoying aspects, so stop acting like it was just oh so amazing.
Fifth, I love how she correctly identifies the intangible benefits of homemaking and encourages women to seek out how they can use homemaking to serve others. She gives good practical examples.
Some issues:
• She comes at this from a postmillinalist, semi-reformed, we’re redeeming our culture perspective, so she roots our encouragement to keep working in the home in the idea that this is how we change the world. Our job isn’t to change the world. We’re not working to save this world. We’re working to faithfully serve our churches and our husbands because that is what Christ has called us to do in this world while we sojourn.
• She consistently mixes homemaking and childrearing to the point of mass confusion, in my opinion. I think some issues would become much clearer and easier to deal with if we would understand that those are two different jobs. Yes, there is much overlap, but when you raise children, your goal is to work yourself out of a job. Your homemaking will be your job all your married life. There were points when she was complaining about one thing or another (yes, there is a subtle sense of complaining throughout the book) that I wondered if she wasn’t dealing more with a discipline issue, both of herself and her children, than anything else.
• There is a subtle but strong sense of gender equality in the home. I say subtle because I didn’t note it the first time through, and then I picked it up based on one quote in one of the later chapters. She never once addresses the issue of the husband’s authority and the wife’s submission. In fact, in her good attempt to encourage women that the home is to be productive not just consuming, and that the whole family should take place in this production, she levels the playing field between genders. I don’t know enough about her to know if this is on purpose or just an accident, but by the time you finish the book, you have a sense that the home has no leader, we all just do the work equally. She talks about not having a boss, and while I yes, understand that we don’t have a boss constantly looking over our shoulders, we do have a boss in our husbands. They are setting the tone and direction for the home. We’re the homemaker to their homebuilder. So, it was a very subtle thing in the book, but it did put me on high alert.
• Unlike many homemaking books, she did hold a high view of the church. I appreciated that, but she could be easily misunderstood to be teaching that the church and our church membership is about community and not the means of grace, not about the preaching. She wasn’t clear and specific about the fact that the community found in the church is an outflow of the means of grace, not the goal of the church.
• She avoided using the term homemaking with a passion. It got annoying after a while. I think this is partly because she confuses homemaking and childrearing, and I think it was to make a point. My husband liked the term at-home work. I don’t. I think it tells me where I’m working, not what I’m doing. I’m making a home, I don’t just work here.
• Because this is a young woman talking to other young women, I was highly tempted to become a crotchety old lady. One must laugh at one's self, right? Most of this came from the fact that there were points where I wanted to cup her face and remind her that this is a phase and to be patient. Your babies will not always be babies strewing messes about. I want to tell her not to just have the view that the work is good because work is good. It’s important to understand why your specific work is good, regardless if it is the work of a doctor, janitor, nanny, or homemaker. I wanted to tell her that complaining is wrong and she needs to learn to be thankful for the laundry and speak of it with thankfulness.
In the end, did I enjoy this book? Yes. It was a good challenge to read and helped me further refine my thoughts on homemaking. Would I recommend this book? That’s a harder question to answer. I would be comfortable with a woman with wisdom and experience reading it, but it’s not written for a woman with wisdom and experience. So, I guess the answer is no. This book is written for a young mother coming home and I would be concerned that a young mother reading this book might find it temporarily helpful but in the deeper, harder parts of life unhelpful and subtly destructive. I’m concerned both in where she roots the encouragement, the subtle gender equality wafting through the book, and the confusion between homemaking and child rearing. I’m very torn on this, because I can see some helps to a new homemaker/childrearer, but I can also see several pitfalls. If I did recommend it, it would be with a fair amount of caveats. Just take this book with a big grain of salt. Better yet, go find a solid older woman who has already raised her children and who is a good manager of her home and pick her brain, regularly.
May 12, 2017
Does working in the home matter, when tomorrow you are going to have to do it again? Does it matter to God?
"Our work isn’t giving us any points with God, but it is telling the world about the God we worship. It’s telling what we value most. It’s telling what we hope in even when it is hard.
Courtney is honest in her own struggles. And yet always bring it back to God, and what He thinks about our work. She shows you how to find joy in the work.
"Our work is preparing us to rule and reign with Christ in a new earth, where the curse is gone, and we will work for God’s glory, always."
This book was encouraging to me and I would recommend it to any mom who is struggling to see how cleaning.up. this.mess.for.the.100th.time can be the plan that God has and how can she find joy in it.
"You also image him when you care for the details of your home. As God cares for the seemingly mundane details of creation, so you care for the seemingly mundane details of a home that needs to be kept in order."
The book is about 140 pages, making it a nice size book to read during naptimes.
*This is an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley. No review, positive or otherwise, was required—all opinions are my own.*
Quotes:
-Being supermom isn’t the fast track to heaven or the “good parent list.” But faithfulness in the ordinary, even when it is hard, is true greatness.
-The point of knowing how your work serves the world is driven home by knowing the work you are called to and knowing how your work matters in the grand scheme of things. Everyone has different gifts, capacities, and seasons, so there is no point in trying to fit at-home work into any one box.
"Our work isn’t giving us any points with God, but it is telling the world about the God we worship. It’s telling what we value most. It’s telling what we hope in even when it is hard.
Courtney is honest in her own struggles. And yet always bring it back to God, and what He thinks about our work. She shows you how to find joy in the work.
"Our work is preparing us to rule and reign with Christ in a new earth, where the curse is gone, and we will work for God’s glory, always."
This book was encouraging to me and I would recommend it to any mom who is struggling to see how cleaning.up. this.mess.for.the.100th.time can be the plan that God has and how can she find joy in it.
"You also image him when you care for the details of your home. As God cares for the seemingly mundane details of creation, so you care for the seemingly mundane details of a home that needs to be kept in order."
The book is about 140 pages, making it a nice size book to read during naptimes.
*This is an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley. No review, positive or otherwise, was required—all opinions are my own.*
Quotes:
-Being supermom isn’t the fast track to heaven or the “good parent list.” But faithfulness in the ordinary, even when it is hard, is true greatness.
-The point of knowing how your work serves the world is driven home by knowing the work you are called to and knowing how your work matters in the grand scheme of things. Everyone has different gifts, capacities, and seasons, so there is no point in trying to fit at-home work into any one box.
May 30, 2019
If you find yourself looking at the daily routine of life, wondering if what you're doing matters or even specifically how and why it matters, please read this book.
I found myself devouring the words on these pages, pointed to Jesus and refreshed in my role as a wife and stay-at-home mom. Reissig does an amazing job of going through the many facets of homemaking and motherhood (even a history on how it's evolved through the years that I found fascinating), in a way that frees you from unnecessary guilt and comparison, but challenges and convicts you in areas of complacency or faulty thinking.
I absolutely loved this book, especially the chapter on rest and work: "Miles to Go before I Sleep". Read it, talk about it with your spouse and other mom friends, and pass it along to others.
I found myself devouring the words on these pages, pointed to Jesus and refreshed in my role as a wife and stay-at-home mom. Reissig does an amazing job of going through the many facets of homemaking and motherhood (even a history on how it's evolved through the years that I found fascinating), in a way that frees you from unnecessary guilt and comparison, but challenges and convicts you in areas of complacency or faulty thinking.
I absolutely loved this book, especially the chapter on rest and work: "Miles to Go before I Sleep". Read it, talk about it with your spouse and other mom friends, and pass it along to others.
June 12, 2017
The work of the home is nothing to be ashamed of. It is valuable, important work. It is necessary work. It is work that God sees as integral to his work in this world. In fact, because you bear his image, you are imaging him with every task you accomplish in your home on any given day.
There is glory in the mundane however, we live in a world that always questions, does not value stay at home mothers, pits stay at home mothers with mothers that work, pits mothers that work with stay at home mothers. No wonder we question the good work of being home for our families.
Myself did both and to be honest I was pulled into the work force for many different reasons. What was sad is the lack of support to stay home. This is not to put blame on others, but to shed light on the turmoil that women go through. This text starts with the turmoil between staying home and going back to work. It is not a guilt trip but a longing of what is right and good. The text defines the competition of work and making a way for yourself, what is success and how competition produces money and care produces people. The work of caregiving in the home is valuable to the ones that God has called you to love. We may desire for our family to come first but the reality maybe that our loved comes last. We only have 24 hours to a day and 8 of those we need sleep, and after sleep, our 24 hours comes down to single digits very quickly.
Even with all my children now gone having children of their own, I have a new insight of what home is. A place of refuge, less chaos, and a place to wind down. It is not the job of one, but of the whole family. Where a job well done reflects well in a community. It is time that we do value the work of home and the security it can bring.
A Special Thank You to Crossway and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.
There is glory in the mundane however, we live in a world that always questions, does not value stay at home mothers, pits stay at home mothers with mothers that work, pits mothers that work with stay at home mothers. No wonder we question the good work of being home for our families.
Myself did both and to be honest I was pulled into the work force for many different reasons. What was sad is the lack of support to stay home. This is not to put blame on others, but to shed light on the turmoil that women go through. This text starts with the turmoil between staying home and going back to work. It is not a guilt trip but a longing of what is right and good. The text defines the competition of work and making a way for yourself, what is success and how competition produces money and care produces people. The work of caregiving in the home is valuable to the ones that God has called you to love. We may desire for our family to come first but the reality maybe that our loved comes last. We only have 24 hours to a day and 8 of those we need sleep, and after sleep, our 24 hours comes down to single digits very quickly.
Even with all my children now gone having children of their own, I have a new insight of what home is. A place of refuge, less chaos, and a place to wind down. It is not the job of one, but of the whole family. Where a job well done reflects well in a community. It is time that we do value the work of home and the security it can bring.
A Special Thank You to Crossway and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.
March 18, 2023
Even thought not in this season of life just thought it’d be an interesting read and it actually has a lot of good theology on why we work and how we reflect God and glorify him through it. And ultimately will spur you on to work well and be faithful no matter what task is we have on hand. No matter how small to how big , even tasks like laundry can be done well and to the glory of God. That, and a great respect for all moms haha
December 8, 2019
This book is not intended for mothers who stay at home and raise their own children. The author spends a lot of the book complaining about the things that must be done in order to care for a family and the what she considers drudgery of repetition stuck in four walls with needy little people. Que the Disney musical number featuring the girl wondering “what’s out there? What’s my real purpose and destiny.” It was amazing to me that the entire premise of the book was to show the value of at-home work, but have such a sad view of domesticity, especially vocational domesticity. She did make the case that at-home work is not seen as valuable in the world, which is very true! She also seeks, like many current Evangelical thought leaders, to push back against women prioritizing the home. There is a current movement popular among leaders over-correcting the thought that “a woman’s place is the home” - an unbiblical notion for sure. Conflating gender roles will only create disordered and dysfunctional homes, it will not cure a woman’s heart issue of discontentment and envy. I urge any woman who read this or thinks about reading this to know that we are asked to be hospitable without grumbling, how much more should be joyfully serving our own families! I am convinced that this book was written to for women who work primarily outside of the home, outsource their little children, who still want to consider themselves complimentarian, and who struggle to see the value in domesticity. For example, a young mother who is miserable on maternity leave, itching to get back to work would find this book helpful. I would not recommend this book to a young woman who is seeking to keep the home a priority in her life, whatever that may look like. It is much more agenda driven to change the view of womanhood, rather than to actually encourage women.
Want to read
January 6, 2022Oh dear. This is going to be a DNF for me at 35%, at least for now. I gave it another try today, and I just can’t.
I’ve been listening to the audiobook, and I’m sure part of my issue is with the narrator. Her voice drones on and on without really capturing any emotion in what is written, and the way she reads verse citations absolutely drives me crazy. Her vocal quality also just doesn’t seem substantial enough to suit the material. I wish I could describe it better than that.
But the narration I think also highlights issues I have with the prose: excessively wordy, repetitive, and in need of a good editor. Concepts that could have been covered in paragraphs feel like they take pages, and when I turned it off, I thought if I heard the words “work,” “at-home work,” or “image” (maddeningly used as a verb, to denote us reflecting God’s image) one more time, I might start screaming.
I will try again with a physical copy some time in the future and see if the ability to skim for the main points helps me glean from the substance of the book, rather than just being irritated silly by the style. 🤪
I’ve been listening to the audiobook, and I’m sure part of my issue is with the narrator. Her voice drones on and on without really capturing any emotion in what is written, and the way she reads verse citations absolutely drives me crazy. Her vocal quality also just doesn’t seem substantial enough to suit the material. I wish I could describe it better than that.
But the narration I think also highlights issues I have with the prose: excessively wordy, repetitive, and in need of a good editor. Concepts that could have been covered in paragraphs feel like they take pages, and when I turned it off, I thought if I heard the words “work,” “at-home work,” or “image” (maddeningly used as a verb, to denote us reflecting God’s image) one more time, I might start screaming.
I will try again with a physical copy some time in the future and see if the ability to skim for the main points helps me glean from the substance of the book, rather than just being irritated silly by the style. 🤪
August 6, 2023
I absolutely do not recommend this book because of some of the theology she presented towards the end about heaven.
There were some good points in this book, but overall, I found the tone condescending and dry.
There were some good points in this book, but overall, I found the tone condescending and dry.
August 19, 2025
Such a good book that adds great biblical perspective to a hard area of life many women struggle with. Definitely opened my eyes to seeing my work at home with deeper purpose and worth!
January 25, 2019
"When you feed your husband and children, you tangibly remind them that we have a God who meets all of our physical needs (Matt 6:26). When you open your home to others, those you know and those you don't, you show guests that God is a God who welcomes people into his home (John 14:2-3). When you take out the trash, you declare with your actions that the curse may rise up all around you, but it will one day be defeated once and for all (1 Cor 15:57). These things may feel routine, as they are at times, but they are important; they allow others to see that God is involved in even the routine details of the world that he had made."
Courtney Reissig not only reminds the reader that the work of the home is important, necessary work, but that all of it ultimately points to God. She brings in many of her own ideas and borrows from others to bring the point across.
I found it especially fitting that she not only quoted well known authors, but also ordinary ladies from her church.
A timely book in an age where being a full-time mom and homemaker is seen as an inferior, outdated occupation. A timely book for me personally, as I have recently traded my work clothes for mom jeans.
Courtney Reissig not only reminds the reader that the work of the home is important, necessary work, but that all of it ultimately points to God. She brings in many of her own ideas and borrows from others to bring the point across.
I found it especially fitting that she not only quoted well known authors, but also ordinary ladies from her church.
A timely book in an age where being a full-time mom and homemaker is seen as an inferior, outdated occupation. A timely book for me personally, as I have recently traded my work clothes for mom jeans.
February 4, 2024
This book! 😍 I wasn’t sure about it at first but I kept an open mind. God gave me this book to help reshape my thinking of my work as a mom. The boring, mundane work of the home still brings Him glory and is serving Him by serving my family. Courtney Reissig brought beautiful perspectives to things that have been a struggle for me. She had me crying with the joy of the Lord blessing my soul. I feel understood, not alone, and loved through this book.
April 14, 2019
"our work isn't giving us any points with God but it is telling the world about the God we worship."
Engaging, helpful and encouraging book from someone who gets what it's like to be in the trenches. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
Engaging, helpful and encouraging book from someone who gets what it's like to be in the trenches. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
November 7, 2022
What the world sees as mundane, God sees as magnificent.
October 8, 2020
Helpful, practical, and loaded with counter-cultural (biblical) perspective. I’m personally thankful for the way she addresses 1) guilt (whether false or real), especially when you work all day and don’t always have anything tangible to show from it and, 2) rest, particularly when you work from home or in the home and cannot physically separate your job from where you are supposed to rest.
I will be reading this again and, should the Lord give us children, I know this will be a dear companion during that season.
I will be reading this again and, should the Lord give us children, I know this will be a dear companion during that season.
February 19, 2023
An excellent book that is encouraging and inspiring and honest about work in the home. I needed this book especially recently as I’ve struggled with seeing my repetitive work in the home as important but I was thankful for this well timed book that reminded me of its significance.
August 7, 2017
"Laundry Is My Overflowing Inbox": Working within the Home
Stuffing a ratty t-shirt into the washer’s maw, I try not to think about the fact that it was only yesterday that I hung this very same t-shirt on the clothesline. The laundry is never done — even though we are down to a family of four these days. How in the world did I survive eleven years of cloth diapers? Apparently, somewhere along the way I have discovered that there is Glory in the Ordinary, that there is meaning to all the mundane tasks that are stuck on replay in this mothering life. So when Courtney Reissig compared her laundry hamper to her husband’s overflowing inbox at work, I stopped and underlined, and nodded, “yes and amen.”
My soul resonated, too, when she argued that in our ordinary chores and in the act of corralling chaos into order, we image God.
“You and I were created to work because God Himself works. It is a function of being image bearers.”
Organizing a cluttered closet, mucking out a nasty refrigerator mess, distributing clean and folded laundry to the four corners of the house — these are all as quietly mundane as the work God does in our time to water His trees with rain or, in history, to arrange for the Exodus 16 manna that faithfully fed a generation of Israelites.
Go Back to the Purpose
Courtney’s personal illustrations and the vignettes shared from the lives of her friends encourage me to lift my eyes from the all-consuming “what” of my daily list and from the pervasive “how” (as in “how am I going to get all this done?”), and to fix my eyes on the one beautiful question: “Why?”
Why do I do what I do every day in my home? To love God and to love my neighbor. And sometimes the hardest “neighbors” to love are the ones that share my last name and my DNA.
While Martin Luther made it clear that the works of our hands are not meritorious for our salvation, he wrote decisively that “one ought to live, speak, act, hear, suffer, and die in love and service for another, even one’s enemies.” (Kindle Location 871) Loving others in our homes is more than a feeling, and it is likely to include the inconvenience of vacuuming the mud from their shoes, replacing the groceries they consume, and washing the dishes and the bedding they besmirch.
Mother’s Little Helpers
The whole family is invited to experience the “glory in the ordinary” that comes with the work of home — not only because of the “many hands make light work” principle, but because of the soul-shaping nature of chores and collaborative effort. With sweet reasonableness, Courtney shares this gracious logic (Kindle Location 923):
“The home we all live in is for us all, and therefore, requires that we all contribute to it.”
She traces the history of housework through the the subtle transition in terminology from “housewife” to “stay-at-home mum,” and examines the impact of cultural context on the believer’s theology of work. For instance, missionary and author Gloria Furman is a mum and keeper at home in a middle-eastern, community-oriented culture, while those of us in the West tend to have a go-it-alone mentality which can lead to the isolation, loneliness, and burn out that has given motherhood a bad reputation.
Toward a Sound Theology of Home
Since God is relational Himself, and since He ordained (Genesis 2:18) that his creatures would fare better in company with others, even the introverts of the world (I’m looking in the mirror here), need to consider what part community should be playing in our work at home. Hannah Anderson says it well:
“God did not intend for families to be islands; they are part of the continent. This is why multi-generational communities are so important to the work of home.”
I enjoy covering the nursery in church these days so that young mums can get a break from little children, but I am on the receiving end when a dear friend in her eighties washes all my dishes whenever she attends a big gathering in my home.
“Home here on earth is a microcosm of the heavenly reality that awaits us, [and] so is the church.” (Kindle Location 1134-1143) Good theology and its practical application should lead to a connectivity and a “my life for yours” mentality as we serve one another. This glorious truth gets lived out whenever Titus 2-truth sees daylight in a discipleship relationship between older and younger women or whenever men and women of “grandparent age” step into a situation where are there are no grandparents nearby to help and encourage.
“Community done among women commends the gospel to a world that breathes isolation and loneliness.” (Kindle Location 1151)
The God-Designed Gift of Rest
If God rested (and He did), if Adam and Eve in their perfect prelapsarian bodies needed rest, it stands to reason that my own post-Genesis 3 life will be better if I submit to a pattern of work followed by Sabbath. J.I. Packer speaks wisdom into this subject (Kindle Location 1276):
We need to be aware of our limitations and to let this awareness work in us humility and self-distrust, and a realization of our helplessness on our own. Thus we may learn our need to depend on Christ, our Savior and Lord, at every turn of the road . . .”
Our prideful rearing up against the rest we need and the fact that work exhausts, depletes, and frustrates us are both factors attributable to our fallen-ness. So is the idolatry that makes work into a god and permits it to supersede in importance even the people we are called to love and to serve.
When my children were all small (in the pre-homeschooling days), I gave myself the weekend off from cooking by preparing meals ahead every Friday. Courtney shares an idea from a friend who depends on leftovers and PB&J for the weekend. Regardless of how we accomplish it, we ensure that the Sabbath is honored in our homes by “working hard at rest,” investing the effort up front and employing some carefully chosen “no’s.”
Enter into the Joy
The job description driving the work of home is an unwieldy thing, shifting daily and expanding and changing as our families grow. While this is unavoidable, we can lighten our own load with some purposeful choices and a Christ-shaped mindset such as steering clear of comparison; resisting the urge to audition for the role of Super Mum; and encouraging our husbands to fulfill their own God-ordained roles as workers at home — without feeling threatened or “less than” because we are unable to shoulder the work of two single-handed.
Mired in the here and now, we forget that the work of home is the work of spreading God’s glory throughout the world. By entering into the reality of that today, we leave a mark on those we serve and prepare our hearts for a future of greater work and greater joy when we will see that there has never been a mundane task without purpose in God’s incredible universe in which nothing goes to waste. Every little task, every intentional act of service points back to the God who made us and forward to an eternity in which the connection between worship and work will be forever eliminated.
//
This book was provided by Crossway in exchange for my review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Stuffing a ratty t-shirt into the washer’s maw, I try not to think about the fact that it was only yesterday that I hung this very same t-shirt on the clothesline. The laundry is never done — even though we are down to a family of four these days. How in the world did I survive eleven years of cloth diapers? Apparently, somewhere along the way I have discovered that there is Glory in the Ordinary, that there is meaning to all the mundane tasks that are stuck on replay in this mothering life. So when Courtney Reissig compared her laundry hamper to her husband’s overflowing inbox at work, I stopped and underlined, and nodded, “yes and amen.”
My soul resonated, too, when she argued that in our ordinary chores and in the act of corralling chaos into order, we image God.
“You and I were created to work because God Himself works. It is a function of being image bearers.”
Organizing a cluttered closet, mucking out a nasty refrigerator mess, distributing clean and folded laundry to the four corners of the house — these are all as quietly mundane as the work God does in our time to water His trees with rain or, in history, to arrange for the Exodus 16 manna that faithfully fed a generation of Israelites.
Go Back to the Purpose
Courtney’s personal illustrations and the vignettes shared from the lives of her friends encourage me to lift my eyes from the all-consuming “what” of my daily list and from the pervasive “how” (as in “how am I going to get all this done?”), and to fix my eyes on the one beautiful question: “Why?”
Why do I do what I do every day in my home? To love God and to love my neighbor. And sometimes the hardest “neighbors” to love are the ones that share my last name and my DNA.
While Martin Luther made it clear that the works of our hands are not meritorious for our salvation, he wrote decisively that “one ought to live, speak, act, hear, suffer, and die in love and service for another, even one’s enemies.” (Kindle Location 871) Loving others in our homes is more than a feeling, and it is likely to include the inconvenience of vacuuming the mud from their shoes, replacing the groceries they consume, and washing the dishes and the bedding they besmirch.
Mother’s Little Helpers
The whole family is invited to experience the “glory in the ordinary” that comes with the work of home — not only because of the “many hands make light work” principle, but because of the soul-shaping nature of chores and collaborative effort. With sweet reasonableness, Courtney shares this gracious logic (Kindle Location 923):
“The home we all live in is for us all, and therefore, requires that we all contribute to it.”
She traces the history of housework through the the subtle transition in terminology from “housewife” to “stay-at-home mum,” and examines the impact of cultural context on the believer’s theology of work. For instance, missionary and author Gloria Furman is a mum and keeper at home in a middle-eastern, community-oriented culture, while those of us in the West tend to have a go-it-alone mentality which can lead to the isolation, loneliness, and burn out that has given motherhood a bad reputation.
Toward a Sound Theology of Home
Since God is relational Himself, and since He ordained (Genesis 2:18) that his creatures would fare better in company with others, even the introverts of the world (I’m looking in the mirror here), need to consider what part community should be playing in our work at home. Hannah Anderson says it well:
“God did not intend for families to be islands; they are part of the continent. This is why multi-generational communities are so important to the work of home.”
I enjoy covering the nursery in church these days so that young mums can get a break from little children, but I am on the receiving end when a dear friend in her eighties washes all my dishes whenever she attends a big gathering in my home.
“Home here on earth is a microcosm of the heavenly reality that awaits us, [and] so is the church.” (Kindle Location 1134-1143) Good theology and its practical application should lead to a connectivity and a “my life for yours” mentality as we serve one another. This glorious truth gets lived out whenever Titus 2-truth sees daylight in a discipleship relationship between older and younger women or whenever men and women of “grandparent age” step into a situation where are there are no grandparents nearby to help and encourage.
“Community done among women commends the gospel to a world that breathes isolation and loneliness.” (Kindle Location 1151)
The God-Designed Gift of Rest
If God rested (and He did), if Adam and Eve in their perfect prelapsarian bodies needed rest, it stands to reason that my own post-Genesis 3 life will be better if I submit to a pattern of work followed by Sabbath. J.I. Packer speaks wisdom into this subject (Kindle Location 1276):
We need to be aware of our limitations and to let this awareness work in us humility and self-distrust, and a realization of our helplessness on our own. Thus we may learn our need to depend on Christ, our Savior and Lord, at every turn of the road . . .”
Our prideful rearing up against the rest we need and the fact that work exhausts, depletes, and frustrates us are both factors attributable to our fallen-ness. So is the idolatry that makes work into a god and permits it to supersede in importance even the people we are called to love and to serve.
When my children were all small (in the pre-homeschooling days), I gave myself the weekend off from cooking by preparing meals ahead every Friday. Courtney shares an idea from a friend who depends on leftovers and PB&J for the weekend. Regardless of how we accomplish it, we ensure that the Sabbath is honored in our homes by “working hard at rest,” investing the effort up front and employing some carefully chosen “no’s.”
Enter into the Joy
The job description driving the work of home is an unwieldy thing, shifting daily and expanding and changing as our families grow. While this is unavoidable, we can lighten our own load with some purposeful choices and a Christ-shaped mindset such as steering clear of comparison; resisting the urge to audition for the role of Super Mum; and encouraging our husbands to fulfill their own God-ordained roles as workers at home — without feeling threatened or “less than” because we are unable to shoulder the work of two single-handed.
Mired in the here and now, we forget that the work of home is the work of spreading God’s glory throughout the world. By entering into the reality of that today, we leave a mark on those we serve and prepare our hearts for a future of greater work and greater joy when we will see that there has never been a mundane task without purpose in God’s incredible universe in which nothing goes to waste. Every little task, every intentional act of service points back to the God who made us and forward to an eternity in which the connection between worship and work will be forever eliminated.
//
This book was provided by Crossway in exchange for my review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
January 10, 2019
“He is not just a God of big moments (like speaking the entire universe into existence or bringing dead people back to life). He is also a God of little moments (like protecting you from illness, providing unexpected income and giving you food to sustain you). This should encourage us as we work in the seemingly mundane moments of working in our homes. God is working in the little moments, too.” p. 26-27
This book encouraged me with fresh perspective to seek to love God with all that I am, in every way possible! The main theme is that we, as image bearers of God, have been tasked with loving fellow image bearers through ordinary, faithful work. She explains this in easy-to-read, compelling and Biblical ways.
I appreciated that Reissig devoted whole sections to concepts like properly understanding work and rest from Scripture, the value of the family and community, as well as giving a detailed history on homemaking and how it has greatly changed over the years.
One element I had to push past throughout the book was an overall tone of negativity about at-home work. The author seems to be continually commiserating with us about how awful laundry is, how universally unpleasant the tasks of cleaning up after a family are and how tiring wiping toddler noses becomes and how her kitchen sink as a full of dirty dishes as everyone else’s. Physical exhaustion and general chaos in the home are repeatedly bemoaned. I realize this may have been an effort to relate to her readers and address those precise attitudes with the goal of correcting them, but it lessened the impact of some of her points because it felt as if she was trying to whine about it and correct it in the same sentence.
I would recommend this book to any Christian woman to help give practical consideration to her role in the home!
This book encouraged me with fresh perspective to seek to love God with all that I am, in every way possible! The main theme is that we, as image bearers of God, have been tasked with loving fellow image bearers through ordinary, faithful work. She explains this in easy-to-read, compelling and Biblical ways.
I appreciated that Reissig devoted whole sections to concepts like properly understanding work and rest from Scripture, the value of the family and community, as well as giving a detailed history on homemaking and how it has greatly changed over the years.
One element I had to push past throughout the book was an overall tone of negativity about at-home work. The author seems to be continually commiserating with us about how awful laundry is, how universally unpleasant the tasks of cleaning up after a family are and how tiring wiping toddler noses becomes and how her kitchen sink as a full of dirty dishes as everyone else’s. Physical exhaustion and general chaos in the home are repeatedly bemoaned. I realize this may have been an effort to relate to her readers and address those precise attitudes with the goal of correcting them, but it lessened the impact of some of her points because it felt as if she was trying to whine about it and correct it in the same sentence.
I would recommend this book to any Christian woman to help give practical consideration to her role in the home!
May 11, 2021
This book was an encouraging read, reminded me about what truly matters and covered various topics that most of us mothers struggle with. It talks about sleep, accepting help, comparison, cleaning, kids, adding beauty to our homes without making it an idol, and much more. I also enjoyed learning about how attitudes towards the home and family have changed throughout history.
It’s easy to feel undervalued when there’s no paycheck at the end of the month. But Courtney reminds us that work at home is a real job.
It’s also common to feel that work at home is less significant because it seems so small. But caring for the people in your own circle of life is a big thing. It honors their worth. And it also honors God.
Creating order from disorder not only reflects our Creator but brings glory to Him no matter how small the job may be.
I recommend this book to those struggling with the never-ending cycle of work that is required of you each day. If you feel swamped and dismayed at the jobs that never seem complete, this book is for you. It was definitely refreshing for me!
It’s easy to feel undervalued when there’s no paycheck at the end of the month. But Courtney reminds us that work at home is a real job.
It’s also common to feel that work at home is less significant because it seems so small. But caring for the people in your own circle of life is a big thing. It honors their worth. And it also honors God.
Creating order from disorder not only reflects our Creator but brings glory to Him no matter how small the job may be.
I recommend this book to those struggling with the never-ending cycle of work that is required of you each day. If you feel swamped and dismayed at the jobs that never seem complete, this book is for you. It was definitely refreshing for me!
March 27, 2018
The mundane matters. That’s the phrase I would use to sum up Glory in the Ordinary. This book is not only full of encouragement but it’s full of convicting biblical advice on a woman’s role in the home. Courtney Reissig does such a great job really explaining why everything we do at home matters in light of eternity. This was a very good read for particularly stay at home moms but it’s definitely just as applicable to moms who work outside the home.
July 21, 2018
I’m glad this book exists and that it was written. And I would totally recommend it to husbands and wives alike. There is a lot of biblical soundness and wisdom within. That being said, I also think it was lacking in a few areas a bit.
—
As for its strengths:
Reissig is the type of Christian women writers we as the Evangelical church have desperately have needed. Clear, deep, Reformed, not-watery. A breath of fresh air. So just to have another book by her is refreshing. As with Accidental Feminist (which I read last year and enjoyed more than this one), you can tell she knows her theology, she is all about the glory of God, and she takes the Bible seriously. Again, a joy for her and the others like her to be rising up and writing needed books like this.
The biggest strength of the book is how she shows how the ‘ordinary’ things really do matter to God. In this way, the title is perfect. She shows how there is true, divine, God-pleasing glory in the ordinary. This is littered throughout the book, and she really explains it well. She shows how our ideas of what is valuable, important, or pleasing to God can be so wrong.
She also does a good job explaining the history of women in the home in the first chapter. This was insightful, tracing it from olden days to the housewife era, to the mommy wars, to today.
I also thought her ideas on the ‘chores’ were overall good. She has three categories for things in the home: cleaning/organizing; food; and decorating/beautifying.
Her idea that everyone in your home is your ‘neighbor’ was good. In this way, she showed how so much of it fit into the category of loving your neighbor.
Her idea that everyone in the home is a contributor to the home was good for husband/wife relationship, as well as for parenting.
Her thoughts about rest were needed, albeit maybe not as practical as they could be.
Her point about not comparing yourself to other women was great, and this could’ve I think been a whole chapter.
Finally, her final chapter giving the work in the home a more eternal perspective was good (although I think she was missing some important aspects, see below).
——
As for things that probably could’ve been a bit better, and maybe could be improved upon in the next book like this:
I was talking to my wife who read the book and she pointed out that Jesus and his conversation with Mary and Martha, about Mary choosing the better portion was never mentioned! As my wife pointed out, this is surprising since this is one of the only explicit Bible passages about home work! But to my wife’s point, Reissig really should have spent more time I think giving this ‘better-portion’ perspective to home work. Meaning, she could’ve kept all she wrote, but added the important chapter that women shouldn’t choose homework or children or husbands ever over Jesus and sitting at his word. Maybe she thought this was a given, but it needed to be said and explained in such a book as this.
Along with that, my wife also pointed out that this clearly sounds like it was written to a more wealthy upper class woman. The ideas about chores, decorating, and temptations to compare more just sounded more middle-upper class. That’s okay, but i think it showed.
Her chapter about community and collaboration was okay, but sort of vague in terms of how to accomplish it. It sounded more like she assumed women were part of a strong Christian church group that would do all these selfless things for each other. In reality, it is messier than that and people often then expect things from you, etc. I think this should’ve been focused on more. Instead, she spent more time explaining how we were made for community. I think less needed to be said on that, and more needed to be explained concerning how to actually do it.
Finally, in her last chapter, I think she really missed the weightiness of raising individual people who can grow up and know God though your parenting. Instead, she focuses in how everything good will contribute to the new heavens and new earth—great and true—but she only has a mere sentence about the fact that your kids will know their God and possible spend forever with him largely due to parenting. It gives parenting/housemaking a weightiness and privilege she didn’t emphasize.
—
As I said above, I would recommend it. It was overall very good. But I think she there were some things missing or overlooked. I enjoyed it though! Thankful it exists.
—
As for its strengths:
Reissig is the type of Christian women writers we as the Evangelical church have desperately have needed. Clear, deep, Reformed, not-watery. A breath of fresh air. So just to have another book by her is refreshing. As with Accidental Feminist (which I read last year and enjoyed more than this one), you can tell she knows her theology, she is all about the glory of God, and she takes the Bible seriously. Again, a joy for her and the others like her to be rising up and writing needed books like this.
The biggest strength of the book is how she shows how the ‘ordinary’ things really do matter to God. In this way, the title is perfect. She shows how there is true, divine, God-pleasing glory in the ordinary. This is littered throughout the book, and she really explains it well. She shows how our ideas of what is valuable, important, or pleasing to God can be so wrong.
She also does a good job explaining the history of women in the home in the first chapter. This was insightful, tracing it from olden days to the housewife era, to the mommy wars, to today.
I also thought her ideas on the ‘chores’ were overall good. She has three categories for things in the home: cleaning/organizing; food; and decorating/beautifying.
Her idea that everyone in your home is your ‘neighbor’ was good. In this way, she showed how so much of it fit into the category of loving your neighbor.
Her idea that everyone in the home is a contributor to the home was good for husband/wife relationship, as well as for parenting.
Her thoughts about rest were needed, albeit maybe not as practical as they could be.
Her point about not comparing yourself to other women was great, and this could’ve I think been a whole chapter.
Finally, her final chapter giving the work in the home a more eternal perspective was good (although I think she was missing some important aspects, see below).
——
As for things that probably could’ve been a bit better, and maybe could be improved upon in the next book like this:
I was talking to my wife who read the book and she pointed out that Jesus and his conversation with Mary and Martha, about Mary choosing the better portion was never mentioned! As my wife pointed out, this is surprising since this is one of the only explicit Bible passages about home work! But to my wife’s point, Reissig really should have spent more time I think giving this ‘better-portion’ perspective to home work. Meaning, she could’ve kept all she wrote, but added the important chapter that women shouldn’t choose homework or children or husbands ever over Jesus and sitting at his word. Maybe she thought this was a given, but it needed to be said and explained in such a book as this.
Along with that, my wife also pointed out that this clearly sounds like it was written to a more wealthy upper class woman. The ideas about chores, decorating, and temptations to compare more just sounded more middle-upper class. That’s okay, but i think it showed.
Her chapter about community and collaboration was okay, but sort of vague in terms of how to accomplish it. It sounded more like she assumed women were part of a strong Christian church group that would do all these selfless things for each other. In reality, it is messier than that and people often then expect things from you, etc. I think this should’ve been focused on more. Instead, she spent more time explaining how we were made for community. I think less needed to be said on that, and more needed to be explained concerning how to actually do it.
Finally, in her last chapter, I think she really missed the weightiness of raising individual people who can grow up and know God though your parenting. Instead, she focuses in how everything good will contribute to the new heavens and new earth—great and true—but she only has a mere sentence about the fact that your kids will know their God and possible spend forever with him largely due to parenting. It gives parenting/housemaking a weightiness and privilege she didn’t emphasize.
—
As I said above, I would recommend it. It was overall very good. But I think she there were some things missing or overlooked. I enjoyed it though! Thankful it exists.
October 20, 2019
Courtney Ressig is a good writer. Her book is short (142 pages) and the brevity makes it an easy, encouraging read. I am not her primary audience in this book (moms), but I was still able to glean a lot from her writing. She focuses on work at home (raising children, tending the home, being in community, etc) as being both vital and worshipful. She doesn't place undue burdens on women and speaks to all parenting situations from moms who work full time to moms who don't bring in any money and even gives mention to families with dads who stay home or only work part time. She does a great job of placing identity where it should be (in God and his creation of us as Imago Dei) and isn't prescriptive in a way that goes beyond what Scripture prescribes. She doesn't lift up one particular home situation over another. I was personally especially encouraged by her chapter on rest. It gave some helpful wisdom on balancing work and rest, something I struggle with a lot.
She did quote an author that I personally do not recommend, and I was surprised by the quotations. They were relatively harmless quotes, but the use of the quoted book as a resource (and later a suggested reading) took me by surprise, as I think the heart of Courtney's message differs greatly from the heart of the quoted author's message. This quotation overall does not have huge bearing on my opinion of Courtney's book or the message she's trying to get across.
Courtney also gives evidence of her collaboration with and reading of women like Jen Wilkin and Hannah Anderson who have a lot of great wisdom to give. Courtney writes beautifully and with great humility, leaning in to the wise counsel of those who have gone before her.
Overall, Glory in the Ordinary was well written and helpful. It's a great book for anyone who is slogging through the mundane, whatever the mundane may be for you.
She did quote an author that I personally do not recommend, and I was surprised by the quotations. They were relatively harmless quotes, but the use of the quoted book as a resource (and later a suggested reading) took me by surprise, as I think the heart of Courtney's message differs greatly from the heart of the quoted author's message. This quotation overall does not have huge bearing on my opinion of Courtney's book or the message she's trying to get across.
Courtney also gives evidence of her collaboration with and reading of women like Jen Wilkin and Hannah Anderson who have a lot of great wisdom to give. Courtney writes beautifully and with great humility, leaning in to the wise counsel of those who have gone before her.
Overall, Glory in the Ordinary was well written and helpful. It's a great book for anyone who is slogging through the mundane, whatever the mundane may be for you.
April 24, 2020
Book 56 of 2020. Work on the home is often undervalued. After all, the regular tasks of laundry, cooking, cleaning and caring for children are often repetitive, dull and thankless. Yet, every household needs these vital tasks for care and survival. In this book, Reissig makes the argument that these tasks should matter and should be done with pride because the little tasks in the home are important to God.
As a homemaker, this book was a shot of encouragement to me. I was culturally raised to believe that being a wife and a mother was a waste or time and talent, and I do not know how many times in my life I’ve answered the question, “What do you do?” with “I’m just a stay-at-home mom.” It was a reminder that my work matters and that my care of my home and the people in it is important.
Although Reissig purports to write to all women (and there are insights all women can glean), the target of her book is really moms, especially homemakers or those who work from home.
In that spirit, this book would make a great gift to a young mom who has decision to step down to part-time work or stay at home with her children. It will help her find value and motivation when the days seem hard or boring.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
#books #bookstagram #bookreview #gloryintheordinary #theunreadshelfproject2020
As a homemaker, this book was a shot of encouragement to me. I was culturally raised to believe that being a wife and a mother was a waste or time and talent, and I do not know how many times in my life I’ve answered the question, “What do you do?” with “I’m just a stay-at-home mom.” It was a reminder that my work matters and that my care of my home and the people in it is important.
Although Reissig purports to write to all women (and there are insights all women can glean), the target of her book is really moms, especially homemakers or those who work from home.
In that spirit, this book would make a great gift to a young mom who has decision to step down to part-time work or stay at home with her children. It will help her find value and motivation when the days seem hard or boring.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
#books #bookstagram #bookreview #gloryintheordinary #theunreadshelfproject2020
July 22, 2024
As a twenty-something wife with a full-time job, this book was a breath of fresh air! Being in a season of building a foundation in my marriage, but not yet in parenthood, this is a topic that my husband and I often discuss, and one that I already feel the burden of while trying to handle being a homemaker almost as a part-time job after my workday (as most if not all wives can testify to). The scope of the ideas here - from looking at the culture that got us to today’s view of a house wife/mom, to understanding the mundane moments as magnificent, and knowing that all work done in the house, paid or unpaid, is of value - are very much needed and executed so beautifully. We often lose sight of the true purpose of work in the home - to glorify God and represent Jesus to the people we share a roof with. They are still our neighbors we are called to love! This work matters, and we can never truly realize how much we provide for our people, or how much these little things are valued. I would sum up the glory of this book in this beautiful sentence found in the last chapter:
“Finding simple, tangible ways that your home can be used for the common good and doing that work faithfully is our aim.”
“Finding simple, tangible ways that your home can be used for the common good and doing that work faithfully is our aim.”
February 11, 2023
Whether a stay-at-home-mom or a working mom, or a hybrid between the two, every Christian mom has an opportunity to bring glory to God and joy to their families and guests through the work in their homes. Even the seemingly insignificant daily tasks like laundry and changing diapers have value and a purpose in imaging God's love for His children. Reissig started with the history of the stay-at-home-mom and shared her own struggles through the transition from working woman to being primarily at home, while using Scripture to point readers to the importance of the ordinary work in the home and why it matters for both today and eternity. This was well-written, but not ground-breaking or very memorable for me, since I have read and heard many other moms talk about the same topic. I did appreciate, however, that she did not pit stay-at-home-moms vs working moms, and instead found purpose and goodness in both.
Content rating: G
Content rating: G
October 25, 2018
This is not a perfect book. At times I found myself falling into the trap of envying the author's ability to talk about rest and community in a way that showed how much more attainable they are for her than for me. I suppose that is my flaw rather than hers, but it did keep me from fully appreciating all of her message.
Overall, however, this is an encouraging book. Reissig speaks to both women who find discouragement in the mundane nature of work at home, as well as those (like me!) who struggle with constant guilt over not being the perfect Proverbs 31 wife. Either way, our calling in at-home work is to love our neighbors, and to ultimately glorify our Creator by doing the work he ordained.
Overall, however, this is an encouraging book. Reissig speaks to both women who find discouragement in the mundane nature of work at home, as well as those (like me!) who struggle with constant guilt over not being the perfect Proverbs 31 wife. Either way, our calling in at-home work is to love our neighbors, and to ultimately glorify our Creator by doing the work he ordained.
November 22, 2023
Listened to audio book. Very relatable, current book on being a homemaker. Balanced throughout on how work in the home should not be devalued or idolized. "There is this view regarding at home work, that you should either be complaining about how hard it is all the time, or you should love it and never talk about the difficulty." She points out the purpose of the home is to love God and love neighbors. Your home is a place for people to feel loved and welcomed. We want God to get the glory and people to feel loved. One of the better books I've read recently on encouragement to serve my family with a cheerful heart and extend love to others beyond the walls of my home to be a blessing to others. Highly recommend.
February 21, 2021
A helpful read for seeing the Gospel displayed in the home and in loving care for others. Reissig mainly frames the book in the context of marriage/motherhood, but I also found it helpful for nannies and caretakers. As a recent college grad and full time nanny with no kids of my own, this book was really helpful in reminding me of the meaningfulness and impact of seemingly ordinary work in the home.
March 8, 2022
I listened to the audiobook version of this book, and really appreciated how the author took time to flesh out a theology of work at the beginning and throughout the book, but also helped connect the dots to how it relates to everyday work of the home. It did not stay heady or abstract.
I would specifically recommend the chapter on guilt in work (ch.7) to anybody, not just women who primarily work in the home.
I would specifically recommend the chapter on guilt in work (ch.7) to anybody, not just women who primarily work in the home.
September 15, 2025
Quite encouraged by this book as I think about how I spend my time and how that’s shifted recently in this new role as a mostly stay - at - home mum. Thankful for the perspectives presented here. Taking care of my neighbours (family) matters and it brings glory to God. All of the ordinary and mundane things matter.
April 12, 2023
Encouraged, empowered & challenged me to think differently about the many “mundane” tasks of life. God made us to work — may we see these mundane tasks as glorifying Him & growing in our knowledge of what work will look like in Heaven alongside Him.
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