Christ in the Chaos: How the Gospel Changes Motherhood

“Lets be honest, motherhood—though a great joy—can be quite chaotic. Kimm Crandall, mother of four and author of Christ in the Chaos, knows this all too well and wants to encourage us that God is there with us through every sickness, messy room, baseball game, trial, and joy. Kimm had learned to do all the right things like so many Christians do, yet when her performance and good works werent bringing her joy and contentment, she broke. Part of the chaos of motherhood may not be external at all, rather an internal chaos produced by striving to be the perfect mom and forgetting our identity in Christ. This identity, as Kimm explains, is rooted in a perfect love for an imperfect mom. Our greatest need as mothers isnt the latest news and trends, our greatest need is Christ. Kimm gently but boldly reminds us that our performance wont sustain us. We need the sweet and gracious mercy and love of God found in the cross of Christ—found in our chaos.”

“Few people on the planet know chaos better than moms of young children. Wanting everything to be right, safe, and in order, moms know that it rarely is. This easily leads to feelings of fear, guilt, and exasperation. My friend Kimm Crandall lives in the trenches of motherhood and has discovered that chaos can be the perfect context to experience Gods liberating grace. She is a wise, practical, gospel-drenched guide for anyone navigating through the wearisome terrain of parenting. I highly recommend this book and hope that its the first of many from Mrs. Crandall.”

“As mothers we are tempted to stack up our maternal achievements as a measure of our godliness. Consider Kimms book as a megaphoneloud and clearcalling out the better way: Moms need to build their hope on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. Read this book in the context of community and see how the gospel intersects and powerfully affects the details of your motherhood and friendships.”

“Jesus tells us that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Why, then, as a mom of a rapidly growing family did I feel as if I were carrying the weight of the world and these children on my shoulders alone? I had forgotten the gospel and instead was piling on the have-tos that promised to fulfill me as a wife, give me purpose as a mother, and produce guaranteed spiritual kids. I just wish I had read and absorbed the truths that Kimm so gently reminds us of as mothers: Christ is not only in the chaos, He sees you, loves you, and is beckoning you to rest in the work He has already completed.”

“What a healing balm this book has been to my heart. In Christ in the Chaos, my dear friend Kimm points us to the rest that every mother longs for. This rest that each tired and burdened mom needs is found in the work that Christ has done. Kimm shows us how the gospel changes our motherhood from a drudgery to a joy. She helps us to see that Christ meets us in the middle of our everyday and loves us in the midst of our failures. She gives us the truth of free grace that unshackles us from trying to be the mom of the year. Kimm makes herself small and makes Christ big. I pray each mom who finds this book falls more in love with her Savior and becomes more aware of how his love for her changes everything about her.”

“Although Kimm Crandalls message in Christ in the Chaos would revive any soul longing for the breath of the gospel of grace, I am especially eager to recommend this book to that heart who strives to know God and to make him known to the little ones who call her momma. Kimm is a candid and gracious fellow sojourner, faithfully pointing to Gods immeasurable steadfast love and grace in the midst of our mess. She helps us peer beyond what our eyes can see to behold the glorious end on which our hearts can rest.”

“What an amazingly wild and wise, disruptive and delighting, freeing and focusing book on gospel parenting my new friend, Kimm Crandall, has written. The heck with this just being for mothers, Kimms book is for every parent willing to take the stewardship of children and the riches of the gospel seriously. This is one of the most helpful and encouraging books on parenting Ive read in the past twenty years, of any length. Kimm writes as a multi-child mom and a grace-saturated woman, who understands the exhausting demands of good parenting and the inexhaustible supply of Gods grace. This will be a book you will want to give to parents, to-be parents, and grandparents.”