Revival Times 2017 September 2017 | Page 24

viewpoint by Chris Shimmen nurturing strong families

tackling the giants : Influencing your world

Bianca , is married to Henry and is a first time mum to 9-month-old Ethan . Here she shares some of her experience on marriage and motherhood .

“ Marriage is one of the most humbling , sanctifying journeys you will ever be a part of . It forces us to wrestle with our selfishness and pride ” says Francis Chan , the author of Marriage in Light of Eternity , a book I read before deciding to marry my now husband , Henry . If marriage , for a follower of Jesus , is meant to be a process of transformation , of becoming more like Christ , then it is an inherently painful process , perhaps more painful for Christians than for non-Christians who do not want or expect to change in this way . On top of the difficult process of God ’ s pruning and moulding that we undergo in marriage , Christians are also subject to the same pressures that are leading the overall society towards an average divorce rate of near 50 % - things like financial strain , growing incidence of mental illness and depression , communication issues , the stresses that come with raising children , cultural differences and being subjected to the inappropriate behaviour of and online content shared by a growing number
24 Revival Times September 2017