Encourage-[en-kur-ij] to inspire with courage, spirit, or confidence.
The enCourage Blog is weekly dose of encouragement in a world that is often filled with bad news. We offer life-giving entries each Monday and Thursday written by gifted women from across our denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). You can subscribe below to have them delivered to your inbox. With hundreds of blog pieces, you can search on a variety of topics in the search bar above to read and share with friends. Christina Fox, a gifted author, serves as our enCourage General Editor. If you are interested in submitting a piece, you can contact her at cfox@pcanet.org.
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Windshields, Rearview Mirrors, and a Sunroof in 2026
KAREN HODGE | CONTRIBUTOR Navigating a Costco parking lot a week before Christmas will make you a prayerful person. We eagerly scan the windshield for the perfect parking spot near the door while checking our rearview mirror to make sure we do not hit an innocent woman with a cart full of toilet paper. As we circle a parking row one more time, we may be tempted to give up and go home without ever praying at all. As a follower of Christ, there is a value in looking backwards, forward, and upward to gain perspective. The reality is, we often get stuck with a singular view. The New Year provides the perfect crossroads to examine all three viewpoints. We can glance in the rearview mirror with gratitude and thanksgiving for God’s protection and provision. These blessings fuel our faith to believe God will continue in His Fatherly care. As we step into a new year, we can gaze through the windshield with hopeful anticipation mixed with hazy uncertainty. Forward momentum requires walking by faith and not by sight, a kind of Christ-confidence. Looking backward and forward quickly leads us to recognize the gift of our finite limitations. We take no credit for where we have been and need His grace to move forward. This gap compels us to look up. (Bonus blessings if you have a sunroof or convertible!) We feel our need of God, lift our eyes and heart, and pray like Jehoshaphat, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you” (2 Chron. 20:12)....
On Resolutions and the Work of the Spirit
JAMYE DOERFLER | CONTRIBUTOR Around New Year’s Day, there are two camps of people: those who make resolutions and those who don’t. According to a study on Forbes, most people feel “pressured” to make a New Year’s resolution, with women (64%) feeling more pressured than men (60%). Making resolutions is far from a new phenomenon; we have at least one example of a famous Christian who was doing so before the founding of our country—Jonathan Edwards, Congregational revivalist preacher and theologian. Edwards’ resolutions weren’t tied to a new year. Instead, he kept an ongoing list of ways he wanted to grow in self-control, charity, worship, and other topics. There were 70 in total. Here a few: Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life. Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same....
Words of Beauty, Ears that Hear
SUSAN BENNETT|GUEST Our words can either wound or bless, but Scripture shows us a better way. God calls us to speak truth with beauty, grace, and wisdom—and to cultivate ears that truly hear. We have all been guilty of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. My mother-in-law used to say in one of those moments, “Open mouth, insert foot!” When that happens, it can range anywhere from a simple embarrassment to the wounding of a relationship. Have you noticed how Christian women are often made examples in comedy routines to promote laughter about this very thing? The problem is, it really is no laughing matter at all—especially if you are on the receiving end of a word that is not fitly spoken. What We Say Matters I want us, however, to focus on the positive: God’s truth spoken rightly and at just the right time. Proverbs 25:11–13 says: “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver. Like a gold ring or an ornament of gold is a wise reprover to a listening ear. Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest is a faithful messenger to those who send him; he refreshes the soul of his masters.”...
Happy New Year!
CHRISTINA FOX | EDITOR Happy New Year to you and yours from your friends at enCourage! "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness" (Lam. 3:22-23).
The Call to Remember
LINDSAY FUNCHES | GUEST Apart from the two times when I actually forgot my children, the worst episode of mother forgetfulness in my life occurred in Atlanta, Georgia, when I had four children under the age of six. Having just moved to the area, we had been attending our new church for two months. Mary Boyde was five, Sam was three, Steele was nineteen months old, and Hayley was two months old. Steele had Crouzon Syndrome, a craniofacial syndrome like the boy in the movie Wonder, serious medical issues, and literally a dozen doctors. He wasn’t sleeping at night because of severe sleep apnea. Needless to say, I was exhausted as Christmas approached. As is often the case, our new church performed a magnificent Christmas pageant every year with the Sunday School children. Oddly enough, they held this Christmas pageant during the Sunday School hour...
Merry Christmas!
CHRISTINA FOX | EDITOR Merry Christmas to you and yours from all of us at enCourage! "And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger'” (Luke 2:10-12). Photo by Laura Nyhuis on Unsplash
