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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Don’t Settle
KIM BARNES | CONTRIBUTOR My mother has lived in her home for nearly fifty years. After my husband and I moved in a few years ago, we quickly noticed things that were neglected, broken, or in disrepair. On the surface, the home looked fine. It wasn’t at all dilapidated. A visitor would have thought it was a perfectly fine house. But if you looked a little deeper there were problems. Problems my mom didn’t even notice and things she’d just learned to live with or adapt to. Don’t we all do that? We let little things slide until they become normal. Eventually, we stop noticing them altogether. We tolerate dysfunction because fixing it is expensive, difficult, or inconvenient. We become content with “good enough.” Sometimes our marriages become like an old house we’ve lived in for a long time. There are conversations we avoid, habits we accept, and areas of neglect we simply learn to live with. Yet God’s Word calls us to more. Just as He is transforming us "from one degree of glory to another" (2 Cor. 3:18), He intends our marriages to keep growing as well...
The Spirit Gives Life
BARBARANNE KELLY | CONTRIBUTOR Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. — 2 Corinthians 3:17–18 As the preacher of Ecclesiastes tells us, “there is nothing new under the sun.” And when it comes to false teachers and their attempts to subvert the Gospel of Jesus Christ, all the old heresies are new again, even if their methods of delivery differ. In recent years, ancient arguments against the authenticity of the books of the New Testament (especially Paul’s writings) have been given new life through YouTube, Reddit, Substack, and podcasts, feeding the deconstruction of the faith of many who were raised in the church. After all, if you’re going to undermine an essential doctrine of the faith, you must first undermine the Scriptures on which that doctrine is based. Once the doctrine of Scripture falls, other essentials such as the reality and existence of Hell, God’s sovereign election, and any argument for obedience to God and holy living fall soon after like a trail of doctrinal dominoes. Are you among the many Christian parents child is deconstructing his or her faith? Have you listened in shock as a precious loved one has repeated the fabrications of the enemy? Do you find yourself speechless because no reasoning from Scripture holds sway with them since they no longer believe that God’s Word can be trusted?...
When You Need a Vacation From Vacation
KENDRA KAMMER|GUEST Summer is here, as my school-aged kids will eagerly tell you. With their excitement comes a nostalgia for the freedom of summer. Popsicles, parades, and beach days with just a little sunburn. Picnics, lemonade on the porch, and family vacations. This summer my excitement is not unwarranted: our family is going to take a dream vacation! This is a once-in-a-lifetime trip, the ultimate heaven-on-earth experience! Or is it? Because I broke my ankle and I wonder how I’ll hobble around on our vacation. Then our flight got cancelled, and that led to five hours of phone calls with the airlines. And let’s be honest, how well can I expect us all to get along as we tour the sights? When my expectations of glory on earth are dashed, it’s as though God is tapping my shoulder and saying, “Are you placing your hopes on this? I’m sitting right here!” And this has been the attitude adjustment I so desperately needed. This is an incredibly busy time for me, and I expect it is for you, too. Our family responsibilities ramp up with extra concerts, sports banquets, and the like, while church and ministry responsibilities gear up with the changing season as well. We feel exhausted, needy, and maybe even burned out. It’s time for us to find a way to rest…but how?...
The Aroma of Christ in the Mundane
BROOKE URISH | GUEST As I walked past our guest room–turned–laundry-folding area, my stomach sank. How could there be so much laundry to fold? I pushed it out of my mind to focus on a more pressing need—my young kids need lunch. Once in the kitchen, the sinking feeling returned at the sight of a sink full of dishes. Didn’t I just do these this morning? My six-year-old asks me to play baseball out back for what feels like the hundredth time, and I snap—“I can’t play right now, stop asking me!” Immediately, I regret my tone and recognize that he deserves an apology. As a mom to three young children, this is a snapshot of a typical day. I often feel insufficient for the task at hand. I can’t seem to stay on top of laundry, dishes, school tasks, cooking, etc., so I label myself a “bad homemaker.” However, it’s times like this when the Lord brings to mind the encouraging words a wise woman once shared with me: “Brooke, God is pleased with what you do in your home, even when you mess it up.” The Aroma of Christ Is this really true? When I turned to Scripture looking for a roadmap or a checklist, God gave me something else entirely. He gave me an identity. In 2 Corinthians 2:15 Paul says: “For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” I am the aroma of Christ to God? What does that mean?...
Let God Cook
SUSAN TYNER | CONTRIBUTOR My husband Lee and I do not fight a lot, but when we do, it’s usually over something small. During our first year of marriage, our fights started in the kitchen. He had a way of cleaning knives because he worked in a restaurant growing up. Since I grew up cooking (and washing a lot of dishes), I didn’t really think that advice applied to me. When he insisted his way of knife handling was better than mine, I took it personally. Two hours later, we were making up after a huge fight. Turns out, the fight was not about the knife, but control. Before you think this is a “how to” marriage blog, hear my next kitchen story. For context, this is after thirty-six years in the kitchen. We have learned we have different approaches to meal prep. I tend to go fast and “eyeball” measurements while Lee’s perfectly chopped onion would make any sous chef jealous. Recently, I was cooking a recipe for the umpteenth time while Lee and our youngest daughter, Rebecca, were hanging around the kitchen island. Lee kept on asking questions about what I was doing to the point of triggering another Iron Chef battle episode. Although that was not his intent, it was slowing me down and I could feel my heart wanting to grab control of my kitchen. Before that could happen, Rebecca says in her twenty-something slang, Dad, let Mom cook!...
God’s Many Mercies for Our Many Miseries
ELIZABETH TURNAGE | CONTRIBUTOR As I sat down to revisit this beloved passage from 2 Corinthians 1, I received a text from a young friend. She has suffered many serious health challenges for a person in her late twenties. In her text, she asked for prayers for some new health concerns. As I was responding, she sent another text, “Also, please pray for my friend. He starts chemo today. I told him I would be glad to talk with him whenever he needs a listening ear since I know what it’s like.” How, I wondered, does a young woman who has suffered so intensely so early in life face her own concerning health news with such calm while at the same time asking for prayer for a dear friend? I believe she can do so because she grasps what the apostle Paul teaches in 2 Corinthians 1:3-11, where he lays out the connection between suffering and comfort, both from a theological and personal perspective...
