Join us on Facebook: Connect PCA Women's Ministry
enCourage - Gospel-Centered Hope for Fulfilling your God-Given Purpose
SUBSCRIBE

Menu
Skip to content
  • Posts
  • Podcast
  • Remember Resources
  • Authors
  • About
  • CDM Home

Month: January 2019

Jan312019Jan 14 2019

Redemptive Relationships: Refusing to Let False Narratives Rule

by Christina Fox, in category Relationships

KRISTEN HATTON|CONTRIBUTOR

We hadn’t seen each other very much lately, or even texted in our usual way.  I knew we had both been busy, so I hadn’t thought much of it. I have lots of friends I don’t see very often because of proximity, different life stages or work schedules, but we always pick right back up as if no time had passed. Assuming the same would be true with this friend, I had looked forward to seeing her at an event later that week.

But the big hug and incessant catch up session I expected didn’t come. Instead my presence was barely acknowledged. Not knowing what to make of her icy reception, I pretended not to notice, opting instead to keep trying to get the conversation going. I kept asking questions hoping to make things feel normal, only it was never reciprocated which left me hurt and confused.

Back home, later that night and into the next day and week, I kept replaying this whole scenario in my head. But the longer I dwelt on it, the more my hurt turned to indignation and I became convinced of my own narrative. Of course, at this point I didn’t know what was really true, but it didn’t matter. I felt justified in thinking how dare she be mad at me for not texting or calling her, when she hadn’t reached out to me either. Ironically, in the same way I felt like she wanted me to “pay” some consequence for something I knew nothing about and I now wanted her to pay. For I deserved a better friend than what she’d shown me!

I know I’m not alone in this line of thinking even though we usually don’t tease it out.

Jan292019Jan 24 2019

E: 49 Unraveled with Rachel Craddock

by Cami Summers, in category Podcast
  Slowly Unraveled with Rachel Craddock Is the Gospel really changing your life? We know it should make a difference, but if we are honest, change is hard and messy. On today's episode, Rachael Craddock joins Karen Hodge to talk about how the gospel has been slowly unraveling her past, to make her a new… Read More
Jan282019Jan 14 2019

Transitions: Hope for Those Facing Change

by Christina Fox, in category Encouragement

RENEE MATHIS|CONTRIBUTOR

As a writing teacher, this is a term I use all the time. I like to say that transitions are signposts or traffic signals we use to help our reader along the journey. While we may know where we are headed, the reader may not.  Transitional words or phrases can be helpful in maintaining a sense of direction. “In addition…” “Accordingly…” “Therefore…” and “The first reason….” But what about when transitions leap off the page and become a reality? What does it look like when we move from one place or stage to the next?

Currently I’m in an empty-next stage. My husband will be retiring in a few years. Should we move? Should we be closer to the kids? We have 5 and they are spread out. Where do we go? These are scary changes for me! Transitioning to new adventures and maybe a new location are exciting prospects for my husband, but for change-averse me, the idea of a major move is daunting!

Then there are the transitions that are more personal. I will be ending a 30 year long teaching career that began with homeschooling my 5 year old and grew to include 4 more children and eventually classes of other homeschooled children, locally and online. Will I miss grading all those essays? Probably not. Will I miss connecting to my students, “my kids,” praying with and for them, seeing the light bulb moments, and rejoicing in their progress? Of course! Yet, even without a gradebook, I know the Lord has opportunities for me to teach. I look forward to transitioning to a different kind of teaching.

Any kind of change brings questions…

Jan242019Jan 21 2019

Slowly Unraveled: Transformation from the Inside Out

by Christina Fox, in category Sanctification

RACHEL CRADDOCK|GUEST
The day after our honeymoon, just eighteen months after I had accepted Christ as my personal Savior, I moved to Covenant Theological Seminary with my husband who planned to become a pastor. Outwardly, I bravely faced the new things God was calling me to; inwardly, I felt great tension between who I was becoming and who I used to be. By His grace and mercy, God was changing me from the inside out.

My mother passed away from breast cancer when I was fourteen. In my grief after her passing, my life turned upside down and inside out. I didn’t know how to allow myself to feel the pain and loss, so I numbed myself to the pain instead. If you can imagine any girl from your middle school or high school who bullied others, struggled with cutting, or engaged in substance abuse—I was like her. After graduation, I vowed I would never come back to my hometown—facing the shame and pain of my past was something I didn’t have the courage or strength to do on my own. I desired to forget the past—to untether myself from the person I had been.

When we left seminary in 2009, God called my husband to serve in a church just fourteen miles from my hometown. As a new Christian one of the first verses I had memorized was 2 Corinthians 5:17: “If anyone is in Christ, (s)he is a new creation, the old has passed away, behold, the new has come.” When we moved back to serve in a church so close to my past life, I tried to let this verse fill every nook and cranny of my heart. It is easy to say 2 Corinthians 5:17 from memory—it is more difficult to live by these words and walk in them.

Jan222019Jan 24 2019

E: 48 No Ordinary Day Planner with Mimi Brady

by Cami Summers, in category Podcast
No Ordinary Day Planner with Mimi Brady Life isn’t glamorous or peaceful every moment of every day, so we must learn to have eternal eyes for the every day moments in our lives. Today, Mimi Brady joins Karen Hodge to talk about how our theology impacts how we walk through ‘witching hours’, messy rooms and… Read More
Jan212019Jan 18 2019

He Must Increase

by Christina Fox, in category Identity

LAURA BOOZ|GUEST

I don’t know about you, but I feel so much pressure to make a name for myself, be all that I can be, and to maximize my potential. I feel like we’re all in a race to promote and protect ourselves, to achieve self-actualization the fastest. I’m so tired of focusing on me, me, me.

That’s why today I’m asking myself, would you invest your life to promote someone else?

Instead of maximizing your own potential, you’d maximize theirs.

Instead of working hard to advance your own agenda, you’d promote their message, desires, and life’s calling.

Instead of building your own audience, pursuing your own happiness, earning your own reward, and leaving your own legacy, you’d be all about theirs, theirs, theirs, theirs.

How would that feel?

Jan172019Jan 14 2019

The Sanctity of Life

by Christina Fox, in category Encouragement

In honor of Sanctity of Human Life Sunday (January 20), I want to tell you a true story.

My friend Cassandra was pregnant—with twins.  They were eagerly anticipated, and already named.

At three months along, Cassandra got a call at work.  A nurse was informing her that it appeared that the babies were going to be born with Down syndrome.

My friend was stunned. Twins would be a challenge, Down syndrome would be a challenge—but all together?  She called a cousin and they began to pray.  Her cousin first thanked the Lord for the babies.  “Lord, we are going to love these children, and we know you do too,” Cassandra remembers their saying to Him.

“What I needed was love,” she says now.  “If I had love for these children, it didn’t matter what they had or didn’t have; I could face the future.  My cousin’s prayer was just what I needed.  I told Him, ‘Lord, we are here for your plan.’”

Jan152019Dec 11 2018

E: 47 Unhitching from the Crazy Train with Julie Sparkman

by Cami Summers, in category Podcast
Unhitching from the Crazy Train with Julie Sparkman Julie Sparkman joins Karen Hodge to talk about her book Unhitching from the Crazy Train. Julie shares her experience as a pastoral counselor to unpack biblical truths we need to find rest in a world we can’t control. Would you like to replace your unrealistic expectations and… Read More
Jan142019Jan 14 2019

When God’s Answer Is Different Than We Expect

by Christina Fox, in category Prayer

It was the answer to prayer I didn’t want to get. It was not only disappointing—it was costly.

It was one of those life situations that getting the answer I wanted would have had no grand effect on the universe, but have made my life (and my family’s life) quite lovely. Time, prayer, wise counsel, and careful planning had all gone into setting the stage. The answer I wanted would have allowed me to honor God in so many ways. The correct answer to my prayer was obvious, and I couldn’t wait to receive my blessing from the Lord’s hand.

But the answer that seemed so right never materialized. I felt as though God had failed me even though I had done everything right. I prepared for a season of action, yet God had me continue in this season of waiting. In between the sharp pains of disappointment, questions swirled like brittle leaves on a blustery day. Why had it turned out this way? Why did I have to suffer? Didn’t God care?

Jan102019Dec 7 2018

Stop and See

by Christina Fox, in category Encouragement
KATIE POLSKI|CONTRIBUTOR I scrolled through Facebook recently and noticed several friends in my area had posted pictures of a gorgeous sunset from earlier that evening. I thought back on my night, confused as to how I had missed this beautiful site. I was driving around at the time of this sunset, out and about running… Read More

Posts navigation

1 2 Next Page

CONNECT:

FB-1

TW-1

EM-1

cdmtile3

Recent Posts

  • On the Question Every Heart Asks: Why?
  • E-127 Remember You are a Dearly Loved Child of the King of Kings with Susan Tyner
  • Love that Breaks the Chains of Addiction
  • Big Picture Parenting
  • E-126 Remember We Were Created and Recreated for Community with Paula Miles
  • Taking a Long, Hard Look at the Bookshelf

Archives

  • March 2021 (3)
  • February 2021 (12)
  • January 2021 (11)
  • December 2020 (12)
  • November 2020 (13)
  • October 2020 (13)
  • September 2020 (13)
  • August 2020 (9)
  • July 2020 (9)
  • June 2020 (9)
  • May 2020 (11)
  • April 2020 (13)
  • March 2020 (14)
  • February 2020 (12)
  • January 2020 (12)
  • December 2019 (12)
  • November 2019 (12)
  • October 2019 (14)
  • September 2019 (13)
  • August 2019 (11)
  • July 2019 (9)
  • June 2019 (8)
  • May 2019 (13)
  • April 2019 (14)
  • March 2019 (12)
  • February 2019 (12)
  • January 2019 (12)
  • December 2018 (12)
  • November 2018 (13)
  • October 2018 (16)
  • September 2018 (16)
  • August 2018 (15)
  • July 2018 (17)
  • June 2018 (14)
  • May 2018 (19)
  • April 2018 (17)
  • March 2018 (16)
  • February 2018 (16)
  • January 2018 (14)
  • December 2017 (8)
  • November 2017 (9)
  • October 2017 (9)
  • September 2017 (6)
  • August 2017 (8)
  • July 2017 (9)
  • June 2017 (8)
  • May 2017 (9)
  • April 2017 (8)
  • March 2017 (9)
  • February 2017 (8)
  • January 2017 (8)
  • December 2016 (8)
  • November 2016 (7)
  • October 2016 (9)
  • September 2016 (8)
  • August 2016 (8)
  • July 2016 (7)
  • June 2016 (8)
  • May 2016 (9)
  • April 2016 (6)
  • March 2016 (4)
  • February 2016 (2)
flower tile
flowertile3

Recent Posts

  • On the Question Every Heart Asks: Why?
  • E-127 Remember You are a Dearly Loved Child of the King of Kings with Susan Tyner
  • Love that Breaks the Chains of Addiction
  • Big Picture Parenting
  • E-126 Remember We Were Created and Recreated for Community with Paula Miles
  • Taking a Long, Hard Look at the Bookshelf

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org
Site made with ♥ by Angie Makes
Angie Makes Feminine WordPress Themes