Christina Fox, Author at Women.pcacdm.org

Transforming Our Thinking on Body Image

MARGARET AUSTIN | GUEST A New Year. The resolutions are scrolling across your news feed. Wellness influencers and “coaches” will scare you into buying their products and eating plans that promise to make you thinner! Younger! More energetic! Just cut sugar, gluten, dairy, carbs, and nightshades out of your diet and you’ll be detoxed! Your gut will be healed to perfection! But what does God say about your body? You probably already know that Psalm 139 says “you are fearfully and wonderfully made,” but what does that mean when you look in the mirror and don’t love what you see? When you see a photo of yourself from the holidays that you don’t like? How often do you bemoan sugar or carbs in front of your children, husband, or someone you mentor? The Impact of Negative Body Messages This past spring, I had the opportunity to write and lead a Bible study on body image with a local dietician. When I asked women if they could remember the first negative body image message they received, the answers made me weep. Many could immediately point to the first message, often from childhood, and often from the lips of a close family member. Proverbs 18:21 says “the tongue has the power of LIFE and DEATH” (emphasis mine). The messaging runs deep. In 2026, do we want to learn to speak LIFE or DEATH over ourselves and our loved ones when it comes to the physical body?...

Transforming Our Thinking on Body ImageChristina Fox2026-01-16T19:12:38+00:00

A Practical Way to Support Life

KRISTI MCCOWN | GUEST On January 22, 1984, President Ronald Reagan issued a presidential proclamation. He declared the third Sunday of January as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. This date marked the 11th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the ruling that legalized abortion nationally. Much has changed around abortion over the past four decades. In 2022, Roe v. Wade was overturned. For the pro-life movement, this was a major victory and a step in providing legal protection for unborn children. Today, abortion is limited or prohibited in 26 states; however, it is still protected in 25 states. However, the need to pray and advocate for life in our community and nation remains important. Pastors, churches, and life organizations use this day to bring awareness to daily assaults on human life by the abortion industry. One way to protect unborn lives is to expose the darkness of abortion and support local Pregnancy Help Organizations, which daily reach women and families with hope and life. Making an Impact on Life I work at one of these ministries as a counselor. When I began at the Pregnancy and Family Resource Center in my small Mississippi town, I was overwhelmed. This ministry is hard and heavy, yet miraculous and healing. One of my first clients I met there was a 13-year-old girl and her mother. The pain on this mother's face was heartbreaking; her child was about to have a child. We walked with this mother and her daughter through the birth of her baby with compassion and care...

A Practical Way to Support LifeChristina Fox2026-01-09T20:38:37+00:00

The Beauty of Life

MORGAN FIKKERT|GUEST The “sidewalk” in front of an abortion clinic is a dark place—I’ve been there. When I worked for a pro-life organization, part of my job was to stand there as the last line of defense to change a mother or father’s mind. Many days, it felt hopeless. Most cars—especially those seeking an abortion—rolled past us without stopping to talk. Watching them park and walk into the clinic felt like watching someone walk into their grave without a fight. Still, we saw glimpses of light whenever we were able to talk to someone, change their mind, or offer the help they were looking for. Life in the Womb During this recent Christmas season, I was reminded of my experiences on that sidewalk as I reflected on the visit between Mary and Elizabeth in Luke 1:39-45. Two women, decades apart in age, with unexpected pregnancies, find joy and encouragement together, culminating in Mary’s incredible song of praise to God (vv. 46-55). One amazing part of this story is when the baby John in Elizabeth’s womb, probably 6 months old, responds to what should have been an unfamiliar voice to him. We know that babies start to recognize familiar voices in the womb, but John could not have known Mary’s voice yet. Possibly even more miraculous is the fact that he doesn’t leap with joy in the womb simply because of Mary, but also because he recognizes the tiny life of our Lord Jesus who was growing inside of her. This story is a powerful testament to the truth that babies in the womb are fully human, even capable of being filled with the Holy Spirit....

The Beauty of LifeChristina Fox2026-01-09T20:25:57+00:00

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)....

Windshields, Rearview Mirrors, and a Sunroof in 2026Christina Fox2026-01-05T16:56:29+00:00

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....

On Resolutions and the Work of the SpiritChristina Fox2026-01-12T13:09:31+00:00

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.”...

Words of Beauty, Ears that HearChristina Fox2025-12-12T12:01:30+00:00

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).

Happy New Year!Christina Fox2025-12-16T21:15:05+00:00

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...

The Call to RememberChristina Fox2025-12-12T12:00:54+00:00

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

Merry Christmas!Christina Fox2025-12-06T18:04:20+00:00

Awaiting the Light of the World

KERRY ANDERSON | GUEST I’ve always loved that we celebrate Christmas during the darkest week of the year (at least in the Northern Hemisphere). I love that Christmas lights start going up just as the days are the shortest. In the dark mornings, I love coming downstairs, not to a dark and lifeless kitchen but to the warm light of the Christmas tree that turns on before I wake up (thank you, light timers!). And I love that when we’re introduced to John, the forerunner to Jesus, in John 1, scripture tells us that John “came to bear witness about the light”…to tell us that “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world” (John 1:6-8,9). There are so many descriptors and names for Jesus throughout the Bible, but in these verses, we’re told that what is coming is light, the true light. What we’re waiting on in this dark month is the Light of the World. O Splendor of God’s glory bright, from light eternal bringing light, O Light of light, light’s living Spring, true Day, all days illumining...

Awaiting the Light of the WorldChristina Fox2025-12-06T17:51:18+00:00

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