Christina Fox, Author at Women.pcacdm.org

When the Church Today Isn’t the Church You Remember

MEGAN HILL | GUEST The old men of Ezra’s day may have had aging bodies, but their minds were sharp and their hearts still sought the Lord. They could remember Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 6:1–8:11) like they had walked through it yesterday. Walls lined with cedar, floors covered in cypress, everything overlayed in gold. Carvings of cherubim and gourds and lions and palm trees and flowers. And, most precious of all, the ark of the Lord that had gone with God’s people since their exodus from Egypt. Everyone who remembered it agreed it was a magnificent temple, filled with the Lord’s presence. But that temple was gone—destroyed by the Babylonians decades ago—and in its place was the bare foundation of a new temple. The old men could already tell this temple wouldn’t compare with the one they remembered from childhood. God’s people no longer had Solomon’s wealth or his workforce. They labored under threats from their enemies. And, worst of all, they no longer had the ark. As the old men looked at the fresh foundation, they could only cry: “But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundations of this house being laid.” (Ezra 3:12) When the church you have isn’t the same as the church you remember, it hurts...

When the Church Today Isn’t the Church You RememberChristina Fox2024-05-01T15:47:12+00:00

Her Name Was Nellie Smith: The Call to Intergenerational Discipleship

SHERRY KENDRICK |GUEST Her name was Nellie Smith, and she was one of my mother’s closest friends. Through the years, they became natural partners in multiple ministries. Nellie would teach and my mother would make sure there were snacks, crafts, and a welcoming space. And through this relationship, my mother learned how to disciple and encourage me in God’s Word. Deeply and faithfully, Nellie communicated God’s Word. She taught at the Good News Club, Sunday School, Children’s Church, and Vacation Bible School. She was a student of the Word, and those of us under her instruction learned the depth and breadth of Scripture. My love of the Old Testament and how it points to Jesus came from her. Though she was not formally educated, Nellie practiced the art of captivating storytelling and warm engaging lessons. It was never boring to hear her talk about the truths of Scripture. The gospel was present in every lesson, and it pierced my young heart. One day near Easter, she prayed with me to receive Jesus and she rejoiced with my family in my salvation. Nellie loved Jesus, His Word, and His church, and she loved me. Her influence in my life shaped the beginning of my spiritual formation. From Generation to Generation As the Family Ministry Director at my church, I constantly read and follow studies about faith formation and child discipleship. The Kingdom impact of Nellie’s initial investment in my life became clear to me as I learned about the development of lasting faith in children. The impact of meaningful relationships with older faithful believers, like Nellie, cannot be underestimated...

Her Name Was Nellie Smith: The Call to Intergenerational DiscipleshipChristina Fox2024-05-02T15:53:07+00:00

Joy and Sorrow in Motherhood

BETHANY BELUE | CONTRIBUTOR It was a Tuesday morning, two weeks before Mother’s Day. I parked my car outside my doctor’s office and prayed a quick prayer: “God, please help this baby to be healthy.” I walked in expectant, excited, and a little nervous. It was only a few minutes later as I lay on the table with the screen in front of me that I saw my baby for the first time. This very small baby with a heart that wasn’t beating. The silence in the room was deafening. My heart immediately started racing and I looked at the ultrasound tech as the expression on her face told me what I already knew. “I’m so sorry,” she said. My body froze, fear washed over me, and I knew then I was facing yet another story of motherhood that I didn’t want to face. I went home later that day to my two small children who had no idea what Mommy had faced that day. The innocent joy on their faces and excitement to see me brought a lift to my heavy heart. I was immediately brought back into the reality of my world and the incredible gift these long-awaited healthy children were to me. For the days and weeks following that Tuesday morning, joy and sorrow were held hand in hand as I held my children a little closer while at the same time, aching for the child in my womb. Joy and Sorrow in Scripture All throughout the Bible, there are stories of the sufferings, longings, hopes, and joys of God’s people through different circumstances of motherhood. The places where they also held joy and sorrow hand in hand. There are the stories of Sarah who became a mother past child-bearing age and was overcome with laughter by the story that was written for her (Gen. 21:1-7); of Naomi, who lost both her sons and her husband, and then in the midst of her grief made the hard decision to love her daughter-in-law from a different people group. She walked in faith as she loved Ruth as her own and watched the Lord’s tangible faithfulness in building her family in a way far different than she could ever have dreamed (Ruth 1, 4)....

Joy and Sorrow in MotherhoodChristina Fox2024-05-10T19:52:15+00:00

The Beauty of Intergenerational Friendship

KIM BARNES | CONTRIBUTOR I was 19 years old and back home in Tampa for the summer. My freshman year of college was a spiritual crucible, deepening my faith and love for Jesus. I was excited about my growing understanding of the Bible, and being a volunteer youth group leader at my home church seemed a great way to invest my time that summer. The dividends were greater than expected. A Beloved Sister in Christ Soon, I met a fellow youth volunteer named Judy who exuded warmth, kindness, and passion for Jesus. Despite the generation gap, Judy and I connected instantly. That summer we got to know each other as we led a group of teenage girls through a study of 2 Timothy. Judy was old enough to be my mother, but she didn’t treat me like a child. She valued my opinions and ideas. She extended grace to me amidst my youthful foolishness and pride and treated me as a sister in Christ. We became friends. The summer concluded and I returned to college, but Judy and I remained connected. In the days before cell phones and email, our bond was nurtured through pouring out our hearts in letters, and cherished visits during holidays and school breaks. Judy’s consistent encouragement, genuine interest in my life, and unwavering support was a gift to me. Life unfolded. I married, became a parent, and embarked on my own journey. Meanwhile Judy continued her tireless service in the church, especially among youth and women. Out of a heart overflowing with compassion, she eventually founded a ministry for single mothers. Judy cared for hundreds of women and their children, providing practical resources and spiritual nourishment. While my friendship with Judy waned over the years, a bond remained, and her example of faith and service continued to teach me. The Scriptures point to the value of relationships, like mine with Judy, that span life-stages and generations. A Call to Intergenerational Friendship In Luke’s Gospel, we witness how young Mary and aging Elizabeth turned to one another as they faced pregnancies that were impossible without God. Imagine the solace they found in each other as they traded stories of angelic visits and experienced shared awe at the unfolding miracles growing within them...

The Beauty of Intergenerational FriendshipChristina Fox2024-05-07T17:01:41+00:00

Graduation: The Right Time for Ambivalence

CHRISTINE GORDON | CONTRIBUTOR I remember the first time I felt the terrible grief in my chest. I was sitting on the black couch in my living room where I always sit, reading an email about move-in dates for fall 2023 at Western Kentucky University. My husband and I discussed possible dates while my oldest, still just 17, waited for the verdict. A minute later, the date had been chosen. I entered “Elliot Move in” to Tuesday, August 15 at 1:40 on our shared family Google calendar. Then I started to sob. A Mixture of Feelings Seventeen years felt like a very long time right up until I had an end date. Suddenly, all of the realizations began to come to mind: I would no longer hear his Sonic Bomb alarm clock along with the vibrating extension under his pillow that woke him up and made me laugh out loud every morning. There would be no more calls from a rushed boy between school and work asking me to “pretty please make me a quick grilled cheese.” I wouldn’t hear his voice yelling with his dad as they watched Tottenham Hotspur games (Premier League soccer) together in the living room. He was moving 289 miles away, to another state, where I knew no one. Neither did he. Of course this had always been the goal. My job, like any mom, for the first part of his life had been to get him ready to make it in the world apart from me. And in many ways, through a miracle of God’s kindness and a whole lot of help, we had accomplished that goal. But all the practical plans faded as I worried through the days and nights. Would he ever make friends? Could he handle the load? Would God take care of my baby when I couldn’t? These were my thoughts and feelings as I walked into the school gym for my oldest son’s high school graduation. But I also felt a surge of pride, joy, relief, happiness, and gratitude. I was thrilled Elliot had made it so far, and thankful for his work and perseverance. My heart was an absolute mixture of so many conflicting and different emotions. Graduation, I came to understand, can be a time of ambivalence. Whether your child is moving from the simple days of elementary to the complicated years of middle school, from a vocational school to their first professional job, or through any other graduation, we as moms are bound to feel a ball of emotions that a friend of mine appropriately calls “mixy.” A graduation is a pivot, a landmark, and a rite of passage. It signifies change, which always involves loss. Graduations are a very good thing, and a very “mixy” thing. For moms, they often bring up an emotion that cannot be avoided in this unpredictable world: fear...

Graduation: The Right Time for AmbivalenceChristina Fox2024-04-19T14:40:53+00:00

Jesus’s Invitation in the Midst of Stress

STEPHANIE FORMENTI | CONTRIBUTOR April showers might bring May flowers, but the month of April also ushers in unique busyness. Between Easter celebrations, graduations, end-of-the-year school trips, filing taxes, open houses, baby showers, final exams and projects, bridal showers, sports tournaments, and summer planning, April fills up fast. It’s probably no accident then that April is also National Stress Awareness Month, set aside to bring attention to the negative effects of stress. National Stress Awareness Month began in 1992 before smartphones, 24-hour news cycles, and social media were part of the daily vernacular. Now, with very little to buffer us from constant demands and worldwide problems, it is easy to understand why we experience stress on a regular basis. Stress and anxiety are close friends; stress is a state of worry or mental tension caused by challenging or difficult situations. It is a natural human response which can be helpful in addressing those challenges or threats. In fact, God designed our bodies to respond to stressful situations, for our own safety and wellbeing. The problem is, instead of stress being an occasional thing, it’s almost a daily thing for many Americans. There are many resources to help us manage stress, and we ought to utilize those that are helpful. But what if stress also presents a unique opportunity to for us to meet Jesus? What if our experience of stress is an invitation to a deeper relationship with him?...

Jesus’s Invitation in the Midst of StressChristina Fox2024-04-19T16:26:49+00:00

The Brevity of Life

SHARON ROCKWELL | CONTRIBUTOR My mother was known in our family for her pithy statements which were intended to impart wisdom. One of her favorites was “Life is short and then you die.” That may have been a child’s version of a verse from the book of James, “yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (James 4:14). As children we would appeal to mother for sympathy when something earthshattering occurred in our world. Complaints like “My fort fell over,” “My sister hit me,” and “I forgot my lunch money” would be met with those words of wisdom. “Life is short and then you die.” We received little sympathy but learned not to make the same mistakes a second time. During my college years, a neighbor who had already raised her family passed away after a long illness. The woman seemed so old to me. But I recall my mother commenting that her life seemed so short. At our neighbor’s funeral, the pastor talked about life being a dot on a line that extended to eternity. My mother’s words came back to me: “Life is short and then you die.” But this time those words had a broader meaning to me. I had watched our neighbor live her life knowing that she would die sooner than she expected. She used her time to pray for others, to encourage others in their faith, and especially to remind anyone who would listen that life is short and getting right with God was of vital importance. She once asked me if I was living a godly life while I was away at college. Her awareness of impending death made her bold in her conversations with others. She knew life was fragile. She knew life is short and then you die...

The Brevity of LifeChristina Fox2024-04-18T17:05:29+00:00

Spiritual Mothers Point Us to Christ

AMY SHORE | GUEST She grew up in a small West Virginia town near the Mason-Dixon that changed hands between the North and the South 56 times during the Civil War. Her family reflected that instability. It wasn’t until college that I started to see and understand the evil and dysfunction that my mother survived as a child. It wasn’t until early adulthood that I saw it as evil and dysfunctional. And it wasn’t until recently that I comprehended the notion that she survived childhood. But if I’m being honest, she did more than survive. The very fact that I had clothes on my back, grew up in church, and was loved bears testimony to that redemptive fact. She showed me a kind of love and affection that shouldn’t have been possible for a woman with her past. I didn’t understand it. I couldn’t relate to her in so many ways—and still can’t. But I’m beginning to see the grace that was poured out by a benevolent Father in both our lives reflected in that love that was never modeled to her. Her love is imperfect. And that’s probably the part I wrestled with the most once I left home. An 18-year-old has grand visions of how she will rise above her parents and be better, be different, be free. 18-year-old me grew to 20-something me who came to resent all the ways my mother did not meet my needs. So, I decided to have no needs. I would rise above. I would pull myself up by my proverbial bootstraps and make my own way. I decided the best way to keep my heart intact would be to need no one. I excelled at my new-found independence. I soared, really! I quickly rose from the ranks of the needy, to the self-sufficient, and then graduated to White Horse Specialist First Class. I became the one who met other’s needs. I became all things to all people. To my siblings—I was their stand-in mama. To my students—I was the teacher who made learning fun. To my best friends—I was the ever-present pillar of strength. To my church—I was the tireless volunteer. Until I began to encounter circumstances that were larger than the persona I had mustered...

Spiritual Mothers Point Us to ChristChristina Fox2024-04-09T21:11:08+00:00

On Suffering and Hope in Romans 5

EDEN FLORA | GUEST I vividly remember being 22, a new college graduate, and feeling very alone. I felt overwhelmed at the life that lay ahead of me. I wondered, how do I get from where I am to where I want to go? And where do I even want to go? Being 22 was rather scary, not at all like what Taylor Swift sings, “everything will be alright if we just keep dancing like we’re twenty-two.” The next paragraph you will read is difficult. I always feel apologetic as I head into my story. I think because it’s shocking and people often find it difficult to know how to respond. In the last semester of my college career, my reality was turned upside down. My wonderful, kind, lovely, but not dainty mother died by suicide. Though she had struggled with mental illness for years, quite obviously, it completely changed my life. When I think about my younger self, I long to comfort her and speak God’s truth to her. I was so scared. I couldn’t imagine anything other than that season. It felt so heavy and unmovable. I wish almost 40-year-old Eden could just sit with her and keep her company. In the months and years following, I just tried to get by. I had no clear goals, no solid plans, and not many ideas. It was painful and lonely. Gratefully, I knew God and felt His presence. I had people that cared about me. I had access to gifted therapists. But I couldn’t get past my sorrow, though I desperately felt like I should. I kept thinking that it was time for me to not be so sad. I think it was because I didn’t want to feel sad any more. I was afraid I would remain in that place forever. I remember reading Romans 5:3-5: “...we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” I didn’t understand how I could rejoice in my suffering...

On Suffering and Hope in Romans 5Christina Fox2024-04-09T20:51:36+00:00

Don’t Neglect to Meet Together

MARYBETH MCGEE | GUEST In the early morning hours, I navigate through the passages of my daily dose of God’s Word through an app on my phone. After a few passages, there is a blank page before me to “talk it over" where I record any thoughts or reactions and click “submit.” Then it happens. Often the thoughts of a friend I’m reading along with show up on the page too! A rush of joy floods in as I realize that without coordinating it, we have both been reading the same passages at nearly the same time! Even through an app, we have gathered around God’s Word in a way that provides both encouragement and accountability. But the joy only increases as the conversations about the passages we read carry over when we see each other in worship on Sunday or in our Home Group or Bible Study during the week. An Unexpected Source of Community I did not anticipate growth in my sense of community when I set out to read the Bible cover to cover. Where I would have given up, trudging through the portions of the reading plan that felt a little like my own personal wilderness, I have been encouraged by fellow believers to keep showing up and to continue building this daily habit. In doing so, they have pushed me forward in my faith. Encouragement is a key aspect to our relationships with one another in the church, but many Bible verses about encouragement have become so cliche they sometimes lose their significance when we see them on a t-shirt, coffee mug, or inspirational poster. One such verse is that from Hebrews: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Heb. 10:24-25). At its core, this verse is an exhortation for believers to gather together, especially for worship on the Lord’s Day. The author of Hebrews wrote to a group of believers being persecuted for their faith. It was costly for them to worship together. To do so meant risking their livelihoods, sometimes even their lives. The author not only calls them to face that risk and meet together, but as they do so, to encourage one another in the faith. But what makes this time together so encouraging? Was the author telling them to meet and encourage one another in order to puff each other up? Is it for them to exchange positive affirmations with one another like, “You’ve got this!” or “You’ve just got to have more faith” or “Everything is going to be okay?” We need to look at what these verses are rooted in to understand its full meaning and its charge to the early church and to us as well....

Don’t Neglect to Meet TogetherChristina Fox2024-03-29T18:07:51+00:00

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