Christina Fox, Author at Women.pcacdm.org

Weakness in Ministry

JULIANNE ATKINSON |GUEST It’s easy to proclaim the gospel with our words. It’s not as easy to follow Christ’s path, embodying the gospel as we inevitably fail, embracing our sins, frailties, weaknesses, and limits. Can you remember a time you felt weak as a ministry leader? I once talked with a prospective volunteer about her background and quickly found that I disagreed on biblical grounds with her father’s profession. It wasn’t a controversial field that he worked in, but an illegal one. Knowing her father wasn’t a Christian, I assumed that she agreed with me. I was wrong. I tried to convince her using Scripture to no avail. Unsurprisingly, this was not what she wanted to hear. It didn’t change her heart about her father’s profession. She couldn’t believe a ministry leader would speak out against how her father provided for her family. Needless to say, she decided not to volunteer with the ministry. This encounter was humbling for me as a ministry leader. It revealed to me the complexities of working with people with different life experiences than mine and my need to have patience as God works in people's lives. Weakness Before Strength We want to look like we have a glazed clay pot among the rest of the basic ones....

Weakness in MinistryChristina Fox2026-02-24T16:22:07+00:00

When You Want to Trade in Your Specific Clay-Like Conditions

ELLEN DYKAS | CONTRIBUTOR But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. (2 Corinthians 4:7) I recently told a friend that I’m willing to participate in the sufferings of Christ; but can it be on my terms and in the form, timing, and intensity of my choosing?! I see the irony and hypocrisy of such a statement yet the truth is, it’s how I feel and think sometimes, even if unconsciously. Maybe like me, you delight in being a clay jar filled with the treasure of Jesus, yet struggle when the clay feels extra fragile, sad, or worn out. In those conditions, I can be tempted to want to click a ‘return’ button as simply as it is to send back an unwanted Amazon package. In the past few years, certain aspects of my clay-ness have felt extra hard. The impact of menopause on my body and ongoing disrupted sleep. Health related anxiety and the physiological, emotional, and spiritual impact of that. I transitioned into a (mostly) full time equipping and content development role which has been truly such a gift to have a dedicated season to pour out what I’ve learned in the years I’ve served with Harvest USA. Yet, it’s also been unexpectedly lonely, as I’ve been at my desk more than face to face with women as I was for my first sixteen years. What’s a girl to do?...

When You Want to Trade in Your Specific Clay-Like ConditionsChristina Fox2026-02-15T14:32:53+00:00

A Testimony in Sorrow

JENNA BOGARD | GUEST As my dear pastor neared the end of his life in 2022, I wept by his hospital bed. All I could utter was, “Jim, you are going to be with Christ soon!” His face lit up; that was all he wanted. His intimacy with Christ was apparent to everyone who knew him. Prior to his death, he repeatedly urged me to dive into the Song of Solomon as it ministered to him greatly in his last few months of suffering with ALS. At the time, I dismissed his claim that the book had anything to do with Christ and the church and even teased him for holding such beliefs. I wish he was still here so I could humbly admit my error and thank him for pointing me to some of the most beautiful truths of Christ that I’ve only begun to uncover. A Reflection of the Heart Dr. David Murray’s exposition of Song of Solomon chapter five was particularly impactful as it so perfectly described my spiritual condition at the time: utterly weak, fearful, depressed, and desperate.[i] As the chapter opens, the groom is at the door, calling the bride to open the door (v. 2). However, the bride is apathetic to his call. “I had put off my garment; how could I put it on? I had bathed my feet; how could I soil them?” (v.3) The bride didn’t want to put in the effort, a situation we usually find ourselves in when we have temporarily satisfied ourselves with the lust of our idols...

A Testimony in SorrowChristina Fox2026-02-14T18:25:24+00:00

Celebrating Ten Years of EnCouragement

BARBARANNE KELLY | CONTRIBUTOR The passage of time is a funny thing. We mark anniversaries with amazement at how the years have flown by. The first time I attended the annual Leadership Training (LT) in 2017 seems like yesterday in some respects, and forever ago in others. That year, Karen Hodge and Christina Fox introduced us to a new resource for the women of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), the enCourage Blog, which had launched the year before. I attended the writers’ workshop, where Christina told us more about enCourage, and that she was looking for more women to write for it. In our brave new digital world, there are so many offerings for women to read, many which are genuinely faith-feeding and many more which are discouraging, fear-feeding, or enticements away from true faith. The purpose of enCourage is to be a bi-weekly dose of truly biblical life-giving encouragement in a world that is often filled with bad news. A month after my first LT, I submitted my very first post for enCourage and have since become a regular contributor. When Christina asked for a post this month celebrating enCourage’s ten-year anniversary, my first thought was, “Wait—ten years already?” Yes, ten years of encouragement written by women of the PCA for the women of the PCA have flown by! In the nine years I’ve written for enCourage I have learned and grown as a writer, particularly in my confidence in my calling to write, in honing my skills as a writer, and in the mutual encouragement among my fellow writers and our readers...

Celebrating Ten Years of EnCouragementChristina Fox2026-02-14T18:22:42+00:00

What Seminary Meant to Me as a Mom

ALLYSON BRUCE | GUEST This past May, as I walked into my graduation ceremony at Westminster Theological Seminary (WTS) we sang, “How Firm a Foundation.” This hymn beautifully captures my journey through the Masters of Arts in Counseling program. This foundation wasn’t laid in ease or in ideal conditions; it was built in the midst of motherhood. When I began seminary, I was a mom with soon to be four children under the age of five. I didn’t enter with spare time or energy, but with a desire to know God deeply, believing it would shape my mothering. A Foundation in the Word The first stanza of the hymn declares, “How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in His excellent Word.” Through lectures, small groups, papers, and exams at Westminster, God laid a foundation rooted in His Word—shaping how I see people and view joy and sorrow through the lens of the gospel. I learned to see Christ in all of Scripture, in both the Old and New Testament. For example, we all face pain and suffering. I turn to Psalm 77 and remember the Israelites’ wilderness journey and their longing for the promised land. In that struggle I see God providing daily bread (Ex. 16), faithfully sustaining them. In John 10, I see Jesus healing and providing for His people, where He ultimately laid down His life for His sheep. We are still in the in-between period, waiting for the promised land, but He will provide. He is faithful. He is enough. As my kids face trials and difficulties, I am so thankful that this is the framework I meet them with—one of eternal hope in God’s faithfulness....

What Seminary Meant to Me as a MomChristina Fox2026-02-10T21:03:24+00:00

The Challenge and Hope of Love

BETHANY BELUE | CONTRIBUTOR My children and I have been working our way through a Scripture memory book this school year. Each week, we focus on a different verse, learning it together, memorizing it, playing a song related to it, and weaving it into our week. It’s been a sweet way for us to hide God’s Word in our hearts together. Last week, the passage was short and simple: “Love is patient. Love is kind” (1 Cor. 13:4). Although it was a simpler verse to memorize, it brought so much depth of conversation and meditation. As my husband and I parent our children, we often talk about loving others. What does it mean to put our siblings before ourselves? How can we show kindness to our friends? How can we be patient when we have to wait for things? It’s woven into our parenting and our family values, but in my own heart, memorizing this passage with my children provoked some deeper feelings and struggles. First Corinthians 13:4-7 says, “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” It’s easy to love my children when they are obeying me, to love my husband when he is serving me, to love my friends when they are treating me kindly, but what about all the times when it’s hard to love others?...

The Challenge and Hope of LoveChristina Fox2026-02-09T20:53:45+00:00

A Cat Story: Temptation Leads to Sin or Sanctification

LAURA DAVIS|GUEST She set out without telling anyone where she was going. Her eleven grown children were used to her disappearing, and they scarcely ever worried about her. She was a tough woman who had suffered much in her 67 years—she was the hardworking wife of a farmer who had physically abused her for their entire marriage. She’d proven she could take care of herself. On May 2, 1955, Grandma Gatewood set out from Oglethorpe, GA to become the first solo female to hike 2,160 miles of the Appalachian Trail. She carried a lightweight handmade drawstring bag with a few provisions and wore canvas sneakers on her feet. She brought no map and no plan except to put one foot in front of the other. A Treacherous Journey On September 5, near the end of her journey with almost 2000 miles behind her, she traversed some of the most difficult terrain she had encountered thus far. She had one good lens in her glasses after she accidentally stepped on them, and she limped from a knee injury after a fall. The climb before her was treacherous, the kind of treacherous that was a matter of life or death with just one small misstep. The weather had also become cold and miserable with fat, icy rain drops pelting her skin. Her canvas sneakers, which she has replaced multiple times before, were worn through so that water gushed through the holes and soaked her socks. She was half-blind, limping, wearing worn out shoes, and the path was slick and dangerous. She left the trail to find a town in which to buy shoes, but instead, she encountered a man mowing the grass. He explained there were no towns for miles but offered for his wife to meet her at the next trail intersection with a new pair of shoes. Later that afternoon, she met his wife and when she tried on those new shoes, they were too small. The woman invited her to stay the night and the next day, after giving her shoes that fit, her daughter and a friend joined Grandma Gatewood on the next 10- mile stretch of the trail. For most of the journey, she hiked solo, but for parts of it, this tough woman needed other hikers to encourage and provide for her and to pull her to safety at critical moments. Strangers gave her warm houses, warm meals, and warm beds. She enjoyed their company, and it lifted her spirits. Grandma Gatewood’s story is a picture of life in a hostile world where everything seems set against us finishing the race, but the companionship of others spurs us on. Did the treacherous climb or the miserable weather change? Did she get new glasses so she could see clearly? Did her knee miraculously heal? No, none of these circumstances changed. Rather, she was given a new pair of shoes and companionship. The shoes would eventually wear out again, but the impact of their companionship would last a lifetime...

A Cat Story: Temptation Leads to Sin or SanctificationChristina Fox2026-02-04T19:47:43+00:00

Bird Watching Wonder

MARIA CURREY | CONTRIBUTOR When we see a beautiful bird soaring above, my husband and I crane our necks until the last feather vanishes. The majesty and soaring beauty of an eagle in flight; enigmatic, insistent whippoorwill calls through wooded cover; bluebirds nesting in reclaimed spaces, prepping their nests for fledglings’ flights, each of these draw our attention and spotlight God’s creative hand. To hear morning mockingbird songs before sunrise, where every note is a symphony of our Creator’s natural orchestrations. Birds hearken to God’s hands of wonder, and we need only lift our eyes to the sky and witness His splendor! Eyes to the sky: “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Matt. 10:29-31). Ponder the fact that God knows and protects the sparrow; He knows the number of hairs on your head. He is the omniscient, all-knowing God of WONDER who created the whole earth and who knows everything about you. He bestows all-knowing care, love, attention, and protective salvation grace upon you as His one-of-a-kind daughter....

Bird Watching WonderChristina Fox2026-01-24T17:18:35+00:00

Scheduling Hospitality: Making Space for Others in Our Calendars

AMY SANTARELLI |GUEST It was a Saturday, and I was tired and not feeling up to my to-do list. In a more energetic moment earlier in the week, my husband and I had invited some people to come over for lunch after church on Sunday. But suddenly it was the day before and I was second-guessing our decision because now I needed to go to the store, make food, and clean. I just wanted to take a nap and do whatever I liked. “What were we thinking?” I asked him, as I lugged out the vacuum. Flash forward to Sunday evening, the guests just left, and we plopped down on the couch, happy smiles on our faces. Did we regret scheduling them to come over? Not one bit. Whatever work we went through was worth it for the connection we felt and the joy of serving others, knowing we were helping them feel part of a family. We were already planning who we would invite next as we discovered joy in obeying I Peter 4:9: “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.” Okay, well, I still needed to do some internal work on the Saturday afternoon grumbling part! Don’t Wait Until You Feel Like It...

Scheduling Hospitality: Making Space for Others in Our CalendarsChristina Fox2026-01-24T17:16:10+00:00

Let the (Families of) Little Children Come to Me

LYDIA PINONTOAN | GUEST We sat in the back corner of a hotel ballroom with our 11-month-old daughter, armed with toys and snacks and books. We had travelled as a family from our home in the Middle East to Istanbul, Türkiye to witness some of our favorite authors and preachers mine the theological depths of the Nicene Creed. Some might call us crazy to attempt a theological conference with a baby. They may be right. But it’s rare that this lineup of speakers comes to our part of the world, so we thought we’d give it a shot. The conference started, Dr. Albert Mohler took the podium, and our daughter started to fuss. Quickly I tried all I knew to make her happy, to no avail. I gathered our things, scooped her up, and made for the closest door. For the next 30 minutes or so I played the how-much-can-I-hear-from-the-hallway game and tried my hardest to not feel disappointed that I was missing out on what we had travelled so far to experience. I hopped in and out of the ballroom, trying to entertain my daughter and catch snippets of the opening sermon when suddenly I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. As I turned, my gaze met that of a woman with a smile as warm as her touch. “Please come into the main room,” she said. “Your baby’s noises aren’t bothering anyone, and we want you to hear the sermon. You’re doing a great job and we’re so glad you and your baby are here.”...

Let the (Families of) Little Children Come to MeChristina Fox2026-01-16T19:37:10+00:00

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