Christina Fox, Author at Women.pcacdm.org

Clay Like Calling: God’s Glory in Our Weakness

KAREN HODGE | CONTRIBUTOR We stand on the precipice of a new ministry year. Let's gather the team, formulate a stellar plan, whip out a shiny brochure, and rally the women! And while we're at it, let's try to make it bigger, faster, or shinier than last year. Been there and tried that strategy. “Shiny Plan” seems like a bulletproof proposal in September, but by October, cracks began to form in our well-formulated plan. CRACK… You try to recruit women to execute this shiny plan and find that many of them are just "too busy" to participate. CHIP… You put the Women's Connect Event in the bulletin, announce it from the front, send an email, and then wonder why more women didn't show up when you are cleaning up. CRUMBLE…. After teaching a Bible study you spent hours preparing and then receive stinging criticism in the hallway, you hastily vow you will never teach again! SHATTER…. Although you meant to send the shiny plan to the Session ahead of printing the brochures, upon reading it, they suggest that you scale things back to avoid draining the church's resources....

Clay Like Calling: God’s Glory in Our WeaknessChristina Fox2025-08-10T15:08:46+00:00

When You Are Feeling Stuck

MEGAN JUNG | GUEST Dead end roads and flat tires. Tired of an age-old habit. Waiting on that person or that thing. Immobilized by fear. Weary of pain. While feeling stuck is a normal and inevitable part of life, it is frustrating, at best. "Stuckness" comes when something holds us down, back, or away from the thing we need or want. Our minds, another person, our bodies, circumstances, sin, the environment, perception, our stories—we live with countless hindrances, harnesses, and hurdles. When we are stuck, we long for freedom. Freedom comes when the harness loosens, the chains fall off, and we cut ties with the weight dragging behind us. We are freed from something and unto another thing. What do you think when you consider the word “freedom”? It can be a word fraught with associations and emotions: ache, entitlement, fear, patriotism, gratitude, grief, and more. How can we face our “stuckness” and experience freedom in light of what Christ has done? We start with freedom in Christ, which informs freedom’s function in the rest of life. Freedom in Christ frees us from, frees us to, and frees us unto....

When You Are Feeling StuckChristina Fox2025-09-05T14:49:52+00:00

Picked for More than Just Pickleball

MEAGHAN MAY | CONTRIBUTOR The first time I played pickleball was on our neighborhood court. I didn’t know the rules. I wasn’t dressed for it, didn’t have the right shoes, and honestly just hoped no one would notice how uncoordinated I felt. I stood off to the side, awkwardly holding my paddle, sure that I would be picked last—if at all. Then someone surprised me. One of the most skilled players on the court looked straight at me and said, “You’re with me.” She didn’t hesitate. She picked me on purpose. And suddenly, I wasn’t standing alone anymore. I had a place. I wasn’t better at the game, but I was no longer afraid. Because someone strong and experienced had chosen me. She saw me, called me, and gave me courage to step onto the court. That moment reminds me of something far more profound: God is for us. He didn’t wait for us to get it right. He didn’t look for the most qualified. He saw us in our fear, weakness, and sin and still said, “You’re with Me.”...

Picked for More than Just PickleballChristina Fox2025-08-23T14:15:59+00:00

Making Space for Others

SUSAN TYNER | CONTRIBUTOR Let’s scoot over. Make room. Here, take this spot and sit by us. If you are walking into a space as a new student, neighbor, or church visitor, those can be some of the kindest words ever spoken. As a woman in my mid-fifties, I’m shocked that the awkwardness of junior high floods back so quickly when I am in a new situation. And, as a ministry leader who usually runs the room, I can forget how it feels to walk into an unfamiliar one. Like when I’m on vacation and walk into a local church service. Where are the bathrooms? Am I taking someone’s spot? Is it ok to carry my water bottle in? Will they notice if I don’t know the words to the songs? Or, when I moved to a new city and attended a couple of local fundraisers. I felt like Cinderella dressed up going to the ball. But, once I walked in, I realized my new clothes weren’t “quite right” compared to what the other women wore. Not to mention the feeling of standing against the wall as everyone but you seem to be chatting. Thank goodness for my phone so I could camouflage my awkwardness as a busy text thread. These kinds of situations remind me how it feels like to an outsider. I feel hot and self-conscious not to mention, guilty about every time I avoided “the new girl” in the room....

Making Space for OthersChristina Fox2025-08-23T14:07:18+00:00

Standing Still in His Presence

KC JONES | GUEST For women, “moving” is never the problem. Whether we are moving forward, moving backward, or shuffling sideways in some sort of bizarre-crab walk, we are content to be in motion. Movement means things are happening; we are accomplishing much or at least appearing to do so. Movement also implies that by doing one thing, we are not doing something else. In many ways, it keeps us distracted from other things. Busyness can be a buffer against the pain of living in a broken world because it provides us with something else, anything else, on which to focus so that we don’t have to face the challenges, heartaches, and brokenness we all experience deep in our hearts. Running on Empty Don’t get me wrong: work is not the problem. Work was considered good before the Fall. After God created Adam, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden to work it and keep it” (Gen. 2:15). After He makes Man, God says, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make a helper fit for him” (2:18). Woman is declared “helper” or “Ezer”; a sufficient support for Man. It is the same term used to describe the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, or “Paraclete” in the Greek. God fashioned Woman to be hard-working, capable, and strong. Our problem isn’t that we cannot “manage” all the to-do lists, work tasks, and extra-curriculars we cram into our schedules; it is that we often do not stand still. We don’t stop working. Even when we feel inclined to sit at Jesus’ feet as Mary did, we also feel the pull of a “Martha” mentality when faced with full days.  Our constant busyness inevitably leaves us empty. We begin to struggle with disillusionment and doubt. We question what God is doing in our lives. We wonder why we work so hard if it does not make us any happier. We may feel overwhelmed about another schoolyear starting or another project deadline because we know there will just be another transition waiting for us at the end. It can feel like we are running on a proverbial hamster-wheel. Yet, we do have hope. It is an abundant hope, and it is ours for the taking... 

Standing Still in His PresenceChristina Fox2025-08-23T14:00:59+00:00

Why the Work We Do Matters

MARIA CURREY | CONTRIBUTOR My mouth was needle-numbed on one side, wide open, gauze in one corner, a blue plastic place holder clamped between my feeling teeth and gums, and the drilling began. A cavity filling from childhood outlived its lifespan and needed to be replaced. Silenced, numbed, and essentially gagged, I was at the mercy of my dentist’s expertise and experience. Soon I was back in business, ready to chew again! Aren’t you grateful when someone has the education, gifting, and ability to do his or her job? Whether a stay-at-home mom, plumber, teacher, truck driver, doctor, or in ministry, the work each person does matters and has intrinsic value. Mothers cover countless roles and responsibilities around the clock, a plumber unclogs backed up waters and broken pipes, a teacher provides insights to all eventual jobs, truck drivers ensure supplies are transported and delivered, a doctor of any specialty facilitates healing and wellness, while one in ministry facilitates spiritual healing and wellness. When we stop to consider what it means to work, in every job, calling, or duty, we all need each other and the work done around us. Our world rotates in daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly cycles of work. Working for the Lord As workers for Christ, however, we are freed to a heavenly, God-given approach to work. Paul encourages the church in Colossae to work as if they are working for the Lord. Colossians 3:23-24 exhorts, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”...

Why the Work We Do MattersChristina Fox2025-08-13T21:08:18+00:00

Living Into Creation Goodness

TARA GIBBS | CONTRIBUTOR When my kids were in high school, a parenting book encouraged me to ask, “What is our family motto?” Potential responses flitted through my mind, “Glorify God and enjoy Him… Love God, love others… Encourage one another…” However, when I posed the question, two of my kids laughed and gave me the same horrifying response, “Win.” Hmm. I knew we were not a resume-builder, push-our-kids-to-do-it-all kind of family, and after getting the horrified reaction they wanted, my kids followed up with better answers like, “Glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” The opportunity to get a rise out of mom had been too tempting to resist. But their responses got me thinking, “Yes, I teach our kids to glorify and enjoy God, but what other messages do I communicate in unspoken ways throughout the week?” From “work hard and do well,” to “avoid the dangerous world,” to “our family prioritizes elite sports,” to “take good care of your physical body,” fill in thousands of potential “unspoken mottos” here: _______. Many of these “unspoken mottos” are not bad in themselves but simply mis-prioritized. And until heaven, perfect balance will not be achieved, but that is exactly why it's good to regularly ask ourselves, “What unspoken family mottos are we communicating?” One place to find many truths for living in this world is the creation account of Genesis 1-2. This is where we see the world as it should be. Sometimes I think we treat the first two chapters of Genesis like the foreword of a book: “I can just skim over that introductory part to get to the real story—sin, fall, and salvation.” A friend said to me once: “Practically, I think I often thought of Christianity as starting with the fall in Genesis 3, ‘We are sinful, and we need Jesus to be saved.’” But sin and the fall are not the way God starts His Story of His good world. When we read Genesis 1:1-31 we learn much about how we are to positively inhabit this world day in and out. There’s a lot here from which to strengthen our lived out family motto....

Living Into Creation GoodnessChristina Fox2025-08-13T21:05:22+00:00

We Were Made for Less

LEAH FARISH|GUEST A popular line in Christian contemporary songs is “You were made for more.” The audience I conjure is the careworn mom with her hands in dishwater or a man aimlessly walking through a dreary urban landscape. But don’t we all suspect from time to time that God’s plan for us involves more glamor, appreciation, and gratification than we’re currently experiencing? Actually, we might do better to think in terms of “less.” We might “say less.” I love this Gen Z phrase for “You needn’t say more—I understand.” It also reminds me of Paul’s standard for speech as he set forth in Ephesians 4:29—"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs.” Similarly, we might consider owning less, or worrying less—overall, doing less....

We Were Made for LessChristina Fox2025-08-13T20:37:02+00:00

When You’re Weary at the Start of a New Ministry Year

SUSAN TYNER | CONTRIBUTOR I thought I’d be ready. More rested. Eager to begin. Instead, as I look down the barrel of my calendar, I feel tired. In May I imagined the summer months would give me the rest and rejuvenation I needed after a hard spring. But, as I face August and the upcoming “kick offs” of ministry, my body is slow to move. My brain sputters as I start making lists. My heart questions once again if God will provide the volunteers. I focus on my present limitations much more than I remember God’s past help. But thankfully, God reminds me of a time His disciples felt the overwhelming ratio between a need and their ability to meet it. This story—found in all four gospels—gives me a template for facing a new year of ministry: the sack lunch approach. When Jesus and His disciples were chased down by the crowds in a remote area, and it was approaching dinnertime, He told the disciples to feed the crowd of 5,000. What did they have on hand? A first century Lunchables: a boy’s two fish and five loaves of bread...

When You’re Weary at the Start of a New Ministry YearChristina Fox2025-08-08T13:50:24+00:00

Redeeming the Time This New School Year

KRISTEN HATTON | GUEST With two children married and one entering his final year of college, I know how fast the years go by. And while we love the empty nester stage we are now in, I miss the activities that characterized our lives during my children’s growing up years. The school and sports-related activities, yes, but also the sitting down at the dinner table together, playing games, watching a TV series, relaxing by the pool, the laughter and noise. Worshipping together and discussing the sermon over Sunday lunch. The everyday conversations that come through normal family life together. Looking back, I see that the seemingly insignificant moments were actually the most important. These weren’t Instagrammable so the magnitude could easily be missed. But it was also not happenstance that the regular routines of daily life far exceeded any fleeting post as a shaping influence on our kids. Above everything, my husband and I wanted our kids to know their need for Jesus and his love for them. We wanted our family to be closely connected, to feel safe to be vulnerable and known by each other. To this end, even when we couldn’t see the forest for the trees, we endeavored to be intentional according to what we valued most. Our kids didn’t always like the decisions we made. I felt lonely at times swimming upstream against the culture. But by God’s grace we persevered, looking not to their temporal happiness (or ours), but toward a hope that they would root their lives in Christ. Certainly, there is no formula for ensuring a life of faith for our kids and the relationships we desire to cultivate. It is by the grace of God, and yet as parents we are called to diligently shepherd their hearts (Deut. 6:7). But it starts with us—with our hearts. Scripture tells us, “For where our treasure is there our heart will be also (Matt. 6:21).” Where our treasure is. Therefore, I encourage you to evaluate if and how your family rhythms point to and flow from your greatest treasure. And if not, how you might reorient those rhythms this school year. I’ve outlined below five considerations....

Redeeming the Time This New School YearChristina Fox2025-08-02T21:12:47+00:00

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