Category Archives: Identity

Are You an Image Builder or an Image Bearer?

by Christina Fox, in category Identity

JUDIE PUCKETT|GUEST

“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” Romans 8:29

I confess to you that I am an Image Builder.

I want you to notice me…so I build my image.

I want you to accept me…so I build my image.

I want you to love me…so I build my image.

Build. Build. Build.

I think there’s a little part of all of us (and sometimes a big part) that longs to be noticed, appreciated, or even admired. So, we work hard to show only our best side, to reveal what we think looks impressive, and to create an image that appears to be perfect. We sometimes put pressure on ourselves to be perfect. We tell ourselves that we need to work harder, stay up later, get up earlier, read more, learn more, exercise more, post more on social media. The list goes on and on. All the while, the image making continues. It’s a drive that is never satisfied. It continually whispers, “You need to do better; you need to be better.” Image building is exhausting and burdensome.

Build. Build. Build…

Never Enough: Confronting Lies About Appearance and Achievement with Gospel Hope

by Christina Fox, in category Identity

It was my sophomore year of high school, and I was sitting around with my cross-country team listening to the older girls compare fat grams in bagel brands. If you have ever looked at bagel labels, you know that there is not any difference worth noting—unless you are obsessed with your weight.

The Lies of Appearance and Achievement

Little did I know how influential that conversation, and many more like it, would become in my life. Add to that the billboards, magazines, and other media that boasted model-thin women all around me, and I bought into the lie “I have to look like ‘her’ in order to be beautiful.”

At the same time I was running cross-country, I was also playing basketball. Unlike the girls on my cross-country team, my teammates could down a fast-food burger in no time at all and not think twice about it. And my coach certainly thought I could use a few burgers myself in order to put on some weight for my position as forward or center. Add to that the fact he could fire off a cuss word, stomp his feet, clap his hands, and throw water, attempting to motivate us to play better and harder and I began to believe another lie: “My worth is based on my outward performance.” Failure to perform well led me to inflict punishment on myself—if I didn’t live up to my coach’s expectations, then I didn’t deserve to eat.These twin themes of body image and performance are still at the heart of young women’s search for beauty and worth today. But it is not just young women. Women of all ages struggle with defining their significance by their appearance and achievements.

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?

Royal In Christ

by Christina Fox, in category Identity
PATSY KUIPERS|GUEST I’m captivated by British history, probably because it’s part of my history. The lineage of all four of my grandparents can be traced back to the isles across the Atlantic, at least in part. And who doesn’t enjoy a fairy tale romance? Thus, like millions of others around the globe, I delightedly followed… Read More

Making a Name for Ourselves

by Christina Fox, in category Identity
RONDI LAUTERBACH|GUEST We live in a culture of self-promotion. Navigating it can be very tricky, both for us and for those nearby who are looking to us for an example. Promoting ourselves is tricky because if we have something to sell or something to say, as Michael Hyatt puts it, we need a platform to… Read More

On Duct Tape and Dignity

by Christina Fox, in category Identity
STEPHANIE HUBACH|CONTRIBUTOR Jumping to her feet while raising her voice, the team member cried out, “It’s all about safety!” During a meeting at the high school, prior to his graduation, we were discussing the pros and cons of various employment options for my son Tim, who has Down syndrome. Stunned by this unexpected turn of… Read More

The New Dress

by Christina Fox, in category Identity
PATSY KUIPERS|GUEST I remember the moment, even if I can’t recall the exact date—the moment when I realized I wasn’t good enough. A number of childhood experiences— an inconsistent relationship with my dad; often being described as “smart”, but rarely “pretty”; enduring a pudgy pre-adolescence during which classmates called me names — planted seeds of… Read More

Battling Back to School Busy

by Christina Fox, in category Identity

KRISTEN HATTON|CONTRIBUTOR As soon as I clicked on my inbox, I instantly regretted it. It was early July and I was on vacation, but already in my inbox, along with emails from my favorite retailers and the blogs I follow, were half a dozen school related messages. A high school football booster club meeting that… Read More

No Little People, No Little Places

by Christina Fox, in category Identity

STEPHANIE HUBACH|CONTRIBUTOR “Oh! You’re Tim’s Mom!” (Or, with the alternative eyebrow raising intonation: “Oh! You’re Tim’s Mom!”) Cart Man Many people in our town know my youngest son, Tim. Often, Tim is recognizable because he has Down syndrome—and there aren’t that many people in Ephrata, PA who are recipients of that “noticeable extra little something”… Read More