Category Archives: Identity

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