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A Testimony of Spiritual Mothering

STEPHANIE FORMENTI | CONTRIBUTOR I was a young mom to three children under the age of 5. We had recently navigated an international move far from my family and friends and absolutely everything was new. I couldn’t speak the language, I couldn’t drive, we didn’t have a backyard, and the food was really different. I was struggling. In my struggle, my husband and I committed to praying and asking the Lord to bring an English-speaking friend into my life. In His kindness, about two months later, a woman from the UK moved to our Brazilian city with her family and we met at church. Mary (name changed) was a little farther along in life and ministry than I was, loved Jesus, and had a warm and welcoming presence. So, when she suggested we meet up for coffee, I jumped at the chance. Over time, we started meeting regularly and those get-togethers became a lifeline for me. Speaking English was a welcome retreat after navigating daily life in Portuguese. Having an hour to sit in a cafe was a sweet respite from the busyness of caring for three young children. And this newfound mentor was fun and insightful. But more than anything else, these regular meetings became an important part of the growth and sanctification the Lord was already doing in this season of challenge because of my friend’s willingness to do three important things:...

A Testimony of Spiritual Mothering2026-10-05T19:42:08+00:00

A Warm Welcome

ELIZABETH STEELE|GUEST It was a cold and blustery January morning when my Marine-Corps-fighter-pilot-husband flew off for a seven-month deployment to the Western Pacific. We had been married for only three months as I gave him a tearful kiss goodbye and drove back home as a weepy mess. I wondered what in the world I would do to keep myself busy until he came back home in July. I had a part-time job working at a makeup counter working three days a week and was glad for something to do. But the truth is, I really longed for a meaningful way to serve the Lord and wondered what that was going to look like now that he was gone. I had left my work in Tennessee as a director of a residence hall and women's coordinator for Campus Crusade in order to marry Joe and was happy to do so. But I did love those jobs; I got to be around lovely college-aged women all day,  teaching Bible studies, mentoring them in one-on-ones, and hosting folks in my little apartment on a nearly daily basis. Of course, it wasn't all rainbows and sunshine, but there was a lot of joy in it for me. It filled my cup to serve them as I served the Lord. But now what?...

A Warm Welcome2026-09-30T19:27:58+00:00

Gospel Friendship: A Conduit to the Father

STEPHANIE FORMENTI | CONTRIBUTOR I was a young mom to three children under the age of 5. We had recently navigated an international move far from my family and friends and absolutely everything was new. I couldn’t speak the language, I couldn’t drive, we didn’t have a backyard, and the food was really different. I was struggling. In my struggle, my husband and I committed to praying and asking the Lord to bring an English-speaking friend into my life. In His kindness, about two months later, a woman from the UK moved to our Brazilian city with her family and we met at church. Mary (name changed) was a little farther along in life and ministry than I was, loved Jesus, and had a warm and welcoming presence. So, when she suggested we meet up for coffee, I jumped at the chance. Over time, we started meeting regularly and those get-togethers became a lifeline for me. Speaking English was a welcome retreat after navigating daily life in Portuguese. Having an hour to sit in a cafe was a sweet respite from the busyness of caring for three young children. And this newfound mentor was fun and insightful. But more than anything else, these regular meetings became an important part of the growth and sanctification the Lord was already doing in this season of challenge because of my friend’s willingness to do three important things:...

Gospel Friendship: A Conduit to the Father2026-09-19T18:00:17+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 Calendars2026-01-24T17:16:10+00:00

Making Space for Others in Our Conversations

AMY SANTARELLI |GUEST I walk into church and spot a new person. I know I should go over and engage her, but such actions often end in stilted exchanges or awkward pauses.  Making conversational space for people I don’t know well takes much more effort than the comfort of finding my seat or chatting easily with friends. Do I take the path of least resistance and avoid eye contact? Maybe I offer an acknowledging smile, but continue to my familiar chair? Or do I practice Christ-like hospitality and in love, make my way over to her? The Importance of Questions Proverbs 20:5 says, “The purpose in a man's heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.” Practicing hospitality in our conversations and becoming a person of understanding takes… practice. Each person we come across is a unique individual made in God’s image with varying interests, experiences, knowledge, and giftings.  With the right question, we can tap into that well and the responses will begin to leak out.  Even just a little response gives us more direction to continue the questions and soon that well can become a flow of water. Good conversation creates a connection, resulting in feeling seen and heard.  It can make all the difference between being included or left on the outside. Why is that important? Because asking questions is a means to demonstrate Christ-like love. Ephesians 2:12 reminds us that we were separated, foreigners and strangers; we were outsiders until Christ initiated with us. The Importance of Good Questions...

Making Space for Others in Our Conversations2025-11-11T16:43:52+00:00

Sanctifying Relationships

KRISTI MCCOWN | GUEST My personal struggle is, most of the time, “between my ears,” as Susan Tyner would say. My mind is a battlefield—a place where intrusive thoughts, fears, and sinful desires battle for control. Relationships are at the top of the list of the daily battles that I struggle with. This is why I am grateful for gospel friends. “Friendship is born at the moment when one person says to another "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself…” This C.S. Lewis quote from the book The Four Loves came to mind when I listened to the podcast “Risky Obedience” by Karen Hodge and Susan Tyner. Their conversation has been a breath of fresh air for my soul. The vulnerability they share is life-giving to me. One of Karen's questions in the first episode that struck me was, “Why is it risky? What do we risk when we enter relationships with other people?” Relationships, for me, are equal parts messy and wonderful. Much of the pain throughout my life has come from the way I respond to conflicts with others. I have a strong desire to be liked. My love language is words of encouragement, but the flip side of that is that I fear criticism. I fear what others think of me. So, when someone criticizes me or points out an error, I tend to fall apart. My reaction is to cover, hide, or blame. I believe the childhood saying, "Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words can never hurt me," is incorrect because words do hurt. There is another childhood rhythm that says, "I'm rubber, and you're glue; what bounces off me sticks to you.” Both statements make it sound as though the words people say to us have no effect. But they do. In fact, they often have a lasting impact, leaving scars that last far longer than any schoolyard fight or tumble. Even more, if others hit us with hurtful words, our sinful desire will be to hurt them back. Karen Hodge reminded me so sweetly in this podcast that “we speak out of the overflow of our hearts.” We see this in our cutting and sarcastic jabs, in the ways we place blame on others, or in our defensive responses. Whatever is in our hearts will come out when we have a conflict with another person. I know that all too well. As I continue to think about how I respond to the messiness of interpersonal relationships, the podcast left me with two encouragements...  

Sanctifying Relationships2025-03-10T18:03:29+00:00

The Gift God Gave Before Christmas

JAMYE DOERFLER | CONTRIBUTOR “In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord’….So Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.” Luke 1:39-45, 56 Though it’s not specified in this passage, the baby that leapt in Elizabeth’s womb was John the Baptist. Every single gospel account connects the conceptions and births of John the Baptist and Jesus, stating that John’s ministry was to prepare people for Jesus’s ministry. How much more special is it that the two were related! In fact, as I reflect on this passage, I see a merciful thing God did by making them in the same family: he gave the beautiful gift of mutual support to these mothers. Miraculous Pregnancies Both Elizabeth and Mary became pregnant in miraculous ways. Prior to this passage, Luke tells Elizabeth’s story: her husband, Zechariah, was a priest, and he and Elizabeth were “both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statues of the Lord” (Luke 1:6). However, they had no children, and Elizabeth was now too old to conceive naturally. An angel visited Zechariah and told him that his wife would become pregnant with a special child. This son, whom he was told to name John, would bring the people of Israel back to the Lord (Luke 1:13-17). Mary, on the other hand, was a teenage virgin. The angel Gabriel also foretold of her pregnancy with a special child—the Messiah they had been awaiting. The son, whom she was to name Jesus, would be given the throne of David, and “His kingdom will never end” (Luke 1:26-28)....

The Gift God Gave Before Christmas2024-11-22T16:55:20+00:00

Christian Love in Times of Political Division

AMANDA DUVALL | GUEST Among the cute photos of babies, puppies, and family vacations on social media— you see it. A friend from church posts a political message, and you cannot believe they vote for that person. Or support that cause. Or believe that news story. Maybe you reach for the quick “unfollow” button so you don’t have to see their posts anymore. Now, what happens when we walk into church and run into that person? We want to do the real world equivalent of an “unfollow.” Remove that person from our lives— if not entirely, at least put some distance between us. On the outside, everything probably looks the same, but the communion once shared has shifted, maybe even broken. This is not to downplay the real hurt we can experience in our relationships as the world becomes more politicized. It’s not just the election—there is almost no part of our society, public or private, untouched by politics. Maybe because of this, we tend to think our divisiveness today is so uniquely difficult for the Church to navigate. But then we read the New Testament. The first Christians hailed from every walk of life, and so, it was not uncommon to find a rich and educated individual, who just last month was participating in pagan rituals, right alongside a poor Jew, who had no power or property and adhered to some very strict personal ethics. Imagine for a second with me, then, what these relationships might have looked like— so easily laced with misunderstanding and awkwardness, offense, hurt, and downright rudeness. There was no earthly reason for these people to share anything in common. But in telling the Colossians about their new community, Paul says this, “Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all” (3:11)...

Christian Love in Times of Political Division2024-10-02T15:17:23+00:00

No One Left Behind! Made for More: A Shared Journey

KAREN HODGE | CONTRIBUTOR My family and I prepared for a hike during a recent trip to England. As we got ready, we needed to ensure we had all the equipment necessary for a long journey: the right shoes, plenty of hydration and food, and an accurate trail map. The first mile of the hike was relatively easy until we came to the edge of Malham Cove. I stared at four hundred steps straight up a three-hundred-foot incline to the white cliffs above me. At this point, I was tempted to turn back since I was only one mile into a five-mile hike. Half of my family was already at the top, and they shouted over the ledge, "The view is worth the effort!" I took my time so as not to trip or fall. I looked over my shoulder, and my kind son-in-law walked behind me. He is an expert hiker, so I urged him to speed up. As I huffed and puffed, he said, "Nobody in our family gets left behind." Over the next several hours, we saw spectacular views including grand vistas and beautiful waterfalls. I was also thankful that my son-in-law had an "AllTrails" app that helped us see when we were veering off the marked trail. That evening, when we got to the trail's end, we feasted and reminisced about our walk through the beauty of God's creation. A Shared Journey This fall, PCA Women’s Ministries will embark on a Made for More shared journey that will take us to eight cities around North America. It is our hope that these intergenerational conferences for young women third grade and up will just be the beginning of an ongoing conversation. We will be talking about the things that matter most surrounded by the people that matter most in our lives. We will explore big questions such as who is God, why am I here, what is my purpose, and what is my final destination on this faith journey? We hope that these questions spark conversations that will continue long after the conferences...

No One Left Behind! Made for More: A Shared Journey2024-09-05T14:39:19+00:00

Fellow Travelers on the Highway to Zion

BARBARANNE KELLY | CONTRIBUTOR Blessed are those whose strength is in you,     in whose heart are the highways to Zion. As they go through the Valley of Baca     they make it a place of springs;     the early rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength;     each one appears before God in Zion. —Psalm 84:5–7 Who else remembers the sweet miniseries about Anne of Green Gables from the 90’s? A central feature of much of the story was the “bosom friendship” between Anne (“with an ‘e’”) and Diana. Hatched in the sweet exuberance of childhood, over the years their friendship blossomed and matured, with many ups and downs in between. I enjoyed following Anne and Diana as they grew up together through girlhood, into adolescence, and then young adulthood, probably because I rarely lived in one place long enough to grow up together with a “bosom” friend. Being created in the image of God means (among other things) that we are capable of and even thrive in relationships. There are different types of relationships given structure by God’s design for (at the very least) the perpetuation and survival of our species, and these are reflected in Scripture as pictures of our relationship to God. The love of God as a Father is the love that saves his children, nurtures them, and gives them life; the love of Christ for his bride is a love that protects, washes, and sanctifies her. I may be stretching the analogy too far, but perhaps friendship is an example of God’s love within the Trinity. For the fellowship within the Trinity is simply (and yet incomprehensively) about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit knowing, loving, enjoying, and glorifying one another. When we’re children, our friendships form with other children our own age, and may develop simply because we’re thrown together by reason of living near one another or being in the same class at school. As we age though, the ties which bind friendships together change from outward circumstance and become more inward. Our friends aren’t those who happen to live nearby—though they may—but it’s not simply because they live nearby. Our friends are those with whom we’ve found a common interest and enjoyment; those with whom we share an aspect of our inward selves...

Fellow Travelers on the Highway to Zion2024-08-06T17:06:42+00:00
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