When Cancer Meets Christmas: Navigating the Holidays When a Loved One is Sick

MARISSA HENLEY|GUEST I met my sister-in-law for the first time while receiving a blood transfusion on Christmas Eve. My brother brought her home for Christmas while she was still his girlfriend and I was two months into a battle with a rare cancer called angiosarcoma. They came to the hospital as soon as they arrived… Read More

Oct42018Sep 23 2018

Cultivating Community in the Church

by Christina Fox, in category Community

CHRISTINA FOX|EDITOR Many of us long for community. We long to have people to do life with: people who know us, care about us, and want the best for us. Yet, many of us walk into church on Sunday morning and feel unknown. While we might know the names of many of those we sit… Read More

Sep242018Sep 24 2018

Sharing Stories for the Sake of Christ

by Christina Fox, in category Spreading the Gospel

ELIZABETH TURNAGE|GUEST Stories first drew me to Christ. I was a lost young girl who had little exposure to the Bible or church growing up. When I was twelve, I began attending a private school that my parents chose primarily for its strong academic reputation. The school just “happened” to be a Christian school. There… Read More

Aug92018Jul 6 2018

Mentors: Offer Your Story as a Great Read

by Christina Fox, in category Relationships

LINDA BARRETT|GUEST You are a story—a book God is writing—a book meant to be shared. Your story, like all good stories, has a hero—it is you being formed in Christ. The story is filled with scene changes, challenges, success and failure, relationships and a quest. Great heroic stories always have a quest. Yours is to… Read More

May282018Apr 25 2018

3 Ways to Encourage a Friend with Cancer

by Christina Fox, in category Relationships

MARISSA HENLEY|GUEST Seven years ago, my friends taught me by their extravagant example how to be a friend to someone with cancer. I was standing alone in my bedroom when I received the biopsy results, but I wasn’t alone for long. Within hours, one friend sat folding laundry and another made dinner in my kitchen,… Read More

Feb192018Feb 11 2018

When Your Friend is Raped or Beaten

by Christina Fox, in category Community

TARA BARTHEL|CONTRIBUTOR The very week last fall that the #MeToo campaign began to dominate my social media relationships, a woman in my community told me that she was being physically hurt by a family member. Of course I immediately did everything I could to help her. But I also remember thinking at the time: Would… Read More

Feb82018Jan 19 2018

Helping a Friend Who Suffers

by Christina Fox, in category Community

CB CAMPANO|GUEST "Please, show me how to help!" I imagine most of you have said these words at some point. A friend suffers betrayal, loss, depression, illness, guilt, or the like and, though you are eager to help, you just don’t know how. For the last ten years, I have had the privilege of helping… Read More

Oct232017Sep 29 2017

Friendship is Not a Two-Way Street

by Christina Fox, in category Community

KIM BARNES|GUEST When my husband was in seminary, he did a summer internship at a church in Bradenton, Florida. The young pastor and his wife were very encouraging to us and gave us some great marriage advice: “Remember that marriage is never 50/50. It’s always 90/10. Sometimes you’re the 90. Sometimes you’re the 10.” It… Read More

Oct92017Oct 7 2017

My Search for Community

by Christina Fox, in category Community

CHRISTINA FOX|EDITOR My newest book, Closer Than a Sister, is about community and friendship. But not just any community or friendship. It’s about the relationship between women in the church. I don’t know about you, but I need community. I need people I can turn to when life is hard, when I don’t know… Read More

Jul242017Jul 10 2017

How to be Brave in Our Vulnerabilities

by Christina Fox, in category Shame

TARA BARTHEL|CONTRIBUTOR At all of my women’s retreats, I invite the attendees to write a brief reflection and prayer request after the first (usually Friday evening) session. For my “Fear Not!” retreat, they share with me about the burdens tied to their worst anxieties and worries. “Titus 2 in a 21st Century World” encourages older… Read More