spiritual growth

Learning the Language of Faith

The church I attend recently began a small-group discipleship ministry for our women. As part of getting to know each other better, the leader of my group asked us to share a little-known fact about ourselves. I decided to tell the group about living in Argentina in the early-1970’s. The usual questions regarding life in a foreign country followed, accompanied by my well-practiced answers. Being so far away from family and friends at a time when communication was limited to snail mail was decidedly difficult, but the opportunity to experience a different culture and learn a second language was priceless.We spent two years abroad because my dad accepted a temporary transfer to work for the Argentine subsidiary of his U.S. employer. Thus, part of the pre-move preparations involved my parents’ 2-week, company-paid attendance at a local Berlitz total-immersion language school. It was a stressful, morning-to-night grind, no English allowed.Unlike my beleaguered parents, I began my language studies once we landed in Argentina. I was enrolled in an American school where I had classes in English in the morning and classes in Spanish in the afternoon. That, plus daily interaction with native speakers in our community, provided an excellent learning environment. Nonetheless, my parents hired a tutor to help me with the intricacies of sentence structure and verb tenses.Community ImmersionJust as I benefitted greatly from learning Spanish in a Spanish-speaking country, Christians thrive best when we’re part of God’s visible church. Scripture is clear that each of us has an important, God-ordained place in His body (1Corinthians 12:12-30) and that we should not neglect meeting together (Hebrews 10:24-25). Furthermore, God’s family is composed of members of varying ages, abilities, and spiritual maturities, just like biological families. We are called to do life together in compassionate covenant communities, where we rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn and come alongside each other to teach, support, and encourage according to the gifts we’ve been given (Romans 12:3-21).

Learning the Language of FaithChristina Fox2022-05-07T23:35:20+00:00

Weighing In: A Story of Spiritual and Physical Health

RENEE MATHIS|CONTRIBUTOR This is not a dieting success story. I’m not a weight-loss wiz-kid. I do have a “before” picture, but as of this writing I’m still 6.9 lbs. from a significant goal – and that one is probably far from “final.” No, when it comes to weight loss, this is not the blog post I thought I’d write: I’m slow. At age 55, I’ve been at this seriously for four and a half years. I get the Turtle Award. I’m not here to promote a philosophy, method, author, or product. What worked for me may not work for you. No magic tricks here. I’m not privy to The Bible’s Key to Your Weight Loss Secrets. Those were never revealed to me nor did the Lord lead me to write devotions on the beauty of Brussels sprouts. In my version of my story I would be creating 4 star meals that are simple, healthy, and delicious. I would be the model of consistency and self-control. I would show up to the trendy exercise classes in neon-colored leggings with coordinated tank top and have defined upper arms that are the envy of, well, every woman who knows exactly what “flap” means. Since my version never happened, I guess God must have had something different in mind. When God writes our story, it’s always far better than anything we could imagine.

Weighing In: A Story of Spiritual and Physical HealthChristina Fox2022-05-08T00:02:37+00:00

Finding Real Hope in the Waiting Room

ELIZABETH TURNAGE|CONTRIBUTOR Have you ever sat in a waiting room, your heart beating hard, walking through the many “What-if’s” of that space: What if it’s cancer? What if my loved one can never drive again, play tennis again, kiss me again? What if…my loved one loses her job? What if…my loved one has six months to live? Whether you are the caregiver or the patient, the “what-if’s” of the waiting room can feel terrifying, and the wait can feel agonizing. When our twenty-two-year-old son was diagnosed with a brain tumor while my eighty-one-year-old father was dying of cancer, I sat in many varied waiting rooms. During seemingly endless spells in such uncomfortable spaces, I began to wonder—what if—this space could make space for another, better kind of waiting?

Finding Real Hope in the Waiting RoomChristina Fox2022-05-08T00:04:13+00:00