Join us on Facebook: Connect PCA Women's Ministry
enCourage - Gospel-Centered Hope for Fulfilling your God-Given Purpose
SUBSCRIBE

Menu
Skip to content
  • Posts
  • Podcast
  • Remember Resources
  • Authors
  • About
  • CDM Home

Tag Archives: work

May252020May 15 2020

The Work of Waiting

by Christina Fox, in category Spiritual Disciplines

Since returning from his sabbatical last fall, my pastor has been encouraging our church family to cultivate times of silence and solitude to be with the Lord. Our staff team has put this into action by taking a monthly day of prayer and reflection. Once each month, we devote what would normally be a workday to intentionally spending time resting with the Lord.

When we first started this practice, I pondered what I could do to set this day apart. I decided to bake bread, knowing that doing so would help me to slow down and enjoy this gift of a day. I’ve tried a few different recipes now, some with more success than others. I recently received a new cookbook that included a “No-Knead” bread recipe, and I looked forward to trying it. This recipe seemed to offer all the goodness of bread-making with barely any hands-on effort or mess. “Just let time do the work!” the recipe boasted.

Waiting is Work

I prepped the dough the night before, since it would need 12-18 hours to rise. As the next morning dawned and I anxiously peaked at the dough (that still had hours to go), I was struck by an unwelcome reminder: waiting is work. Yes, yeast and time were doing the hard work of fermentation to make my bread dough rise, but that didn’t free me from work of my own. I had to manage my patience, wrestle with my inability to control the speed or quality of the proof, resist the temptation to just throw out the dough when I knew the chilly air of my apartment was hindering its rise. I also couldn’t just stare at the bowl of dough all day— I needed to devote my attention to other life-and-rest-giving pursuits so that I wouldn’t squander this precious day…

Jan232020Sep 18 2020

Nothing is Wasted When You Choose the Wrong Job

by Christina Fox, in category Work
GAYE CLARK|GUEST A few years ago, I asked the Lord for a job closer to my children in Chattanooga, as a nurse case manager. When I saw a woman on a local news show speaking about case management, I looked up the hospital where she worked and applied for a job. I prayed confidently with… Read More
Jan202020Jan 15 2020

For the Mom Who Longs to Be Seen

by Christina Fox, in category Motherhood

It’s that middle place for children, right after self-awareness and just before it’s singed with pride and embarrassment: When they look back at you after a great or terrible act with a question in their eyes, “Did you see that?” Of course, this carries far past the little years, but there is this short period of time where their need to be seen is so… seen. They threw a ball! Did you see that? They pushed their brother. Did you see that? Their chubby little fingers stacked the third block and it didn’t fall—head turns and eyes grow: Did you see that?

Our seeing their accomplishment actually completes it for them. But it’s more than that, isn’t it? They feel at home in our gaze; they feel like a whole person with our eyes on them. To be seen is to be. We would be fools to think that we somehow grew out of this basic human need. We’ve just figured out how to shade our eyes so that no one sees us looking around, trying to catch another’s gaze: “Did anyone see that?”

Longing to Be Seen

We can feel this sorely, though not solely, as mothers—when every part of our body and brain and soul just needs to lie down, and we can’t even remember what made us so tired in the first place. We hurt from loving, we ache from longing, and no matter how affirmative our husbands might be, we can still feel unseen. (Is anyone watching me make four lunches at once?) We may (I have) turn to sharing our moments on social media. Maybe a few hundred hearts and thumbs will quench this thirst. Maybe a comment of solidarity will pick me up off the ground. But it can’t last, can it? I can’t hold that person’s face in my hands and fix their gaze forever.

It’s not just the hard moments that we wish for others to see—like when two people need their bottoms wiped at the exact same time (always, always… law of nature!). But it’s the beautiful moments, too: when your baby hugs your leg and says, “I love you!” for the first time, unprompted. Oh, did anyone see that?! And so, like I experienced as a young mother, our brains can spiral down into a philosophical depression—is my life of motherhood the proverbial tree that falls in the forest? Do these common, everyday moments mean anything outside of someone’s gaze?…

May232019Apr 18 2019

Discipling Women in the Workplace

by Christina Fox, in category Discipleship

If I asked, “Who are you discipling in the workplace?” how would you respond? Are you thinking, “Should I even be discipling in the workplace? Shouldn’t discipleship happen in the church? What if I am a full-time mom?”I had similar thoughts over the years. I prided myself in being able to compartmentalize my work-life and church-life. I heard of evangelism in the workplace but discipling in the workplace was a foreign concept until I spent three years in Cambodia on medical missions. There I heard our team leader preach that discipleship began with evangelism when Jesus first evangelized his future disciples from the fishing industry in the Gospels. Since then, God has been growing a heart for discipleship not only with women in the church, but even with pharmacy students and coworkers.Opportunities to Share of ChristI always felt something was amiss while training future pharmacists to become good clinicians. During my first year as a faculty member, I had three students—a Muslim, a Buddhist, and a Jewish student—assigned to me for six weeks. At the end of the rotation, one student asked, “Dr. Jun, you seem to have a lot of peace. Where does that come from?” Inwardly, I was so happy to be asked this, but outwardly, all I could say was, “uhm, you know…” Regrettably, I failed to give an answer for the hope that was in me.While my actions may have brought about curiosity, I failed to use my words to communicate the Gospel. I was not prepared and was ashamed to disclose that I was a Christian at work.

Oct302017Oct 9 2017

Celebrating 500 Years of Changing Diapers for God’s Glory

by Christina Fox, in category Reformed Theology

PAMELA WELLS|GUEST October 31, 2017 marks the 500th anniversary of the day Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door at Wittenberg Castle Church. If there was ever a year that our Reformation heritage ought to outshine other October 31st rituals, this is it! How are you planning to celebrate? You could reflect on… Read More

Mar302017Mar 15 2017

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

CONNECT:

FB-1

TW-1

EM-1

cdmtile3

Recent Posts

  • Introducing the Heidelberg Catechism to Children
  • E-121 Remember the Beauty and Blessing of Belonging with Susan Hunt
  • Waiting Beyond the Waiting
  • Words Matter: Honoring the Sanctity of Life with our Words
  • E-120 Remember God is Able to Fulfill His Purpose and Plan for Your Life with Leslie Bennett
  • Remember to Remember

Archives

  • January 2021 (8)
  • December 2020 (12)
  • November 2020 (13)
  • October 2020 (13)
  • September 2020 (13)
  • August 2020 (9)
  • July 2020 (9)
  • June 2020 (9)
  • May 2020 (11)
  • April 2020 (13)
  • March 2020 (14)
  • February 2020 (12)
  • January 2020 (12)
  • December 2019 (12)
  • November 2019 (12)
  • October 2019 (14)
  • September 2019 (13)
  • August 2019 (11)
  • July 2019 (9)
  • June 2019 (8)
  • May 2019 (13)
  • April 2019 (14)
  • March 2019 (12)
  • February 2019 (12)
  • January 2019 (12)
  • December 2018 (12)
  • November 2018 (13)
  • October 2018 (16)
  • September 2018 (16)
  • August 2018 (15)
  • July 2018 (17)
  • June 2018 (14)
  • May 2018 (19)
  • April 2018 (17)
  • March 2018 (16)
  • February 2018 (16)
  • January 2018 (14)
  • December 2017 (8)
  • November 2017 (9)
  • October 2017 (9)
  • September 2017 (6)
  • August 2017 (8)
  • July 2017 (9)
  • June 2017 (8)
  • May 2017 (9)
  • April 2017 (8)
  • March 2017 (9)
  • February 2017 (8)
  • January 2017 (8)
  • December 2016 (8)
  • November 2016 (7)
  • October 2016 (9)
  • September 2016 (8)
  • August 2016 (8)
  • July 2016 (7)
  • June 2016 (8)
  • May 2016 (9)
  • April 2016 (6)
  • March 2016 (4)
  • February 2016 (2)
flower tile
flowertile3

Recent Posts

  • Introducing the Heidelberg Catechism to Children
  • E-121 Remember the Beauty and Blessing of Belonging with Susan Hunt
  • Waiting Beyond the Waiting
  • Words Matter: Honoring the Sanctity of Life with our Words
  • E-120 Remember God is Able to Fulfill His Purpose and Plan for Your Life with Leslie Bennett
  • Remember to Remember

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org
Site made with ♥ by Angie Makes
Angie Makes Feminine WordPress Themes