Christina Fox, Author at Women.pcacdm.org

Weary Mom, Let Christ’s Church Nurture You

ANNIE VANDERHEIDEN |GUEST As moms, each of us nurture in unique ways, according to our unique bents and our children’s unique needs. We have different communication styles and different ways of showing affection. We come from different environments and cultural backgrounds. But even so, many moms share similar priorities: Looking deeply into our children’s eyes. Vigilantly pursuing their health and well-being. Reading or singing to them. Offering a wide array of experiences and stimuli to further their development. Talking to them in the car, during the bath, or around the table. Over time, we become the experts on our children, the ones who can read their every cue and see solutions that remain invisible to others. While we make innumerable mistakes, we develop a sixth sense for what our little ones need, cultivated through hours and hours of looking, listening, and responding—nurturing. But all that investment can feel very one-sided in the wearying days of motherhood. We’ll gladly (or at least willingly) give of ourselves to know and love our children, but it would be nice to feel like there’s someone doing the same for us....

Weary Mom, Let Christ’s Church Nurture YouChristina Fox2026-04-10T14:49:08+00:00

An Invitation to Rest

The problem we have today is that we have taken a good gift and made it a terrible master. We have accumulated stress beyond our ability to bear them, plunging ourselves into constant anxiety.” – Kelly Kapic, You’re Only Human (p. 131). A few years ago, I was given a sabbatical. I know. What a gift. Weeks on end with nothing to do but rest. That’s where the word ‘sabbatical’ comes from, anyway. But as I approached this time, I was a ball of stress and anxiety. I was afraid of what it would look like. I was afraid that at the end of it I wouldn’t accomplish what was intended. I was afraid that the minutes, hours, and days would crawl and it might be impossible to return to the high-energy life and ministry I loved. What I didn’t know was that I was afraid of what I would discover when I could no longer hide behind my accomplishments. A Personal Revelation After about a week of solitude, spending time away during my sabbatical, a friend called me and asked me about my day. On a non-sabbatical day, I would respond with a list of my achievements. I would start out saying how busy and full my day was and provide some highlights of what I produced. But during my sabbatical, I wasn’t supposed to achieve anything except rest. So, when this friend called, I began to describe what I had done that day....

An Invitation to RestChristina Fox2026-04-19T19:33:01+00:00

Nothing to Hide: Encouraging Transparency in our Relationships

AMY SANTARELLI |GUEST Nothing to fear. Nothing to prove. Nothing to hide. Nothing to fear. Nothing to prove. Nothing to hide. I kept repeating the words to myself as I sat down to lead our women’s Bible study. I had determined that night to share some things on my heart that were not easy to share. They were revealing. We were studying the process of biblical change using a booklet1 I often use as a biblical counselor. I was excited about sharing this great little treasure with my fellow women. But then came the conviction. In preparation, I was scanning the booklet’s section on repentance and when I read, not for the first time, that true repentance means actual turning from former ways, that is when the conviction struck. I recalled that many times lately, I had confessed to God and asked forgiveness for habitually staying up too late and then sleeping in too long. I complained in my heart about not having enough time to do things, and yet I was on my phone so much. And then there was the control that food often had over me. I was running to things other than Christ. This was not the first time I had felt this conviction...

Nothing to Hide: Encouraging Transparency in our RelationshipsChristina Fox2026-04-12T18:04:16+00:00

What Happened When I Evaluated My Tech Usage

JANE STORY |GUEST Our modern world boasts incredible technology. Yet ubiquitous internet, smartphones, and AI are powerful drugs with risks and side effects. Excessive internet use correlates with loneliness and it gives children access to porn at younger ages than in the past. Additionally, a study published last year notes AI’s negative impact on critical thinking skills. Technology can help or a threaten our spiritual lives. The Bible app and devotional programs make God’s Word accessible. But many AI models represent religions inaccurately, and apps do not set our minds on things above (Col. 3:2). In my own life, technology distracts and entices me. I am tempted to ask advice from Chat GPT before turning to God, or I crave Instagram instead of the Word. I even find purpose in getting rid of notifications instead of walking in the Spirit. It’s not just a bad habit, it’s a sign that my heart looks to technology for comfort and meaning, instead of reserving that for God...

What Happened When I Evaluated My Tech UsageChristina Fox2026-04-12T18:08:26+00:00

Gospel Hope for Those Caring for Children with Autism

ABBY KARSTEN|GUEST While proceeding through a 39-page psychological evaluation, my husband and I finally arrived at the list of diagnoses. There were six, and one included autism spectrum disorder. In so many ways, we were relieved. Since our son was a baby, we had wondered what made his brain and body so different from our daughter’s. “Autism” was tossed around in conversations with doctors and trusted friends, but many pieces didn’t fit the “typical” autism diagnosis: he craved physical connection, made eye contact, and was highly social/verbal. Yet, there were mysteries and challenges: regular meltdowns lasting hours, significant social miscues, bouts of running away, and sudden and extreme sensory distress. Now, with a diagnosis, we would get resources and support. Of course, in the year since then, things have not always gone according to plan. Hoping for resources and resolutions, I was quickly overwhelmed by too many options, waiting lists, and confusion about what would help our son. I share this to point out that each situation is unique...

Gospel Hope for Those Caring for Children with AutismChristina Fox2026-03-28T14:39:48+00:00

Why Pray Prayers of Adoration

CHRISTINE GORDON | CONTRIBUTOR I didn’t have much praise in my heart that spring morning, so I went outside to hear the praise of the birds. I was met by their song even before I got out the door. Tweets and trills, melodies and chatters, their chorus was accompanied by swoops across my back yard. I’d walked out into a world where praise was the dialect, and the hymns of the birds exposed my thankless heart. Their energetic tribute to their maker eventually led me to express my own words of praise to God. But my praise was slow in coming. From Lament to Adoration It had been a difficult few days full of pain for my family, and I’d prayed through the steps of lament several times in the previous hours, bringing my anger and questions before the Lord over and over. Each time the darkness would settle again in the back of my mind and attempt to take up permanent residence, I would name my specific frustrations and the details of damage happening in my family. I would end my silent prayers while cutting up vegetables or wiping down the countertops with a weak and forced prayer of trust, trying to remember God’s goodness. But I didn’t want to stay there. I’d been honest with God about my sadness for days and longed for more hope. And so as I listened to the joy of the birds’ chirps and calls, I settled into my plastic Adirondack chair and let the entire spring morning enfold me. Squirrels jumped from one branch to another in the treetops. A rabbit dashed from one end of my yard to the other. The huge oak tree in the corner raised its arms to the sky and the little flowering tree I’d planted three years prior showed the beginnings of leaf buds. Slowly my heavy heart began to match the lightness of the mood in my back yard. I started to see not just the movement of the birds but the color on their wings. I felt the humid breeze on my face and remembered how I love the smell of rain. The old oak tree pointed my gaze up toward heaven as I traced its branches with my eyes. My soul began to enjoy what I saw, felt, and heard, and finally to enjoy the maker Himself. Why Prayers of Adoration Why do we need to pray prayers of adoration? In my unceasing love for efficiency, I’ve asked this question many times. Doesn’t God already know who He is and what He’s like? Why do I need to remind Him repeatedly of His own character? Maybe you’ve quietly asked questions like these at some point in your life with God. When your to-do list includes more items than your day allows, it can feel like spending whatever minutes you have petitioning God for needed help makes the most sense, not naming His many attributes. ...

Why Pray Prayers of AdorationChristina Fox2026-03-17T19:56:28+00:00

What I Got Wrong about Gethsemane

LEAH FARISH|GUEST I grew up looking at a lugubrious, Victorian-era painting of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. I knew that as He prayed there the night before His crucifixion, He sweated blood and asked that God “let this cup pass.” But somehow I was left with the idea that He was solely focused on His own upcoming suffering, perhaps doubting and fearing as He anticipated humiliation and torture. Lately, though, I have sensed that His anguish was for us, not so much for Himself. His humanity surely dreaded torture and death. Sweating blood, He showed us the horror He felt as He contemplated His sacrifice. This makes His resolve that much more poignant. Isaiah 50:6-7 prophesied it: “I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. Perfect love casts out fear; in His perfect love for us, fear did not deter Him. He was Truth; He wasn’t doubting. He must have acutely dreaded the next hours, but He wasn’t shrinking back; “for the joy that was set before Him He endured the cross, despising the shame” (Heb. 12:2). He knew He would be raised from the dead and vindicated (Isaiah 50:8, Psalm 22:29-31, Mark 8:31-2). But the church was just embarking on its path through a dark world, and that night in the garden He must have seen its weakness and vulnerability with heartbreaking clarity. He saw that the church would be on earth for centuries, in our puny flesh and faith “filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.” His followers had proved themselves utterly unready to unite in witness, despite His warnings and exhortations....

What I Got Wrong about GethsemaneChristina Fox2026-03-18T15:02:21+00:00

For the Glory of God

KC JONES | GUEST Some of us are old enough to remember Michael W. Smith’s popular song, “Above All.” Smith’s soft, mellifluous tones, coupled with his worship of God made for easy listening on the ears and edified believers far and wide. While this is still true of many and has even moved into the realms of warm and fuzzy nostalgia, it wasn’t until hearing the song again recently that I stumbled across a core memory of mine; a simple conversation of a theological nature between my father and me regarding the song and the nature of our worship. It pertains to the refrain of the song, Crucified, laid behind a stone You lived to die, rejected and alone Like a rose, trampled on the ground You took the fall and thought of me Above all As I considered Jesus' posture during His incarnation and even more specifically before and during His crucifixion, it was impressed upon me that Jesus' chief consideration; His highest priority, as it were, was not of us, in fact, but of the Father Himself...

For the Glory of GodChristina Fox2026-03-18T15:00:23+00:00

Easter: An Eternal Plan

SHARON ROCKWELL | CONTRIBUTOR A nearby freeway has a new billboard that simply says “God is One. Not three-in-one.” Our first-grade granddaughter was able to read the short message and exclaimed to her mother “That’s not right! God is three in one—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. And Jesus is the Son. He died on the cross but now He is alive!” What joyful words to hear from a child whose parents and Sunday School teachers have poured into her biblical truths in ways she can understand and even differentiate false doctrine when she sees it! All for His Glory That anti-Trinity billboard is sponsored by a group focused on correcting what they see as biblical errors. But their beliefs contradict doctrinal truths and distort the gospel. The truth of the gospel should be clear and close to us all “in our mouths and in our hearts” (Rom. 10:8). This is especially relevant in the Easter season. This is a time to strengthen our understanding about God’s plan for our salvation. God created this world for His glory. This is a remarkable precept to remember: everything exists for the glory of God. This one truth will dictate how we think and behave. “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31)...

Easter: An Eternal PlanChristina Fox2026-03-18T14:55:47+00:00

Strengthened in My Weakness: Why I’ve Already Saved the Dates for Next Year’s Leadership Training

I had done all the things, packed up my car, checked my list twice, and I was finally headed to LT! On the way I stopped to have lunch with my daughter, an LT alum. She wanted to know the theme and who was speaking. When I told her it was “Clay-like Calling,” and that Vanessa Hawkins was one of the speakers, she shared a story I had never heard. As a women and children’s ministry intern at First Pres. Jackson while she was at RTS earning her counseling degree, my daughter was privileged to attend LT several times. At one of the conferences, she heard Vanessa teach on the book of Ruth. She told me, “It was largely because of her teaching on Ruth that I gave Augusta (their two-year-old) the middle name ‘Ruth.’” Wow! I sat in awe at God’s goodness and the legacy LT had left in my daughter’s and granddaughter’s lives. I imagine many women would tell similar stories about LT’s impact on their lives, ministries, and families. This amazing conference is a non-negotiable on my calendar every year (unless of course, a grandbaby is being born!). This year’s LT, with its theme of God’s strength in our weakness, met me and hundreds of other women right where we needed it—with the hope of the gospel for the weariness and weightiness ministry can bring....

Strengthened in My Weakness: Why I’ve Already Saved the Dates for Next Year’s Leadership TrainingChristina Fox2026-03-18T13:45:49+00:00

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