Christina Fox, Author at Women.pcacdm.org

Suffering and Our Suffering Servant

DIANA SCHEIDLER | GUEST Suffering. No one wants to suffer. Yet we all do. What does it look like to suffer? What does it mean to suffer? It looks different for everyone. We all walk a different path in life. However, we all have a suffering servant who has gone before us who bore all our sin and shame. He now comes alongside us in our suffering to remind us that we are not alone. He knows what it is to suffer. Indeed, the suffering He endured was so much more than we will ever have to endure. Suffering can, does, and will take on many forms. Chronic and terminal illnesses, infertility, loss, divorce, unruly children, desires that never come to fruition, and familial difficulties are just a few of the ways that we suffer here on earth. Can joy be found even among these difficult times? When keeping your eyes on our Lord Jesus Christ, our suffering servant, yes. Joy can be found. In my own life, I have gone through various trials that have caused me and my family to suffer. The biggest one that has caused all of us to suffer long though, was receiving my multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis in February of 2015, just a year and a half after my husband and I were married. While those two words were scary to hear, we finally had an answer as to why my body always seemed to react negatively. I dealt with numbness and tingly legs and face. I struggled (and still do) with leg spasms. There are times when I am unable to think of words and come up with silly sounds instead. I stumble and I fall, and I get overwhelmed by too many sounds easily. And yet, the Lord has been so gracious to me even within this diagnosis. He has never left me and never will. When I cry out to Him in pain, He restores my soul for He is with me. When I ask Him, “Why, Lord?” the answer is a peace that surpasses all understanding for I know it is within His plan. And His plan is so much higher and greater than my own....

Suffering and Our Suffering ServantChristina Fox2026-07-18T19:00:19+00:00

Grace that Gives

STEPHANIE FORMENTI | CONTRIBUTOR There is a classic method used to trap a raccoon that relies entirely on its obsession with shiny things. A trapper places a glittering object at the bottom of a narrow hole lined with angled nails. Enthralled by the sparkle, the raccoon reaches down and wraps its fist tightly around the prize. But when it tries to pull its hand back out, it gets stuck. The clenched fist is too wide to pass through the opening. The raccoon is trapped, not because anything is holding it there, but because it refuses to let go of something worthless. This may seem comical, but we often do the same thing. We cling tightly to money, comfort, control, security, reputation—anything that makes us feel safe or significant. We grip these things because they seem to promise stability or protection. But often the very things we cling to most tightly are the things that quietly enslave us. In 2 Corinthians 8, Paul lovingly confronts this temptation in the Corinthian church. Speaking to believers who were hesitant to loosen their grip on material comfort in order to care for others, Paul invites them into the transforming grace of God which leads to radical generosity....

Grace that GivesChristina Fox2026-07-18T18:51:09+00:00

Spaces of Sabbath Rest

MARIA CURREY | CONTRIBUTOR Imagine if the music you listen to, favorite songs and melodies, had no sense of rhythm, no pauses for silence and a breath. To observe a rest in music is equally important as every note. God, as the Composer of all we know is the one who orchestrated every rhythm of the earth: the ebb and flow of the seas; the rising and setting of the sun; waking by day and sleeping by night; each beat of our hearts; for each of us, there is a measured pulse from cradle to the grave. To observe and embrace silent spaces within the scores of our lifespan is to enjoy God’s intended rhythm for our days. Merriam-Webster defines rest in a full spectrum from “lying down, especially to sleep; to cease from action or motion – refrain from labor or exertion; to be free from anxiety or disturbance…and a rhythmic silence in music or a character representing such a silence.” Restful Pace When we reach a rest in a musical score, that pause is as vital to the musical line as the notes. When we sing, each rest provides a needed breath to refresh for the next phrases. In our daily rhythm, we cannot sustain life for an indefinite time without rest. Just as each breath is essential to our physical vitality, we need spiritual breath to walk and run without fatigue and potential exhaustion....

Spaces of Sabbath RestChristina Fox2026-07-03T20:01:11+00:00

A Godly Grief

KATIE DRAKE | GUEST Have you ever done something you said you’d never do? If your answer is yes, you aren’t alone. As a therapist, I have read many helpful resources on parenting and child development, so as I entered motherhood in 2020, there were particular things I mentally said I would never do. One of those things was that I wouldn’t raise my voice at my children. I remember vividly one of the first times I raised my voice at my children. I was three months postpartum after having my third. I felt desperate for a moment to myself and a warm shower. I fed my newborn, placed him in his bouncer seat, and stepped into the comfort of the hot shower. Within a few minutes, my two- and three-year-olds ran into the bathroom beginning to ask things of me. Soon they began to fight with one another. I first calmly spoke from the shower, but their frustration with each other intensified. I felt an overwhelming sense of desperation and anger rise in me. I stepped out of the short-lived shower and yelled, “Stop! Just stop it!” I saw the look of bewilderment and fear in their eyes; one quickly moved into the corner of the bathroom, and the other started sobbing. It was their small faces and reactions that made the moment so vivid. I instantly felt shame and guilt, but the shame spoke the loudest: “You’re such a bad mom,” “You said you’d never do that,” “What kind of mother yells at a 2 and 3-year-old?”...

A Godly GriefChristina Fox2026-07-03T19:54:07+00:00

Resting in the Unknown

LYDIA PINONTOAN | GUEST I’m coming out of one of those life stages when “How are you?” feels like a complicated question. From the outside, strangers and acquaintances might get the idea that our life is picture perfect. We’re happily married with an adorably precocious 18-month-old, a well-providing job, a beautiful home, and wonderful friends. But what they can’t see is the hidden loss, both personally and in our community, that we just can’t escape. They don’t see the questions swirling in my mind and wafting their way up to the Lord. So, when they say, “How are you?” usually my answer is, “We’re doing alright.” Yet I know that God sees the depths of my heart. He hears the questions, and though He may not always provide the specific answers I’m looking for, He always provides the comfort I need. Recently, that comfort has been conveyed through the poetry of the Psalms, particularly Psalm 131, as God has reminded me in my frustration with the unknown that I don’t need to know everything. Or more accurately, I should not know everything, because, by His good design, God is the all-knowing Creator, and I am the little-knowing creature. A Song of Ascents. Of David. O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. (Psalm 131:1-3)...

Resting in the UnknownChristina Fox2026-06-18T19:21:57+00:00

Hope and Lament in Suffering

JULIANNE ATKINSON |GUEST A man with no home to call his own was discharged from the emergency department after a cardiac event. He was no longer in critical condition and had outstayed his financial capabilities at the hospital. The homeless mission couldn’t provide appropriate recovery care with no medical staff and was unable to responsibly care for him overnight. That Alaskan winter night, he passed away on a church’s steps waiting for the doors to open in the morning. The despair of wondering how this could have happened spread like a contagion at the rescue mission. Sorrow and guilt mingled under the surface of every conversation. There were so many aspects to mourn and grieve. Navigating Suffering in this World If you’re in ministry laboring in the harvest, you are always close to deep suffering. You’ve seen financial reversals, cancer diagnosis, abuse victims, and mental illness. You may have watched those desperate for approval, with a desire to live in sin, lead them to leave the faith in a wake of destruction. You’ve likely known those with regretted sins that still plague them many years down the road. The enemy would have us isolated in our suffering, but Scripture does not allow that option. In 2 Corinthians 6 Paul describes the true Christian life leading through pandemonium and crucible to address a prosperity gospel being peddled as the gospel of Christ....

Hope and Lament in SufferingChristina Fox2026-06-17T13:48:09+00:00

Freedom in Christ

CHRISTINE GORDON | CONTRIBUTOR Some good friends of mine host a BBQ to celebrate the 4th of July every year, only they have it on the 3rd. Why? They know families gather on the 4th to eat hot dogs, watch fireworks, and do other American celebratory things, and they think the great freedoms we enjoy are worthy of more than one night of festivities. Hence, another party. They love the United States. So do I. I’ll never forget standing in Tiananmen Square in Beijing one summer with a group of Chinese English students. As we slowly walked across the square, I asked them what it was like to stand where such a tragic event had taken place. “What event?” they asked me. These, the brightest and best of their generation, did not enjoy access to their own history as I did in my country. Suddenly the limits of their freedom were frighteningly clear. I closed my mouth and changed the subject, afraid for their safety if anyone heard me explaining the massacre that had taken place. As Americans, we’ve come to expect many types of freedom. We expect to worship without fear of government involvement or regulation, to speak our minds, and fill our Substacks as we wish. Flags fly in our schools and from our porches to remind us of our privileges: freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition. But American freedom is not the same as biblical freedom....

Freedom in ChristChristina Fox2026-06-18T19:18:38+00:00

New Life New Purpose

ALLISON VAN EGMOND | GUEST So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him (2 Cor. 5:9). There have been times in my life when I longed for my earthly future. I remember longing to start high school, to move out of my parent’s house, to find a husband, and to have kids. In nearly every phase of my life, I have had my eye toward what comes next. These days, as my kids get older, I’m also starting to long for the past. I remember when they were snuggly babies who would sleep on my chest, when our days were filled with tutus and toy swords, and when we would spend hours at the playground with friends. When my Facebook memories pop up and show old pictures and videos of my kids, I can’t help but grieve a little for those years that are long gone. I also find myself longing for the body of my youth. As the wrinkles and grey hairs start to become more prevalent, and as my aches and pains increase, there are visible and physical reminders that my body is “wasting away,” as Paul says in chapter four of 2 Corinthians. Looking to a Heavenly Future As humans, we often long for what we don’t have, whether it is something we want in our future, or the life we once had in the past. We can struggle to be content in the present....

New Life New PurposeChristina Fox2026-06-14T23:28:45+00:00

Asking Better Questions of Your Bible

HANNAH HAGARTY | GUEST In the life of a believer, “What should I read today?” is a common question when it comes to Scripture. Often, we answer that question based on feelings. What do we feel like reading? What do we feel applies to the situation we are walking through? Feelings are real, necessary, and Scripture addresses them, but there is a better way to begin. Because, inevitably, the day will come when we don’t feel like reading. If feelings are the motivating metric, we won’t. A better approach to reading and studying Scripture is to begin with Spirit-led understanding by asking good questions of the text. Many Christians have been taught that the first question in response to reading Scripture is, “what does this mean to me?” But when application comes before understanding, we risk trading Scripture’s richness for whatever feels relevant at the moment. Asking Questions Whether we are children learning about our world or an adult learning a new skill, the means of understanding come through the same route: asking questions. This is why Bible study books often include a few questions at the end of each chapter. It is not enough just to read the Bible; we need to meditate or think about the text in order to absorb it. Questions bring us to this beneficial, deeper reflection....

Asking Better Questions of Your BibleChristina Fox2026-06-14T23:16:17+00:00

The Daily Deaths We Die

ELLEN DYKAS | CONTRIBUTOR I died again this week. I walked through the gospel truth that, “We who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.” (2 Cor. 4:11–12). Yet, death never has the last word for the believer! Mysteriously and beautifully, the deaths and resurrections we experience day after day manifest the reality of our risen Savior’s presence in our lives (2 Cor. 4:7–10). A friend and I had unspoken expectations, stressors which were unknown to the other, and a common enemy eager to accuse, divide, and distract. These realities co-mingled until we mutually felt hurt, disappointed, and a little bit defensive. Guarded and frustrated (me), disheartened and unsettled (her), we managed our way through lunch with others present, hugged, said goodbye, and that was it. Except it wasn’t. I stewed, mused on the offense, couldn’t shake the distressing feelings which emerge when relationships go south. Thoughts tumbled in my mind and I rehearsed what happened, rehearsing how I felt wronged....

The Daily Deaths We DieChristina Fox2026-06-14T23:09:45+00:00

About Christina Fox