Encourage-[en-kur-ij] to inspire with courage, spirit, or confidence.
The enCourage Blog is weekly dose of encouragement in a world that is often filled with bad news. We offer life-giving entries each Monday and Thursday written by gifted women from across our denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). You can subscribe below to have them delivered to your inbox. With hundreds of blog pieces, you can search on a variety of topics in the search bar above to read and share with friends. Christina Fox, a gifted author, serves as our enCourage General Editor. If you are interested in submitting a piece, you can contact her at cfox@pcanet.org.
Looking for the enCourage Podcast? Click here.
Sign up for our weekly enCourage blog:
Made for a Purpose
BARBARANNE KELLY | CONTRIBUTOR What is the chief end of man? (Such a perfectly Presbyterian opening.) Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Okay, but how? How, in the toil and grind of our daily lives, do we actually glorify God? Do we glorify God by building bigger cathedrals, more orphanages and hospitals, and feeding and clothing those in homeless shelters? Yes. Do we glorify Him by working faithfully at our secular jobs, both white and blue collar? Yes. Do we glorify Him by raising our children in the knowledge and love of the Lord, in the midst of the minutia of endless laundry, cooking and dishes and cleaning, running the errands, mending the clothes, and wiping the bottoms and the noses? Yes, yes, and yes. Enter the Preacher. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? (Ecclesiastes1:2–3)...
Putting Envy to Death
LAURA PATTERSON | GUEST I still remember the way I looked at her Barbie Jeep car. My friend Camille lived around the corner from my house and, as a four-year-old, I dreamed of steering my own. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed riding around in the pink motorized vehicle with her—but it wasn’t mine. Tragically, another birthday and Christmas came and went with no box big enough to contain such a magical gift. Name-brand items were not a commodity in my family of origin, and my parents were big on “delayed gratification.” They clearly didn’t know that I’d be living my best life if I got to traverse Bideford Drive in my own Barbie-pink car. Pride’s Baby Envy is not something we have to learn, nor is it something we outgrow with age. We merely trade in its childhood objects for adult versions. Our bestie’s Barbie Dream House is replaced with the real-life “Dream Home” we eye on Insta each day. Pride is the mother of envy and, once it is born, envy cries out for round-the-clock care. Sure, it may learn to sleep through the night, but it still awakens unexpectedly and is incessantly needy. Comparison is its fuel, and it speaks the language of the toddler: “Me! My! Mine!”...
Dressing for Bible Study
KENDRA KAMMER|GUEST In Colorado where I live, we aren’t known for our fashion sense. Recently I received a wedding invitation, and the dress code was “Mountain Formal.” (I know you’re curious: the ladies wore sundresses and cowboy boots, and the men wore jeans and bolo ties.) I’ve even learned how to pre-load my wardrobe into ChatGPT so it can tell me what to wear to any given event and take that mental load off myself! Thankfully, when it comes to Bible study, God has already told us what to wear: “Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other. …And above all these put on love” (Col. 3:12-14). Wear What Fits Colossians 3 tells us what to “wear”: compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness, and love. These qualities remind us that Scripture is learned best within loving Christian community. As we study God's Word together, these qualities should shape the way we treat one another....
On Parenting and Letting Go
JAMYE DOERFLER | CONTRIBUTOR This summer, we’re preparing to take our eldest child to his final year of college. We’ve gotten pretty used to this by now, but I remember the particular angst of taking him his first year. I counted down the days of summer, relishing every last hug, anticipating the emptiness of the house without him. Once he was gone, I counted down the days until fall break, reconciling myself to the reality that even though he was coming home, we had already begun the process of letting him go. Of course, every family situation is different: children may go far away to school or stay close to home; some may join the military or get a job and be out of the house for good. Regardless of the specific details, when our child graduates from high school and begins the next chapter, it becomes clear that, as parents, we are losing our daily “ownership” of them, which can be difficult to accept. Whether we are anticipating that our child will thrive or are anxious that our child will struggle, this transition usually comes with some strong emotions. If the emotions of saying goodbye to your child are overwhelming you, consider this reality: our children were never only ours; they have always been the Lord’s....
A Fruitful Farewell
CHERYL MULLIS | GUEST What do you say to those you love? I just returned from a trip to Colorado where I had the joy of celebrating the high school graduations of both my niece and my grandson. As I attended the ceremonies and parties, I experienced a mix of emotions. Both graduates had displays filled with photographs capturing significant moments in their lives, and as I looked through them, I couldn’t help but wonder, where has all the time gone? It seemed like only yesterday when they were taking their first steps, starting school, growing, and learning. Attending the graduations of these two special ones was a true gift—one that I don’t take for granted. When the day came for me to fly home, I found myself lingering, sometimes with tears in my eyes, because I was not quite ready to leave. There was much that I still wanted to say to them. As my niece and grandson reach these milestones in their lives and prepare for new adventures, I find myself reflecting not only on their future, but also on the years we have shared together. Have I told them often enough how much I love them? Have I pointed them to Christ? Have I reminded them of God’s grace and faithfulness? Have I made the most of opportunities God has given me to invest in their lives?...
Rest and Refreshment for a New Ministry Year
KARI STAINBACK | GUEST A new year of ministry is about to begin. How in the world did the summer months fly by so quickly? Are you ready to launch a new year of ministry to women? Perhaps you are coming off a fabulous restful vacation with loved ones or friends. Or maybe the summer brought you anything but rest. Maybe you have walked through unexpected trials and troubles which have left you drained and feeling depleted. Maybe you are wondering where the energy will come from to begin another year of ministry to the women in your church. Or perhaps this finds you doing fine as a ministry leader. Nothing out of the ordinary is happening in your life, and you feel ready to crank up the engine of your ministry again. Wherever you are today, each of us share this prayer or something like it each fall: “Oh Jesus, will you refresh my soul that I might shepherd other women according to your will and way?” In Mark 6, Jesus sends His disciples out in pairs to do ministry. They were hard at work, proclaiming that people should repent, casting out demons, and healing the sick. Meanwhile, Jesus’ forerunner, John the Baptist, was murdered by Herod. This had to be a terrible blow to Jesus and the disciples once they found out...
