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:
Sowing in Tears
GINNY VROBLESKY|GUEST He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him. Psalm 126: 6 (NIV) I remember sitting at my computer quietly weeping. I had been unemployed for quite a while. Job hunting has always been one of the hardest things in my life. I felt as though I did not fit anywhere. I had prayed, asking God for help, when suddenly, the phone rang. It was someone I had never met calling from a different state. He was involved in campus ministry and was planning to use some work that I had done years before. I was amazed and touched that God had him call just when I needed some encouragement. But the best was yet to come. He also sent me an email which included some verses from Psalm 126. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him. Sowing while Weeping At first, I thought those verses applied to persevering when life seemed to be hard. Send out those resumes and keep knocking on doors. But as I have studied this psalm, I have realized that much more is involved. The song is about people who have returned from exile to the longed-for land of promise. In the beginning, they could not believe what had happened: We were like men who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter. They saw what the Lord had done for them. They were where God had led them. Even though I was looking for a new job, I too was where God had led me...
Pastor Appreciation Month: Creative Ways to Show Your Gratitude
BETHANY BELUE | CONTRIBUTOR “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers!” Anne of Anne of Green Gables gleefully made this statement as the season changed on beautiful Prince Edward Island in the iconic 1980s movie. Although it might be remembered as a funny statement from a silly adolescent girl in a movie, I don’t think Anne is alone in her sentiments about the month. October is a month that many anticipate with cooler temperatures, pumpkin patches, changing leaves, and the cozy feeling that comes with a new season. Although there is much to anticipate about this month, there is something in our churches that we also have the opportunity to celebrate. October has long been known in the local church as “Pastor Appreciation Month.” I grew up with my dad as my pastor. I remember every October, when Pastor Appreciation Month rolled around, a few of the ruling elders would come to the front and take a few minutes of the service to show appreciation to my dad. I have memories as a young girl of them recognizing him as their pastor and leader of our church. It wasn’t that my dad wasn’t thanked or celebrated at other times in the year, but I have very specific memories of October being set aside as special. My dad is now retired, but when October rolls around each year, I’m reminded of those memories and often think about how it impacted him and our family. Pastors play a lot of roles in a church. They prepare weekly to preach God’s Word to the congregation (sometimes multiple times). They shepherd the hearts of the congregants. They counsel hard situations in people's lives. They reach out to the community to connect with those outside the church. They also often complete many administrative tasks that are very rarely known or seen. The role of a pastor is not 8-5, but can often include early mornings and late nights, interrupted meals, and missed bedtimes with children. But my guess is if you asked your pastor why he signed up for the role, he would say something to the effect of “because God called me to it.” My husband is the assistant pastor at our church, and there have been times I have asked him during hard weeks, “Do you think you want to keep doing this?” Even on the hardest days, his response is always a yes!—not because it’s easy, but because he knows the Lord has called him to this role and the Lord is using him!...
Telling the Reformation Story to Our Children
SHERRY KENDRICK | GUEST A year ago, I had the privilege of going on a Reformation tour with fifty people from my church. Several pastors who had both interest and training in church history served as guides. It was a wonderful learning experience for me and deepened my faith. The more I learned about the Reformation, the more I came to treasure the power of God’s Word, the gift of salvation by grace alone, and the steadfast courage needed to stand for gospel truth. This year’s Reformation Sunday is October 26, and I find myself asking: how do we pass this history on to our children? The Protestant Reformation is a story of God’s faithfulness to His church—and it is a story worth telling them. What Was the Reformation? The beginning of the Reformation usually dates to October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther, a German monk, nailed his 95 Theses to the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. The 95 Theses was a list of Luther’s arguments against the Catholic Church’s practice of selling indulgences—which were like "get out of jail free" cards for sins—often sold for money to raise funds for the church. The Protestant Reformation would continue for over 130 years throughout all of Europe. There were many “reformers,” men and women, who with courage stood in the face of persecution and death for believing the five key truths that came from the Reformation. They are known as the Five Solas: Sola Scriptura – Scripture alone Sola Fide – Faith alone Sola Gratia – Grace alone Solus Christus – Christ alone Soli Deo Gloria – To God alone be the glory To prepare for the Reformation tour, my pastor recommended reading The Unquenchable Flame: Discovering the Heart of the Reformation by Michael Reeves. He describes the Reformation as a fire that could not be put out—a flame of gospel truth blazing across Europe. That imagery has stayed with me. It is my heart’s desire for the flame of these gospel truths to burn in me and into the hearts of the children we are discipling today...
The Faithfulness of God in the Fall of Life
ELIZABETH TURNAGE | CONTRIBUTOR “For everything there is a season, and a time for every activity under heaven.” (Ecc. 3:1). Golden yellows, flaming oranges, deep burgundies — the brilliant leaves dance in the wind, announcing the change of season. Sunflower wreaths adorn neighborhood doors; coffee shops beckon with pumpkin spice lattes. Where I live, in the humid South, the dripping heat has relented to slightly drier air. What’s not to love about fall? We love fall, but we know, as Robert Frost reminded us, that “nothing gold can stay.” With shorter daylight hours will come the browning and furling of the leaves, and within a matter of days, a cool wind will loosen their dried-up grip on the branches, and they will slowly fall to the earth, returning to dust. Fall means glorious light and color; fall hints at the winter withering to come. Indeed, as the cynical Preacher of Ecclesiastes suggests, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every activity under heaven” (Ecc. 3:1)....
Welcome Them In: Extending Gospel Hospitality to Our Children
LISA UPDIKE | GUEST They are everywhere in our church. Probably yours too. Running in the lobby. Dropping Cheerios on the carpet. Hiding under the bulletin table. They are adorable. Energetic. Messy. Noisy. And a valued part of the covenant community that will not be ignored. Who are they? Our children! The Bible tells us that children are a blessing from God. Their chubby-cheeked, smiling faces melt our hearts. Of course, we love our children—most of the time—however; if we are honest, I think many of us have felt frustrated with the general commotion that accompanies them. Trying to listen to the sermon with a wiggly whispering seven-year-old behind you in the pew is downright distracting. The Call to Welcome Children Yet Scripture makes it abundantly clear that our attitude toward children is to be two-fold. First, we are to welcome them into the worship of Jesus. We read in three out of the four gospels that Jesus commanded His disciples to let the little children come to him. (Matt. 19:14; Mark 10:14; Luke 18:16). Essentially, Jesus was declaring that children are to be welcomed and even valued. “For such is the Kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 19:14) is a bold statement. We are wise to take notice...
Her View from the Pew: Reflections from a Pastor’s Wife
KATIE POLSKI | CONTRIBUTOR I was twenty-three years old, had a two-year-old and a two-month-old, and my husband had just started a new position as a senior pastor at a church where I knew no one. Just weeks into our new calling, I snuck away for a few minutes of quiet while the kids played in my husband’s new office. Sitting in the pew of the quiet sanctuary, I took in my surroundings, reflecting on the weight and wonder of this new calling as “pastor’s wife.” Fast forward nearly twenty-five years, when I found myself in a time of similar contemplation. Sitting in the pew of our church, the surroundings had changed—we were at a different church, and I was in a new life stage—but the emotions of carrying the title of “pastor’s wife” were as familiar and raw as they were so many years ago. Whether you’re serving in a church you’ve known your whole life or one that’s completely new; whether ministry is part of your family’s legacy or something you’re the first to step into; or whether your congregation is overflowing with people or faithfully pressing on in small numbers—the role of pastor’s wife carries a common thread. In all these varied settings and differing seasons, every pastor’s wife can be encouraged by the same thing: Jesus’ kindness in the calling. The Hidden Burden and the Beautiful Calling In my own life, the burdens haven’t changed much through the years. Early in our ministry, I accompanied my husband to the home of grieving parents who had lost their child. As the mother practically collapsed in my arms, I had the thought, “Why am I here?” It felt almost intrusive to step into such tender grief when I barely knew the family. And yet, she wept in my arms. Why am I here? Why am I sitting in a room for a memorial service in memory of a mother I did not know. Why am I invited to a wedding of a couple I only met once? Why am I here, bearing the weight from a difficult session meeting?...
