A Life Update

It’s been a minute.

I haven’t blogged in a while and thought it was time for an update. Life has been a whirlwind of change in our house and it’s taken some time for me to adjust to the new normal. A year ago, I changed jobs and started working full time for my alma mater. My work this past year has involved a decent amount of travel all over the country which has been fun, but also an adjustment for my family. About the same time, we sold our house, moved into a rental, and before long, started building a house in Tennessee where we will move later this year. They say moving and starting a new job are two of the most stressful things in life. No kidding!

Meanwhile, our youngest is about to graduate from high school and I’m processing what it means to launch him out into the world. It’s one of those happy-sad moments of life. This school year so far has been filled with all the “lasts.” Last birthday at home. Last football game. Last homecoming dance. I’ve seen the empty nest season of life on the horizon for a while now but all of a sudden, it’s nearly here. I admit I have some trepidation and uncertainty about it and remain prayerful for the Lord’s comfort and wisdom as I walk through it.

Despite my work schedule, I’ve managed to continue speaking at women’s ministry retreats. Last year I spoke in California, Virginia, New Jersey and lots of places in between. Next year will be ten years since my first book released on the Psalms of Lament and I’m so grateful that I continue to teach on the topic at retreats and other speaking engagements. I also continue to speak about the fear of the Lord, union with Christ and one another (biblical friendship), and parenting.

The past year I’ve participated in a few different group writing projects, including a devotional for teens and two study Bibles. I look forward to sharing about them when they are released later this year/early next year. I also continue to edit and manage the PCA’s women’s ministry blog, enCourage. I love connecting with writers and mentoring them through the writing process. This month, I’m hosting an event for writers at the PCA’s annual women’s ministry conference. It’s an event I’ve hosted each year for almost a decade!

It’s not lost on me that many of the things I’ve written about over the years (and speak about!) are things that I am working through right now and will so for a while. Change. Transition. Uncertainty. Loss. Community. As I let go of one season of life and step into another—in another state!—I know the Lord is with me and trust Him to provide all that I need for all that He calls me to. “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3).

That’s my life update. What is God doing in your life these days?

Photo by Maksim Shutov on Unsplash

Available Now: Who Are You?

Identity. It’s a big topic these days. We all long to know who we are and why we are here. We want to know our purpose—what gives our life its shape and contour. What gives it direction. What gives it meaning. We want to know what makes you, you and me, me.

Who am I? is a question that not only we ask ourselves, but also one that our children ask.

What will we tell them?

In my new book, Who Are You? A Little Book About Your Big Identity, I look at some of the influences on our children’s identity formation. Some of these include: what they can do, what they feel, what people say about them, among others. Using lighthearted prose and repetition, I show children that while they can do amazing things, who they are is not what they do. People may say a lot of things about them, but what people say about them is not who they are. Even how they feel about themselves does not make them who they are. So, who are they? They are God’s image bearers, created to know him and live for him.

Who Are You? is a fun book to read to children. It includes discussion topics at the end to help parents talk to their children about identity. It’s available now wherever books are sold. To learn more about the book, click here.

Encouragement for Parents When Life Mutes Us

When my son was about four years old, he had to have what was then considered a risky surgery for his age. We drove two hours to a university hospital where a doctor that specialized in the treatment he required performed the surgery. I still remember the doctor describing how the surgery would take place and all the potential harmful things that could happen. I remember sitting in the hospital waiting room for it to be completed, tears streaming, as I simply prayed, “Please, God.”

I was all out of words. I could only plead for God’s care for my son.

When Life Mutes Us

As Christian parents, we know our children need our prayers. God uses those prayers—not because he needs them—but because in his mysterious providence chooses to use them as a means to carry out his will. 

And so we pray. We pray for our sick child to be made well. We pray for wisdom when we encounter a parenting dilemma. We pray for our child’s protection from evil. We pray for God to open the blind eyes of our child’s heart so that he might see his need for Jesus and come to a saving faith.

Yet we know there are times in our lives as parents when we are so overcome by emotions that it’s hard to put words to what is happening. The challenges and heartaches we encounter with our children can leave us unable to voice what is going on in our hearts. We feel so distraught, so fearful, so brokenhearted that we can hardly utter a word, much less pray to the Lord all that needs to be said. We are left muted.

There are also times when our own sin gets in the way of our prayers. We are stubborn in that way, refusing to see the truth of our idolatrous hearts. In those times, we may look for ways to solve our parenting troubles on our own, rather than seek God and his will. We may trust in false hopes to lead and guide us. Rather than stopping to pray, we may even insist that we had every right to respond the way we did when our teen showed up past curfew and we failed to model the gospel by seeking forgiveness for what we said. 

Whatever keeps us muted, God is ever gracious still.

To read the rest of this post, visit Rooted Ministry where I am writing today.

Photo by Olivia Snow on Unsplash

Coming Soon: Who Are You?

I’ve written another children’s book and I’m excited to tell you about it.

In our culture, identity is an important concept and a frequent topic of conversation. People often go to great lengths to determine their identity—to discover it as though it is something hidden that must be uncovered, or lost and found once again, or taken and must be reclaimed. Far too often, the places or things or circumstances in which people look to find their identity is rooted in what shifts and changes. Like the proverbial house built on sand rather than the rock. Even more, identity is often looked for in anywhere else but in one’s Maker and Creator.

In our current culture, how one feels about themselves is often the highest determiner of one’s identity. Some make significant life decisions simply based on feelings alone. And then there are the things that we do, which we often equate with who we are. Whether it is the work we do or the strengths we have or even the way we look, these things often become synonymous with our identity. “I am a doctor.” “I am a mother.” “I am a pro-tennis player.” But what happens when our feelings change? Or when we can no longer do the thing which formed our identity?

The Bible teaches us that our identity is not found in the things we do or in how we feel or even in what others say about us. Our identity is found in our relationship with God. He made us; we are his image bearers. We are his beloved children. Through faith in Christ and what he did for us at the cross, we’ve been adopted into God’s family. We are united with Christ, our elder brother. We find our identity and purpose in our relationship with him and in his calling on our life.

I wrote Who are you? to help children learn from an early age about their identity. This book is written for children ages 3-5 and uses fun and engaging prose alongside delightful illustrations that draw children in.

Here’s a description from the publisher’s website:

Deeply biblical and visually engaging, this picture book uses lyrical rhymes to help children ages 3–5 understand that their true identity is not found in their preferences, past actions, or current emotions. Instead, it is rooted in their relationship with their Creator and Savior. The one who fashioned them in his likeness and calls them to live a life for his glory. A note to parents section at the end of the book offers practical tips and additional Bible verses for instilling these truths in children as they navigate the world and build the foundation of their lives.

• Explores Identity and Purpose: Helps children understand they are not defined by their preferences, actions, or emotions, but by their relationship with God as his image bearer 

• Written for Kids Ages 3–5: Engaging and lyrical, this book will keep kids entertained as they learn about themselves, their God, and the world around them 

• Practical Approach for Parents and Guardians: A comments to parents section at the end of the book provides advice for furthering the conversation on the topic of identity 

Here’s what a few readers have said about Who are You?

“Perhaps my most frequent prayer for my children is that they would know―deep down ―they are the beloved children of God in and through Jesus. In a culture that tells us to find our identity in our achievements, work, personality, or feelings, Who Are You? offers a freeing and beautiful alternative rooted in the gospel: our most foundational identity is that we belong to a God who loves us! This book will be a helpful resource for parents who need to be reminded of their own identity in Christ, even as they speak and pray this important truth over their children.”
―Caroline Cobb, singer-songwriter; mom to three; author, Advent for Exiles: 25 Devotions to Awaken Gospel Hope in Every Longing Heart

“Who Are You? answers one of life’s most essential questions. It sweetly illustrates the foundational truth our children need: we are beautiful image-bearers. Christina Fox has found a whimsical way to engage the hearts of our little ones and to teach them that their identity is firmly rooted in their Creator and Savior’s love for them.”
―Darby Strickland, Faculty and Counselor, Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation; author, Something Scary Happened

“Through beautifully engaging full-page illustrations and relatable text, Christina Fox and Daron Parton ask a familiar question: Who am I? The answer to this question can only be found through a biblical lens, which is clearly relayed in this wonderful children’s book. In addition to offering a delightful opportunity for young children to understand themselves, this book also offers parents and teachers a guide for having conversations with children about the wonderful truth that they are created in the image of God.”
―Amy Bagby, Associate Professor of Education, Covenant College

Who are You? is available for preorder now. Get your copy wherever books are sold.

Caring for Hurting Women in the Church

I first wrote about the church as a place of hope and healing in 2013. I remember reflecting on how my friendships in the church had met me in a dark season and what it meant to me that they walked with me through it. A few years later, I wrote Closer Than a Sister: How Union with Christ Helps Friendships to Flourish. My hope in writing that book was to encourage deeper, richer friendships among women in the church. Friendships that would reflect the “one-anothering” admonitions we find throughout the New Testament. Friendships that go deeper than shared interests or hobbies, that are honest and vulnerable about the real things of life. Friendships that are rooted in our union with Christ. This has since become my most popular retreat topic and for good reason—retreats are a sweet time of fellowship and are ideal places to develop richer friendships with others. I’ve loved meeting sisters in Christ across the country and encouraging them to grow in their relationships with one another.

The past year or so, I’ve been busy on a new book, an editorial project, about how the church can help hurting women. CDM, the publishing arm of the PCA, reached out to me to see if I would be interested in being the editor of a project called, Alongside Care: A Vision for Churches to Care for Women in Crisis. This book includes the voices of multiple authors, myself included. It explores the Bible’s call for the church to care for the Body—to encourage one another, bear one another’s burdens, exhort one another, speak the truth in love to one another, and more. It also shares how different churches have developed ministries to do just that, specifically ministries meeting the needs of hurting women in the church. It explores creating a team of women equipped and trained to come alongside women in the church who are in crisis, what that looks like and ways to develop such a team.

I’m excited about this project. I’ve enjoyed working with each of the writers. I love that it reflects how churches are diverse in terms of their resources, size, and membership and how it encourages readers to take the content and contextualize it to their particular congregation. It is my prayer that it will encourage churches to consider ways in which they can care for the hurting women in their pews.

To learn more about this project, click here.

Four Truths to Remember in 2024

I picked out my 2024 calendar a few weeks ago. It sits on my desk, ready for all the plans and expectations a new year brings. I have specific requirements for a calendar. I like it to have space for monthly, weekly, and daily plans. I like space for lists and reminders, monthly goals and daily tasks.

I guess it’s because I’m a planner. I love thinking about the future. I love setting goals and making plans. I make lists for each day and cross items off as I complete them. There’s some sort of satisfaction in seeing everything crossed off at the end of the day. And my new calendar gives me lots of space to do just that.

A new year, though filled with possibility and dreams yet to come true, can also be filled with uncertainty. In my own life, the past couple of years have brought great loss and upheaval, change and transition. It’s been a struggle to manage the roller coaster of emotions. To find myself in the midst of all the change. To keep my eyes fixed on Christ in the twists and turns of circumstances. Even now, I’m in a season of waiting, wondering what the Lord has next for our family and struggling to keep my hands open for whatever he provides.

I recently read the book, I Want to Escape, by Rush Witt. In it he recounts a story about Andrew Murray who provided counsel to a woman enduring difficult circumstances. At the time, he himself was in physical pain and could not meet the woman in person, so he asked someone else to pass on the message to her instead. He gave her several things to remember about God in times of trouble: 1) “He brought me here. It is by his will I’m in this strait place, in that I will rest.” 2) “He will keep me here in his love, and give me grace in this trial to behave as his child.” 3) “He will make the trial a blessing, teaching me lessons he intends me to learn, and working in me the grace he means to bestow.” 4) “In his good time, he can bring me out again. How, and when, he knows.”

These are truths I’m speaking to my own heart as I embark on a new year. Whatever plans I scratch out in my calendar, whatever lists I make for myself, whatever I hope will happen in 2024, I know that God’s plans supersede my own. He’s already worked out all that this year entails. He’s planned and decreed it to the minutest detail. There are no mistakes to his plan, nothing that he’s overlooked. It will unfold in just the right time and just as I need it. There will certainly be changes to my life in 2024. There will likely be unexpected challenges. There will be lessons to learn and opportunities to rest in his grace. In it all, I know he keeps me in his loving care.

None of us know what 2024 will look like. Yes, we make our plans, but God determines our steps (Prov. 16:9). He is a good and perfect Father. We can trust this new year to him. As Tim Keller once said, “If we knew what God knows, we would ask for exactly what he gives.”

Father in heaven, we enter this new year with open hands, expecting great things from you for you know exactly what we need. Keep us in your loving care and help us to wait and watch with wonder at what you will do in and through us. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Photo by Eric Rothermel on Unsplash