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.

Join the Launch Team for The Great Big Sad

The Great Big Sad releases soon and I’d love for you to join the launch team! What’s a launch team, you ask? It’s a team of people who get to read the book before anyone else and then spread the word about the book.

How do you join the team?

1. Register to join the team here. Once registered, you’ll receive a digital copy of the book in your email as well as images you can share on social media. The first fifty people who participate in launch team duties receive a free hard copy of the book once it releases.

2. In addition, you can participate in the launch team’s Facebook group. Meet other readers and talk about the book together. I will be participating as well and look forward to interacting with you about the book. To join that group, click here.

Coming Soon: The Great Big Sad

Grief and loss. It’s a reality we all experience at some point in our lives. It’s something we don’t think about until it happens. Perhaps you remember the first person of significance in your life who died, how you felt, how you grieved. Grief always hits us in ways we could not have anticipated. It is painful. It’s multi-layered. It’s often complicated. It comes in waves. And it never really goes away.

What makes grief all that more challenging is when we need to help our children navigate their own grief. How do we walk alongside our children as they face the loss of someone they loved and cherished? How do we help them when we are caught up in our own grief? How do we point them to Christ in the midst of such sorrow?

My third book in the series of books about siblings, Josh and Mia, releases soon. You may have read Tell God How You Feel or God Hears Your Heart—both books are directed at helping children learn to bring their emotions to the Lord. The Great Big Sad follows Josh and Mia as they hear the hard news that a beloved relative has died. We see them respond to the news in their own way. Throughout the book, they learn ways to express their grief, to talk about it with others, and even ways to honor their loved one’s memory. They also find comfort and hope in the gospel and the promise of the resurrection.

The book includes a letter to parents, helping parents with practical tips in coming alongside their children as they grieve. There are also discussion questions to use with children to talk about what they learned from the story. While The Great Big Sad is the story about a hard and painful loss, it’s also a hope-filled book, one that points children to Jesus.

The Great Big Sad is available for pre-order now. Sign ups for a launch team will be up soon. Stay tuned to The Great Big Sad landing page here on the blog for a link to sign up. Launch team members will receive early access to the book and help spread the word about its release. I hope you will join us!

The Transitions that Shape Us

Transitions in life can be hard, whether you expect them or not.

I remember when my boys were little and they struggled with transitioning from one activity to the next. I would prepare them for it by saying things like, “In fifteen minutes, we’ll have to clean up the toys because then it’s time to: have lunch, go to an appointment, take a nap, etc.” I’d then give them the five-minute warning. Then I’d tell them it’s time to put the toys away and there’d be all sorts of complaining.

The worst was when I had to prepare them to leave a friend’s house because it was time to return home!

Life is filled with transitions, both big and small. Some we look forward to, others we don’t. Some we expect and prepare for, and others seem to catch us by surprise. No matter the transition, and whether we see its arrival on the horizon or not, any change in life often comes with some kind of struggle or challenge.

When I finished college and started applying for my first job, I remember just wanting to find something in my field. After all, that’s why I went to college, right? I nearly accepted a job as a bank teller because I couldn’t find anything else when a position opened at a domestic violence shelter. I was thrilled! It was a counseling position working with women in abusive relationships. I couldn’t wait to use all my freshly honed skills and knowledge. I remember the feeling of excitement that finally I would be doing what I was called to do: help women and make a difference in their lives. Yet the transition from college to my first job in the field didn’t come without its challenges. That’s because my efforts were not received quite as I expected. I was twenty-one and newly married. The women in the shelter must have thought I was a kid and responded to me as such. They didn’t take me seriously. They questioned my skills and my ability to help them. It was a transition that stretched me in many ways. I was humbled and what I learned most from that experience was that I didn’t really know much at all.

Another big transition in life came when we went from being a family of two to a family of three. Having our first son was something my husband and I were thrilled about and looked forward to. But the transition was challenging and sometimes downright hard. I had a new person I was responsible for. There was so much to learn and I knew so little. I often felt helpless and inadequate. The changes to my life were rapid fire: My priorities changed. My expectations for daily life changed. The relationship dynamics between my husband and I changed. While it was a joy-filled time of life, it also stretched me in ways that continue on to this day.

Now I face a new life transition. It’s a transition that has been creeping up on me for some time now. It’s a transition I know is coming and I’ve tried to prepare for it but I also know that when it comes it will hit me hard. My oldest leaves for college soon and my youngest will follow not long after. That transition will be not unlike the days of being a brand new mom. Life will feel like it’s been flipped upside down. My day to day life will change in drastic ways. I will have to relearn how to do life without kids in the house. And I’ll have to learn how to parent adult children.

I already feel a bit like my kids used to when I’d tell them it was time to move on from something they enjoyed doing to another task. I want to cling to the present and ignore the future knocking at my door. I want things to stay the same. I don’t want to have to struggle through another life transition. But at the same time, I know this transition is good for both myself and for my sons. But as I look back on all the other transitions in life I’ve experienced—both the ones I looked forward to and the ones I resisted—I know there are important lessons for me to learn. I know there is good work that takes place in those challenges—work that God is doing in and through me. For it is in the stretching—in the push and pull on my heart—that I am shaped into the image of Christ.

Life is filled with change and transitions from one season to another. I know that many more are in my future. I want my heart to see these transitions as opportunities to grow in Christ-likeness. I want to see God in them. I want to depend upon him as I walk through them. Even more, I want to rejoice in the struggle, knowing that “suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Rom. 5:3-5).

How about you? What life transitions have shaped you? And how have you seen God’s hand at work in them?

Photo by Jens Lelie on Unsplash