For the Mom Who Feels all Alone

“Is your husband out of town this week?” she asked.

“Yes. All week. Is yours?” I responded. She nodded.

“Want to come over for dinner?” I asked.

Motherhood is hard enough on a good day. What with the constant multi-tasking, unexpected illnesses, endless pile of laundry, the refereeing of squabbles, teaching the same lessons over and over again, all while trying to keep up with the daily responsibilities and duties of life.

It’s even harder when you feel all alone.

When my kids were young, I had a couple of friends whose husbands also traveled for work or often worked late at night. Having these friends was a lifesaver, literally, because at the time, I was in the midst of post-partum depression aftershocks. We took turns making dinner for ourselves and all our kids. Sometimes we met at a park and then took the kids to their favorite taco place. And when the weeks were especially long, we got together multiple times.

Not only did we keep each other company during those years, but we also encouraged one another in the gospel. We reminded each other of what was true. We prayed with and for each other. We walked with one another through life’s trials and challenges...

To read the rest of this post, visit Risen Motherhood. 

Searching for Community

My newest book, Closer Than a Sister, is about community and friendship. But not just any community or friendship. It’s about the relationship between women in the church.

I don’t know about you, but I need community. I need people I can turn to when life is hard, when I don’t know what to do, when I need a helping hand. I need people I can be real with, who accept me as I am, but who also know God won’t leave me as I am. I need people who share the same love for Jesus, who view the world and all our problems through the lens of Scripture, and who point me forward to my hope in eternity. I need people who will worship alongside me both in tears and in laughter.

I need my sisters in Christ.

My journey to finding such community has been a long one and one that continues to this day...to read the rest of this post, visit enCourage.

When Friendship in the Church is Hard

When you think of women in the Bible, who comes to mind? Perhaps you think of Mary, Jesus’ mother. Or maybe Esther, the queen who saved her people from destruction. There’s also Ruth, the young widow who left the land and people she knew to be with her mother-in-law. We remember these women because of their important role in redemptive history.

But there are two women who are only mentioned in one place, and their story isn’t romantic, brave, or remarkable. Rather, they are included in Scripture as an example of a problem in the church. Who are these women? Euodia and Syntyche.

Conflict in the Church

These two women make an appearance in the book of Philippians. Paul admonishes them to get along, “I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life” (Philippians 4:2-3). Their conflict was serious enough to cause Paul to point it out to the whole church at Philippi to read. And for every Bible reader after that as well.

These two women served with Paul in ministry. He urged them to do what he wrote in Philippians 2:2, “complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” He wanted them to remember their unity in Christ and with each other. He also asked some unnamed “true companion” to help these women resolve their conflict...to read the rest of this post, visit Servants of Grace.

Closer Than a Sister is Here! {plus a giveaway}

It's almost here! I'm excited to share with you my new book, Closer Than a Sister: How Union with Christ helps Friendships to Flourish (Focus for Women), will be available tomorrow.

Closer Than a Sister is about friendship, but not just any friendship. It's about the relationships between women in the church. It's about sisterhood in Christ.

We often think of our friends as those people we would have chosen to be in our family, if we could have done so. Yet in the household of God, the friendships we have with one another are not of our own choosing. In fact, God himself has selected each person in the Body of Christ. Through our adoption into the family of God, the other believers in the church are our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are united to Christ and to one another—for all eternity.

The relationship we have with other believers looks different than other friendships we might have. It's more than just having something in common. It goes deeper than talking about our week or what our kids are up to. Sisterhood in the church is about sharing a common life together: spiritual life. My book, Closer Than a Sister, describes what sisterhood in the church looks like and encourages readers to cultivate those relationships in the local church. 

What does sisterhood look like?

• Sisters serve one another in love.
• Sisters mourn and weep with one another.
• Sisters rejoice over another's good.
• Sisters exhort one another on in the faith.
• Sisters disciple one another.
• Sisters grow together as they use their gifts for the building up of Christ's church. 

From my book:

"Sharing a common life together is not about doing activities but about sharing life. Spiritual life. It is about working together to bring about God's Kingdom purposes. It is about serving together, helping each other through trials, lifting each other up when we fall, praying for one another, urging one another on in the faith. And ultimately, it is reflecting Christ in our love for one another, imaging Him to the fallen world around us." (p.55)

What others are saying about Closer Than a Sister: How Union with Christ helps Friendships to Flourish (Focus for Women):

"Christian friendship is to be sought and stewarded with wisdom and grace. you hold in your hands a primer on how to weave (and allow yourself to be woven into) that blessed tie that binds." —Jen Wilkin, author of Women of the Word and None Like Him

"Writing from years of intentional relationship-building, Christina Fox's words are wise and challenging. Fox lays out the priority of community, describes its beautiful contours, and gives her readers practical help to overcome its ever-present obstacles. Whether you read this book by yourself or with a group, your perspective on relationships in the church is sure to be enriched.” —Megan Hill, author Praying Together

“Christina Fox’s new book, Closer Than a Sister, is a welcome invitation to seek meaningful and life-giving relationships in the church.  Fox helps us understand our need for community, the various ways we can support and encourage one another, and the challenges we face as we build fellowship with one another. Rather than attempting to survive on surface-level friendships, Closer Than a Sister shows us how to live in biblical community with one another.” —Melissa Kruger, author of The Envy of Eve and Walking with God in the Season of Motherhood

"As you read Christina’s book, you’ll be encouraged and along the way learn to be a true Christian friend and participant in your local church.” —Dave Jenkins, Executive Director, Servants of Grace Ministries, Executive Editor, Theology for Life Magazine, Co-Host, Equipping You in Grace Podcast

"Christina Fox has written a beautiful and helpful book outlining a biblical definition of friendship, bringing in the familial language of scripture ("sister-friend"), showing us the Bible's definition of friendship, and pointing us towards the one Friend who will never leave us or forsake us. If you want to become a better "sister-friend" or find yourself longing for a friend, this book will encourage your soul." —Courtney Reissig, author Glory in the Ordinary 

“Closer than a Sister skillfully blends the glorious life-giving colors with the lackluster life-taking contrasts into a vivid portrait of gospel friendship. Every stroke is saturated with scripture with its aim towards gospel-centered application. And the real beauty of this book is the Jesus Christ is the centerpiece of what it truly means to live out the content of the covenant in the context of covenantal community.” —Karen Hodge, PCA Coordinator of Women’s Ministry; author of Transformed: Life-taker to Life-giver

"Here's a book that will encourage you in the beauty of Christ-centered relationships, and challenge you to take faith-driven steps of love in friend-ing others. Closer Than a Sister comforted me with the depths of Jesus' friendship for me, and compelled me outward with a renewed desire to be a godly friend to others.” —Ellen Mary Dykas, Women's Ministry Director, Harvest USA; Author, Sexual Sanity for Women: Healing from Sexual and Relational Brokenness and Sex and the Single Girl: Smart Ways to Care for Your Heart

"Christina Fox has done us an enormous service by wedding a sound biblical theology of union with Christ to a sound biblical theology of fellowship--particularly as it relates to women in the church. In Closer than a Sister, Christina has done the hard work of laying the landscape while bringing the reader through all of the attendant obstacles that lead out to the green pastures of friendship building, maintaining, equipping and serving. This book is a timely, sound and engaging work from which any in the church may profit.” —Rev. Nick Batzig, Pastor of New Covenant Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Richmond Hill, GA and editor of Reformation 21, an online theological site of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals.

"In Closer than a Sister, Christina Fox has painted a picture of biblical, God-honoring relationships among women in the church. She has then used that picture as a template to suggest how women can, because they are in union with Christ, live out this picture practically and by faith. Her honesty, transparency, and centeredness in God’s Word make this a helpful read." —Chris Larson, President and CEO of Ligonier Ministries

It's giveaway time! I am giving away three copies of my book, along with a super cute tea towel with Acts 2:46 printed on it. Enter below. US residents only, please. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Note: I am a member of the Amazon Affiliates program and links to books in this post are connected to my affiliates account with Amazon.com. 

Idolatry in Friendship

I still remember my best friend from elementary school. During recess we would climb to the top of the monkey bars and just sit and talk. We would call each other on the phone after school and talk for hours. We even planned what we would wear to school the next day—always in matching colors.

Until the day she invited someone else to join us on the monkey bars.

I struggled to like the new girl. I didn’t like a third person encroaching on our already perfectly even party of two. Before long, I found myself saying mean things to her and wishing she would go away. But the opposite happened— I ended up being the one booted out.

It was only as I got older that I looked back on that friendship and realized the truth: I had made an idol out of friendship.

How Can Friendship Become Idolatry?

Friendship. It’s a good thing and a blessing. We all enjoy having good friends, people we can enjoy favorite hobbies with and share our secrets and longings. But like all good things and like all the blessings God has given us, we can turn friendship into an idol that we worship.

An idol is anything we love, worship, and place in importance above God. It is anything we look to for meaning and significance. It consumes our thoughts and energies— thoughts and energies that should be focused on God. An idol is something we look to believing it will give us something that only God can give us. Though the idols in the Bible were often constructed of stone or wood, the idols we bow down to can be anything, including money, possessions, status, people, and power. An idol can be anything we think we need to make our lives better, happier, and give our life meaning. This includes friendship.

To read the rest of this post, visit iBelieve.

Encouraging Others with Biblical Encouragement

“How are you doing? Really doing? How are you handling your hard week?” she asked. Then she followed those questions up with, “Can I pray for you right now?”

Encouragement--we would recognize it anywhere. It’s like a gentle push forward when we’ve run out of energy. It’s like seeing the familiar shape of home when we’ve been gone far too long. It’s like sitting down to a nourishing meal after a hard day’s work. It’s like seeing the sun after hours of pouring rain.

When someone encourages us, we stand straighter. We feel reinvigorated. We move with purpose and meaning. We are strengthened and ready for what lies ahead.

In our world, encouragement often looks like fans in the stands watching a sports game. They cheer and shout. They might say, “You’ve got this!” “You can do it!” “Go, go, go!” And while such statements are invigorating, they are different than the encouragement we see in the Bible. Biblical encouragement is more than just saying nice things to someone. Its purpose is deeper than boosting someone’s self-esteem by telling them, “You can do it!” And it’s not like an inspiring message from the coach to rally the team before the big game.

The Greek word for encourage is parakaleo. It is used in the New Testament to describe not only giving comfort to someone, but it also involves exhortation, urging, strengthening, and even appealing... 

To read the rest of this post, visit Christward Collective.