Grace Fox is the author of eight books and has published hundreds of articles in magazines, including Focus on the Family, HomeLife, and Today’s Christian Woman. Her small group study Moving from Fear to Freedom: A Woman-to-Woman Conversation won the 2012 Selah Award for Honorable Mention in Excellence in Bible Studies.
She is a popular speaker as well as the national co-director of International Messengers Canada, an interdenominational ministry. Grace and her husband train and lead short-term ministry teams to post-Communist bloc countries.
Since growing up in Alberta, she has made her home in rural Nepal, urban U.S.A., and coastal British Columbia. Today she lives near Vancouver, B.C.
What first sparked your writing journey?
My husband and I served as missionaries in Nepal for three years in the 80s, and our sending agency asked us to write monthly newsletters to our supporters. I enjoyed finding creative ways to write these letters, and our readers made comments such as, “Your descriptions make us feel as though we’re right there with you.” Their enthusiasm lit a spark within me to seriously consider writing something other than missionary newsletters.
How does your faith play into your work?
My faith saturates my work. My passion is to help others connect the dots between faith and real life, and I do this mostly through devotionals.
Life’s path is rarely straight—we’re often sidetracked, waylaid, and/or otherwise detained from reaching our goal. Have you ever experienced a God sent “Divine Detour” that changed your life for the better?
Yes. My husband and I had once committed our lives to missions in Nepal. Our second child was born at the end of our third year there, however, and plans changed instantly.
She was born with hydrocephalus—excess fluid on the brain. She needed immediate surgery to place a shunt in her head, but that wasn’t possible in Nepal. Doctors said we had to return to North America on the first overseas flight. Trouble was, the airlines refused to issue me a ticket because I’d had a C-section and was considered a medical high-risk.
My husband took our three-day old daughter back to NA by himself, and I stayed behind for another week not knowing whether or not my baby would be alive by the time I returned. I experienced God’s faithfulness in amazing ways during that separation.
We returned to North America with no job, no car, no house, no health care insurance, and a newborn in the NICU ward—the makings of a perfect storm. And yet God used these circumstances to deepen our faith and prove Himself to us. This divine detour became the foundation for who I am today.
Let’s talk about your new book, Morning Moments with God: Devotions for Busy Women (Harvest House, January 2014). Please tell us about it.
It contains more than 150 daily snippets of spiritual encouragement. Each begins with a sentence prayer and ends with an action step to apply the truth taught that day.
It seems our rush-rush lifestyle makes it increasingly difficult to spend time in God’s word, and many women are spiritually thirsty. These short readings are like a sip of cold water for the soul.
The book itself is palm-sized with a pretty padded hard cover. It’s ideal for gift giving—for sisters, pastor’s wives, moms, aunts, girlfriends.
God often uses our writing to teach us something. What did you learn (about life, faith, and/or even yourself) in the process of writing this book?
I’d written less than half this book when I partially ruptured my left Achilles tendon. Eight days after that, I injured my opposite knee. So, there I was—in a wearing a cast and confined to a wheelchair for three months. Insomnia struck, and waves of utter exhaustion swept over me several times a day. I immediately lost two weeks’ writing time, and I knew I needed a miracle to meet the deadline.
I cried to God for strength every day, many times a day, and He answered. What an incredible experience to literally feel empowered each day. Before the leg injuries, I could write only four devotions per day. After my injuries, I was able to reach up to seven per day. That was not my strength.
Scriptures that mention God’s strength have assumed new meaning for me! Now, as never before, I understand the difference between my strength and His, and I never want to deceive myself into thinking I can do life well in my own power.
A few fun questions…
When the words aren’t flowing—or when you want to celebrate if they are—what is your favorite comfort food and why?
A celebration food would be cheesecake. Or chocolate anything. Or vanilla ice cream smothered with blueberries or raspberries. I’m not fussy : )
Comfort food? Hmmm. I’m trying to snack healthy, so I’ll go for a piece of fruit or raw veggies with hummus.
This website features musicians as well as writers. Do you have musical, as well as literary, talent?
I play the piano. I’m no maestro, but I do okay. Actually, I taught piano lessons for several years prior to trying my hand at the greeting cards.
If you were a song, what kind of song would you be?
A contemporary worship song. With drums. Joyful, lively, and focused on Jesus.
In the story that is your life, are you the strong, female lead; the girl next door; the mysterious woman behind dark glasses; the super heroine; or the little girl trying to walk in high heels?
I think I’d be the strong, female lead. That aligns with my other ministry “hat”– recruiting, training, and leading short-term ministry teams to Eastern Europe with my husband every summer. I also enjoy taking God-given risks. I’d rather trust Him for the unknown than allow fear to hinder me from experiencing Him in new ways.
I’m a dog lover. Please tell us about your pets, if any, or your favorite pet as a child.
We have no pets now, mostly because we travel for international missions often. Having a pet doesn’t work with that lifestyle. As a child, I enjoyed a menagerie of pets—not all at the same time. I owned teeny turtles (who were buried in toothpick boxes in Mom’s garden when they died), a crippled guinea pig, two dogs, a black Siamese cat, and budgies named Ricky and Dicky. I think my favorite was my Pomeranian/Pekingese dog named Scamper.
Thank you, Grace! It’s nice to have you as a guest at DivineDetour.
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For more information about Grace, visit her website.
To purchase Morning Moments with God, logon to:
Grace–wow! Thanks so much for this daily dosage of encouragement. While I’m sorry you experienced stresses and illnesses, the visual you gave me of traveling back to North America without any creature comforts that us Americans take for granted, let alone the bare necessities like a roof over your head, is the ultimate testimony of trust in God… and, of course, parental love. You brought joyous tears to my eyes.
Kathy, as always, a great interview, great guest!
Thanks for stopping by, Elaine. What can I say, except that God is good–all the time. Nothing that happens to us takes Him by surprise. Blessings to you this day!