Children in foster care and many adopted children deeply grieve during the holidays, even little ones. They may not understand why they are so distraught or angry but display their hurt through wild emotions that seem to have no rhyme or reason. They don't know that they are grieving, they just know that something is broken or missing. Wise parents will prepare by embracing these moments as opportunities to help their child....

"I'm staying up all night to pray for you." Ruth's words pounded my heart as I drove home, knowing my boyfriend would probably be upset that I was so late in meeting him..."

About 700,000 women are widowed in the United States every year. Losing a spouse is considered one of life’s most devastating events.Many widows share...

I first heard these words from a friend who told this story. “I was driving to the service for your son, Mark, and I was wailing and pleading with the Lord to give me a message, the right words...

It’s Christmas in July in my office these days as I write a daily Christmas devotional that MARKINC will launch right before Thanksgiving. So, I’m digging around my old blog posts for some of the older most popular ones to share so I can use every writing minute for the devotional. Those of you who...

Proverbs 15 - so much about words and the power of words for good or evil.  Lord, change my heart so that my words heal rather than crush; bring wisdom rather than foolishness;

When I see women marching for their rights I think of women who have or are quietly marching for righteousness in their own life journeys. Warrior Women, facing extraordinary...

I first shared this post (Original Title: Trust and Obey and . . . Trust) on January 6, 2013 and it is one of my most read blog posts. As I face a year of change in 2017, this message resonates with me once more, reminding me that...

"Be with me now," sang the young actress, fully surrendered to her World War II character, Eleanor.  It was Christmas Eve, 1944, and Eleanor had not received any word from her soldier boy...

The thirty-something grocery store cashier responded quickly to my, "How is your day going?" with, "This is the best day of the week. I get to go to church tonight." Suddenly my polite inquiry turned into a...

Christmas accentuates depression, grief, broken relationships, discontentment, jealousy, shattered families. Even those whose lives exude joy and peace experience unexpected sadness...

The beautiful young woman's strained voice revealed the deep pain she was trying to minimize. Her mother died when she was very young, her father remarried and the step-mother fit the Cinderella stereotype.

November 21, 2016, started like any other day for the children of Woodmore Elementary School. Parents placed their children on the school buses, trusting that this day would be like any other, the children would arrive...

MARKINC Ministries is committed to leaning into the pain of life experiences that often go unnoticed by the church and society in general. The Help and Hope audio library...

At a recent family reunion, my sister and I reminisced about our childhood family gatherings. Gayle asked, "Do you remember how old we thought our great aunts and uncles were?" I chuckled...

The ache in my chest refused to break. The grey skies matched my mood. Our sixteen-year-old son Mark's fatal car accident was a faint memory for most people but for the past three years...

Do you have questions about same sex attraction? Is it wrong? Is it ok? Are you struggling with same sex attraction personally? Is your child? Chuck and I recently had the privilege of asking...

Townville, SC (WLTX, WSPA) - The mother of Jacob Hall, the 6-year-old who died from injuries sustained in a school shooting in South Carolina, called her son a "angel" who...

Imagine you arrive as an immigrant in America, newly widowed, grieving the death of your infant daughter. You are  forty years old, alone in a foreign country and responsible for the care of your nine...

Writer's block. Five attempts at writing this week's blog with very little progress. And then I remembered finding a church newsletter, dated June 1983 as I cleaned out old files. There I found this article I wrote...