by mark | Jul 10, 2026 | Estrangement
How do estranged parents respond to the pain and ache of “no contact”? How far away from your beloved stranger do you feel? You and I shouldn’t rush to an answer to this question. The pain of distance is real. Pain, when hidden, is often crammed into a...
by mark | Jul 3, 2026 | Estrangement, Prayer
Note: The pronoun her is used throughout this prayer. If you are praying through a son’s birthday, substitute his name, his, and him throughout. Where appropriate, substitute your experiences for those expressed here. Feel free to substitute “we” and “us” as well if...
by mark | Jun 26, 2026 | Estrangement
How Christian parents of estranged children can make some sense out of God’s timing. Cynics love to drag out an old chestnut of a riddle to trip up Christ followers. They ask, “If God is all-powerful, can He make a rock so large that even He can’t move it?” If...
by mark | Jun 21, 2026 | Estrangement, Prayer
Oh Heavenly Father, You are the compassionate one, my Rock, and my Savior. You don’t change like shifting shadows, and every good and perfect gift comes down from You, oh Father of Light. Today is Father’s Day. I feel anxiety and anger toward my estranged child and I...
by mark | Jun 12, 2026 | Candles
Records from the 15th through 19th centuries tell stories of church leaders in Europe and even America who forced those caught in sin to dress all in white and walk through town carrying a lit candle. The townspeople would mock and taunt the person for his or her sin....
by mark | Jun 12, 2026 | Estrangement
How do we listen to and distinguish which shame is telling the truth? Shame tackles and trips estranged parents from every direction. Sometimes, it ducks in and out of the shadows, whispers poison, sours our food, and steals our favorite candy. Other times, it...
