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Casting Crown’s Mark Hall DAMASCUS ROAD The Light Changes Everything Issue #1
Transcript

Casting Crown’s Mark Hall

DAmAscus RoADThe Light Changes Everything Issue #1

In the book of Acts, when Saul saw the Light and encountered the living God on the road to Damascus, everything about his life changed. A persecutor of Christians became a man willing to suffer for the furtherance of the gospel. A man wrapped up in the Pharisaical Law (a Hebrew among Hebrews) became a man amazed by the grace and forgiveness that can only come through Christ. The name of Saul, a name which struck terror into the hearts of the followers of Christ, was lost forever and replaced by Paul, the name found at the end of endless letters of encouragement to the scattered believers.

We here at Damascus Road Magazine believe that the story of Paul

should be reflected in each and every one of us. The truth is this - when your life is touched by the light and grace of God, it simply changes everything. We believe that the influence of Christ in our lives should result in us using our passions and talents to encourage our brothers and sisters in the faith, as well as trying to share the life changing power of the gospel with those who don’t yet know him. That’s what we strive to do in each and every issue - pour our passion into each piece you see, and bring you articles and testimonies that can help encourage you as you continue your journey of faith.

Thank you for coming along side us as we travel this road together.

Damascus Road Staff, left to right:Gary Darling, Amanda McKim and Ben McKim

Table of Contents

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From The PulpitPastor Paul Mckim

Seeing God’s Creations through a Single LensA Devotional

1 on 1 with Mark HallAn interview with Casting Crown’s Lead Singer

Christian PlaylistTenth Avenue North - The Struggle

Salvation came for meTestimony by Gary Darling

The Mark of a ManShort Story by Ben McKim

The PowerWe live in a world intoxicated by power. Everywhere you turn there is a sense of who is in power who has the power. Try to talk to a security person at the airport about bringing a container of eye drops on the plane you will see who has the power. Some people enjoy demonstrating their power. Ultimately as you walk through life how-ever you will realize that all the power we strive for in this world is really rather transitory. Oh maybe we have the authority to move and shake in the financial world. Maybe we can dictate to some, the ac-tions they will or will not take. Maybe we can even influence nations. There comes a time in our journey however that we realize we have no power to change a diagnosis, a wounded heart, a broken relation-ship, or the scars of a yesterday that continue to arise. There is only one who has the ultimate power and that is our God. In the book of Romans 1:16 we hear these words from the apostle. “I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation.” To-day let us glory in the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel has the power to reconcile what looks to be irreconcilable differences. The gospel has the power to take the scars of my yesterdays and turn them into the strengths of my life today. Most importantly, the gospel has the power to reconcile us to God. May we glory in the gospel and watch and see the PoweR oF God unleashed all around us.

Pastor Paul McKimLaura Street Baptist Church,

Maryville, Mo

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Seeing god’S CreationS through a Single lenSA devoTionAL

As a photographer, there are particular types of images that I am especially drawn to capture. I just can’t seem to get enough of them. These photo shoots are often times of refreshment for me. In fact, I often tell people that it is my “therapy” time. However, even if I don’t have my camera with me, I am still always drawn to these same scenes time and again. Maybe you can relate.

I think most people take pleasure in watching a pretty sunrise or sunset, don’t they? I do. Remember that game we played as kids when we used our imaginations to find bunnies, ships or other “sculptures” in the clouds? I’ll admit it, I still do that, and I am far from being a kid. Are you not absolutely amazed when you look up on a clear night and see hundreds, no, countless stars twinkling in an otherwise dark sky? I am. There are probably fewer of you, I am sure, that like to watch storms and lightening. You might think I am crazy; however, I actually love these, too. Storms and lightening just intrigue me!

Indeed, ALL of God’s creation is absolutely amazing! I love soaking it in and I can’t help but spend time in praise and worship of Him when experiencing these moments.

Psalm 19:1-4a says: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.

Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”

The skies “tell” of God’s glory! I so cherish these moments. They speak to me. For me, these moments be-come times of praise and worship of God. Sunsets, for instance, tell me of His creativity with the changing and

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dimming colors in the sky and upon the landscapes. When I think about how the sun rises and sets each day, I can’t help but praise Him for the order and design of His creation and how every-thing “just works,” despite the complex-ity of it all. Each time I attempt to count all those stars in the vastness of a night sky, I remember that at any given time God actually knows how many hairs are on my head. I marvel about how big God is, yet He wants a personal relationship with each of us. Watching storm clouds roll in can remind us of His power and majesty; that He is in control and that “He stills storms to a whisper.” We can take delight in the Lord, be comforted to know, and thank Him that, like the storm clouds passing by, the storms of life are also only temporary.

Whether I have my camera or not, when I experience God during these times, I try not to miss the opportu-nity to listen and to praise Him! I challenge you to do the same!

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Photos by Ronda Sigman. Used with Permission.

w/Mark Hall Casting Crowns

1 on

1 By Gary Darling

How did you come to know the Lord?I was about 7 or 8 and the Vacation Bible School kids came to the neighborhood inviting everyone to VBS. Our family wasn’t in a church yet anywhere. It looked like fun to me and I wanted to go. So my parents let me go. After that week of VBS, the church followed up with my family. The worship leader came to my house to visit with my dad and dad really liked him and he brought my dad to the Lord. My dad got saved at around the age of 32. When he started going to church, he brought the whole family with him. That was the moment that changed our lives. Then, on a Sunday morning when I was nine, I realized that I needed Jesus in my heart, I needed to be a believer and realize it was time to be saved.

As a Christian adult, it was hard for me to get in front of the church and proclaim that I was follow-ing Jesus now, how hard was it for a nine-year old? In a way it was easier because you get caught up in the culture. You get to be around believers as you grow up so you are learning together as you grow. The hard part about being a believer when you are a kid is, you know

how God talks about living for him? Living a Holy life and being a witness for him? For those that are older, they have all these experiences to look back upon and learn from. My past, well I was seven. I didn’t do a lot of terrible things. So the problem that I had was that some of the most terrible things I did were after I was saved so there was a lot of confusion, thinking that maybe I wasn’t a Christian because I was still messing up. So I

think that is the main struggle you have when you are a kid and you grow up in the Church.

How quickly did music become a part of your walk in faith? I was in the children’s choir. My mom started working with the children’s choir pretty early on. So I sang in the children’s choir, I sang in the youth choir and then my dad started singing and preach-ing to me after he was saved so I would sing with him every once in a while when I was a teenager. So

I grew up singing in the church.

So how did that materialize into Casting Crowns?

Oh, that was a long time. When I was about 20 I felt like God wanted me to do something in the church. I wasn’t really sure what it was. I figured since I sang that it must be music so I went to Bible College to study

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Casting Crowns L to R: Hector Cervantes, Megan Garrett, Chris Huffman, Mark Hall, Brian Scoggin, Melodee DeVevo, Juan DeVevo Photo By: Allister Ann

music ministry and I was there for a year when I real-ized that it was supposed to be teenagers that I was sup-posed to be reaching. So I started working with youth groups and have been a youth pastor ever since and just used the music in the youth ministry. I started writing and using songs to help teach lessons. So I thought that maybe that was it and that is why I was doing music. When I was thirty-three when I started Crowns. So, that was a long time. What do you think the hardest thing about being a Christian is nowadays?Well, I think the hardest thing about being a Christian in any kind of world is sometimes we get in our head that we did something to get ourselves saved and we are doing something to keep ourselves saved. As long as you are looking yourself in the mirror and see yourself, you always think, man, if this is all depending on me, if we are all counting on me, then we are in trouble. One of the most important things about being a Christian is understanding that God started it and that God pursues you to come to him and he makes you right with him. Once you are his, you are his. I think that is huge. Be-cause if not, you are always thinking something you do or something you don’t do is going to make it or break it with Jesus. I think that is the hardest part.

What do you do when someone questions a Chris-tian because of something they did on a Saturday night, something very un-Christian like? Well, you get that a lot. Sometimes it is from people

that don’t know Jesus feel convicted about what is said by Christians. They try to point out people that say they are Christians but don’t live it so they can feel better. I think we have all done that. If you are eating too much and some thin guy comes walking up to you eating a salad, you are going to come up something about him to make yourself feel better because you are not thin. This is kind of the same thing. They feel that God is drawing them to something bigger and they are trying to distract themselves to people around them. What I tell them is, hey, nobody is perfect in church. God never said we were doing it all right. He just said that we were his.

What would you tell a teenager that is struggling to take that next step? I was talking to some teens a few weeks ago and one of the first steps is getting into the word yourself, pray-ing and having your own time with God to realize that a relationship isn’t just a trip to a building on Sunday and Wednesday. That it is every day. It is a friendship that you don’t have to have through other people. A lot of time you think that you are really walking with Jesus when you are with the youth group or I am really closer to God when I am with the Youth pastor or with your parents. You have to start growing in your own time with Jesus when you are by yourself. Having a quiet time and doing some devotions is a way to do that. There are some really cool devotion books out there that involve taking a book of the Bible and reading it a little bit at a time. Also, asking God to do things for you

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during the day. Praying for people around you is all a part of if becoming a part of your walk with Jesus.

As a member of Casting Crowns, what do you feel is the most important thing about the message that you bring through your music? There are a couple of things that we want to get through in all of our music and that is that God is pursuing you for a personal relationship with him. That is every day, where ever you are, anytime, all the time. I think that is huge. Second thing is that he has put you here on purpose. He has given you your personality, your tal-ent, your place to live, the people that you are around because you are built to be there. A lot of times you think that ministry is done by all the people on stage but that is just not true. We were at youth camp one time and teenagers start seeing that telling my story to people, being a listener, being willing to hang out with them and being there for them really is a huge ministry. Seeing that you were put here for a purpose to know him and make him known.

What advice would you give kids who have friends that they are struggling and they want to reach out to them but they don’t know how? The biggest way to witness to your friend is to first be a listener and be there for them. Then listen for ways to

pray for them which leads to the second big way which is through prayer. When you are praying for your friend God is helping you see them the right way cause a lot of time there is jealousy in friendships. There may be rivalry and that stuff can slip in. It happens to all of us. What we got to do is ask God to help us see them the right way. So you start praying for that friend, you start being a listener and you are listening to things that they are going through and you let them know that you are praying for them for the things they are experiencing and that can be huge. What that does is when your friend hears that you have been praying for them on things, it gets on his radar that you are a believer. It also gets on his radar that you care about him beyond football or video games. This creates permission later for them to come to you and thank you for praying for them and may lead to them asking you to help them with some-thing else. Or they may have a question about this. So being a witness to your friends is all about just being a real friend. It is not all about having all the answers to all their questions in the Old Testament. Although that is what we end up thinking witnessing is about. Having all the right answers to all the right questions or we are going to mess it up. That is just not true.

Thanks to Mark Hall for his time, for a busy man it was very nice of him to provide it. It was greatly appreciated! - Gary

Mark Hall & Family at Christmas Photo provided by Mark Hall

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Christian PlaylistTenth Avenue North - The Struggle

A review

The new album from Tenth Avenue North is called “The Struggle,” and the title paints a pretty accurate picture of the heart behind the band’s newest release.

The songs on this album are a fear-less, honest dialogue about one of the difficult realities of the Christian walk – the fact that, saved or not, storms and struggles are a reality of life in a fallen world. The lyrics describe days spent chasing after the world, struggling to for-give, falling to temptation, and reaching the end of your rope weary and worn. But in spite of difficulty, the heart of the album reflects an attitude of praise in the midst of ad-versity. It presents concepts of thankfulness like “hal-lelujah, we are free to struggle, we’re not struggling to be free,” that make you pause and think, reflecting on the condition of your heart.

In addition to being soothing to the heart, Tenth Av-enue North’s album is pleasing to the ears. A variety of

melodic ideas and fantastic musician-ship will leave any music buff satis-fied!

Although it hasn’t been released to radio as a single, my favorite track on this new album is called Grace. The pairing of the laid-back melody with the life changing truth of the gospel, that the grace of God is the only hope for a dead heart, keeps me coming back to it day after day!

This album would be a great choice for anyone looking for some encouragement in the midst of a time of struggle. Although Tenth Avenue North is most popular with teens and young adults, their mes-sage can touch the heart of music lovers of any age.

Tenth Avenue North L to R: Jason Jamison, Ruben Juarez, Mike Donehey, Jeff Owen, Brendon Shirley Photo By: Parker Young

By Amanda McKim

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For me, it started with a day that really sent my life into a tailspin. This was followed quickly by an-other event that took all of my love of life away. Quickly my heart grew grey and I decided that God did not exist.

How could a God do this to someone who has always loved him and done as much as anyone to worship and praise in his name.

First thing that happened was a woman who was a second mom to me, died from lung cancer, my wonderful and beautiful Aunt Mari-anne. Not quickly but over a long period of time as she wasted away into a shadow of her former self.

This was followed four days later by a girl that I had loved more than anyone or anything, at that time, walking away and out of my life, forever.

My heart stopped and my soul ached. I just stopped caring and these events changed how I felt about religion and the belief in a higher power.

I still attended church with my mom but not because I believed in God but because I didn’t want my mom complaining to me, yet again, about getting back to church.

My church life consisted of star-ing boldly at statues that meant nothing to me. A man hung on a cross but in my eyes, he did not exist. He was a myth and I didn’t care anymore about what he rep-resented.

So I started hanging out with a rough crowd and not caring about my life. I wanted to die and didn’t care when and how but just as long

as it was soon. I couldn’t bear the pain anymore. I wanted out.

Drinking and driving became the norm. Taking chances that most would shy away from, I took head-on. Anything to get me closer to my goal, death.

There were the times that I had the pills in my hand. These pills waited there for me to ingest them and just sleep away into oblivion.

This was what my life had be-come. Each day was Russian Roulette and I was running out of chances.

One day, on a Friday, my mom stopped into my room and asked me to drive her to church. It was Good Friday and she wanted to at-tend the service.

I didn’t. I didn’t want to remem-ber.

I knew what day it was, it was the anniversary of my Aunt’s pass-ing. The anniversary of my turning away from the Lord.

So after getting worn down by my mom I relented and we headed off to church. I figured I could fit in a nap during the service.

As I sat there and stared into the abyss, something happened. The choir began to sing a song that was all too familiar to me. “Where you there (when they crucified my Lord) began to be sung by the en-tire congregation.

Well, all except for me.At that time, my mom leaned in

and whispered something into my ear that I will never forget.

She told me that this was my Aunt’s favorite song.

At that point, something glorious

began to take hold of me. I looked up into the face of our savior, Je-sus Christ, and this overwhelming warmth consumed me.

It was like being hit in the heart with love and I collapsed into a pile onto the pew and sobbed tears like I have never cried before.

My mom took my hand and asked me what was the matter and the only thing I could say was “I was so wrong, I was so wrong”.

And that is when I knew that God wanted me back and he wasn’t go-ing to take no for an answer any-more.

I wanted to resist, I wanted to keep up my hatred towards God but I couldn’t. God wouldn’t let me and I eventually relented and gave into his grace.

The main problem, at this point, I had to make changes in my life and I did. I left my hometown and went off to college.

There I started another journey. A journey that would lead me back to a loving and caring relationship with Jesus. I needed key people in my life or I could have quickly fallen back.

This is where God really kicked into high gear and I have never been the same again.

If I had continued on my destruc-tive path, I would have never met my wife. I would have never heard the laughter and tears of my chil-dren.

God blessed me with these gifts and I am forever his servant be-cause of it.

And life is so much sweeter now.

Salvation came for me A Testimony by Gary Darling

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Here we go again, I thought to myself as I braced for yet another fight with my wife Elizabeth. She should’ve realized by now it was pointless to fight, I always win. She wanted me to load the dishwasher, but I had worked all day, what had she done? She had stayed home with the kids, loading the dishwasher was HER job. Jimmy and Bobby sat in the living room, listening intently as I raised my voice. The argument passed, and she loaded the dish washer. Reveling in my victory, I decided to call it a day. I nestled into bed, reading a magazine when Liz came in and lay next to me.

“Todd, please don’t yell at me in front of the

kids, it demeans me in their eyes. They’re starting to treat me like you do.” She said

“What’s wrong with the way I treat you…and I wouldn’t yell at you if you didn’t pick fights all the time. Honestly, I don’t know why you bother.” I replied. She shot me a look that clearly said she wasn’t happy, rolled over and turned off the bedside lamp. I smirked. That’s right, I do always win. I put my magazine on my night stand, flipped off my lamp and hunkered in for the night.

I jolted awake in a small room and struggled

By Ben McKim

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to get my bearings. Where am I? I looked around, and saw iron bars. Am I in a prison? The walls were stained red with what appeared to be blood. This can’t be real. I was just in bed. Where’s my wife? “Hello?” I called out. “Hey, is anyone out there? Where am I?”

“Hello, friend.” A meek voiced called out from the cell next to me. Thank goodness I’m not alone.

“Hey, what’s going on? What is this place?” I asked.

“This is judgment, friend.” He replied. “Judgment? What are you talking about?

One minute I’m sleeping in my bed, the next I wake up in a cell. What’s going on?” I snapped. He better not push my buttons.

“I told you, judgment.”

“Listen buddy, if I don’t get some answers I’m…“ My outburst was interrupted by the sound of footsteps and the soft jingle of keys. Good, maybe now I’ll get some answers.

My jaw dropped as I saw what came

around the corner. Standing outside my jail cell was a man with the head of a bull. He had a golden ring in his nose and his tattered clothing was stained with blood. Looking directly at me, he snorted and said, “It is your turn.” He turned the key and opened the door. Fear gripped my body as he lifted me off the ground like a feather. As I was escorted away, I looked over my shoulder into the cell next to mine. The man I had been talking to was a homely looking man, who looked as if he hadn’t shaved for a few weeks. He stared back at me, his eyes seeming to pierce through me.

The man-bull walked briskly, pulling me

alongside. We strolled along a corridor lined with dozens of cells, each of them holding a prisoner. Each person I saw was bloody and bruised. Many gave me a soft look as if to

say I’m sorry. Others looked relieved that the creature hadn’t picked them. What’s going on? I’ve never been this scared in my life.

The creature took me to the end of the hallway, where I found myself in a large, open space. As far as the eye could see, there was only the floor. The creature threw me onto the ground and shouted.

Creatures of all kinds emerged from the darkness, coming at me from every direction. I turned and tried to run back to the cell blocks but the man-bull grabbed me and threw me back to the ground. The creatures were closing in, fear immobilized me.

Get a grip Todd. I told myself. Use this fear, turn it into adrenaline. You’re a fighter, remember. You’re a fierce fighter. I stood up and did a 360 as the creatures continued closing in. “Come on!” I shouted, “Come on, you want a piece? Bring it!” The creatures stopped. Looks like it worked, all I had to do is put a little fear into them! They looked at each other and, from somewhere in the back, one of the creatures began to cackle. The cackle spread until every creature had joined in. My rage flared at the sound of their mocking. “Stop laughing, let’s do this!” I shouted again. Suddenly, as if they were all thinking the same thing at the same time, they stopped laughing. In unison their heads slowly lowered until every eye was on me. They paused in this eerie moment and then suddenly charged.

I punched and kicked, putting all the power I had into each blow. But even my best efforts didn’t stop them. I tried biting and pulling hair, but they didn’t hesitate. A big paw crashed into my head and I crumbled instantly. It was followed quickly by a kick to my ribs. One of them stomped on my arm and I felt a clean break. The man-bull came down on me with his head, scattering my teeth across the floor. The beating continued, greatly surpassing

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the level of pain I thought I could handle. After what seemed like hours they stood back, admiring their handiwork. The man-bull picked me up to set me on my feet, but I collapsed in exhaustion. The creatures’ mocking laughter began to rise again, but this time I had no angry retort. Finally the man-bull grabbed me and threw me over his shoulder as the others started to disperse. He took me back down the long hallway toward my cell. I didn’t even try to look at the other prisoners. All I could do was his hang off his shoulder like a rag doll. I heard the sound of a cell door open and braced myself. As the creature threw me into my cell I heard bones all over my body make sounds like the popping of knuckles.

“What is this place?” I tried to shout, but

could only muster a soft mumble.

“Judgment.”

I didn’t have the strength to argue, so I ignored the man in the next cell over and fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

I awoke to the soft sound of a jingle. Odd, that doesn’t sound like my alarm clock. “Let’s go, it’s your turn.” I heard. I tried to roll over and stopped instantly as the heat of pain flared throughout my body. I suddenly remembered exactly where I was.

“It can’t be my turn, I just went!” I shouted. The man-bull was back. He ignored my words. “Let someone else go!” Again he ignored me, grabbed my arm, and dragged me from a pool of my own blood.

“Grab the guy in the next cell, he hasn’t gone yet. Maybe he’ll have some fight in him.” The man-bull said. Another creature standing outside my cell, one with a man’s head and a giant frog’s body, entered the cell of the man I had been talking to earlier. He grabbed him and was soon hopping down the hall, pulling him along with us.

I mustered the strength to look at the man

as we were taken down the hallway to the big opening. He looked resolved, steady. He maintained that piercing gaze.

Once we made it to the end of the corridor,

the creatures threw us to the ground. It was a ritual that, although I had practiced only once, I would never forget. I stammered to my feet, bones cracking, trying to ready myself to face my advisories once again. The other man stood up next to me.

In the distance I could hear a sound like stampeding. Squinting my eyes I could see all the other creatures, formed in ranks running toward us, charging as if in war. I looked at my cell block neighbor and saw that his gaze was still unwavering.

“Get ready!” I yelled out to him. But he ignored me, and deliberately walked toward the creatures. “Be ready to fight!” I shouted again, the creatures now only a few hundred feet away. He continued walking toward them. Suddenly he stopped in his tracks, and turned until he was facing me. “Turn around, they’re almost here!” I shouted as I hobbled toward him.

The creatures were only feet away when

my world changed. The man looked down to the ground and lifted his arms out to his side. Without warning, I heard a sound like a sonic boom. The creatures who, moments ago were in a dead run, were flung back by the power. A great barrier, stretching as far as the east is from the west spread from this man’s arms. Creatures as far as the eye could see got up off the ground and started running again, but the barrier held them back like a great wall. They began hitting and kicking the wall, frustration permeated every single one of them as they were unable to budge it. I stood in amazement as I looked at this man in front of me. Slowly I could see holes appearing in his hands and a wooden cross appearing behind him.

Suddenly my bones began popping back

into place. I stood straighter and my body

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began to heal, my deep cuts closing up from the inside out. With each cut and bruise that disappeared from my body, the man in front of me gained one. I looked behind me at the cell blocks; every person I saw was healing as well. I turned back to the man on the cross. Blood was flowing from his wounds. My eyes followed a drop of blood that rolled down his cheek and hit the ground. He hung there on the cross, holding back the creatures for me, and for the rest of the people.

The man slowly raised his head, his eyes meeting mine. He was unrecognizable except for those piercing eyes. “I don’t understand,” I stammered. He drew a breath, wincing as pain flashed across his face, and told me:

“Todd, the true mark of a man is not

how fiercely he fights, but how fiercely he loves.”

Tears began to roll down my face, and I knelt in front of my Savior, worshiping.

The ground beneath me turned into a blanket. I awoke in a sweat, as the sun peeked through my window. I looked to my left; Elizabeth was already out of bed. The smell of bacon wafted from the kitchen. I stretched my arms out to my side and stopped cold, remembering everything I had dreamt. Or was it a vision? I got up and crept down the stairs into the kitchen.

“Good morning,” I said to my family, all standing in the kitchen.

“Mom, we like our bacon crispy!” Jimmy said. My wife turned around to look at them. I could see it now, what I could not see before. She looked sad…wounded.

“Geez, Mom! Can’t you do anything right?” Bobby chimed in. Seeing the hurt in her eyes I now understood. Stepping in front of my boys, I walked over to my wife, her spatula still in her hand. I reached out

my arms to my side as I had seen done before and then slowly wrapped them around her. I hugged her close, and held on.

“Jimmy, Bobby, you know I love you guys, right?” I said, still holding onto my wife.

“Yes dad, we know.”

“Good, now if I ever hear you talk to your mother like that again, I will spank you each so hard you won’t be able to sit down for a month.”

“But Dad, that’s how you talk to her.”

“Not anymore, now go sit down.”

“….Yes sir.” They replied as they went back to the table to finish breakfast.

“I’m so sorry Liz. I should’ve never treated you the way I have, and I’m ashamed.” I said, still hugging my wife. “I have failed, and I’m asking for your forgiveness. I promise I will love you deeply and purely from now on.” She began to sob, shaking with each breath. We stood in each other’s arms until the bacon had long ago burned. Finally she pulled back and looked me in the eye.

“I forgive you,” she said with a smile, and I couldn’t help but smile too. “What happened? Why the sudden change of heart?”

“I’ve learned that the true mark of a man is not how fiercely he fights, but how fiercely he loves.”

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