John Mark Hicks

Morris Pettit, Sheila’s father (my first wife who died in 1980), passed from this life into the next this past Tuesday, July 14. I am sad today. Morris, even 29 years after Sheila’s death, called me “son.” I have experienced the joy of family, the model of a good father, and the grace of sonship […]

Yesterday I posted two articles by my hand from the 1981 Gospel Advocate. These were my first atttempts, at the age of twenty-three, to write (even publicly speak of) the loss of my wife in 1980. Reading them again after so long–I don’t think I have read them or perhaps even thought of them in […]

On April 30, 1980, Sheila Pettit Hicks, my wife of two years, eleven months, and eight days, died twenty days after recovering from back surgery. A blood clot stopped her heart while she slept at her parent’s home in Ellijay, GA.  This week is the 29th anniversary of that horrendous moment in my life. It shifted […]

When you feel forsaken or rejected,  when you feel like a failure or a piece of dirt, when you feel inadequate or deficient, when you feel unloved or unchosen, hear the word of the Lord through Isaiah the prophet Isaiah 62:2b,4,5b …you will be called by a new name        that the mouth of the LORD […]

After memoralizing a couple of days in my life (May 21–the date of Joshua’s death and May 22–Sheila and I would have been married thirty-one years), I feel better. It was a cathartic–a kind of cleansing–though I recognize it is a long process (and has been a long one already).  I now realize that I […]

Grief should be the instructor of the wise.  Sorrow is the knowledge.  Lord Byron Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart, Who looks outside, dreams, who looks inside, awakes.    Carl Jung I call to God; God will help me. At dusk, dawn, and noon I sigh deep sighs–he hears, he rescues.    Psalm 55:16-17 […]

On November 14, 2007, my good friend and colleague at Lipscomb University Mike Matheny died after his three year struggle with a brain tumor. Mike–the same age as me, 50–is a dear friend to me. We talked often about our great loves–the Psalms and baseball.  He is a Yankee fan, I am a Cubs fan. But we are […]

Twenty-eight years ago this morning–at about 3:00am–I was awoken to the news that my wife of two years, eleven months and eight days had died during the night. Sheila and I agreed that she would undergo corrective back surgery so that she could carry a child full term.  We had already experienced one miscarriage and would like to […]

My wedding day. Sheila Pettit was my bride. We married in Ellijay, Georgia. I was 19 years old, though I had just graduated a few weeks before from Freed-Hardeman College. I was nervous, but excited. We had dreams…and plans. First we would housesit for various people as I served as a summer Youth Minister for […]

It is not a significant date for everyone, but it is for me. It was the beginning of a new journey in my walk with God. Prior to April 30, 1980, I thought I had God basically “figured out.” Oh, I don’t mean that I arrogantly thought I had fully comprehended God or knew everything […]