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2020-02-26 to 28 Pictures: Charleston, South Carolina

One of the few upsides of having to cancel our Spring Break trip last March at the onset of the pandemic is that we are "stuck" with a rather large voucher from one of those discount airlines. Last autumn, Tricia and I spent a weekend in Savannah, Georgia and had a...

A John 3:16 Craft for Kids

John 3:16 is one of the most well known and reassuring verses in the Bible. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.John 3:16 (NIV) The following is a little craft I threw...

2020-03-01 Pictures: Lyndsey’s College Signing Day

This afternoon Lyndsey made it official, signing her letter of intent to play college basketball for the Hiram College Terriers starting next year. While she made the decision and committed to Hiram before Christmas, she has been looking forward to this day since her...

2020-02-13 Pictures: Lyndsey’s 18th Birthday

I am little behind on posting photos. These are some of my favorites from a couple of weekends ago when we got a chance to celebrate Lyndsey's 18th birthday. It's hard to believe that my little girl is officially an adult. It was nice to have the family all back...

What is DOCTRINE?

Introduction I love working with kids, and I love teaching them hard concepts in ways they can understand. To that end, for years I have been working on a dictionary of theological terms for kids and teens. In sharing those definitions, there seemed no better place to...

If You Want It Done Right

In all likelihood, you know how the phrase ends: If you want it done right, DO IT YOURSELF! This is a bit of a mantra for me, and frankly, something that I struggle with daily both in leadership and in my Christian walk.  In theory, this is easy to accept. ...

What Does God Hate?

This is the little and humble post that started it all. I happened to be reading through my Bible, and this passage impacted me so much that I posted a little blurb about it on Facebook. That was July 28, 2008, and I've been writing and sharing ever since. (Maybe...

About Me

About Me

My name is Wayne Stocks.  I am happily located in the central Ohio area where the weather changes more frequently than a politician’s stance. So, here is a little about me.  I am a devoted follower of Christ – a sinner saved by the grace of God.

I have a wonderful wife of twenty-one years now.  We are on a journey through life together. It has not always been easy, and I know that it is only by the grace of God that she is mine.  I am a better man, a better father, a better person, and a better follower of Christ because of her.  I am also the proud earthly father to four wonderful kids aged 27 (boy), 19 (boy), 18 (girl) and 13 (boy).  They are wonderful gifts of God, wonderfully insightful, wonderfully educational, wonderfully independent, wonderfully unique and wonderfully rotten. 🙂  I have learned more about God and life from my kids then I will ever be able to teach them, and they show up regularly in my writing.

God’s Ministry (I was going it to call it my ministry, but that wouldn’t be accurate!)

Like life, my journey in ministry has also been a long and winding road. Shortly after my salvation, I was “drafted” to work with a bunch of two-year-olds and later with second graders in my local church on Sunday mornings. When we left that church and found a new church home, it was then that I felt the tugging at my heart to work with kids. I became actively involved in my local church in the Children’s Ministry.  I like to tell people I did most things short of being on staff at the church. I led small groups, taught large groups, wrote lessons, led games for Awana, volunteered for Vacation Bible School and coordinated services for kids from Kindergarten through sixth grade. I found that in Children’s ministry, the process of trying to reduce complex theological concepts to the level a child can understand without sacrificing the truth and complexity of God’s revelation helps to bury those truths in my heart.  I am constantly reminded of God’s call for us to exhibit faith like a child.  I started a website and successful radio show aimed at equipping end edifying those who volunteer in children’s ministries around the world.

Just as I was getting comfortable working in children’s ministry every week, God threw a wrench into my plans. Through a series of events, and after much prodding, God led me into ministering to children of divorce, and then more broadly to hurting children. Hope 4 Hurting Kids was born, and I began to produce much needed resources for helping kids to deal with the trauma and emotional fallout in their lives. In addition to the website, and various writing, I have been blessed to be a speaker at several national, regional and local conferences (as well as at individual churches) to share the need for ministering to hurting kids and guide those already working with kids in how to better relate to and minister to these kids.

My Testimony

The short version is I did not grow up in church.  After the birth of my third child in 2003, I felt drawn to investigate whether or not the claims of Christianity were true in order to make sure that I was in a position to teach truth to my kids.  After much research and reading, I became a member of the family of God at age 30, and I haven’t looked back since.  I have posted my entire testimony here.