The Journey On Demand

There’s really something wrong.

In this Q&A episode, Mark tackles some more listener questions, including what to do when a senior starts checking out of school, ways to respond when parents can’t agree on boundaries around substance use and how to know if it’s too late to seek outside help for a struggling child. Mark also addresses concerns about teens who can’t seem to keep friends, how to rebuild connection after divorce, and what to do when a child is pushing back on church and finding their identity online. With his signature mix of empathy and practical wisdom, Mark reminds parents to focus on keeping the relationship strong while walking alongside teens as they search for purpose and belonging.

Facing a tough parenting problem? Send in your question and it may be featured on a future episode! Go to markgregston.com today.

Sometimes becoming more generous means giving away less money.

That may sound contradictory, especially when we often measure generosity by how much we give. But biblical generosity is about far more than a percentage on a spreadsheet. It involves surrendering everything God has entrusted to us—including our money, time, homes, relationships, and even our plans for the future.

For John and Megan Cortines, that lesson became deeply personal when their journey of financial generosity led them somewhere unexpected: foster care and adoption.

Their story reminds us that generosity isn't simply about what we're willing to give away. It's about what we're willing to surrender to God.

Early in their marriage, John and Megan considered themselves faithful stewards. They lived frugally, saved diligently, and gave approximately 10% of their income to their church and other ministries.

Both had grown up in Christian homes where responsible financial stewardship was modeled well. But their understanding of generosity began to deepen during John's time at Harvard Business School.

Facing the possibility of earning a significant income, they began asking important questions about what it meant to follow Christ with their finances.

They came to recognize that Christ's generosity toward them should shape their generosity toward others. Giving was no longer simply an obligation to fulfill. It became an opportunity to experience the joy of participating in God's work.

As their perspective changed, so did their giving.

Eventually, John and Megan were giving 23% of their gross income. Rather than feeling burdened by their generosity, they found it increasingly exciting. Their willingness to surrender financially was strengthening their trust in God's provision. But they soon discovered that surrendering their money was preparing them for something much greater.

Over the next five years, something surprising happened: John and Megan's financial giving rate dropped from 23% to 12%. On paper, it might have appeared that they were becoming less generous. In reality, their lives were becoming increasingly shaped by sacrificial love.

Already parents to three biological children, they began wrestling with whether God was inviting them to expand their family through foster care or adoption. Scripture played an important role in that decision.

Job 29:16 says, "I was a father to the needy, and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know." Isaiah 58:7 also describes faithful care for vulnerable people, including the call to "bring the homeless poor into your house."

John and Megan began considering how their own experience of being welcomed into God's family through Christ might shape their willingness to welcome a child into theirs.

They didn't describe their decision as a unique calling that exempted other Christians from involvement. Instead, they believed Scripture calls all believers to care for vulnerable children, even though that responsibility may look different from one family to another.

Eventually, they welcomed premature newborn twins into their home through foster care. The babies arrived from the neonatal intensive care unit weighing approximately five pounds each.

What began as a foster placement became a two-and-a-half-year journey toward permanent adoption. And along the way, their understanding of generosity changed forever.

Welcoming two medically vulnerable infants into a family of five brought tremendous joy, but it also required significant sacrifice. There were sleepless nights, medical appointments, court dates, meetings with caseworkers, and the emotional uncertainty of navigating the foster care system.

Their grocery, diaper, and c

FROM TODAY’S RECAP:

Thankfulness is much more than a feeling — it’s an action; it’s something we can choose to be and do. Even when it’s hard. God cares deeply about whether we are thankful people. Stu Epperson has researched this topic thoroughly and offers great insights on how you and I can move our “thanksgiving” from one day a year into a lifestyle all year long.

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Stu Epperson Jr. shares what it means to give thanks to God no matter what your life circumstances are.

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You’re gonna regret it.”  I waved away the warning without turning around.  “What was to regret?  I took the shortcut.”  I was on my way to a picnic.  The table sat on the other side of a marsh.  The parks department had kindly constructed a bridge over the marsh. But who needed a bridge?

I ventured in.  The mud swallowed my feet.  Squiggly things swam past me.  I think I saw a set of eyeballs peering in my direction.  I backpedaled, flip-flops sucked into the abyss.  I exited, mud-covered, mosquito-bitten, and red-faced.  I walked over and took my seat at the picnic table.

Made for a miserable picnic, but makes for an apt proverb. Life comes with voices, and voices lead to choices, and choices have consequences.

Read more God Is with You Every Day

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

One mistake, and suddenly, your brain has a whole body of evidence for everything you've ever done wrong. How do you take every thought captive when shame keeps dragging you backward? Pastor and author Noe Garcia joins Dave and Ann Wilson on FamilyLife Today to confront the lies we believe about ourselves, the accusations we can't seem to shake, and the past that keeps trying to define us.

Show Notes and Resources

• Repurposed: How God Turns Your Mess into His Message by Noe Garcia

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What does leaving and cleaving look like in your daily life? It means you no longer lean on your parents but on each other.

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Proverbs 16:16 says, “How much better to get wisdom than gold!” In a relay race, runners don't leave the baton behind. They pass it forward to someone prepared to carry it. Shouldn't we think about inheritance the same way? It's not just about what we leave behind, but whom we prepare to carry it forward. On the next Faith & Finance Live, Rob West and Ron Blue discuss passing wisdom before wealth. Then, it’s on to calls. That’s Faith & Finance Live, biblical wisdom for your financial journey. That’s weekdays at 4pm Eastern/3pm Central on Moody Radio.

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