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12/22/12 by Mark | Blog | Comments
Please read Part One of this story here!
The road is filled with great surprises and beautiful stories. One of the most powerful stories was told to me at the first stop of my Hope of Christmas tour in Manchester, NH. Whitney Konz was just 26 when her 24-year-old husband was shot and killed last summer. This marks her second Christmas season without her beloved Kevin. I desire to honor Whitney & Kevin by telling their story, and by sharing how she’s found a way to survive in the midst of horrendous pain, hopefully helping someone else trapped in the prison of grief.
One of the best ways Whitney found to survive after Kevin died was to hunt for a support system. She found a non-profit organization called Soaring Spirits Loss Foundation (sslf.org). In addition to providing a national network of support for anyone grieving the loss of someone they love — with a special emphasis on those who have been widowed — SSLF offers a variety of programs, including Camp Widow (www.campwidow.org), which Whitney reluctantly signed up for.
“I didn’t know what to expect and I didn’t want to be disappointed if the other widow/ers wouldn’t know how to connect with me because my story was too tragic or too sad. Boy, was I wrong! There are a multitude of tragic and sad stories and it was the first place in eight months that I had felt normal. I didn’t cringe when someone asked me how he died, I told my story and just felt the instant love, support, and acceptance that was so difficult to get from others who just didn’t understand.” Read more →
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12/20/12 by Mark | Blog | Comments
When I kicked off my Hope of Christmas Tour 2012 in Manchester, NH, I had no idea the gift I would receive. To be honest, I’m usually sufficiently surprised by what happens when I do concerts and the amazing stories people tell me. But this one was different. Whitney Konz helped me out at the CD table for the evening, but it wasn’t until after the concert I learned her story.
There’s a part of my concert where I talk about how Christmas is an extremely difficult time of the year for many people. While the whole world seems to be celebrating and decking the halls with family and friends, many are experiencing intense feelings of sadness and grief due to death of a loved one, distance in relationship, depression, discord…I could go on, right? Then I sing “Emmanuel (You Are With Me)” [watch the video here]. But when I heard Whitney’s story, I knew she could probably speak to this topic better than I ever could.
On June 24th, 2011 Whitney’s world was shattered when she got a phone call that her husband, Kevin, was dead. He had been mistaken as an intruder and shot. She was only 26 years old and the magnitude of not only his death, but the manner in which he died, was so unbelievable that she didn’t know if she was going to be able to survive.
“I stayed up nights crying and screaming. I couldn’t help thinking that it was my fault and that I should have done something, anything different so he would still be alive. It took months and months of support groups, individual therapy, and support from friends and family to finally realize that this was not my fault and that even though I was going through unimaginable pain, in time the pain would not be so bad and I would eventually smile at his memory instead of cry.”
Read more →
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06/17/13 by Mark | Blog | Comments
Some of my most favorite moments over the 20 years I’ve been in Nashville took place at Bellevue Community Church (now called HopePark Church). What started as a renegade church meeting in a middle school, hoping to reaching out to people who wouldn’t normally go to an actual church, grew into something pretty big. I was honored to be a part of the worship team there for several years, working with some of the best players and singers in town, as you can hear on this project. I hope these songs encourage you and assist your own personal worship. Please share with your friends as well!
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You can download the whole project by clicking “download” just below the cover, or you can share it, as well! The download is completely free – just enter $0.00 as the amount, but in exchange they’ll ask for your email address to send you a link for the download, that way we can keep in touch about other stuff going on. You can always unsubscribe if it turns out to be not quite up your alley.
And if you’d like to visit the “20 Years In Nashville” landing page, please click here!
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06/13/13 by Mark | Blog | Comments
Over the last 20 years in Nashville I’ve spent a lot of time wondering if I was literally crazy for wanting to make a career out of writing, recording and performing my music. Have you ever felt crazy for dreaming something that other people didn’t think was reasonable? These are some of my thought—perhaps they will encourage you on your journey… (Please visit my “20 Years in Nashville” landing page!)
Success in Nashville can seem like stories I hear about people trying to climb Mount Everest. As the highest peak in the world, it’s a dangerous trek for climbers at any skill level, but stands as one of the greatest feats to conquer. The enormous difference between Everest and Nashville is that there is a clear-cut way to get to the summit of Everest. There’s no such path in Nashville. Sometimes it’s impossible to see where it is that you’re wanting to go, even though you know it is “up there.”
That’s what makes it so easy to compare my path to someone else who has already “made it” and wish mine looked more like theirs.
“You’ve got to make your own way,” I’ve been told.
“But I want my life to look just like _________ (fill in the blank with the artist du jour),” I whine. “That’s the kind of success I want.”
“Then you’ll always be frustrated when it doesn’t look like that. Write your own story, not someone else’s.”
This intense wondering if I’m actually crazy or not has been a hugely powerful force in my journey. I’ve got to prove myself not crazy—even if everyone else thinks I am. Hold onto an audacious dream long enough and people will think you’re crazy. Enough people think you’re crazy; you start to wonder if you are.
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06/11/13 by Mark | Blog | Comments
Several years ago, in conversation with a friend, we decided that we could waste our lives waiting to be invited to all the cool parties. Meaning, sometimes it seems like the “people that have” in the music industry keep getting, and the “people that don’t have” don’t get anything. I’m talking about opportunities here, pardon the difficult analogy. But my friend and I decided that if we were tired of waiting to be invited to other people’s parties, the best answer would be to throw our own. So…
I’m throwing a party.
What it looks like is me investing, most importantly, in myself, as well as in the lives of people around me. It looks like me taking time to care for myself: through physical exercise, rest, entertainment, intellectual stimulation, good food and drink. It looks like creative risk-taking. Loving, laughing, listening. Calling people out of the blue to see how they’re doing. Finding and listening to music that I love. Reading great books. Drinking coffee frequently. And more that I can’t even put words on. But what it ultimately comes down to, is living for today…not waiting or hoping for what I’d like to see happen. There’s endless beauty and joy being offered to me today. Sometimes I just have to take my eyes off of my own navel to see it.
It also means that I’m fearlessly and courageously going to do whatever I can to create the life I desire. I’ve been waiting for other people to give me permission, or to make it easy for me. And since that’s not happening, if it’s gonna be, it’s up to me. And I’m worth it.
The sky is really blue today. I am loved well by many people in my life. I have great hope and optimism for the future, but even better…today rocks. I am a very rich man and I’m throwing a party.
And you’re invited.
Seriously, I’m throwing an actual party to celebrate my 20 years in Nashville on Friday, June 21st here in Germantown. Please send me an email if you’d like to come and I’ll get you all the details.
Email This To A Friend
06/06/13 by Mark | Blog | Comments
Connect to my 20 Years in Nashville home page right here!
Nashville is such a city of promise, filled with the allure of fame and fortune. Like Hollywood, without the tan. My understanding was that if you wanted to be a movie star, you move to California. If you want to do music, especially country or Christian, you move to Nashville.
Like the California Gold Rush of the mid-1800s, I heard that there was gold in them there hills of Nashville. Gold records, that is. The adventurer in me knew I needed to pack up my wagon and trek across the country from Minnesota to see what I might uncover, even if it meant that I would simply become an additional anonymous person making the trek, crowding the streets of Music City with another wide-eyed dream.
Heck, I had as good of a chance as anybody, right? I remember thinking a well-intentioned, charismatic, halfway-decent singer like me stood a pretty good shot at a record deal. I had bought records and seen concerts by artists who appeared to be a lot more mediocre than I was. People say the record industry just puts out crap. I say, why can’t they just put out my crap?
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