“The Day I Finally Stopped Asking God ‘Why Me’”(And Started Saying ‘Thank You’ Instead)

By Mark Morgan

I was born in Michigan, where winters bite, and people keep their coffee close and their words closer. By ninth grade, life yanked me south to Waldron, Arkansas — a town so small you could sneeze and everyone would say “Bless you” before you even finished.

Waldron wasn’t fancy, but it was real. Farm trucks, gravel roads, a Judy's Drive In that doubled as the Social hall, and a whole lot of people who’d give you the shirt off their back… as long as you were willing to listen to one of their stories first.

I wasn’t a saint back then — not even close. I had a good heart but a stubborn head. I thought I had life figured out. Then came kids.

And that’s when God said, “Alright, son, class is in session.”

Kids have a funny way of teaching you everything you didn’t know.

Like how patience isn’t a skill — it’s a miracle.

How love can keep you awake for 36 hours straight.

And how being a dad means half your prayers start with, “Lord, I’m sorry,” and end with, “but please help me anyway.”

My turning point wasn’t one big moment — it was a thousand little ones.

It was hearing my child laugh when I thought I’d failed.

It was realizing my sister — the best one God ever made — loved me even when I didn’t deserve it.

It was that quiet night when I finally stopped trying to fix myself and let Jesus do what I couldn’t.

Now, years later, I write children’s books.

Not because I’m perfect or polished — but because I know what it feels like to be lost, dented, or afraid to start over.

Every story I write is a little piece of me, telling kids (and adults too): You matter. You can fall. And you can always get back up shining.

People ask me sometimes, “Mark, how’d you go from Waldron to writing stories read by families all over?”

And I just smile and say, “God’s a better author than I’ll ever be. I’m just writing what He already planned.”

So here’s my truth:

I used to ask God, ‘Why me?’ when things got hard.

Now I ask ‘Why not me?’ when He gives me a chance to love, to write, to share, to be a dad, a brother, a believer.

Because this life — the messy, loud, beautiful thing — it’s the only story worth telling.

And I’m just thankful I get to be in it.