To the outside world, Lizzie McGlynn’s father was a model citizen. To little Lizzie he was a violent and depraved monster. For years, Lizzie was raped and beaten by her father, whilst her alcoholic mother stood by, helpless. She eventually found the courage to report him and her father was imprisoned - but 12 weeks later he was allowed to return to the family home and continue his reign of terror. He seemed to be above the law. Battered and violated, Lizzie knew she had to stay alive to protect her two little brothers. She went on to escape her father’s evil clutches, but the physical and mental scars continued to haunt her. Then, as her father lay dying, she summoned the strength and courage to forgive the man who had caused her so much pain.

Having been robbed of the kind of normal childhood that many children take for granted, I have majored in the details of life, both good and bad, and that has made me who I am. Staying five years in a hospital because of a devastating attack of polio took me away from my family and from the father of my youth. When I returned home at the age of six, I started getting attached to my father. At the age of ten, after additional corrective surgery, my father left our lives. Those formative years without him caused my life to go into a massive, deadly spiral toward all things bad. I was confused, lonely, and sometimes depressed. My hatred for him grew almost daily. I learned to steal because I was hungry. We received no support from him. The man who had left us began another family and never even tried to contact me. This drove me toward having a hatred for him that I wanted everyone to know. Stealing became easy. I started doing it for other reasons, such as to gain the acceptance of my peers. After losing interest in school and while trying to pull through the common nightmares that would wake me, I was rescued when God began to speak to my heart in various ways. I ignored that help until finally, at fifteen years old, I couldn't push that voice away any longer. I surrendered my heart to Christ. Although I had been forgiven, I had not been faced with forgiving the man who had destroyed me. The years went by, and the inevitable happened. I accidentally met him. It was my daddy. After a verbal fight, I was told that I was never allowed to see him again""even in death. After I became a husband, a father, and a pastor, I realized that I had to forgive the man who had divorced me when I was a child and penalized me when I was a young man and was privately waiting for me to reach him. Being faced with the opportunity to seek him out, reach him in love, and forgive him, I did just that. The opportunity to be reunited with this man wasn't easy, but I did just that. I met him, forgave him, and spent many wonderful days over the next few years with him. He left me when I was at my most vulnerable, but I came into his life when he was at his most vulnerable too. The past now being dead to both of us, I fell in love with him with a love that I never even dreamed was possible. Being called to be with him, I made the choice to make up for the time that we had both lost. The previous dead, dark, lonely years were erased and replaced with months of laughter, father-son talks, visits, phone calls, and opportunities to say "I love you." I was barely away from his bedside when they called and told me he had died. I had not just lost my newfound friend; I had lost my daddy. I will never get over that.

When we live with unresolved anger or hurt, the result is nearly always bitterness, broken relationships, and unhealthy behaviors. Unforgiveness not only sabotages our interactions with those around us, it impedes our own spiritual growth and inner peace. And it can happen to anyone. In her most vulnerable writing yet, Ruth Graham reveals how a visit to Angola Prison inspired her to release the unforgiveness lurking in her own heart--toward others, herself, and even her heavenly Father and her earthly father, evangelist Billy Graham. In this encouraging book, she weaves her own personal experiences with biblical examples to explore what holds us back from forgiving others and ourselves--and what we gain when we finally discover the power to forgive. Along the way, she guides us into our own deeply personal experiences of forgiveness that will penetrate our protective walls and unleash true transformation in our lives.

Why did you write the book? everyone wanted to know; Why would you put yourself through that all over again? I tell them that it was a promise that I had to fulfill; I was driven by that promise to: 1) inform the general public of a serious social problem of epidemic proportion; 2) help the victims of sexual child abuse better cope with their problems through Christian principles and methods, assuring them that they are not alone in their struggles, 3) bring the perpetrators to a realization of what they are doing; why they are doing it; leading them to seek help and forgiveness, and 4) lead the victim through steps to total healing through forgiveness. I have just completed the book by Sandra G. Lee, Father, forgive my Father. What an awesome book and life story to be told. The author shared all aspects of the history of child abuse through her eyes as a child and as an adult. More people should share as Sandra Lee has and the world would be a better place. Hats off to Sandra for being a strong and dedicated Christian to face adversity with non Christian individuals or those in denial of an eppidemic worth sharing. There should be more people such as her to keep the world in a better place.

A fourteen-year-old living with his grandparents learns his father is to be released from prison after killing his mother and feels apprehensive about renewing the relationship. Based on true events.

Where Was Daddy When You Needed Him? The absence of fathers is an epidemic plaguing our society, affecting families from every corner of our world and from all walks of life. Whether our fathers left us entirely during our childhood or were physically present but emotionally distant, those who missed out on an affirming, intimate father-love continue to experience the devastating consequences of that loss. • Are you angry at the world and don’t know why? • Do you inadvertently sabotage relationships or smother those closest to you? • Do you rarely take risks or step out on faith? • Is there an undercurrent of anxiety in most tasks you perform? • Do you struggle to connect with God? • Do you have little or no self-confidence–or minimal self-worth? For women who answer yes to these questions, the common denominator is often an absent father. Far too many daughters have been stripped of a healthy relationship with their earthly dad. But real healing is within your reach. Discover how the absence of your father has impacted your entire life–your attitude, your actions, your beliefs, your decisions, and your identity–and learn how you can stop resulting negative behaviors, beak free, and experience a confidence-building, empowering love that will heal your hurts and fulfill your deepest longings.

Profound reflections on the cross that help you to meditate on and marvel at the sacrificial love of Jesus. This book can be used as a devotional, especially during Lent and Easter. These profound reflections on the cross from David Mathis, author of The Christmas We Didn’t Expect, will help you to meditate on and marvel at Jesus’ life, sacrificial death, and spectacular resurrection-enabling you to treasure anew who Jesus is and what he has done. Many of us are so familiar with the Easter story that it becomes easy to miss subtle details and difficult to really enjoy its meaning. This book will help you to pause and marvel at Jesus, whose now-glorified wounds are a sign of his unfailing love and the decisive victory that he has won: “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5) This book can be used as a devotional. The chapters on Holy Week make it especially helpful during the Lent season and at Easter.

The United States is the world's leader in fatherless families. Marginalized by society into a distant and unemotional role as the family's bread winner, we are only now beginning to understand the devestating effect of emotionally distant fathers on their daughters' health and well-being-- and for some, even on their spirituality. Millions of women have suffered physical and emotional scars due to absent fathers, and have experienced the painful void not having this vital connection has created. Both authors write from personal experience overcoming emotionally distant fathers, offering practical solutions and hope for healing this emotional and spiritual rift. From how to forgive an abusive father, coping with loneliness, to nuturing healthy relationships, and much more-- this book is a tremendously empowering and enriching journey for women out of sadness and pain, breaking a legacy of loneliness and regret, to a renewed hope for their lives. Included are chapter questions, pages for journaling, and a list of counseling resources.

"It was time to heal. I had to stop creating a life that I could not live. It was time for the pain and suffering to stop. There was too much pain. I will die if the pain continues. Why does my life keep ending up in the same place? Abusive marriages, divorces, lawyers, legal suits - people in my life that had alcoholism, mental illness and abusive behavior, all telling me that I am the problem. Why did I keep creating and recreating everything I did not want and vowed not to have in my life? In the process of the healing - soul searching - reading of books - discussing - studying - therapy; seemingly insignificant scenes from my childhood kept entering my mind. The scenes were overpowering me, forcing me to look at and relive the feelings that I was having at the time. I began writing down the stories and discovered very meaningful messages that I was given as a child, messages that imprinted me and shaped my life's existence. These scenes and the feelings they created caused me to experience a repetitive pattern. It did not matter if the imprints were intended to create this pattern, only that it was the pattern it created in me. Until I was genuinely ready and able to look at my imprints and beliefs, where they came from and release them - the pattern would remain." Negative imprints, beliefs, thinking and emotions cause a great deal of mental, emotional and physical distress. Negative thoughts and worry sink deep and can control your life. There is power in how you perceive your past, your relation to it and your world . Awareness of how your past affects and guides will help stop the vicious cycle 'Daddy Throws Me In The Air' is a journey through childhood memories to awareness. It includes a process to assist in releasing negative imprints and beliefs.

How can someone forgive a sinless God? Shanda Miller's early life was molded by fear, abuse, and hatred. She witnessed her mother being abused over and over again until one night in the summer of 1984 when her mother was shot and left for dead. Everything Shanda knew about God and had heard in church seemed like a lie as each year passed with more abuse and disappointment. Losing her father and then her mentor and herself was all it took to be angry with a God who she always heard was loving and generous. After a lifetime of loss, she set out on a journey to find out who she was meant to be. She faced many obstacles while looking for a still-faced, angry God through the lens of the wreckage of her life. Shanda candidly tells her side of the story where anger meets forgiveness on the proverbial road of life. rough the innocent eyes of a seven-year-old girl to the cold, lifeless woman who walked the same dreaded boulevard of broken dreams and broken promises that had haunted generations of mothers before her, Shanda reveals how the fear and hatred molded her, but God's love broke that mold. Her anger at God for the lifetime of abuse fell away and the barriers blocking her from finding the real God crumbled around her the day she boldly said, "God, I forgive You."