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Relationships renewed by Love
Before I reached the age of three, all of the significant men in my young life had passed on: my father, my maternal grandfather, and my paternal grandfather. My mother told me I was so bereft that when taking the car ferry across the Mackinac Straits in northern Michigan, before the bridge was built, I would go up to kind-looking men who happened to sit or stand by us and ask in my little three-year-old voice, “Would you be my daddy?” This caused my mother and grandmother a good deal of embarrassment and I am sure no little pain.
Just after I turned five, my mother was to marry a man she met while finishing her college degree. I was to be the flower girl in the wedding. You can imagine how excited I was to have a real daddy coming to live with us! Unfortunately, shortly after our new family group settled in, the unhappy, false nature of this man began to surface. Sarcasm and acrimony swirled around me, and abuse of many kinds centered on me.
To the outside world, we had a life to envy: a beautiful home and a cottage on a lake, exciting vacations, a large circle of friends, lovely clothes, and many things to enjoy. But family relations inside were so difficult and volatile growing up that I literally fled to college, taking everything I owned and could carry with me.
Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.
July 25, 2011 &
August 1, 2011
double issue
View Issue
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Letters
Cindy Roemer, Laurel Marquart, Brian Zavitz, Charles Palenz
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Singing in perfect harmony
Maike Byrd, Staff Editor
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‘. . . So I can read the holy book myself’
Fredrick Nzwili
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Building on the bedrock of spirituality
Patti Waterson
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Prayer about unemployment: from millions, to one
Margaret Campbell
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God is Love
By Christa Kreutz
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How do we get to know God better?
By Brian Hall
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Lights leading to the practice
David Horn
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Your questions about church
Giulia Nesi, Scott Putnam
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Healing and church
Glory Holzworth, Adrienne Jones
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A career of healing in the theatre arts
By Kim Shippey
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Excerpts from Theatre: Its Healing Role in Education
Richard Morse
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Hang up on ‘Uncle George’
By Bob Cochran
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Seasons of good
Christie Hanzlik
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Why worship together?
Lois Carlson
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His
Wil Meacham
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Prosperous living
Sue Spotts
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A to-do list?
Kay Weed
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For the preservation of the world’s animals
By Colleen Douglass
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Healing stories from South Africa
Senelisiwe Nkomo, Gemma Ritchie, Moleboheng Beauty Masehlelo, Nikki Papadopoulos, Maia James
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Let's pray
Travis, Lou, Monique, Davin
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Striking the right notes in families
By Ginny Luedeman
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Getting along with my father-in-law
Name withheld
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Healing steps to reconciliation
By Jean Paul Nlend Nkott
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Relationships renewed by Love
Name withheld
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My marriage was saved
By Chris Harvey
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If ‘thy brother hath aught against thee . . .’
Mary Ann Cahill
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Family harmony—it’s possible!
John Minard, Valerie Minard
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Roadside assistance with God
An experience of Bev and Kurt Smith
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Singing and soaring beyond the Requiem
By Elaine Lang
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Spiritual safety
James Masson Coleman
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Montana dusk
Maike Byrd
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Vision restored
Don Alusic
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Constant protection as a stuntman
Loren Janes
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Depression overcome
Peter Tyner
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Hockey healings
Anne Cooling , Evan Cooling
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From extremes to a world in balance
The Editors