Finding Father

A personal story of learning to trust our heavenly Father when you feel your earthly father has let you down. Blair Linne’s personal story of growing up without a father at home reflects the experiences of millions. She weaves her personal story with thoughtful theological reflection, inviting readers to learn from God what "father" really means and to trust him, even if they feel their earthly father has let them down. This book will help readers to shift their eyes from what they do not have in their earthly fathers (who, whether present or absent, loving or the opposite, can never be perfect) to what they do have in their eternal Father, who will never disappoint, reject or abandon them. Readers will see that the gospel promises not just forgiveness but also a place in God's family, experienced in a local church, where they can enjoy the fullness of his fatherly joy, care, wisdom, provision, protection and security. Also includes a chapter by Blair’s husband, the Christian hip-hop artist Shai, on his own story of fatherlessness and faith.

Bestselling author Robin Jones Gunn brings readers a poignant Christmas novella about a woman, desperate for a place to belong, who finds herself in London a few days before Christmas, looking for the father she never knew. In FINDING FATHER CHRISTMAS, Miranda Carson's search for her father takes a turn she never expected when she finds herself in London with only a few feeble clues to who he might be. Unexpectedly welcomed into a family that doesn't recognize her, and whom she's quickly coming to love, she faces a terrible decision. Should she reveal her true identity and destroy their idyllic image of her father? Or should she carry the truth home with her to San Francisco and remain alone in this world? Whatever choice she makes during this London Christmas will forever change the future for both herself and the family she can't bear to leave. Robin Jones Gunn brilliantly combines lyrical writing and unforgettable characters to craft a story of longing and belonging that will stay with readers long after they close the pages of this book.

A #1 New York Times bestselling author traces her father’s life from turn-of-the-century Warsaw to New York City in an intimate memoir about family, memory, and the stories we tell. “An accomplished, clear-eyed, and affecting memoir about a man who is at once ordinary and extraordinary.”—Forward Long before she was the acclaimed author of a groundbreaking book about women and men, praised by Oliver Sacks for having “a novelist’s ear for the way people speak,” Deborah Tannen was a girl who adored her father. Though he was often absent during her childhood, she was profoundly influenced by his gift for writing and storytelling. As she grew up and he grew older, she spent countless hours recording conversations with her father for the account of his life she had promised him she’d write. But when he hands Tannen journals he kept in his youth, and she discovers letters he saved from a woman he might have married instead of her mother, she is forced to rethink her assumptions about her father’s life and her parents’ marriage. In this memoir, Tannen embarks on the poignant, yet perilous, quest to piece together the puzzle of her father’s life. Beginning with his astonishingly vivid memories of the Hasidic community in Warsaw, where he was born in 1908, she traces his journey: from arriving in New York City in 1920 to quitting high school at fourteen to support his mother and sister, through a vast array of jobs, including prison guard and gun-toting alcohol tax inspector, to eventually establishing the largest workers’ compensation law practice in New York and running for Congress. As Tannen comes to better understand her father’s—and her own—relationship to Judaism, she uncovers aspects of his life she would never have imagined. Finding My Father is a memoir of Eli Tannen’s life and the ways in which it reflects the near century that he lived. Even more than that, it’s an unflinching account of a daughter’s struggle to see her father clearly, to know him more deeply, and to find a more truthful story about her family and herself.

That first lie Satan told in Eden--the one that said God was actually a selfish liar--has spawned a multitude of untruths about who God is and what His feelings toward us really are. The human perception of God has been askew ever since, and we've struggled to relate to this God we don't really (want to) know.Naturally, since our view of God is distorted, our attitudes and behavior are rebellious--perceptions change our thoughts, thoughts influence our feelings, and feelings determine attitudes and behavior. Herb Montgomery goes straight to the root of the problem and sweeps aside the misperceptions of God and His character that cause us to spurn the only one who truly loves us.Some of Christianity's long-held, though biblically unfounded, views are confronted--God's true attitude toward pain and suffering, where guilt comes from, and what His forgiveness accomplishes. And the question that plagues every human heart is irrevocably resolved: If God really loves us, why does He allow horrible things to happen?

Mennonite daughters reflect on their relationships with their fathers.

A Father Lost Nina Delacruz, age ten, refuses to believe that her father's never coming back. Even though her mother, Mercedes, says it's the truth. Even though, in her heart of hearts, Nina knows it's the truth. April Montgomery, age eleven, hasn't got a mother, and now she's withdrawing from her father, too. April's been keeping a secret from her dad, Cass, one she knows will hurt him deeply. If she tells him, maybe he won't love her anymore…. A Father Found The Delacruz and Montgomery families are brought together by a dog—a dog they both claim. When they take their dispute to court, the judge orders them to spend their time in each other's homes so the dog can choose. This turns out to be the best thing that could possibly have happened. Because now, with Mercedes's help, Cass will become the father both girls need. And the lover, friend and husband Mercedes needs.

By beloved author Robin Jones Gunn, two timeless, heartwarming Christmas novellas bound together for the first time in an omnibus edition. In Finding Christmas, Miranda Carson's search for her father leads her unexpectedly to London with only a few feeble clues as to who he might be. Immediately welcomed into a family that doesn't recognize her, and whom she's quickly coming to love, she faces a terrible decision. Should she reveal her true identity and destroy their idyllic image of her father? Or should she carry the truth home with her to San Francisco and remain alone in this world? Whatever choice she makes during this London Christmas will forever change the future for both herself and the family she can't bear to leave. In Engaging Father Christmas Miranda Carson can't wait to return to England for Christmas and to be with her boyfriend, Ian. She has spent a lifetime yearning for a place to call home, and she's sure Carlton Heath will be it, especially when a hinted-at engagement ring slips into the conversation. But Miranda's high hopes for a jolly Christmas with the small circle of people she has come to love are toppled when Ian's father is hospitalized and the matriarch of the Whitcombe family withholds her blessing from Miranda. Questions run rampant in Miranda's mind about whether she really belongs in this cheery corner of the world. Then, when her true identity threatens all her relationships in unanticipated ways, Miranda is certain all is lost. And yet . . . maybe Father Christmas has special gifts in store for her after all.