Shattered Family

A Shattered Family is about one American Christian family that fell apart. Denise tried everything in her power to save her marriage. She is a devout Christian woman who prayed, spoke the Word of God over her family, and never gave up. But everything soon changed when she heard the voice of God direct her to look through her husband's dresser drawers one night. With Denise's world, she once knew came crashing down around her, she had turned to her faith in Jesus Christ. She turned her faith to the one who promised to never leave her or forsake her (Hebrews 13:5, Deuteronomy 31:6). This is a true story of one Christian woman who never gave up on life. Never gave up through a painful divorce, poverty, criticism, and her kids being scattered. With all odds stacked against her, she goes to college, true love of a Christian man finds her, moves to Connecticut, gets remarried, and with the help of the Almighty God, starts an online ministry called "Broken but Beautiful Ministries," all by faith in God. Denise was broken in so many ways. However, she was broken but beautiful through Father God in so many ways.

Shattered Justice presents original crime victims' experiences with violent crime, investigations and trials, and later exonerations in their cases. Using in-depth interviews with 21 crime victims across the United States, Cook reveals how homicide victims’ family members and rape survivors describe the painful impact of the primary trauma, the secondary trauma of the investigations and trials, and then the tertiary trauma associated with wrongful convictions and exonerations. Important lessons and analyses are shared related to grief and loss, and healing and repair. Using restorative justice practices to develop and deliver healing retreats for survivors also expands the practice of restorative justice. Finally, policy reforms aimed at preventing, mitigating, and repairing the harms of wrongful convictions is covered.

A devastating account of how Australia’s family courts fail children, families and victims of domestic abuse The family courts intimately affect the lives of those who come before them. Judges can decide where you are allowed to live and work, which school your child can attend and whether you are even permitted to see your child. Lawyers can interrogate every aspect of your personal life during cross-examination, and argue whether or not you are fit to be a parent. Broken explores the complexities and failures of Australia’s family courts through the stories of children and parents whose lives have been shattered by them. Camilla Nelson and Catharine Lumby take the reader into the back rooms of the system to show what it feels like to be caught up in spirals of abusive litigation. They reveal how the courts have been politicised by Pauline Hanson and men’s rights groups, and how those they are meant to protect most – children – are silenced or treated as property. Exploring the legal culture, gender politics and financial incentives that drive the system, Broken reveals how the family courts – despite the high ideals on which they were founded – have turned into the worst possible place for vulnerable families and children. Camilla Nelson is an associate professor in media at the University of Notre Dame Australia. A former Walkley Award winner, her writing has appeared in The Conversation, The Independent, Guardian Australia, Mamamia, Marie Claire and the ABC. Broken is her fifth book. Catharine Lumby is a media professor at the University of Sydney. She has a law degree, is the author of six books and has written for The Guardian, The Sydney Morning Herald, ABC-TV and The Bulletin. 'What happens to kids in our family law system should be a national scandal – and yet, so few people know about it. This book finally lifts the lid on this broken system, and shows how this once-great institution now regularly orders children to see or live with dangerous parents, and bankrupts the victim-parents trying to protect them. An urgent call to action.'—Jess Hill, author of See What You Made Me Do 'This searing review of Australia’s family court system is in turns heartbreaking and enraging. Drawing on recent cases and interviews, it shows how family violence continues to be misunderstood and how violent perpetrators are able to manipulate the legal system. It reveals that too often children are not heard, sometimes with devastating outcomes. This book is an urgent appeal: we must do better.'—Professor Heather Douglas, author of Women, Intimate Partner Violence and the Law

Broken Vows Shattered Lives is the story of Steve Mentzer as he journeyed with pain, grief, and shame of a Christian going through divorce. After ten years of marriage and six weeks after ordination, Steve found his marriage and ministry in shambles. Saddled with thoughts of unworthiness, he left the ministry for four years and focused his energies into finding the reasons for his downward spiral. The book starts with the beginning of divorce-marriage. Helping others find the reasons for their feelings in divorce he chronicles his thoughts and actions alongside valuable help for those like himself wondering if they have failed God. Broken Vows Shattered Lives has been used in counseling with other believers and is the basis for A Journey Through the Land of Divorce led by Dr. Mentzer. This book and seminar serve the express purpose of helping those hurting Christians to know the graciousness and love of the Father once again. Emotional pain is so powerful and damaging, but even when we are in that dark pit, we need to look to God to light our way. Dr. Mentzer used the principles in Broken Vows Shattered Lives to teach me how to know God more intimately, and how to find hope, healing and love through Jesus Christ. The lessons shared by this godly man can help anyone recover from their brokenness by trusting in God's words. The wisdom in these passages has been a gift for me, and one that has continued to bless me in many ways, throughout the years. Sherry B. Chesapeake, Virginia Dr. Mentzer's book provides a thoughtful, insightful, and useful tool for those who have experienced the pain of divorce and for those who counsel families in crisis. T. McClain, Psy.D., Clinical Psychologist Wheeling, West Virginia

Novel based on partition of India.

A family saga about today's modern American family. A real slice of an American pie family that faces its ups and downs and tries to survive. A family that shatters and tries to pick up the pieces. A real life roller coaster ride that leaves you both laughing and crying at the same time. This story makes you laugh, cry and wish for more!

In Perspectives on Family Ministry, Timothy Paul Jones makes the case that every church is called to some form of family ministry—but what he means by "family ministry" isn’t simply one more program to add to an already-packed schedule! According to Jones, the most effective family ministries involve refocusing every church process to engage parents in the process of discipling their children and to draw family members together instead of pulling them apart. Jones sets the stage with introductory chapters on the historical contexts and foundations of family ministry. Then, three effective practitioners show clearly how your church can make the transition to family ministry. Paul Renfro (pastor of discipleship at Grace Family Baptist Church in Spring, Texas) writes in favor of Family-Integrated Ministry, where the emphasis is on intergenerational discipleship. Brandon Shields (minister to high school students at Highview Baptist Church, a multi-site megachurch in Kentucky and Indiana) supports Family-Based Ministry—ministry that organizes programs according to ages and interests but also develops intentional activities and training events to bring families together. Jay Strother (minister to emerging generations at Brentwood Baptist Church in Tennessee) prefers Family-Equipping Ministry, maintaining age-organized ministry while reorganizing the congregation to call parents to become active partners in the discipleship of their children.

This book on parental alienation and family reunification provides family court professionals with critical background in child development, dynamics present in violent families, and how to evaluate the testimony of experts to ensure it values children’s views, best interests of the children, and follows evidence-based practice. As laid out in the Child Welfare Information Gateway report, 2020, Family court judges should make decisions per the best interests of the child standard. High conflict custody cases make this complicated, especially when reunification services are requested. In the middle of contentious proceedings, judges oftentimes receive conflicting information from parents. Judges and family law professionals can be lead astray, relying on unproven constructs and instruments not meeting the criteria of reliability and validity. Mandating victimized children into reunification programs that are neither evidence-based nor trauma informed can cause further harm to the children. This book will be of interest to those working in the family courts, particularly expert witnesses, clinical psychologists, therapists, children’s services workers including social workers, child protection court workers, mental health professionals involved in child custody decisions, and researchers with an interest in parental alienation. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Journal of Family Trauma, Child Custody & Child Development.