Learning to Live Loved: When a Fatherless Girl Becomes a Christian Woman

by Delmesha L Richards

Overview

When a fatherless girl becomes a Christian woman, does she have the ability to authentically relate to the God of the Bible as her Father?

Despite her best efforts to be an authentic and fruitful Christian, how does she have the capacity to assimilate into a Father-daughter relationship with the Lord when she has no reference point for such a relationship?

Fatherless women have varied layers of emotional trauma and baggage from the brokenness caused by father absence. As confirmed by decades of research and analysis, this brokenness and emotional dysfunction is carried into every relationship she develops, including her relationship with the Lord.

In her debut title, Learning to Live Loved, Delmesha candidly explores her own fatherlessness and shares the posture of her heart toward the Lord as she wrestles with Him and questions the truth of who He is. With fearless transparency, she invites readers to experience her process of maintaining a firm grip on her faith and passion for the Lord while navigating through her brokenness and dysfunctional relationship with Him. Delmesha carefully examines through her own lens:

• How fatherlessness can cultivate fertile ground for other traumatic experiences
• Ways father absence can cause fruitful believers to question God's nature and levy accusations against His character
• The clarity you gain when you intentionally explore the beliefs that inhibit God's familial connection to us as a present and active Father
• How you can unravel the patterns that frustrate and prevent living in the unfathomable love of an invisible God

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781733960410
Publisher:	Salted Ink Publishing
Publication date:	06/11/2019
Pages:	172
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

A multifaceted woman, to say the least, Delmesha has gifts, skills, and experiences covering a spectrum that widens as her interests evolve. From IT project management, business consulting, and publishing faith-based works to being a family vlogger, homeschooling momma, and real estate investor, she literally does what she wants, when she wants - and she's extraordinary at it all! But her greatest joy and most precious gift is life with her husband, Ivan, and their four amazing children. A textbook extrovert who loves connecting with people, feel free to connect with her at [e-mail] or @Learningtoliveloved on Facebook and TikTok.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1 – Face to Face

Chapter 2 – Three Sides to Every Story

Chapter 3 – A Fatherless Bedrock

Chapter 4 – Abba Who?

Chapter 5 – Healing is a Choice

Chapter 6 – Fatherhood Redefined

Chapter 7 – He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

Chapter 8 – Triune Beingness

Chapter 9 – Conquering the Thought Life

Chapter 10 – Controversial Forgiveness

Chapter 11 – The Church: Inadvertently Implicit

Epilogue

A Note from the Author

Appendix A

Acknowledgements

Prologue

I don’t remember exactly what day it was, I just know it was an afternoon in the spring of 2002. I was home on Spring Break in Pittsburgh visiting my family during my fourth year of college at South Carolina State University. My mom and I were on the east side of Pittsburgh driving through a neighborhood called Wilkinsburg. I wasn’t really familiar with that side of town because I grew up on the Northside, but my mom knew it like the back of her hand because it was where she was raised—her old stomping grounds, as they say. While I was driving down one of the major avenues, taking in the urban and rugged sights, my mother looked straight ahead, pointed out her passenger side window, and said, “Your dad lives right there.”

She was so flippant. The moment felt both odd and random because she and I never really discussed my father. The indifference in her voice and the calm carelessness in her body language felt rather eerie to me. Not only was I shocked and thrown completely off guard, all kinds of thoughts and emotions started making their way to the surface, but I had no time to really sit and sift through the waters that were beginning to flood my mind—let alone spend any time processing the gravity of what she had just revealed to me. The moment was swiftly escaping my grasp because the house she pointed to was moving farther away in my rearview mirror. So, I acted with an urgency that caused me to swerve and skid toward the sidewalk, a few blocks down from the house.

When the car came to a stop, I was in a slight state of panic, and my mom wasted no time as she began bickering and complaining. She became exasperated after I put the car in reverse, but I had no problem ignoring her because my mind was moving way too rapidly. I just wasn’t capable of focusing on anything she was saying. I stopped my sky-blue Corolla at the curb directly in front of the house and could feel my armpits perspiring through my sweater—from my nervousness and growing indignation toward my father. I had no idea what I was going to do beyond knock on the door to see if he were there, and I certainly hadn’t taken the time to consider what I might say to him. I was operating on sheer impulse and adrenaline.

Looking past my mom at his front door, disregarding what had become her own indignation, I placed the car in park. I felt resolute, despite how ill-equipped I was, and my mom must have noticed the unwavering determination written all over my face.

I unbuckled my seatbelt, grabbed for the door handle, told my mom, "I'll be right back," as she scoffed and rolled her eyes at me. I approached the steps to the house and still had no idea what I wanted to say. Nor did I have a clue as to what I intended to gain from the soon-to-be awkward encounter with the man who conveniently walked out of my life over twenty years prior.

He needed to see the woman I was on the cusp of becoming, he deserved to suffer somehow, and while I stood at his front door, my heart stood at attention, anticipating the moment the door would swing open.

That day, no one answered.