Fatherless: Broken to Whole: Hope Through Prayer

By Mary Ann Birdsong-Saunders

Fatherlessness is at epidemic proportions in our nation.

Fatherless: Broken to Whole brings an awareness of an escalating problem in our nation and communities and offers a solution that is sure to bring about change. Taking a biblical viewpoint, this book presents what Father God is like and the hope and inner healing He offers the broken. Fatherless: Broken to Whole speaks to two groups: first, to the fatherless and second, to people who will commit to advocate and pray for them.

God wants the fatherless, whether ten months old or one hundred years old, to come to know they are loved and of great value. He offers a way to enable them to overcome confusion, feelings of guilt, abandonment, hopelessness, and feeling unloved. God wants the fatherless to see Him as Daddy.

I have always wanted to treat you as My children and give you the best land, the most beautiful on earth. I wanted you to call Me Father and not turn from Me

(Jeremiah 3:19 CEV).

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Feb 26, 2016
• ISBN: 9781512731330

Mary Ann Birdsong-Saunders

Mary Ann, a native of Michigan City, Indiana, grew up in a large family where there was always room for one more. Family is important to Mary Ann, therefore she has a concern for the many fatherless children who are experiencing emotional, mental, spiritual, and even physical pain due to the lack of good fathering in their lives. This passion moves her to speak up for and support causes that address the fatherless. Mary Ann is a sought after Bible teacher and has spoken in several venues. She is a graduate of Northwood University, Midland, Michigan, and of Mount Hope Church Bible Training Institute of Lansing, Michigan, holding a diploma in ministry. Mary Ann and her husband, Gene, are the parents of four children and seven grandchildren.

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Copyright © 2016 Mary Ann Birdsong-Saunders.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-3134-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-3135-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-3133-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016902443

Print information available on the last page.

WestBow Press rev. date: 02/26/2016

CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1 Isaiah

Chapter 2 Fatherlessness Defined

Chapter 3 Touching Ishmael

Chapter 4 The Effects of Fatherlessness

Chapter 5 A Plan for Every Life

Chapter 6 Taking Up the Cause

Chapter 7 Forgiveness

Chapter 8 Scripture Meditation

Chapter 9 Prayer First

Chapter 10 Personal Story

A Final Word

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation. Copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are from the Holy Bible: New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked CEV are from the Contemporary English Version. Copyright 1995 by American Bible Society.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.

Scriptures quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version. Public domain.

Scripture quotations marks HCSB are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. Copyright 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NRSV are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Writing my first book, Net Worth Makeover, seemed a daunting task at the time. As it was my personal testimony, I have now found that it was much easier to write than this book.

Many thanks to Mary Ann Woodcock, Cristel Phelps and Carolyn McElroy who offered their literary talents and provided invaluable feedback.

I also want to thank my sisters and friends who prayed for and encouraged me. I am eternally grateful!

And finally, many thanks to my husband and friend, Gene. He is patient and kind, always believing the best for me. Thank you, Gene!

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Mosaics are made from broken pieces,

but they're still works of art, and so are you.

---Anonymous

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INTRODUCTION

The purposes of this book are to highlight the problem of fatherlessness, to offer a way for people to come against the problem in their own and others' lives, and to turn this nation around to one where fatherlessness is no longer common. Fatherlessness and the resulting fatherless syndrome have become epidemic in this nation. The alarming statistics of fatherlessness and fatherless syndrome point to the enormous pain suffered by our children. Whether they are one or one hundred years old, they all have a story.

Webster defines syndrome as a group of signs and symptoms that occur together and characterize a particular abnormality. Quite often children growing up in a fatherless environment experience loneliness, abandonment, rejection, and much more.

Yes, there are incidents where acts of rape and incest result in unwanted pregnancies, producing children who will be raised without a dad in the home, put into foster care, placed into adoption or even worse, aborted. However, this is not the overwhelming reason for fatherlessness in America.

I believe the divine design for the family structure is to have a mommy and a daddy raising their children, nurturing, teaching, and loving them. Even more, the dad is to be the one who protects, provides for, and covers his family.

May I say right up front that for thousands of children, the dad is not in the home, yet he is totally involved in the lives of his children. Due to separation or divorce, the parents are not living together, but the dad is there for his children. He is involved with their day-to-day activity, providing support---emotionally, spiritually, and financially. You dads are to be celebrated! You are doing a great job.

Far too often, though, I've been in conversations where I'm told that someone has a number of children, the dads are all different, and there is no dad in the home. Sometimes the discussion is with a man who casually states the number of children he has fathered by women who are not his wife or even