The Story of a Father and His Wayward Child
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Come Back, Barbara
by
C. John Miller and Barbara Miller Juliani
What do you do when your adult children reject their godly upbringing and walk away from the Lord? Jack Miller did what most parents do when his 18-year-old daughter, Barbara, announced that she wasn’t going to live like a Christian anymore. In desperation, he tried to instruct her and reason with her. But his urging only provoked her resentment and drove her deeper into her life of immorality. It’s the age-old story of the wayward child and the desperate parent uniquely told from both perspectives together.
Father
Jack describes how, in his helplessness, God convicted him of his own sin. He realized his feelings of guilt and failure as a parent were rooted in pride and that his daughter’s life choices weren’t about him or his parenting skills. Then God taught him to love his daughter biblically, as Christ would love her. He had to put aside the betrayal he felt and treat her as the Shepherd treats His lost sheep with unrelenting love. He began to pray for her, serve her, and seek help from others without concern for his own reputation. And the church’s lavish love and generosity eventually led to the salvation of her husband and her return to faith.
Daughter
As her dad tells his story, Barbara explains how seeing her parents grow in the Lord changed her heart. Some of the most profound moments for her were when he asked for her forgiveness and when he stopped trying to fix her and just loved her.
When you try to fix someone, you're trying to be their God. #TheHeartoftheAuthor #ComeBackBarbara #podcast Click To Tweet
Do y’all know if there’s any way to “listen” to Come Back, Barbara? My husband isn’t a reader but would happily listen to an audio version.