Come Back, Barbara

Come Back, Barbara was suggested to me by my Christian therapist I was seeing in relationship to my daughter, who has been estranged from our family. It gave me a bird's eye view of a solid Christian family who also had a problem...not knowing the thing to do to show love to their daughter even when she seemed unlovable. It helped me to see that anyone with good intentions in raising their children can still lack what is needed in embracing even that which is hard to do. But Jesus tells us that to love the hardest to love is what we need to do and put our own thoughts aside. It was wonderful and I highly suggest it to any parent with a child who seems to not 'fit the mold'. Keep loving your child.

I cannot possibly recommend a book more highly for "parents in pain," i.e. parents whose children are now older and may have "bolted" from the flock (whether they are still at home or have left the "nest" as well as the faith). For parents whose children remain in the "far country" still unreconciled to their Father - the "Father of spirits) (and their earthly parents as well), this excellent foray into the life of one rebellious teen (Barbara) is very biblically oriented and therefore exceedingly helpful in learning to respond in godly ways to children who may have begun to tred some dangerous paths. There are no pat answers - C. John Miller will be the first to affirm this . . . but there are biblical directions, biblical prayer, biblical postures that parents can take toward their children who have, to one degree or another, rejected their parents faith. Miller is correct: the process of seeing our children return from the far country is an adventure. And God is just as interested in rescuing the parents (from their natural but harmful sense of and supposed need for control, among other sinful behavior patterns) as He is the wayward children. I would recommend this book to every parent who is struggling with the issue of their child resisting their godly shaping influences - even if they have not actually left with their "Father's inheritance" to squander it in riotous livingHoward Eames, Kansas City, MissouriMore about me www.faithcommunity.com/fca/

A group of my Christian friends and I are dealing with a close friend who has recently fallen away from the faith. I can't tell you how encouraging and perspective-renewing this book was for us to read, even though we aren't her parents! Jack Miller brings everything right back to the Gospel. The lessons that he and his wife learned showed me "what love looks like." None of us could put it down. It's been a God-send!

This is an excellent book for parents raising teenagers. The format of the book is such that the reader gets the story from both the parent's side and the daughter's side. This gives the reader insight into the reasoning of the daughter, as well as the viewpoint of the parent. Although the subject matter deals with a wayward child and how the parents and family dealt with the issues involved with that, the principles given in relating to children are a benefit to all parents. I recommend it to everyone, whether you have children who have rebelled against your teachings or not. The principles of interpersonal relationships dealt with in this book are useful in many circumstances. A must read!

The father and daughter in this book openly share their journey of separation and reconcilliation after the daughter forsakes all the spiritual values her father held dear. This book is a must for parents who are struggling with how to relate to a wayward child. This is a true story.