Faith


How I Learned to Love My Dad


On Father’s Day, a poignant story of faith and forgiveness after a cruel and abusive childhood.


F BY CARRIE SHEFFIELD


ather’s day is a multibil- lion-dollar affair. In the weeks leading up to it, men’s ties, barbecue aprons, and golf-


themed gifts fly off the shelves. My own view on Father’s Day has a complicated history. After an abusive, impoverished childhood, I felt an anger toward my dad. I grew up within an offshoot Mor-


mon cult led by my father, who claimed to be a prophet. I lived with seven biological siblings in various motor homes, tents, houses, and sheds. Besides time spent in home- schooling, I attended 17 different public schools. When I took my ACT exam, we


lived in a shed with no furnace or run- ning water in the Ozarks, where win- ter temperatures can hover around the freezing mark. Sometimes, we didn’t have food. I have two siblings with schizophre- nia, including one brother who tried to


48 NEWSMAX | JUNE 2025


rape me and one who accused me of trying to seduce him. I’ve suffered nine hospital visits


for complications around depres- sion, fibromyalgia, suicidal ideation, and post-traumatic stress disorder. My dad told my brothers they


deserved their schizophrenia. And he warned me against leaving home for college, prophesying “in the name of Jesus” that I’d be raped and murdered. Despite all this, I landed a full jour-


nalism scholarship to Harvard, where I earned a master’s degree. Since then, I’ve largely enjoyed a produc- tive career and a life filled with travel, adventure, and caring friends, though it’s been scarred with periodic epi- sodes of severe depression. Eventually, though I never thought


it possible, I forgave my father for what he did to me, my mother, and my siblings. Only through an unlikely series of


events did I attend this man’s birth- day celebration, grateful for the gifts he did impart and able to forgive the mental agony that made me want to kill myself. Sadly, four of my siblings did attempt suicide. The journey started with my Chris-


tian conversion, a decision that began the process of opening my heart to God’s healing balm of forgiveness. Shortly after my baptism, Antho-


ny B. Thompson became a spiritual mentor to me. Anthony is pastor of Holy Trinity Reformed Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Caro- lina, and author of Called to Forgive:


The journey started with my Christian conversion, a decision that began the process of opening my heart to God’s healing balm of forgiveness.


SUNSET/WESTEND61/GETTY IMAGES / ILLUSTRATION/NANZEEBA IBNAT GETTY IMAGES


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100