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Trading Fathers: Forgiving Dad, Embracing God
Awarded 2009 Write-to-Publish Writer of the Year, Karen Rabbitt documents her true story in Trading Fathers, showing her journey from brokenness to wholeness. Conceived through the trauma of marital rape, Karen shares the sexual abuse she suffered as a preschooler at the hands of her father as well as the ripple effect on her childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. As she sorts out the differences between her heavenly and earthly fathers, Karen learns to see God as her true Papa and experiences lasting freedom from the bondage of abuse.
315 pages, Paperback
First published January 14, 2009
About the author
Karen Rabbitt
1 book1 follower Author and Speaker on Emotionally Healthy Christianity, Retired
Author, Trading Fathers: Forgiving Dad, Embracing God (WinePress 2009)
Free PDF here: http://tinyurl.com/FreepdfTF
January, 07, Today's Christian Woman,
"I was a Food Addict"
Spring, 07 Marriage Partnership,
"Sticks and Stones."
These and other articles available online.
-Retired in 2005 from 20 years of doing psychotherapy, primarily with Christian clients.
-Retired in 2012 from writing and speaking.
-Still active on Facebook and Instagram
-Never Give Up, writing Sunday Psalms and Tuesday Thoughts since 2020 on Substack
-Married since 1972: 5 years of hell, 10 years of purgatory, more than 20 years of heaven...pretty much in that order.
-one married adult daughter and two grandboys.
-I lost 40 pounds in 2004, an answer to a prayer I prayed fifteen years before!
-I love to encourage Christians toward emotional healing and spiritual growth--there's always more!
Author, Trading Fathers: Forgiving Dad, Embracing God (WinePress 2009)
Free PDF here: http://tinyurl.com/FreepdfTF
January, 07, Today's Christian Woman,
"I was a Food Addict"
Spring, 07 Marriage Partnership,
"Sticks and Stones."
These and other articles available online.
-Retired in 2005 from 20 years of doing psychotherapy, primarily with Christian clients.
-Retired in 2012 from writing and speaking.
-Still active on Facebook and Instagram
-Never Give Up, writing Sunday Psalms and Tuesday Thoughts since 2020 on Substack
-Married since 1972: 5 years of hell, 10 years of purgatory, more than 20 years of heaven...pretty much in that order.
-one married adult daughter and two grandboys.
-I lost 40 pounds in 2004, an answer to a prayer I prayed fifteen years before!
-I love to encourage Christians toward emotional healing and spiritual growth--there's always more!
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 15, 2019
Memoir of a former Champaign Vineyardite describing her childhood abuse by her father, subsequent social problems and mental illness, and how God’s healing came in that she was able to see God was not like her biological father but was reliable and trustworthy. A quick and interesting read. I was left wondering how much of her mental problems were because of or the result of excessive introspection.
June 24, 2009
In responding to the father that abused and molested her, Karen Rabbitt writes these words and sets the tone for her book "Trading Fathers: Forgiving Dad, Embracing God".
"Jesus shed His blood, you do not need to shed yours."
This is an autobiography, a memoir of her life beginning as a small child to present day in which she recounts in vivid detail the results of the transgressions put upon her by her father shaping her life through adulthood until she comes to understand the great Love that has waited for her all through the years.
This story is a visual picture of the sin cycle and how it can weave through the lives of the fathers down to the third and fourth generation. Unless interrupted, the resulting shame, regret, and loneliness remains unrestrained and affects every aspect of the the lives involved.
A truly tragic story told with piercing honesty and authenticity. It is very painful to read at times, that is, until she turns to her true Father, who has waited patiently for her all her life.
As God begins to shine Truth on all the areas she has long buried, you read the intense personal struggle that ends with forgiveness,humility, and redemption.
'Papa-God' redeems the writer and emboldens her to the point of freeing herself from the past with all its pain, and recounting the story to help others along the way.
An exceptional story, heralding God's Love and His power to not erase, but redeem all transgressions.
"Jesus shed His blood, you do not need to shed yours."
This is an autobiography, a memoir of her life beginning as a small child to present day in which she recounts in vivid detail the results of the transgressions put upon her by her father shaping her life through adulthood until she comes to understand the great Love that has waited for her all through the years.
This story is a visual picture of the sin cycle and how it can weave through the lives of the fathers down to the third and fourth generation. Unless interrupted, the resulting shame, regret, and loneliness remains unrestrained and affects every aspect of the the lives involved.
A truly tragic story told with piercing honesty and authenticity. It is very painful to read at times, that is, until she turns to her true Father, who has waited patiently for her all her life.
As God begins to shine Truth on all the areas she has long buried, you read the intense personal struggle that ends with forgiveness,humility, and redemption.
'Papa-God' redeems the writer and emboldens her to the point of freeing herself from the past with all its pain, and recounting the story to help others along the way.
An exceptional story, heralding God's Love and His power to not erase, but redeem all transgressions.
March 8, 2010
In the book "Trading Fathers," Karen Rabbitt recounts the horrible physical and emotional abuse she suffered as a child. Feeling unprotected by her parents, she grew to also feel abandoned and unloved by God.
Her early traumas showed themselves in extremely risky and promiscuous behavior while in college. She did marry and eventually have a child, but she suffered several mental breakdowns after giving birth.
Although she was able to eventually overcome the hatred she felt for her father with prayer and trust in God’s love. She does feel able to eventually confront her father and ask for his acknowledgment of what happened to her, but he is unwilling to discuss the issue with her. Still, by this time, she has learned to overcome and accept, if not absolve, the abuse that occurred. She becomes a social worker, helping other abuse victims to work through their issues and accept the love and guidance of a heavenly father.
Through much patience and after a great deal of painful struggle, Rabbit was finally able to come to accept the love of “Papa God” and to use her personal experiences to help others. People who are struggling with their own painful memories will find much encouragement and triumph in her story.
Her early traumas showed themselves in extremely risky and promiscuous behavior while in college. She did marry and eventually have a child, but she suffered several mental breakdowns after giving birth.
Although she was able to eventually overcome the hatred she felt for her father with prayer and trust in God’s love. She does feel able to eventually confront her father and ask for his acknowledgment of what happened to her, but he is unwilling to discuss the issue with her. Still, by this time, she has learned to overcome and accept, if not absolve, the abuse that occurred. She becomes a social worker, helping other abuse victims to work through their issues and accept the love and guidance of a heavenly father.
Through much patience and after a great deal of painful struggle, Rabbit was finally able to come to accept the love of “Papa God” and to use her personal experiences to help others. People who are struggling with their own painful memories will find much encouragement and triumph in her story.
August 4, 2018
This book is beautifully written. The author describes childhood abuse, struggles, healing, in a voice that is true. It is particularly effective at depicting a Midwest farm town in the 1950s, 60s. She doesn't make anything sound simple. Her particular take on Christianity is fundamentalist (God is male) and though I don't ascribe to this view, the book is not preachy. The book's central narrative, about a girl's experience of abuse--what that looks like, and the after-effects of being silenced about that abuse, is what comes foreground for this reader.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews