Forgiving Our Fathers and Mothers
A grandfather and his grandchildren. The thought conjures up a sweet picture of love to most. Award-winning author Leslie Leyland Fields recalls the first time she packed up her six kids and traveled from Alaska to Florida to visit her estranged father. She had prepared them not to expect much; after all, he hadn’t been much of a father to her, so why would he be interested in his grandchildren? Leslie talks about this bittersweet visit, as well as her childhood growing up with a mentally ill father. Leslie also reflects on her own journey of forgiveness which began one Sunday when the words of the Lord’s Prayer penetrated her heart like an arrow: “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.” Leslie shares what she did to begin to see her father through the eyes of Christ, a process she now admits, changed her life.
Meet Series Guests
Leslie Leyland Fields
Leslie Fields writes for Christianity Today as a feature writer and columnist and writes freelance for a number of other magazines and journals. She is also a speaker, and between speaking and writing, she also runs a professional writing business, The Northern Pen, performing manuscript critique. She earned a Bachelor’s degree from Cedarville University, a Master’s in English and Journalism from University of Oregon.
Leslie lives on Kodiak Island, Alaska, in a house on a cliff over the North Pacific waters of the Gulf of Alaska. Since 1978, Leslie spends her summers at Harvester Island off the west coast of Kodiak Island, where she, her husband and their 6 children are the island’s only inhabitants. There they work in an extended family fishing operation.