Where are you from?
KP – Queens, New York.

Do you miss the city?
KP – Not terribly.  I miss the energy of the city.  I miss shopping.  I miss what I love most about New York.  It’s a great melting pot.

What was your childhood like?
KP – That’s a loaded question.  My childhood was rich spiritually.  And at times confusing because it was old school Pentecostal.  I had a lot of questions that were not being answered and could not be answered but I still asked them.  And when we were coming up children were supposed to be seen and not heard.  On the natural side it was challenging.  My parents split up when I was really young.  My mother was 22 years old raising three children alone in the ‘70’s.  My father died when I was nine years old.  My mother left my dad because he was a preacher in the church who left the church and backslid.

How did your dad backslide?
KP – There was alcoholism and drug abuse on my dad’s side of the family.  He was the only person in his family who was saved.  He had a real battle because he would go to church on Sunday and his entire family would stay home.  They didn’t do church.  He had an inner battle and it got to be too much for him.  He was a black man in the ‘70’s with a family to take care of and realized after the fact that he wasn’t really ready.  His dad died when he was really young and he had no male figures to really look up to.

What was the toughest time of your childhood?
KP – I remember being homeless and sleeping in my mother’s car when I was four years old.  I remember my mother would go to family members on my dad’s side and ask can my sisters and I stay with them.  Even if we could  sleep on the floor.  I remember them telling my mother there’s no room for us in the house and telling my mother she’ll be fine.  I remember my mother bundling us up in coats with tears in her eyes and taking us to sleep in the car.

How did that experience shape you as an adult?
KP – As an adult, I have to be honest and say that there’s not much that I’m afraid of.  But I work the way that I do because I have a bit of fear of homelessness.  I have to believe God to deliver me from that.  I have such a vivid memory of being homeless.  I remember I would not get my nails or hair done unless I had a show because I felt like it was money that did not need to be spent.  I’m talking about Kelly Price, “The Soul of a Woman” record.  I would have to give myself a reason to go to the mall and shop.  I don’t splurge shop.  I have too much in my closet to spend money on clothes.

How did you meet your husband?
KP – I met Jeffery when I was 13 years old at the state youth convention.  We were friends for years.  We would see each other during the conferences held throughout the years.  It was a different day.  When I saw him it was because we were in church somewhere.  He would come to wherever I was singing.  I always had a lot of guy friends and he was one of my really good guy friends.  It shifted when I turned 16 years old.  We talked to each other about things we couldn’t talk to other people about.  My family was homeless again when I was 16 years old and Jeffery’s mother was in the hospital with breast cancer.  Back then you had to have a physical address to be registered in school or the state would take you from your parents.  I had to keep it a secret.  Jeffery knew that mother and I were bouncing from house to house.

When did you know you were in love with Jeffery?
KP – I knew pretty quickly.  After being his friend for so long…my family bounced around for about five or six months with no place to live.  During that time his mother died from breast cancer.  Throughout her sickness and my homelessness we got closer and closer.

Tell me about getting pregnant at an early age.
KP – I look at my son and I do not regret my son.  I will never let some over religious, super pious, lying individual and I say LYING (all caps) make me feel guilty about my child.  I say that because it takes a lot of nerve for someone to act as if they’ve never sinned.  My grandfather is a COGIC bishop.  It was difficult.  I think I was more concerned about my grandparents being disappointed in me.  No one talked to me about sex.  My mother didn’t talk to me because no one talked to her about sex.  Much of what I learned I learned from school and television.

Did anyone in the church try to convince you to abort?
KP – No one tried to get me to abort.  But I was silenced and sat down.  It was desired that I get up and apologize before the congregation.  I have a girlfriend who’s father was her pastor and she got pregnant and she had to get up and apologize in front of the church.  I said absolutely not.  I sinned against God and not the church.  I bucked a lot of things growing up.  I got slapped in the mouth a lot.  If you couldn’t show me in the bible where I owed the church an apology then I wasn’t going along with it.  I owed God and my grandparents and my mother an apology.  I was involved in the music department.  I only did that because my grandfather said I had to.  As the preacher’s kid you did not have options.  But I had to sit down and not direct the choir any longer.

How did you get discovered as a singer?
KP – I had a dear friend name Darryl Douglas.  He was an incredible song writer and arranger.  He would use me to demo his songs.  One thing led to another.  There was another session singer who sang for Luther Vandross.  Her name is Cindy Mizelle.  When she was getting married, she asked Darryl to do all of the music for her wedding.  There were a lot of executives at her wedding.  At that time, George Michael came to New York to do an east coast tour.   He was looking for a great choir to back him up.  Cindy put in a call to Darryl who then called me and some others.  There were about 10 or 12 of us.  We showed up to Madison Square Garden and sang behind George Michael in January of 1992.  In February of 1992, Mariah Carey needed a choir for her Grammy performance and once again we got the call.  Long story short, Mariah was three hours late for rehearsal.  I just found out I was pregnant and I was sick as a dog.  We were on a break and I stayed around the rehearsal hall and started singing around the piano with my back to the door and Mariah Carey walked in and stood there and listened.  Someone told me Mariah was standing at the door listening and I shut up immediately and walked away from the piano.  I didn’t want anyone to believe that I was trying to be heard.  When the rehearsal was over I was preparing to leave, Mariah sent one of her background singers to me and he tried to get me to start singing again and I said no at first but then I started singing and she was hiding behind a pole listening.  Tommy Mottola arrived and heard me and said I’m going to make you a star.  I had no idea who he was at the time.  I looked at him and said “really” (dripping with sarcasm).  That’s how it all started.

How did church folks respond to you singing secular music?
KP – Are you kidding me?  According to them I was probably going to hell faster for singing secular music then for being pregnant.  That’s amazing to me.  My observation of the scripture that says having a form of godliness but denying it’s power…it came to life for me.  It’s been so clear that if you keep the form of godliness in public people really don’t care how ragedy your life is behind closed doors.  As long as you don’t do anything that brings them to shame.  I don’t have a problem doing what I do because I am the same Kelly in secular venues as I am in church pulpits.  I speak Jesus at my R&B concerts.

How have you been received by the Gospel music industry?
KP – It’s been a mixed bag.  Everyone at first was overjoyed.  Some of that joy turned to dismissal when people realized that I was not willing to make the announcement that they wanted me to make.  That announcement was for me to say that I was wrong for all of the years that I sang R&B and that I had been converted and that I would never sing R&B again.  I refused to make that statement because I didn’t backslide to sing R&B.  Doing  the gospel album that I did and touring with gospel artists opened my eyes to a lot more than I even cared to know about people who sing gospel music.  We need to be careful about what we’re allowing our young people to listen to.  I say that because I’ve been on the road with a lot of these people and just because the genre is gospel doesn’t mean that the music itself is.  Just because people call themselves gospel singers, that’s just a title and doesn’t mean they’re living a sanctified life.  Check my life.  Chile Please!

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Watch What You Put In Your Ears

It’s that time of year when we search out  suggestions for gifts for the parents. Here is a simple in inexpensive list.

For Fathers we have the following gifts:

#5 -GPS for their car. They no longer will have to fear the backseat driver. It also gives them a chance to brag about their new gadget. Amazon.com will have it for a relatively inexpensive cost. Best Buy will also have a discounted section for GPS.

# 4- Desk Top Valet Charger. It will enable all the charging of cell phones,ipods and any other gadget that needs nightly plugging in, as well as resting place for their keys. Prices begin at $49.99 and range up to $140 for the deluxe versions.  Target and Walmart  are carrying wonderful versions of it.

# 3- Gift Certificate to Armour®Fleece Hoodies. They are warm and fashionable. If you log on to www.sportsauthority.com you can see a wide variety.

#2 -Digital Camera. This will enable him to have a gadget that will be easily used to enhance his hobbies. He can be the rescuer of the day with a quick snap shot when needed. Target, Best Buy and Walmart have digital cameras on sale by various manufacturers.

# 1- The Coppola Restoration  Gift Collection” It is the red carpet of the Godfather Trilogy. The footage is at its sharpest, cleanest and clearest version of the movie classic.  Scenes have been restored and improved in color and length.

For Mothers the gifts are  all about time for her to do something other than her routine. Many mothers are tired out by the endless lists of things to do. Unburden her with the following gifts:

# 5 – An American Express Gift card. This allows mom to go directly to the store and pick out the one item that she wanted.  She may be surfing online and see something that she just cannot resist.

# 4-  A Book store gift certificate. Many mothers I know see articles and or do take time to keep up with Book clubs. If you give a certificate from Barnes and Noble or Borders she will have a chance to pick up exactly what she would like.

#3 – Movie Night Certificate. The movie industry has just come out with new numbers that the average movie goer is a woman. Purchase a gift certificate for a movie for mom and a  friend. You can include snacks on the certificate as well. Fandango has great deals.

# 2 Gift Certificate to a Favorite Coffee house. If mom gets a moment to go have a cup of coffee and read that new book you purchased than she is bound to be in a better frame of mind.

# 1- Gift certificate to a favorite spa. Most women love to be pampered and taken care of.  Mothers in particular need a little extra TLC.

{For more from Oretha Winston follow her on Twitter}

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The bible says if a man doesn’t work he doesn’t eat, and from a child I was taught this truth both directly and indirectly.  I grew up in a very blended and large family.  My parents divorced when my brother John and I were toddlers, but my dad has always remained a vital part of our lives.  That being said, other than the two of us, John and I have a total of 7 brothers and sisters between my mom and dad.  My father has 6 sisters, my mom has 8 siblings and my stepmom has a total of 11 sister and brothers, all of which are very near and dear to my heart.  Moreover, all are very hardworking individuals, some poor, others middle class and some, very well off.

Over the years, I have been privy to what it’s like to live on both sides of the isle.  Much of my childhood years was spent living with my mother and along with that came living in some of the worst neighborhoods and on a couple of occasions that I can recall, not knowing where our next meal was going to come from.  I’ve seen her sell food stamps to keep the lights on and I’ve seen my grandparents come through for us on more than one occasion, loading our cabinets with food because they came to visit and realized we had nothing.

I’m not a fan of the welfare system, but neither do I believe it is a ploy by “the man” to keep people down.  I believe it was set up with good intention, but unfortunately, by some recipients it has been used as a crutch and by many politicians it is now, and has been in prior years, used for political gain. And as always, society takes a look at a few bad apples and determines the entire bunch is spoiled.  When I was a child I witnessed my mother lose a job two or three times, go to the government for help, use it for maybe a month and as soon as the next grocery store, gas station or fast food restaurant was hiring, she went back to work again.  I was only a kid, but I was privy to a lot of things that most kids my age were not.

My mother had six kids and a tenth grade education and I’ve seen her go through hell just to keep the lights on and keep food on the table, and here’s why I’m thankful…She never gave up.  She kept trying.  Yes, she complained about the boss and wages compared to the work, but she never used it as an excuse to give up, cave in and quit.  She was never on welfare for long periods of time because she didn’t care what the job paid, she simply wanted to work.  Moreover, my uncles and aunts on every side did the same.  My family is far from perfect on any side, whether it’s my dad’s side, my mom’s or my step-mom’s, but this I know…

Not every black man is lazy and not every black man leaves their children behind for someone else to raise.  Not every single black mother sits around waiting on a check to come in the mail and not every black woman teaches her daughter to be a promiscuous, gold digging whore.  And more importantly, just because I’m black doesn’t mean I’m a proponent of welfare and the welfare system.  Some of us are about real change, which requires teaching a man how to fend for himself rather than bankrupting everyone in the process.  Personally, I compare that method to pissing in the water and trying to tell us it’s rain.

I’m no expert, but I do realize that poverty in most cases is generational and it is time that we roll up our sleeves and help one another.  For those of us who do have, it’s time that we be honest with those we know who don’t, and encourage them to do some things differently instead of walking by as if you don’t see them struggling to pay for bus fare; or buying your families groceries, and walking away as if you can’t see the brother standing next to you struggling to pay for a loaf of bread and pack of bologna to feed his family of five.  Why don’t YOU do something, so our government won’t feel like they have to step in and take what is rightfully yours away from you.  Why don’t you take the time to ask a person what they do for a living or what they would like to do for a living and counsel them where you can accordingly and where you can’t, introduce them to someone you know who can?

As for those who don’t have enough, and are struggling from day to day just to pay bus fare or keep food on your table…  The next time you see a brother or sister stepping out of a Mercedes, Jag or BMW; rather than turning your nose up and forming what’s usually an unfair opinion about them, why not stop them and ask what they do, where they work, or give them your number and ask if you can pick their brain to see if they may be able to help you come up with some ideas to make your situation better.  Unfortunately, most of our financial struggles are the same; many are only one paycheck away from poverty, if you’re doing well, maybe two.  So it’s usually not others thinking less of you, but you feeling inferior as a result of your own insecurity.  It’s unfortunate, but many who live in half million dollar homes are struggling just as much to pay their mortgage as you are to pay your rent, but struggling or not, there is always something to learn from those who are in a better situation than yourself.

I love giving money and being a blessing to strangers.  Sometimes it’s scary because you don’t know how people are going to take it, but I would rather be turned down in my effort to bless, than not attempt to do anything.  And while giving money away is nice, I recognize it’s not a cure, so my real fulfillment comes from men, women and teenagers who tell me that as a result of hanging with me, I’ve made a difference in their lives.

Let us all resolve to do better.

In Him,

Follow Lisa on twitter or write to her at lisaletstalk@gmail.com

Blog:  http://lisaletstalk.blogspot.com/

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What are you doing to help the fatherless?  At the end of the day will you be able to stand before God blameless or will your traditional thinking keep you bound?  To think that feeding the hungry and clothing the poor is the only answer to helping the lost we’re sadly mistaken.  In order to fix a problem we must get to the root.  Many of the homeless and poor started out in orphanages as innocent babies with no world view, but are now paying for the sins of their fathers. What the church is doing to help them now is like putting a band aid on a shotgun wound.  They are still bleeding to death!

Outreach efforts in the church are at an all time high and if that’s not your churches testimony I would say it’s time to shut the doors.  If you are not in the business of teaching the salvation of Christ Jesus, what is the purpose?  That being said, rather than the traditional efforts, why not offer more relevant information that people can really use?  People are hurting and tired of church as usual; the big choir productions, the same pot lucks, fish fries, clothing drives etc., where they go enjoy themselves and get a spiritual high, then go home broke, busted, disgusted, fearful and defeated.  When will it end?

Adoption Discovery is a 7 week curriculum that is designed to walk one through what can be the most difficult process imaginable, adoption.  No other curriculum is as thorough or unbiased.  They don’t decide what agency to send people to, but because all agencies are not created equal, they help your members make that decision by equipping them with all the information they need to decide on the agency that is right for them.  These small group discussions are designed to be intimate based on the nature of adoption and the sensitive, but relevant questions that most people wouldn’t otherwise ask in a larger group environment for fear of being judged.  Adoption Discovery’s leaders are always standing by to train and answer any tough questions that the assigned group leader in your church can not.  Therefore, your members don’t have to leave their church to be fed the knowledge they need, but they are truly sustained at their local church by getting all the information one needs to make an informed decision about adoption.

When ministries are equipped to feed people with knowledge and understanding on any subject it makes them valuable not only to their members, but to the people within their community.  It’s much easier to walk by faith when we have knowledge.  No word, no faith.  And more importantly, faith without works is dead. Want more people?  Do more.

It is time that we as the church bring salvation to the lives of the one hundred sixty million lost orphans in the world. How will you do it?  More importantly, how will you answer to God when he has given you an avenue to do so?

To learn more about Adoption Discovery visit their website at www.adoptiondiscovery.org.

Contact Lisa at lisaletstalk@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter!

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It’s Somethin To Be A Father

This is an open letter to all the men — especially the saved men — in America that are emotionally constipated.

Sir,

The fact that you have difficulty expressing your emotions is, sadly, normal; it’s the standard because we live in a nation of emotionally constipated men. I know the term “constipated” doesn’t give you a great mental picture, it is quite appropriate for this topic. Men are stopped up; we don’t know how to properly process the events that occur in our lives and express the corresponding emotions. If you’ve ever been constipated you know that it’s painful — not a pleasant experience at all. In the case of emotional constipation, it doesn’t hurt the one who’s clogged as much as those around them.

Now, don’t misunderstand — the fact that it’s normal does not make it that it’s healthy, productive, or effective. Your lack of emotions is crippling the nation because your children, and those youngsters who watch you, don’t see your example. Or perhaps they see your wrong example when they see you hit women or compress your feelings by avoiding properly processing and expressing them. This leads the youth to lash out in violence, drugs, sex, and all types of abuse. And we wonder why there’s so much violence in school. It’s simple — the kids have no emotional outlets for their anger and frustration. They’re not taught how to properly handle disagreements and argument so they resort what they see deemed effective by fighting.

Why is it that we can show so much excitement and passion over a football or basketball game but when it comes to things like fear, failure, sorrow, regret, disappoint, and sadness, we deem them to make us less of a man? Why do we hold the assumption that men must always maintain a stoic outlook on life, seemingly unwavered by anything that happens to us?

There’s an incredible book by a pastor from New York, Peter Scazzero, that I recommend everyone, but especially you, as a man, read. It’s entitled, “Emotionally Healthy Spirituality,” and the premise is this — you are only as spiritually mature as you are emotionally healthy. In other words: the more emotionally constipated we are, the less we properly understand, process, and express our emotions, the less spiritually mature we are. I won’t go into the entire book, but I do want to give you the top ten symptoms that you might experience if you have emotionally unhealthy spirituality:

1. Using God to Run from God
2. Ignoring the Ungodly Emotions of Anger, Sadness, and Fear
3. Dying to the Wrong Things
4. Denying the Past’s Impact on the Present
5. Dividing Our Lives into “Secular” and “Sacred” Compartments
6. Doing for God Instead of Being with God
7. Spiritualizing Away Conflict
8. Covering over Brokenness, Weakness, and Failure
9. Living without Limits
10. Judging Other People’s Spiritual Journey

After reading that list I know you have a few areas you need to work on. And that’s good; it means your human. No one has it all worked out. But what it does mean is that we have to get working on ourselves. If we first want to change the world, we have to look at ourselves and make the change first.

Don’t you dare make the “I didn’t see my father (or any other man) do it, how am I supposed to do it” excuse. You didn’t need to see your father sleep around to know how to do that did you? You want to know how you can be a pioneer and an example in this area? By the grace of God, that’s how! Men, you want to lead and guide and pioneer everything else, we’re too afraid to cry for the first time? Get over yourself, man. Stop acting like a punk and show that you care about something for once in your life.

And fathers, let me tell you something: your children need to see you cry. They need to see you get excited, to laugh, to be angry. They need to see your emotions. It helps to humanize you and makes you more relatable. Your children, especially your boys, need to know that you go through the same emotions you do, but they need to see you handle them effectively. When you lash out at your kids or your wife, the children view that as acceptable. Why? Because they don’t know any better so they believe that the wrong way is actually right — or at least the acceptable — way to handle things. The good news is, you can also show them the right, and healthy way to handle emotions.

Now, I know you didn’t start the cycle, but the fact that you’ve chosen, albeit perhaps subconsciously, is nearly as bad. You have to understand that the choices you make now have a much further reaching impact than just you. Until we open our eyes and realize that our inability to properly navigate the emotional waters has an effect on everyone around us, we will not find the proper motivation to change. Please, sir, find that motivation today. The future begs it of you.

Let’s make a concerted effort, as men, to encourage one another to learn to understand, process, and express our emotions in a healthy way. Whether it’s love, anger, excitement, sadness, or whatever, God created emotions for a reason — but we were made to rule our emotions, not the other way around. So men, step up and be the emotionally healthy man that God has called you to be!

[For more from Stuart McDonald, check out his personal blog and follow him on Twitter]

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California police admitted last night that they had missed at least two opportunities to rescue Jaycee Lee Dugard from the backyard where she had been imprisoned after being snatched at the age of 11 by Philip Garrido, who also fathered her two children.

The sheriff’s department that covers Garrido’s home in Antioch apologised on Friday for two incidents in which it let him slip through undetected.

The first was in 2006 when a police officer visited Garrido having been tipped off by an unnamed caller who called the man a sex-addicted “psychotic” and said children’s voices had been heard in the backyard.

The officer was apparently unaware that Garrido had been convicted of rape in an earlier incident, and made no search of the property.

A second sweep of registered sex offenders in the area was also carried out in July 2008, but again Garrido’s house was visited but not searched.

The local sheriff, Warren Rupf, said: “We missed an opportunity to have intervened earlier. We are beating ourself up over this and are continuing to do so.”

He added: “I offer my apologies to the victims and accept responsibility for having missed a chance to rescue Jaycee.”

To read more, click here

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From Dailymail.co.uk

A premature baby declared dead by doctors was found to be alive hours later when he was taken home for a funeral wake.

The baby’s father, Jose Alvarenga, was told by doctors that his son had died shortly after birth.

Staff from the state-run hospital in Asuncion, the Paraguayan capital, delivered the infant’s body to Mr Alvarenga’s home fours hours later.

Shortly afterwards, the grieving father opened the baby’s coffin to bid an emotional farewell to his son.

“I opened it to look at his remains and found that the baby was breathing,” Mr Alvarenga said. “I began to cry.”

He rushed back to the hospital with his unnamed baby in his arms and nurses placed the infant in an oxygen chamber.

He is now reported to be in a stable condition.

“This is a very unusual case,” said Ernesto Weber, head of pediatric intensive care at the hospital.

He acknowledged that the doctor handling the case did not properly check the infant’s vital signs, and said an investigation would be carried out.

To read more, click here

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Psalm 127:3-5 (The Message)

“Don’t you see that children are God’s best gift?
the fruit of the womb his generous legacy?
Like a warrior’s fistful of arrows
are the children of a vigorous youth.
Oh, how blessed are you parents,
with your quivers full of children!

Your enemies don’t stand a chance against you;
you’ll sweep them right off your doorstep.”

Whenever most people find out that I have four children and that mine is not a blended family, they usually grimace or let out a whistle and sigh, accompanied by a rolling of the eyes.

The truth is, I have always wanted at least four children. Both my husband and I came from blended families with 3 and 5 children respectively. Perhaps it was my upbringing as a Roman Catholic, or maybe it was growing up under the parentage of two people who each came from larger families. My father was one of eight. My mother was the oldest of six. Perhaps the Lord just impressed it upon me directly. I don’t know. But I have always enjoyed the idea of having what I consider to be a “medium-sized” family.

In his word, over and over, God reveals that he values children greatly. Whatever God values, so should we believers. Yet I am often surprised to find out how many people view their children as a burden. When I was expecting my second child, older (presumably) wiser women would ask me if she was the last. My answer was always the same, “I have no idea.” Sometimes they responded with derision and spite to that comment. Sometimes they encouraged me. The truth is, I still don’t know if we’re done. While I personally don’t foresee the Mitchells’ having any more children, I have learned to never underestimate what God wants.

I have searched the scriptures on this topic and have come to the conclusion that a godly family has nothing to do with the number of children you have, whether you are a blended family or not, whether your children are adoptive, biological or spiritual. I believe God allows us to make that decision. What does concern him is our lack of consideration for his plan for our family.

A few years back, good friends of my family paid us a visit. At the time we lived hundreds of miles apart, so the visit was one of those all-day-hang-out affairs. It was great. At some point the subject came around to children. Our friends had two, we had just had our fourth. When I asked if they were done, I was surprised at the husband’s answer. I don’t remember it verbatim, but it went something like, “Oh yeah. Two is all we can afford.” This response stopped me in my tracks. Not because I hadn’t heard it before. But because this man had always been so careful to make sure that he followed God’s lead in every area of his life. Yet it seemed to me that in this one area, he had let his wallet determine how many people he should bring into this world.

I asked him, “How do you know?” He paused, for understanding. I persisted. “How do you know that two children are all and will ever be all you can afford? Do you know where you will be financially in twenty or thirty years?” He considered my questions and admitted that perhaps he and his wife should go back and talk to God. And they did.

That was nearly three years ago. My friends still have two children. He and I have spoken since then on the subject. He appreciated my willingness to challenge him. He and his wife are open to the idea of more children, but they are fine with two for now.

Understand I am not advocating big families over smaller families. As I stated before, neither makes you a more godly person. What I am advocating, however, is to seek the Lord’s perspective in this very important area and submit to whatever he wants. Living a godly life, means allowing his perspective to transform our thinking – not allowing the world’s thinking to box us in. We believers pursue God for every other area of our lives: career, calling, spouse, church home, place of service, dating, money. Why not ask God how many children he wants us to have? I’m sure he’s got an answer for each one of us.

It’s never too soon or too late to begin to ask God about children. If you are willing, ask God if , how, and when he would have you add to your family.

Be blessed, Family.

Follow Sheeri on Twitter! Visit her on Black Planet.

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Our Kids: Thinly Disguised Little Monsters?

From MSNBC.com

WAUSAU, Wis. – A central Wisconsin man accused of killing his 11-year-old daughter by praying instead of seeking medical care was found guilty Saturday of second-degree reckless homicide.

Dale Neumann, 47, was convicted in the March 23, 2008, death of his daughter, Madeline, from undiagnosed diabetes. Prosecutors contended he should have rushed the girl to a hospital because she couldn’t walk, talk, eat or drink. Instead, Madeline died on the floor of the family’s rural Weston home as people surrounded her and prayed. Someone called 911 when she stopped breathing.

Sitting straight in his chair, Neumann stared at the jury as the verdict in a nearly empty courtroom was read. He declined comment as he left the courthouse.

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From Gospel.com

Tears were streaming down her face. Her daddy said, “What is the matter, Honey? Why are you crying?” She said, “Daddy, don’t you know?” He said, “No darling, what is it?” She pressed into his big chest and sobbed, “I don’t want you to go back!” Many of us have probably witnessed this with our own children and husbands. I was that little girl 35 years ago, telling my dad that I didn’t want him to go back to Vietnam.

Years later, tears flowed in our house when my husband, Eric, was preparing to return to Iraq after having been gone for a year. The day Eric left will always remain vivid in my mind; as moments ticked away, we videotaped Eric with the kids. They clung to him, and we said heart-wrenching things.

With this being our second yearlong deployment, we knew all too well the dangers that lay ahead. This time, though, as a battalion commander, Eric would be out daily in his HMMWV (High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle) in an area that includes the town of Tarmiyah-part of the Sunni triangle. I knew all the facts and figures; how many lives the previous battalion had lost due to IEDs, the hours of casualty notification, and also that Eric’s predecessor had been targeted by the very same people he was meeting with to help democracy take hold.

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