Rick Amitin
Abandoned by his father as a small child, Rick Amitin survived a heartbreaking relationship with his mom and endured three stepfathers before he was nine years old. At fifteen, he set out on his own, traveling the world, searching for his dad, and finding it impossible to live happily without one. One misguided decision and painful consequence after another, Rick made his way through the military and answered the calling to ministry. He lifted people across the country and around the world while the wound of fatherlessness wreaked havoc on his relationships and pursuits, making him grapple with his lack of identity and sense of worth at every turn…that is, until his grand boy dropped out of heaven and into his arms and catalyzed his journey of healing.
In If Only I Had a Dad, Rick’s raw-polish approach to sharing his story and hard-earned wisdom will help other fatherless men and women to:
- Identify the True Cause of All the Messy Dysfunction
- Discover the Power on the Other Side of the Pain
- Become the Whole Person They Never Thought Possible
If you have been searching for an answer to your father hunger, wanting the pain to stop, this book is for you.
Transform Your Wandering into Wonder and Your Longing into Love
“By the time I met Amanda, I had written eight chapters in what I thought would be about a ten to twelve-chapter book. Without any writing experience, I was not on track to effectively tell my story. I was scattered in my direction, and my mission was weighted down with story killers.
My story is deeply personal and there was still some healing to do. While my healing was surfacing, the story I wanted to tell was changing, without me realizing it. I was still angry, grieving, and confused. Everything looks different when you heal. I needed to include the new perceptions. After a three-day writing workshop with Amanda, a new outlined emerged that was much truer to my intention.
Amanda listened to me talk, visualized my story, and experienced my passion. She held the skeleton of my message and helped me to put flesh on the bones. Her experience allowed her to see the big picture differently than I did. I knew what I wanted to say and she understood the best way for me to say it. I went home and began the rewriting of my book.
After months of writing and a few months of letting the book sit, settle, and solidify, it began to scream for attention. I solicited Amanda’s help to bring the book to finish. Once again, Amanda showed talent and excellence by critiquing what I wrote and demonstrating the different ways I could express my thoughts, leading me to clarify the points I wanted to make. While Amanda challenged me often, I know she was careful to protect the integrity of my voice.
The back and forth process, between Amanda and me, of crafting a true to intention message proved invaluable to separating the gold from the ore. She courageously guided me through the temptation to dally in folly and trip over conscious, subconscious, and untied thought laces. The partnership of storytelling is something I will always value.
My journey of becoming a writer and author included trading hateful rhetoric, destructive emotions, and negative thought processes for the unfamiliar foundation of love. Amanda understood my inner processes and supported the vision until it was fully awake. From cover design to interior layout, great care was exercised to bring congruence to my dream.
When I held the first copy of my book, I knew we had done exactly what I set out to do! When the positive reviews and gratitude showed up from readers, I knew it was worth doing. Lives are being changed.”