3 Steps To Healing Broken Relationships: In My Father’s House starring Rhymefest

This is a sponsored blog post; while the views expressed here were genuinely mine, consideration was paid to me to review this film.  This screening of In My Father’s House was presented by Bentonville Film Festival.

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In My Father’s House is a very poignant documentary style film that focuses on one man’s journey to find his estranged father. That man is Grammy and Academy award winning hip hop artist, Che “Rhymefest” Smith.  Like many young Black men growing up in America today, his father left him when he was a boy (25 years ago). Now that he has children of his own and in order to know more about where he came from and who he is, finding his father was crucial.

Throughout the film we see several emotional transitions.  I became very involved with each scene as we watched a grown man face his past and his future at the same time.  Rhymefest’s range of emotions went from curiosity to concern to joy and then disappointment as he got to know the man that gave him life.  We watch as he also has to deal with this man’s homeless condition and obvious alcoholism. There were many scenes that stood out to me. One of them was when they first meet and there is an immediate power struggle when dad tries to go to the liquor store.

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Having dealt with the cycle of fatherlessness myself and now with a son that had to grow up with out a father this film really hit home for me.  My father was murdered before I ever got a chance to find him and forgive him for leaving me.  I now have an amazing grown son who harbors resentment towards his own father that has been MIA since he was a boy.

During the course of viewing In My Father’s House, I noted 3 very important steps that were taken to achieve healing for both Che and his father. These 3 steps can be taken and applied to anyone out there who needs to heal a broken relationship.

#1 Forgive

We simply must forgive those who have offended, hurt or violated us.  period.  We cannot move on to the next two steps without forgiveness.  Believe it or not a bitter heart can and will eventually kill you.  Forgiveness is not for the person receiving it, its for you.  It’s a truly necessary process that allows release and closure.  There is no freedom without forgiveness

#2 Mend

Broken relationships do not just repair themselves.  Additional work will always be required.  There can be no judgement only acceptance. There has to be patience and also understanding from all involved. Mending is about taking the time to understand someone else’s story and empathizing.

#3 Build

A house cannot be built on a cracked foundation.  Once the mending is complete it is time to build.  Building consists of putting the right elements together to create something new.

When it came time for questions I asked Rhymefest and Grammy winning musician Anthony Hamilton this:

Do you think that you would have reached the heights that you have in your careers if your fathers had been around for you? ~Stacey Taylor, TheSistahCafe.com

You check out their response in this video:

In My Father’s House is produced by Jameka Autry and is a 2015 Bentonville Film Festival Best Documentary Award Winner, 2015 Nashville Film Festival winner and a 2015 Tribeca Film Festival selection.  It is an amazing documentation of real life and a film that every fatherless child and estranged father should see. It is available for download on iTunes.

Thank you to The Bentonville Film Festival (#BFFfestival) for the invitation to review it.  Find out more about Bentonville Film Festival at BentonvilleFilmFestival.com

Get Social! Follow these hashtags on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook:  #IMFHfilm #BFFfestival #InMyFathersHouse #ShareYourTruth and please support this film!

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Thank you for visiting my site. My name is Stacey Taylor aka “The SistahChick” I am the Head Sistah-In-Charge here at TheSistahCafe.com.   I am an Atlanta based Professional Blogger who spends my time enjoying the beauty of everyday life and sharing that here on my blog.