Sometimes in life, a problem can become bigger than yourself, your family, and your entire circle of friends. It is in times like these when the only two avenues of recourse are to reach out to your God, and to reach out to your fellow man. This letter is a request for both.

My sister in law, Julie Marlow, needs your help. Not financial, not physical, but the kind of help that one kind, random soul is best able to bestow upon another: a word of hope, kindness, and caring.

Eight years ago Julie Marlow and my brother Randy had and lost a baby boy together. Up until that point, Julie had been battling with depression and anxiety on and off at different levels for quite some time. But losing little Sam seemed to have been the initial domino that put her on a dark path with no positive end in sight. She and my brother went on to have two more children after Sam's death, but the dark beast of mental illness never left her side and today she is at a point where nobody, no medication, and nothing seems to have any positive effect. Three years ago, she left my brother for reasons unknown to us even now and probably not even to herself. He was a loving, caring husband and a wonderful father, and still is, and even now holds out hope that one day his sunny Jules will return to him. But the reality of the present is that she is in a state of denial about her illness and has become more reclusive and secretive, even to the point of having fabricated stories of molestation (which were deemed to be unfounded by both Kansas and Missouri) and alienating little Max and Olivia from their father. For nine long months now she has refused to allow him to see them and they are beginning to show signs of succumbing to Parental Alienation Syndrome.

I realize one's first instinct is to defer back to the physicians, mental health professionals, and legal system in order to find some relief to the challenges I have described above. And believe me, those avenues have been utterly exhausted to very little avail. But in this last ditch show of faith I am reaching out to my brothers and sisters, my fellow man, to ask one simple favor of you: please, reach out and share a sentence or two with Julie to just let her know that she's not alone, that she matters, and that there is hope to overcome the shadow that has beset her heart and mind for so long now. If you could spare just a few minutes to write to her, that is all I am asking for. I believe that the Holy Spirit moves in mysterious ways, and that you never know from which corner of the globe, through which small word or thought, that the healing breakthrough may come. That healing is out there, I know it is, and I believe that it lies within the heart of you, my fellow man.

Thank you for even taking the few minutes to read this request, and God bless you for your caring heart. If you deem my request worthy, I would be most humbled if you could share it with your friends and/or congregation. The power of a sincere heart, a soothing word, and the prayer of the faithful is highly underrated these days by most...but not by me.

Thank you again.