Beautiful Nate
A Memoir of a Family's Love, a Life Lost, and Heaven's Promises

Even when you follow all the rules, life can go very wrong... Dennis Mansfield and his wife, Susan, planned for and expected every parent’s dream, but instead lived every parent’s nightmare. This haunting memoir tells the story of a father who diligently followed all the parenting rules that he learned from conservative Christian “experts” — yet life with his son Nate went terribly wrong when the young man died at twenty-seven of drug-related causes. It wasn’t that the principles Dennis followed were faulty; it was that the promised guarantee turned out to be void. The author, a national leader in the pro-family movement of the 1990s, reveals what did and did not work while raising a child within the evangelical framework. But rather than losing his faith and abandoning the God he’d trusted, Dennis eventually found new joy and purpose — with a more compassionate and realistic view of the roles parents play and the rules they follow. As you listen to this sobering yet refreshing account, you will find direction for your own parenting style and encouragement after life’s disappointments.