An experienced family counselor (over 40 years!) said that the effects on children of a divorce have been ignored or at best dismissed as minimal. She writes, “Since 1971 I have worked with youth and families in all fifty states, 
and I can say without reservation that children are dramatically impacted by divorce. The lie that children will ‘get over it’ is utter nonsense. The following poem was written by a high school student whose parents divorced when she was young for an English class assignment. You can almost feel her pain. She names her poem “The Love of a Father.”
Sitting in Daddy’s lap after Christmas
Only lasted until the age of three
Although death was not a factor in this,
My heart began to harden towards the man
That God gave me as a father figure
I think to myself “what would life be like,
If my daddy was here to see me sing,
Or if Daddy was here to watch me play.
To embrace the warmth of a daughter, to
See Daddy’s holding hands with their daughters,
Birthday’s spent watching movies with Daddy,
Was never an option for me. Is this
A reason for insecurity, for
Feeling unloved? Does he really love his
Daughter? The love that he has for me
Is like the love of the witch towards her cauldron.
What would life be like, if you and mom were
Together? If you hadn’t left us? If I
Had the unending love of a father.
I’m reminded of God’s promise to his chosen one and therefore to us as we’re “in Christ” or as the Bible often says “in the beloved.” In 2 Samuel 7:14, God promises, “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to me.”