It so hard to be a parent somedays...to know what is the right thing to do is.

I had a conversation with my daughter last night. It started off on one serious conversation and overlapped into religion. She shared with me some things that people had said to her during church classes that she questioned or didn’t agree on. Now I don’t fault the person that said these things since my daughter didn’t challenge or question the person on these statements to get a better meaning of what that person really meant.

She said that someone had stated that if you believe in God your life will be rosy, and her comment on that was “I don’t believe that.” I told her I didn’t either, if life is rosy if you believe than why was I having this conversation with her in the first place, why did the last few years of my mom’s life be what they were, why did my sister end up getting divorced? But what really broke my heart was the underlying thought that she never spoke but I could sense was there – “If they told me that and it’s not true, what else are they telling me that’s not true.”

The other thought that broke my heart was that she never felt comfortable coming to me with these questions at the time. She must have felt it would have been a one sided conversation that didn’t include her questions or thoughts. I feel that I’ve failed her. My hope and prayer is since this conversation and my promise to her that she can come talk to me about anything and I promise to hear and not get upset, that maybe she will now.

Lord, please help me to be the parent that she needs. Help me to be calm and understanding…help me.