Mom vs. 15 Year Old

Tonight is one of those nights I want my mom here to tell me everything’s going to be ok. She was always so good at that…saying the things I needed to hear just at the perfect time…especially on parenting.

I remember what it was like being 15 years old. I remember not wanting to be left out of anything that my friends were doing. I remember just wanting to “fit in.”

The thing I’m struggling with tonight is standing by a standard Bill and I have set for our children, yet wanting Ali to be able to go and be with her friends tonight. I’m caught in the middle of these two things…being a parent and being a 15 year old.

Tears stream down my face as I realize Ali’s up in her room, feeling left out and hurt. It’s extremely hard to not go back on our word right this very minute. I know I’m not the first parent to ever experience this, and I know this will pass…but still it’s hard.

I love our children immensely, and I want nothing but God’s best for them. I’m hoping and praying that by sticking to our family standards (and God’s standards), and standing on our word, that some day she will grow up to appreciate how she has been raised.

I’m standing on Proverbs 22:6 tonight: “Train child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” God, please give me the wisdom and strength to raise our children in how YOU want them to be raised.