Dear Teenage Daughter,
You aren’t entitled to obey only when you feel like it.
You aren’t entitled to make all your own decisions.
You aren’t entitled to an allowance without contributing to the chores in our household.
You aren’t entitled to stay out as late as you want.
You aren’t entitled to all the fineries and material goods that your friends can afford.
You aren’t entitled to free speech at the expense of others’ feelings.
You aren’t entitled to a 24 hour parent ATM.
You aren’t entitled to treat your parent like an on-call uber, cook or maid.
You aren’t entitled to take your anger and frustration out on those who love you.
And you aren’t entitled to the freedoms of adulthood with none of the responsibility.
But Dear Teenage Daughter,
I am not entitled to reciprocate when you lash out.
I am not entitled to a stress and drama-free home.
I am not entitled to build a protective bubble to keep you from hurting or stumbling.
I am not entitled to singular control over my time and resources.
I am not entitled to a clutterless existence.
I am not entitled to make all your decisions for you.
I am not entitled to discipline out of pride or anger.
I am not entitled to lay on a guilt trip when you’d rather not be with me.
I am not entitled to behavior from you that makes me “look good”.
And I am not entitled to keep you a little girl forever.
But just maybe, there is enough grace to cover us both. I love you.
For of His fullness [a]we have all received, and [b]grace upon grace. John 1:16
Now for this week’s featured post!
People are Hard to Hate Up Close by Laurie Hess of Meditations in Motion.
Laurie has said here what I have struggled to say before, with a great personal story touch and even a social media call to action! Let’s get personal, drop the generalities and love each other better. Click here to read the post.
Now for this week’s link-up! Let’s bless and encourage one another in our walk with the Lord.
Grace & Truth exists to point people to Jesus! We hope this link-up will be a source of encouragement every week. If you’re a blogger, we hope you’ll use this space as a way to meet new friends within the Christian blogging community. If you’re a reader, we hope that you’ll encounter new bloggers that love Jesus as much as you do! Most of all, we hope you’ll meet Jesus here.
Join us each Friday for the Grace and Truth Link-Up!
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Maree Dee
Lauren Sparks
Heather Hart & Valerie Riese
Lisa Burgess
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