I'm the mother of four daughters. Most, if not all of you, know this. You know that my oldest daughters are married and my two youngest still live at home with me and my husband, George. You should know that I'm also going to be a grandmother for the first time in June to a baby girl that Teryn is carrying. As a mother, life can be very difficult. As mother's, we make choices we don't want to sometimes, sacrifices that cost us and decisions that are too painful to speak of. For the past few years, I've been fighting for the rights of two of my daughters, Kendra and Kolby. This week was a milestone in that fight.
I had to appear in court this week to face a man who just can't let go. And although he continues to make decisions that he believes hurt me, he's hurting his daughters most of all. My heart broke when Kendra told me she wants nothing to do with the Jesus her father serves. She said if that's who God is, you can have Him. I told her never to look at man as a representation of Christ because man will always disappoint you. I reminded her that many times it is "Christians" themselves who keep others from wanting anything to do with God because of their poor representation of who He is. I pleaded with her to never let go of her faith. I told her this is why she must know Him in a personal way so she can recognize who He is by who He is and not by what someone tells or shows Him to be.
Being a little older, Kendra is handling this situation much better than Kolby. At almost 17 years old, she knows the time's coming soon when noone can try and control her or neglect her feelings. But, at almost 13, my Kolby is struggling. She's confused. She's angry. She doesn't understand why her voice, feelings and opinion do not matter to her own father. Neither do I.
After our "trial", the Judge said it best when he addressed my ex-husband and told him, "I am going to give you some advice. I hope you choose to take it. I see what you're doing. I have seen this many times and it's never played out well. If you continue to treat your daughters in this way and choose to follow the path you're on, you will lose in the long run. There's coming a day very soon when no Judge or law will be able to force your daughter's to do what they don't want to. I hope you will start to listen to your own children, hear them and respect their wishes or I believe you will be a man with no visitors coming to your door. That's a sad, lonely place to be, but it will be of your choosing, not anyone else's and you will have noone to blame but yourself."
I couldn't have said it better myself.
