I can't talk to my parents

This weekend I met a young man who shared with me a little bit of what was happening in his life. He talked about the great disappointment that his parents were for him, and how it seemed to him that they were only interested in their own selfish needs. You could sense the frustration as he talked.

He talked of not being able to communicate with his parents at all. He said they are often not around and when they are it is impossible to have even a basic conversation. As soon as he tries his mother begins to scream at him and accuses him of being selfish. His comment was that he didn't think he could put up with this type of family life for too much longer.

I asked him a question, "Do you respect your parents?" His response was "I respect them because they are my parents and I do what they ask me to do, but if they were not my parents, I wouldn't respect them at all."

It is very sad that this type of family dynamic happens much too often. Part of being a parent is putting your own needs on the back burner in order to meet some of your teens or childs needs. Does that seem like an unreasonable thing to ask? I no there has to be balance but when that balance is off our children pay.

This young man asked me what I thought he should do. I have to tell you it is not an easy question to answer. I know he is really trying to communicate but it seems like his mom especially is unwilling to listen. I feel like the only thing I can do for him right now is listen to him when he needs to talk and pray for his situation.