The Gift Of Parents

Parents are a true gift from God and they should be treated as so.

I was not the best teenager.  I suffered from anxiety and depression from as young as I can remember.  I had my first taste of alcohol when I was in the sixth grade, and I loved it.  It made me feel bold and out going.  I drank off and on through the next five years.

Between the 6th and the 8th grade, I could sneak wine or whiskey from my parents cupboard.  When I got into high school, I would ask people outside the liquor store in our town, to buy alcohol for me.  Getting the alcohol wasn't the problem, the big problem was how alcohol changed my personality.  I went from being a shy sweet girl, to a brat with a bad attitude.  Because of my attitude change, things changed in my home.  I had been very close to my parents, but drinking brought out all of my bad feelings, and I treated my parents horribly.  There was one time in those ten years that I will never forget.

My Dad was the most gentle, loving man that I have ever known, and my actions and my attitude never changed how he felt for me.

I was in the 9th grade.  I was drinking almost every day, self medicating.  My parents didn't know that I was drinking, they just knew that I wasn't acting like my old self.  This caused great friction between my Mom, Dad and me.  I started caring more for alcohol, then for my parents.  And then to top it off, I ran away from home.  I spent three days on the road.  I made it to the beach and that is where I got caught.  I got taken first to the police department, and then home.  I really didn't understand how much I was hurting my family, and at that time I didn't care.

While I was away, my dad, in an effort to find me, went to a hang out of mine.  He talked to some of my friends for the first time.  And after coming home from my adventure, I found out just how much my dad loved me.

I was in my bedroom when my dad came in and closed the door.  He had a serious look on his face.  He said, "How could you?"  I wasn't sure what he was talking about.  Then he explained that one of my friends had told him that I was adopted.  It was just a joke to me.  I thought it was funny to make up a story about not having any family.  What could it hurt.  Apparently, it hurt my father, deeply.  He started to cry.  I had never seen him cry before.  Even in the state that my heart was in from drinking, I was touched.  I had no idea that my father loved me so much.  I never meant to hurt that man.

I would like to tell you that I changed at that moment, but I didn't.  I continued to drink for two more years.  But the Bible tells us to, "Train a child in the way he should go and he will not depart."  Proverbs 22:6.  I did come back to the Faith and I did change.

Ephesians 6:1 says, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.  Honor your father and mother which is the first commandment with a promise- that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy a long life on the Earth."

Three years ago, my dad became bed ridden.  He had so many health problems.  I had the opportunity to take care of him for his last six months of life.  I thank God for giving me that time with him.  I was able to show my dad just how much I loved him, he was a true gift from God.