When I had ups and downs in life I thought it was always pretty navigable. I could steer through any storm. Dealing with problems my children face is much more difficult. To be clear, their problems when they were little were fairly manageable. They looked to me to make a decision. Whether they liked that decision they accepted it as my decision. But now that they’re teens and young adults it’s more difficult, mainly because sometimes the problem is them and their odd expectations and half thought out thoughts.

I think life is easier to handle when you have your hand on the steering wheel, even if it’s not very effective. Their an illusion of power there. But your young adult doesn’t allow your hands on the steering wheel and may not even want your advice even though you’ve weathered similar storms in the past.

So what do you do?

You attend daily Mass. You pray the rosary for them. That’s your recourse. You take your problem to the highest court.

Sometimes you can’t pray the storm away but maybe God can lead them in a way you couldn’t.

I used to think people as they grew older went to Mass because they started fearing death but in the end they were just parents.