Wow, does this story sound all too familiar, instead of it being the youngest daughter it was the oldest daughter that I had to struggle with at times. We were very close when she was younger but then junior high school happened you see and she had been accepted into this school for the performing arts, now mind you she was content with just going to the junior high school down the block from us but no I wanted her to go to this prestiges school that she had to be tested scholastically and artistically. I dragged my poor husband into it so he was the one taking her to the auditons. Of course she was accepted. But she found a new freedom for she had to travel to manhattan to go to this school we lived in the Bronx. My brother would ride with her to a certain point then he had to go a different way to go to work. Nevertheless my daughter found her calling in acting and dancing. But I also found her slipping away not in a bad way I guess it's just that she was becoming very independent so quickly. So of course there were arguments. She was the only child for a long time I didn't have my other two daughters until she was 16 shortly becoming 17. Big gap, Huh? But actually that became the turning point for her. She realized that I needed her so much more now and that she had to be an example to her little sisters. Now she's a mom with a daughter amazing how things come to full circle and you understand things a little clearer once it's your turn to be mom. It was the same with me. My mom made parenting look so easy but in reality it's not so easy and when you finally become the mother you really appreciate all that your mom did and love her all the more for it. Now my 2 youngest daughters are freshman in college I think that they already have begun to see the big picture to this mom business and are in no hurry to be moms just yet. Yes being a mother has lot's of challenges but if I had to do it all over again, I would. I love being a wife , a mom and a grandmother. I love seeing a little part of me in all of my girls as I now see a lot of my own mother in me.

Feeling like a complete and utter failure, I surrendered my 16 year old daughter and my 19 year old son to God in Jesus' name. Long, long ago I began to lose count of what felt like too many tear-stained prayers. Lately, out of nowhere, still small voices comfort me with unexpected and sustaining wisdom. I am also blessed by an extraordinary church family that seems to know when to smile, when to speak, and when to leave me be. The greatest gifts are wrapped in the sounds of music, with praise music and church hymns whose power to soothe and comfort transcends all. My son is more approachable now, and my daughter actually apologized for insulting me at the dinner table. I am grateful for the ability to see, through the grace of God, the big picture a bit more clearly.

I was actually quite close with my sons throughout their teens. I believe that there is a huge difference between raising sons and daughters, with daughters being so much more difficult. (after all, I was a teenage girl once :)). Anyway, it was after my youngest son got married that things got bad. I live on the other side of the world (Sweden) while he lives in the midwest. Well, I had medical problems that did not allow me to travel to their wedding, and this really made his wife angry. I guess I spoiled her perfect wedding. Anyway, he chose not to talk to me for years, and I accepted that, praying that one day he would become wise and mature. Well, that was 3 years ago and we are now slowly coming back together. I think he will come around, and maybe even her! :)

When our daughter was young, my husband used to say "if we had her first, we would have never had any other children!" She was always the feisty one, pushing every limit to see if she could get away with anything. Then the teen years hit and we were terrified. She was hanging out with the wrong people, making unwise decisions and wouldn't listen to anything we said. Although she never argued with us about going to church, we wondered if anything was getting through. I often say that our daughter taught us to stay on our knees and how to really pray! For that I am grateful. I am also grateful that she realized later in her teens that she wanted to live for the Lord. Today she is married and is a testimony to how the Lord can totally turn someones life around. We wouldn't trade her for anything! God is good!

I was a single mother of two sons for fifteen years. There is a different set of worries and arguments when it is mothers and sons but the troubled years are there just the same. Now I am raising my granddaughter. She is seventeen but has lived with me since she was four. It is not any different being a grandmother raising a teen. I seemed to have gained no more wisdom or patience. My sons are grown and have become fine men, husbands and fathers. I know my granddaughter will make it too and most of all so will I. With constant prayer God will show us His way for both of us.

I too have had to surrender my prodigal 18 year old daughter to the Lord. She is living in a way that is wrong and I and her Dad are very dissapointed. But you don't feel guilty about your parenting, because we did the best we could and she was raised in a Christian home.

I pray a lot for her safety and that the Lord would lead her to Truth. Truly the enemy does come to seek and destroy.

I no longer judge other parents and can offer encouragement since I'm walking that hard path. But God is good all the time and I know only He can change her heart!

Our daughter who is now 19 is living with and engaged to be married to a Hindu man. She must know in her heart that this is wrong but likes to pretend that all is well. She has told my husband to get over it, right after she called us to apologize for leaving over a year ago. My husband and I are praying for her. We raised her as a Christian. A friend of mine said that this is just another way of my daughter rebelling against God. She is in Gods hands as He is the only one who can help her.

I have never felt more helpless until now. My 15 year old daughter had turned so rebellious that I constantly feel helpless and totally out of control. When she was younger, I was able to tell her the rules and she would stay within boundaries. I soon realize that if a teen refuses to obey the rules, there is nothing much parents can do. If she decides to skip school, stay out late, not inform us of her whereabouts, refuses to come home--all these are out of the parents' control. Only God can change the heart. Raising rebellious teens is one of the most challenging tasks for parents and it could also put a strain on your marriage. The most important lesson I've learned through all these is to remember to raise my children on my knees and can only be thankful that I have God to lean on. It can feel quite lonely as I often feel difficult to even discuss my problems with others.