Today, I talked with my good friend, Katie Williams, about people coming to each of us for advice. I've been a bit of a closet therapist since junior high, and at one point wished to be a psychiatrist for that reason. I love practicing empathy, trying to learn and understand what makes people react in different ways, and all the thought processes involved, because people are quite simply fascinating.
But she also brought up how people in her family had begun seeking advice from her, and how weird that is. And how weird it must be for me. And she was right.
'Cause for me, I was sorta the Christian support that was keeping our family good and Christian until I left. Then, nine or ten months after I left for college, my parents got a divorce.
Since then, I've still been looked to as a stable one who kinda knows God's opinion on things. But that pressure is never meant to fall on the child. Because, to be perfectly honest, I'm not spiritually where I need to be when I'm at home, for the most part. I struggle a lot there, but since I'm at least struggling in the right direction, I still remain one of the more stable ones at home.
This means that when there is a problem when I'm at home, I'm often the one to separately hear what both parents have to say (much more than I should be hearing), then share what needs to be shared with the other parent to avoid bickering between them and allow for the best possible course for the problems (which, since the divorce, have all typically stemmed from Alexandra, the 16-year-old rebellious sister).
Fortunately, I was brought up well, so I know how to lighten my load. My dad constantly talked about authority when I was growing up, so I know that if there's a family problem, I need to take it all to the parents, and they can enforce what they need to, and I can (respectfully) give advice, then it's out of my hands.
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