Like many teen daughter + mom relationships, the tension was high. My mom and I would argue a lot, and the relationship was not in a healthy spot.
Many of the times I met with my YFC Core Team, I would share my struggle and pray about it with my friends and my coach. We also did this thing called Personalize The Gospel (PTG), where I applied the gospel to my situation and invited Jesus into the mess. I talked to Him about the anger I was feeling towards my mom, and how I was feeling disconnected with my mom and even God because of it.
In doing that, I found freedom in that Jesus forgave me for my anger, and sent his Holy Spirit to live inside of me so I didn’t have to let my old nature control me any more. After reminding myself of my true identity came the last step of PTG, where I got to spend time asking God for a Holy Experiment (a step of faith I could take regarding my situation).
After praying about it, the only thing I could come up with was to do the dishes for my mom without saying a word. It seemed really silly to me at the time, but one of the things we argued about was how I didn’t pull my weight at home.
So I went home, and later that evening, I did the dishes with a happy heart. I prayed for patience through our conversations that usually would have caused me to snap at her.
The next day, I was angry with my mom again. While I started to complain to my dad, he stopped me in my tracks and said, “Hey, she mentioned that you did the dishes and was really thankful for that”. I burst into tears- I had thought she hadn’t even noticed that, but she did and she felt loved by it.
I realized that in the little time I had trusted God and did what he asked, he moved in my relationship with my mom. I was encouraged to keep inviting him into my relationship with my mom, and to pray over other areas of my life and keep obeying to see what God has in store.
