Have you ever interfered in allowing them to make their own decision (put your foot down so to speak)?
Yes, but only in cases where the repercussions of a bad decision would drastically affect their life.
If so what was the outcome? My daughter matured very late (got her period at almost 18) and even though she was an intellectual equal at her high school, she needed a different environment to blossom. We tried to get her to change high schools but, her response was, " I don't want the bastards to win! I can stick it out!" She stayed at her high school and was miserable all four years.
Please share as least one example where you couldn't say, "I told you so".
She knew...she went in to a major depressive episode and anorexia not only from her genetic make-up but also because she had four years of fighting an uphill battle to fit in. She had a year or so of therapy, good drugs
, and by that point, she had matured and had a glorius college career.
In life either you can go along willingly or fighting and screaming....w
hat have you fought against?
A couple of things. My middle son is 'wired differently'. He's extraordinaril
y bright in math and sciences and loves to invent things and his school couldn't deal with him. They saw him as being out of control (because he would see other ways to solve math problems, etc) I fought them for years to accept his differences and build on them. We eventually moved him (same saga as above...differ
ent result) to a boarding school where they relished his mind and actually gave him a work shop and a place to do all the inventions he wanted. He's just about finished with his degee in engineering.
I came from an abusive childhood. My sister was physcially abused her whole life and for what ever reason, my mother knew to stay away from me. At one point when my sister was 20 and being beaten, I pulled my whole 11 year old body to it's full height and ordered my mother away from my sister. It never happened again.
And lastly -- free will or divine intervention?
A combination of the two. I truly believe that God give us the sense and ability to deal with things and we must work constantly to make our lives better. The example of jumping off the cliff comes to mind: Will God come out with His giant hands and brake the fall? Or did He give us the sense not to jump off the cliff in the first place?
