loving your parents

Parents.
They're hard to deal with, huh?
And sometimes it gets rough because we know that we're supposed to do all these things like 1) obey them 2) love them 3) respect them 4) listen to them... and so on... but... we don't always do any of it.  Or we get so worried about whether we do it or not that it ends up ruining a ton of things.  Other times, we do everything we can to disobey and disrespect them.  And still other times, it feels like they don't deserve the love, respect, and obedience they're demanding.
I'm lucky--blessed--enough to have a Dad who I adore.  He's my hero, and even thinking about not loving him is beyond my imagination and bordering on my darkest nightmares.  My mom gets a lot less of these happy-go-lucky feelings.  She's a dominating personality.  She likes to be in control.  If you get in her way, there WILL BE NOISE.  She ain't above a shouting match or a good old-fashioned paddling no matter how old you are.  So a lot of our family just totally ignores her and avoids her.
Which is why they don't always see how hard she works.
Or that she really does love them.
Or that when she's hurting you, she hurts herself, too.
I won't pretend to understand everything, but I do know this: Do everything you can to respect your parents.  If it's really so bad that they warrant absolutely no respect whatsoever, then at least obey them.  If they're asking bad things of you, or obeying them would hurt somebody, explain it to them, or ask someone you trust for advice.
But above all, if all else fails, hold on to love for them.  And if they just don't love you back...
Love them anyways.
Please.  I know that it hurts.  I've cried my eyes out over my parents again and again, and its still taking forever to feel alright.  But the Bible says, "love endures all things, hopes all things, believes all things.  Love never fails"
I've struggled to understand this, to trust this, to believe this, to hope this.  I still don't know if I'm ready to trust it.  But listen: I always thought hiding my heart, feeling nothing, was better than a little joy and a lot of pain.  But what if I'm wrong?  What if that's wrong?  What if a little joy is worth all the pain in the world by comparison to nothingness.
I'm asking you to love a little today, and I'm asking it of myself, too, whether you choose to love a friend, a family member, or a boy/girl-friend.  If I'm a bit long-winded, I apologize.
Otherwise,
Listen to Taylor Swift's
"ready to love again" song,
Or the bridge of
The Classic Crime's
"The Beginning (A Single Seed)",
Remember to Glow--
Firefly