"Obey your parents in the Lord," God tells us (Ephesians 6:1).

"Obey...in the Lord." In other words, we respect and give in to our parents because of the Lord's love for us. Our motivation for obeying mom and dad isn't because they are always right or loving or trustworthy. Our obedience is a way to worship our forgiving Father who is always right, loving, and trustworthy. But as this article and the one linked to it demonstrate, especially about fathers, parents (in spite of their faults) are conduits of God's blessings to us, gifts from God worthy of our honor.

The teenaged author of the following article pieced together her story from the experiences of a number of her friends.

I had never been so annoyed with anyone before. Sometimes it seems as if fathers just don't understand what is going on in our lives.

"Everyone is going to be there," I told him. "I am absolutely not willing to be a big loser and leave hours before everyone else in order to make my curfew."

Fights and Fathers

Unfortunately, my father did not share that point of view. We fought about it for awhile-until we were both upset.

Finally I gave in when I realized I needed to borrow his car, and if I did not agree to his curfew, I would not be able to go at all. In fact I was surprised that he let me go after the fuss I put up.

Fun

I had a good time at the party. Then made up some excuse as to why I needed to leave early.

I was a few minutes late leaving. As I was pulling out of the driveway, my cell phone rang. Right away, I knew it was my parents.

I was half right. It was my mom. But she was not calling to check up on me.

"Your father's had a heart attack," she sobbed. "I'm with him in the hospital. Please come, now."

Fright

The drive to the hospital only took about ten minutes, but it seemed to take forever. On the way to the hospital, I thought about all the time we had spent that day fighting.

The feeling inside of me was more horrible than I would have ever imagined. What if I never got to see my dad again? The question put the events of that afternoon into a new perspective. Why did I make such a big deal about my curfew? Maybe, instead of my dad needing to understand me better, I needed to understand him better.

At the hospital the doctor had good news for us. "The heart attack was minor. You're going to be fine," he told Dad. "In fact, you'll go home tomorrow."

Fathers: a Fresh Look

I learned so many things that day. The first is that God is gracious. Jesus guarantees that. Because of Jesus, God will protect my loved ones and me- and will always do what is best for us. Second, I learned one way to improve my relationship with my father it is to appreciate all he does for me, how much he loves me, and how he tries to keep my best interests in mind. Third, there are many things to argue about with my father, curfews are just the start of a very long list. But now, before I pick a fight about anything, I think about that night and I usually realize how trivial most of my issues are. If I still have a problem about anything, I talk to Dad about it and try come up with some sort of compromise.

God blessed me with a great father and I am very happy that I had a chance to realize it.

See what other Christian teenagers have learned about their fathers by reading this story. Then get some ideas about letting your father know you love him.

The author of this article wishes to remain anonymous.