The story, as Mom would tell it:

Once upon a time, there was a young woman.  She was a mother, a recent divorcée, and a legal assistant.  She was also very intelligent and ambitious.  She wanted to provide better for her daughter, so she decided to go back to school to become a lawyer.  She figured it would be okay, because the little Princess spent every other week with her father.  She spent six years in school, and graduated when her daughter was 13.  The woman met a nice man, and started going to church with him.  She married the nice man.  The little Princess is now 17, about ready to go out into the world on her own.  Everyone lived happily ever after....

Now, the story from the daughter's point of view:

We had a pretty nice life, until Mom and Dad divorced.  I have a little sister, now I only get to see her every other week.  At least Dad bothered to arrange it so that both of us girls could be in his house during the same two weeks per month, or I'd likely never see her, because my mom likes to deny that I even have a sister.  You see, Dad is divorced from her mother, too.  They were barely married for two years.  Now, he's married to a nice woman, who he has been with since 1999.  She's really great; she's just not my mother. 

I wish I had a mother.  I don't.  I have a place where I spend half my time, and this woman comes around every now and then, but otherwise ignores me.  I've lived with this for as long as I can remember.  Her life is all about appearances, and it's all about HER.  She has a nice looking daughter, never mind how messed up I am on the inside.  Mom has to have just the right look, just the right house, just the right arm candy.  She goes to church, not because she believes in God, but because it looks good to other people. 

It started out that my mom was always studying; now she's always working.  Mom would forget me.  She'd promise me things, like going to the movies, and then get busy and forget.  For her graduation from law school, she forgot to come to Dad's to pick me up!!  Step mom had to rush me to the party late.  Once, when I was 14, I was on Christmas vacation in a little ski town with my Dad, my Step mom, and her family.  My Mom happened to be vacationing in the same town with her new husband, so she told me she would take me skiing with them on Saturday.  I had to call looking for her; she kept putting me off.  Later, later, she'd say.  She never called again that weekend.  I found out when I got home that they had driven home on Saturday night without even telling me. 

I think that incident was the beginning of the end.  I started failing my classes.  When I was 15, I started drinking and smoking.  I tried weed.  I liked it.  My mom was never around anyway.  I had to do something to get her attention.  I started having boys over to her house while she was gone, and not just to watch TV.  I'm 17 now and hopelessly messed up.  Dad tried to help me--he's still trying, but I feel like it's too late.  I feel bad disappointing him with my life, but I can't help myself.  I have such an incredible drive to misbehave.  I don't understand it sometimes.   I've dropped out of school and started working, but I've already had four different jobs.  I just don't care.  I still drink and smoke weed, and I still sneak boys into the house.  My parents have taken away all my privileges.  Lately I've been threatening to get pregnant.  I don't know if I'd really do it or not.  I don't know much anymore.   Life stinks.

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My Scattered Thoughts: 

First, I want to tell you that this story is true, and this little girl is in serious trouble.  I would appreciate your prayers for her and her family.

Without God, life really has no meaning, purpose, or direction.  We really are lost.

Divorce hurts everyone involved.  Kids don't "bounce back", that's just something divorcing people tell themselves to quell their guilt.  (Now, I know that sometimes divorce is the only option, but there are too many people out there that get divorced because of superficial reasons.)

A person can be highly intelligent and a complete fool at the same time.

Appearances don't account for much when there's death and decay on the inside.  We can't fool our Creator with a nice outward appearance.  He knows what's happening on the inside.

We don't have the right to be self-centered when we have children.  Children would much rather have their parents around (yes, even teens) than more money in the household, or a bigger house to be left all alone in.

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Thanks for reading, I just needed to vent my frustrations a little, because there's not much relief in sight for this family until they accept that God wants them to come into His family and change the way they do things.