I am still living at home even though I am twenty I am not able to financially at this point in my life as a full time student. I know that God wants us to obey and respect your parents. This is the sin that I struggle with daily. My dad is a widower; my mom passed away 7 years ago. He is a workaholic. Growing up I never saw him except on the weekends. The only time that we did stuff together was go to church. The thing that frustrated and continues to frustrate me is I am not sure if he is a christian. He insists on going to church with me every week, but all he does is sit there falling asleep then he goes home, eats, and goes to work. I think the reason he does go to church is because my Mom was a strong christian women and was very involved with the church not just that but when you looked at her life you could tell she was living for God's glory. She was always the one who was driving us to church and he would always stay home. As soon as she passed away he started going to church but he never had a turning point where God changed his heart. Sometimes I think it is all in his head not in his heart. He also treats me like I am still a child. I pay my own bills, have my own car, pay for my own tuition. I even buy my own groceries and make him a nice meal once or twice a week. However he still tells me what to do and how to do it. Even when it comes to my car. When I first got my license and was driving his car he would have me write down every time I got gas, the miles, how much the gas was, and how many gallons I got. I don't do this with my car and he always acts angry that I don't and tells me that I need to. It is gotten so bad that I try to stay the night at a friends house just to avoid conflict with him. It seems like everything turns into an argument. This Christmas all of my family is out of state and he refuses to go and see them and they all have children so it is difficult for them to drive 12 hours. I told him I was going and he said he would just stay home. I cannot stand the thought of it just being him and I on christmas, but I feel guilty leaving him alone. What should I do? I want to have a relationship with him so bad. Not a parent child relationship but an adult peer to peer relationship. I always try to just get him to go out to lunch or go get coffee and talk but he makes the excuse he doesn't have time. How can I respect and honor him when I feel so frustrated and angry with him?
