As kids grow, so do the pains of parenthood. Patterns of miscommunication and resentment can cause damage over the years,

leaving parents and adult children with fractured relationships. Confused, hurt, and sometimes angry,

moms and dads can struggle to know where to turn for help and where to look for hope.

My guest today is Gay Clark, and she answers several questions about how we should handle the difficult

dynamic of having a relationship with your adult children. She offers advice and encouragement for

parents wrestling with questions like, what do I do if my daughter is making unwise decisions?

Or how do I navigate the transition of my son getting married?

She also addresses even more difficult topics like,

What do I do if my child says they've left the faith?

Gay also offers advice to young adults who desire to honor their parents and yet grow into the independence and freedom of adulthood.

Gay is a registered nurse who has worked with young adults for more than 20 years.

She's also the author of Loving Your Adult Children, The Heartache of Parenting and the Hope of the Gospel from Crossway.

Let's get started.

Well, Gay, thank you so much for joining us today on the Crossway podcast. Thank you for having me,

Matt. Yeah, it's great to talk with you today, and I think it's great to address an issue that

feels like it's universally

irrelevant. All of us are growing up, and we're all going to become adults if we're not already

adults. And then if the Lord gives us children, we're all going to experience that same process

again with our own children as they grow older and then eventually become adults. And I think

parents wrestle with a lot of

complex emotions when they see their children getting older, especially as they enter into adulthood

and move out from under their roofs, get their own careers going, start their own families.

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