Dear LFTP: dating Mark while his 17-year-old daughter Hailey rages
- My boyfriend's 17-year-old daughter hates me and he will not parent her. Do I walk away or wait it out?
A letter writer dating Mark for 18 months describes his 17-year-old daughter Hailey forbidding her from the house, melting down, and turning violent toward her sister Lily, with Mark refusing to set consequences. The hosts say the worst move is half measures like moving in: either commit to the blended family permanently or walk away, and see it from Hailey's eyes without condoning the behavior. Ben's point is cited approvingly, Dan's advice is to slow down and let Hailey finish her senior year and go to college, and the hosts close on polygamy stories in Scripture as proof that divided households always produce an offended party. The Secular answer suggests family counseling for Hailey's 'severe emotional problems,' which the hosts reject as piling on the kid instead of the adults taking responsibility, plus a warning that the words you speak become the foundation of what you believe next time.
More on Grace
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Should following Jesus feel more comfortable as time goes on?
- Should following Jesus feel more comfortable as time goes on?
A host asks whether following Jesus should feel more comfortable as time goes on — noting the low-level tension many feel around am-I-doing-enough and the stigma that contentment equals laziness.
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Dear LFTP: the friend group's new wife
- How do we tell the husband that they are not invited, and who should deliver the message?
A host reads a second Dear LFTP letter: ten college-friend couples are planning a once-in-a-lifetime cruise, and nobody wants the remarried friend's demanding new wife on the ship.
From No. 592 · Because I Got High
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Dear LFTP: the $600 lawnmower and buying them a mower
- My nephew's wife took my $600, lied about it, and is avoiding me. Should I say something or let it go?
Mike reads a letter from someone who gave a nephew's wife $600 for a self-propelled lawnmower; she spent it, never bought the mower, and now avoids them.
From No. 587 · Coffee After Sunday
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Dear LFTP: the $900 couch letter
- My best friend and her son (about a thousand pounds combined) cracked my new $900 couch and want to bring more family over — what do I do?
Mike reads the second letter (same anchor/merge note): the writer bought a new house and a $900 couch; her best friend and the friend's son — 'about a thousand pounds' combined — audibly cracked it and now want to bring more family.