Dear Auntie Agony,
Why do we have to do chores all the time? I’m sick of it and it seems like they never end.

I don’t like chores either – but I also don’t like to eat on dirty dishes! Being in a family means sharing responsibilities for the things the family needs done. Take a soccer team for example. You need to have several forward to push the ball toward the opposite goal, several defenders to guard your goal and get the ball moving in the opposite direction, and a goalie to defend the net. One person alone can’t score, defend the team, and guard the goal. A team of one will be overwhelmed and lose.

Your family is a team. There are a lot of things that need to be done: parents need to work, pay bills, keep up the yard, do housework. They have to arrange for schooling and music lessons and sports and church activities. Their most important job is to help you know and love Jesus. In order to help your team win, your parents need you to be a good sport and pitch in with what the team needs to do.

Learn to take pleasure in a job well done for your family, whether it’s unloading the dishwasher, picking up after the dog, or keeping your room clean. Be a leader for your team, and enjoy the rewards together. The lessons you learn right now about working hard without complaining are going to help you in your school work, your future career, and your own family, one day.

Work hard and become a leader, be lazy and become a slave.
Proverbs 12:24

Dear Auntie Agony,

My parents are getting a divorce. It makes me really sad, and also, kind of worried. If your parents break up, does that mean there’s more chance for you to get a divorce, too, when get married?

I’m sorry about your parents divorce. Divorce is hard. In the book of Malachi, the Bible says that God hates divorce. I’ll bet that if you ask anyone who has ever been involved in a divorce – man, woman or child – they would say that they hate divorce, too. All people marry with the intention of staying together.

Because our world isn’t heaven it’s full of both health and sickness, purity and sin, giving and selfishness. We all struggle to make right decisions. Some of the choices people make hurt their spouse so much that the hurt person rightfully asks for a divorce. Other people make wrong decisions to divorce. Some people are divorced when they don’t want to be. Most of the time its a complicated situation.

Most parents want their kids to grow up to be wiser, stronger, and happier than they are. because of this, your parents will not want you to undergo the pain of a divorce, even if they are divorced themselves. Reassure your parents of your love and then ask them, “What can I do to avoid getting divorced when I grow up?” They will share their experiences in this area so that you can make the best choices possible. Just because your parents got a divorce doesn’t mean you have to. You can learn from their experiences, you can get Godly counsel. God can take something that was painful for your parents and family and use it to prepare you for your future. He can give you skills and insight that perhaps they didn’t have.

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purposes for them. Romans 8:28 NLT